Spectrum XLT

[stewartlittle]

Tried to copy and paste it but it wouldnt let me.
I Googled Whites Spectrum XLT field test and went to lost treasure.In one part it said he increased the tracking +1 for better depth.

What does that mean?

And how well does the tracking on machines?

 

[UK Brian]

Its a moot point if you gain depth and definitely not better sensitivity as some suggest. A slight off set of the tracking will help prevent the detector 'tracking' to nearby metallic items ie the machine could think a bit of nearby iron is ground mineralisation and adjust itself accordingly which means the ground balance would be wrong at that point and depth lost at that point.
XLT tracking is not the very best but not bad especially if an offset is applied in normal use. It was improved with later Whites models.
Some manufacturers don't like it at all or only put it on one of the detection modes ie Tesoro's Lobo Supertrac.
The drawbacks of tracking are illustrated by those manufacturers that do use it also providing the means to switch it off or lock it. On the other hand if your not prepared to adjust a machine regularly over varying ground you may as well leave it in the hands of the machines electronics.