to track or not to track that is the question

[jreb]

I have heard that if you track instead of ground balance if you go over a target several times it will discriminate it out. I have been pretty successful and never ran in tracking. Is there any advantage to tracking or does it actually notch out certain objects?

 

[Old Longhair]

If your ground is fairly mild and/or consistant, then periodic manual GB is fine. But, if you have inconsistant soil makeup, or varying levels of mineralization, then GB Tracking is very useful, as it can adjust GB more accurately as conditions change on the fly.

Around here, simply working my way up a slope can take me from black muck to gravel or acidic sandy clay. The variation can be as much as 20pts difference in GB within a relatively short distance. There are places where the 3kHz coil may be desired and suitable at the bottom of a hill, but because of GB changes a 7.5kHz would be better at the top of the hill. So for me, Tracking is very useful. And I can't say that I've ever had a good target absorbed by the Tracking feature. Since I'm not a prospector, I can't comment on how it works with small gold, only what I've experienced hunting coins and relics.

 

[Mtnmn]

My ground and its mineralization also varies tremendously and as a result tracking has always worked best for me in my area. There are two things that can happen if you swing over a target too many times. First is your ground balance readings will keep on climbing the more you swing over a target (try it). The other thing that can happen is a target will go from having the proper TID reading to sometimes having an improper reading. I like to check my ground balance readings from time to time and if reading higher than what I think it should be, I'll lower it back down to a little lower than what it was running at earlier, then go back to using tracking. Another reason for checking your ground balance from time to time is if your ground contains lots of trash or large amounts of iron, that also can also throw off your ground balance readings.

 

[morelic55]

I never manualy ground balance and have found out that my X70 runs smoother in my ground here. I never swing over a target enough for the GB to "See" it, just long enough for a sweet tone and dig it. You just have to trust the machine to adjust for you, if not, why did they put the auto track on it for?????

 

[hotrod53]

It took me a while to get used to tracking, but I now use it all of the time. If you continuously check your GB, you will see that it does change. You just have to make a mental note to turn it off when you hit a target. When you go into pinpoint it shuts off on its own.