What no.s would be mineralized soil??

[Mr. Beard]

Ok, owning my 1st Garrett since the original Master Hunter that I didn't like many many, years ago... I got the AT Pro. Got it after most of the problems were being fixed and so far no falsing issues.

I am still learning it after 25 hours of use and so far I like it.
A question----------Texas gulf coast area--Houston... is not very mineralized,from what I have heard. This is my 1st detector with a ground balance number system. Have used a Whites M6 but it didn't show numbers when ground balancing, and my Whites IDX was automatic GEB when pulling the toggle switch.


I have heard at the beach the AT Pro GB # would be in the 30's due to the salt.
What would be considered a low, medium, and high ground mineral number ??

Some areas where I manually ground balance, have shown in the low 60's and some areas in the low 80's. What would these numbers range as??

Some great information on this section. I have learned a lot about the ATP.

 

[detectorsteve]

Ground Balance of 11 in wet Florida salt beach.

 

[Mr. Beard]

I still am confused.....does a lower number mean more minerals in the ground/beach or less minerals in the ground/beach???
Sorry but telling me a ground balance number where you search, doesn't help answer my question.

 

[metalhead]

Check out the owner's manual on page 32. It shows what the range of numbers are for various ground conditions. Happy Hunting!

 

[Monte]

I got the AT Pro. Got it after most of the problems were being fixed and so far no falsing issues.

There have been some problems and I encountered my first when the stock coil was defective right out of the box! The dealer and I had to poach one from another in his inventory.

The AT Pro does have some positive performance potential but a few 'problems' I wish the Garrett folks would address. These could be the upper rod length, the dinky-sized VDI numbers, or even just enlarger the whole display a little bit. Also, I miss a traditional, threshold-based All Metal mode. I would like to see some of these concerns directly addressed on a top-end land versions using the basic design concepts of the AT Pro. One more would be to ditch the GTA discriminate/TID design and go with a real variable control.

This is my 1st detector with a ground balance number system. Have used a Whites M6 but it didn't show numbers when ground balancing, and my Whites IDX was automatic GEB when pulling the toggle switch.

With regard to a Ground Balance reference number, the M6 does as you stated. The IDX Pro, however, doesn't have "automatic" Ground Balance. The IDX Pro, like many other makes and models on the market today, (unless modified) relies on a preset GB, just like Garrett's Ace 250 and Ace 350 models. Pulling the trigger toggle only puts the detector into an All Metal pinpoint mode. It doesn't have anything to do with Ground Balance, and neither does the Normal/Black Sand toggle

A 'Preset' GB is just that. Preset. An 'Automated' Ground Balance is simply one like the White's M6 and upper-end models feature, or the Teknetics Gamma and up, and, naturally, the AT Pro. What I like about the AT Pro is that it has both an 'automated' Ground Balance, plus the option to manually GB the settings.

Anyway, just a correction regarding the GB and toggle function of the IDX Pro.

I have heard at the beach the AT Pro GB # would be in the 30's due to the salt.
What would be considered a low, medium, and high ground mineral number ??

Generally, a wet salty beach will need a lower GB ground phase number. As the manual suggests, ratings from about '60' on up suggest the ground is more mineralized. That simply means it is more mineralized than the lower readings. You can usually figure that a higher GB setting suggests that the ground is more mineralized, such as having more iron or ferrous mineral mix.

There are times, however, that we encounter ground which needs a lower GB setting, such as maybe '62' (or whatever number that manufacturer assigns), but some detector models also convey added ground information such as the Fe3O4 or ferrous mineral content. I do hunt some 'bad ground' that calls for a GB numeric setting from about 75 to 86 (with one brand's models) and I know this site to be quite a challenge, so far as ground minerals are concerned. But in the past six months I've hunted other local places that only needed a Ground Phase setting of maybe 68 to 73, but I also had much higher ferrous mineral responses there.

The AT Pro didn't copy that function from some competitors, but maybe they will when they bring us a newly designed land-based model?

Some areas where I manually ground balance, have shown in the low 60's and some areas in the low 80's. What would these numbers range as??

I would personally consider most ground to be 'medium'.mineralization when I GB numbers from about '55' to '70, and then from that up to maybe '86' or so, they are more mineralized ground.

Pardon me for using numbers other than those of the AT Pro. When Garrett gets all the bugs out and brings us a better balanced and improved land model, that will be different. I have noticed that the numeric read-out, although rather small and difficult for my old eyes to see, do tend to read a bit higher, numerically, and it sort of lumps more ground into a certain range than what I usually use. I'd like it spread out a bit more, but it's not urgent.

In the end the important thing is that the user takes advantage of either an automated GB setting or manually adjusts a detector for the best performance at a given site. That way they are likely to get better overall performance and enjoy their detector more.

Monte