Nautilus Detector Users Forum

I have never used a Nautilus, so any tips will be welcome.

Been trying to sell my IIB or trade it in for a IIB 4 so thought I'd run it through its paces in the coin garden.

Something I just learned tonight. My IIb will hit my deepest coins (10 inches) in my coin garden (even with the 6 inch coil!) if after ground balancing I run my coil over the shallow coin (6 inches) and as I'm running my coil over that coin, if I adjust my ground balance till I can hear that shallowest coin the loudest, I then go over my deepest coins and can hear them very loud and clear.

However, If I ground balance perfectly it just barely hits my 6" quarter and does not hit my deepies. I don't know if this is the right thing to do but I guess if it works it works? Normally I have to go counter clockwise to achieve greater depth. I don't know what that is telling me. It seems more erratic if turn the GB dial counter clockwise this way but that's the only way I can hear those deepest coins.

Hey Tony.....It is not only the Nautilus that will reach deeper or be more sensitive to high conductance targets at a neutral or slightly negative ground balance. It does seem to be more noticable on some detectors than others, especially those with a wider range of ground balance adjustment. Besides the Nautilus, I remember it happening on a GSII, Barons, a bounty hunter 220 and a Whites Classic Pro. When you ground balance (clockwise) positive, you are not only discriminating out the sound of groud minerals but also some of the targets sound as well. I remember a forum Post made by Monte years ago, explaining that some detectors, if you turn the ground balance fully clockwise that they will loose so much sensitivity that they wont sound off on a silver dollar. That was news to me at the time but I have checked it out on quite a few detectors since then and it is right. My Baron Goldtrax has automatic ground tracking with the factory preset ground balance set a little too positive for my ground in this area. I made the mistake of just turning it on and start swinging, letting the AGB do its thing and everything seemed just fine but after a couple of years in this area, I began to notice that I had been missing out on some of the deeper dimes (7 to 8 inches or deeper). When I bought the Nautilus, it started coming up with those deeper dimes. Also a little Detector Pro Wader with a fixed ground balance but lower frequency (around 2KHHZ) would hit on those deeper dimes. After I corrected my mistake and started adjusting the Goldtrax to a more neutral or even a slightly negative ground balance, it started finding them also. A little laziness on my part and relying too much on an "automatic" feature had been costing me an inch or two in depth for a couple years of hunting.

The best way I have found to ground balance the Nautilus is to keep turning the GB control counter-clockwise untill you start hearing some ground mineral sounds from the DISCRIMINATE side, then turn it just a tad back clockwise untill you quit hearing those little chirpy ground sounds in discrimination. As your tests demonstrated, that will get you more depth and more sensitivity to the more conductive targets.

I have an old Tesoro GSII that I have added an external ground balance adjustment to. That and a Shadow S9 coil added a little depth to a machine that is not known as a depth demon but following directions from another Monte forum post on ground balance, I can get even more depth out of it. First, I ground balance it neutral in the all metal mode. Then I switch to the silent search discrimination mode. I keep pumping the coil at the ground while slowly turning the ground balance control counterclockwise untill I start getting a little chirping sound on the UP-STROKE of the coil.....not the down stroke but the upstroke. Then I turn back clockwise just a tiny bit untill the discrimination mode is quite again. This gets me into what we normally call a negative ground balance but not so far that I am hearing the ground minerals while hunting in the discriminating mode.

Jbird, thanks for the fine post.

It was sure a lot of serendipity to just think "What if I move my GB in a counter-clockwise manner as I'm waving it over my burried quarter and see if it hits it. I'm beginning to think I'm a genius

Without a doubt, my DMCIIb is the deepest of all my machines. It now hits hardest on my deepest coins at 10 inches (pennies and dimes). It hits harder than my Minelab Explorer and DFX and Minelab Muskateer Advantage and Tesoro Bandido. The Explorer and DFX don't hit the deepest coins. I was thinking of selling it to get the Nautilus 4Khz machine but maybe now won't have to?

I'm still thinking of sending the machine in for a tune-up.

Maybe nothing is wrong with it but when I'm turning the disc and it gets to about 20 I all of a sudden hear a loud threshold and as I continue turning counter-clockwise it quickly goes away at around 18 downward. Maybe this is normal?

I just can't believe how hard this hits those deep coins.

And yes, you are right about the chirpiness. If I back it off just a tad that goes away.

Hi Tony,
I have used Nautilus detectors since the 1970's.They are very hard to beat and there is only one other detector on the market today that offers any serious competition. Just letting you know their is nothing wrong with your detector. They all have that rise in audio when the disc is turned down around 20 and then it goes away. I don't know why this occurs but it is normal and nothing to worry about.
Great Hunting to you, Jerry Ga.

Hello Bill,
Glad to offer some tips, have used Nautilus since 1978. First and foremost get yourself a sharp digging tool (something on the order of a ground shark), you are going to need it! Read the instruction manual a couple of times and keep it handy. Mastering the R&C controls will the only critical adjustment you will have to make,( besides ground balance), and the R&C adjustment is really easy, but spend some time practicing this adjustment. I run mine all metal in one ear and disc in the other. The 2 sides hitting together in unison are your good targets. Just practice and get to know your machine and you will be suprised at what's left in the ground. The only downside I have with Nautilus is the weight and balance but it's worth lugging it around for the performance it gives. By the way where are you in Ga.? I am just outside Savannah.
Good Luck and Great hunting, Jerry

Thanks for the heads up on that Jerry. I was beginning to think I needed the pot replaced.

I'm curious if you've ever tried the DMC 4? Does it offer greater depth?

Tony

Please go to this link. It is a German site I think but they have Jbird's article on setting up and using the Nautilus. It is filled with years of experience . . .

http://losthistory.foren-city.de/topic,12,-coins-and-jewelery-with-nautilus-dmc-iib-and-dmc-ii-ba.html

I have received quite a few tips.
Hopefully it will make the learning curve a little shorter.
I have only used Fishers(1266/70, C$), so I hope I am not in for too much of a shock.
BTW, I'm in the Rome, GA area.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2005 03:07PM by Billy(GA).

If that Bandido you own is one of the older ones with the 10 turn ground balance, try running its ground balance a little negative. You should see a noticable increase in depth from it too and it is smoooottthhh in iron sites. Wish I hadnt sold mine but just had too many detectors and I let it go.

Hard to believe how hot that little Bandido is. Yea, it is an older one but it can go deep. For some reason though I have not really learned to trust it fully yet. Don't know why. I guess it is the sharpness of the deep hits. But I have coins burried at 10 inches out back and it hits everyone of them.

Guess I'm going to have to put it through some more paces.

Thanks for the tip too. When you say "ground balance a little negative" do you mean that as the coil is going toward the ground the sound is falling or going down?

Tony

Yeah.....threshold sounds decreases as the coil approaches the ground and thats called negative ground balance in the all metal mode.

But try doing it this way. Select the Discrimination mode....then bob the coil up and down while turning the ground balance control counterclockwise untill you start hearing a faint threshold sound on the up stroke of the coil....as you lift the coil UP from the ground. Then turn the ground balance control just a tad back clockwise untill the faint little threshold sound goes away. You notice that that is just the opposite of the way you ground balance in the all metal mode.

Another way of doing the same thing is to find a section of ground that has no targets...other than the ground minerals...and sweep the coil left and right over that area while adjusting the ground balance counterclockwise. You will reach a point where you will start hearing some ground mineral noise (chirps, gurgles, burps, etc). Then turn the GB back clockwise just enough to get rid of the ground noise and you are good to go.

Get A Big Shovel!!!!