A newbie MXT question: Ground Balancing? :confused:

[Topo]

Hi

Im using a used MXT for about a month and I see that when I bump the coil to ground balance the oscillation sound don't cease, there is always a little variation, is this normal? what techniques do you use to check if your machine is ground balancing OK?


thanks guys and gals!

 

[Nancy-IL]

I turn my machine on to 7 (gain), pump the coil up and down a couples times and the display screen is stable and away I go. Unless there is hotrocks, etc. Then I move two feet and try again. The MXT tracks the ground so well, that after a few sweeps when starting, it's auto GB'd. Do you have your toggle switch to "ground"? Possibly your gain is turned too high? We need to know more of what your settings are. Let us know.........HH, Nancy

 

[Topo]

Hi Nancy

I think you've got it!, Im using the gain above the preset mark when doing the bumps, I'll try tomorrow using gain at 7.

yes, Im using the toggle to Ground most of the time, the Disc is a little bellow 3, soil mineralization is on average about 55-60, using Relic mode with the old stock coil.

what I have saw is that maybe this soil has lot of metal content, because the machine is very noisy in some areas

 

[Nancy-IL]

I bet that's your solution to ground balancing. Everything else sounds good! Good luck and keep me posted! HH, Nancy

 

[Jeff-TN]

If the site you are hunting is NOT trashy and by that I mean loaded with targets (good or bad), just make sure your toggle is on ground and pump the coil about three times and start swinging, the MXT will do the rest and keep itself balanced. If you are in a trashy area, find a clean spot, free of any targets. Even if you have to cross the road to find a clean spot, don't try to balance over targets. I have some sites like this. Once you find a clean spot, repeat the above steps, but then, once its balances, flip the toggle to lock. If you don't lock it in a trashy site, it will start tracking the trash. This will make the machine very noisy and unstable (that's the best way I can describe it). If locked though, you can proceed to pick out the goodies between the trash as normal especially with a small coil. You said your site had a lot of metal in the ground. If you are referring to mineralization, don't worry, the MXT can handle it. If it is truly metal targets, then you will have to find clean ground to balance it. I have not had a problem with GB even with the gain set high as it will go. The machine may be noisy and threshold unstable, but the ground noise will balance out with a few pumps. I run my gain as high as possible and still have a smooth, steady threshold hum. There are more variables to this, but this is a good starting point. I hope this helps. Anymore questions, fire away. The only dumb one is the one you don't ask,

Jeff

 

[Topo]

I bet that's your solution to ground balancing. Everything else sounds good! Good luck and keep me posted! HH, Nancy

thanks Nancy, I will

If the site you are hunting is NOT trashy and by that I mean loaded with targets (good or bad), just make sure your toggle is on ground and pump the coil about three times and start swinging, the MXT will do the rest and keep itself balanced. If you are in a trashy area, find a clean spot, free of any targets. Even if you have to cross the road to find a clean spot, don't try to balance over targets. I have some sites like this. Once you find a clean spot, repeat the above steps, but then, once its balances, flip the toggle to lock. If you don't lock it in a trashy site, it will start tracking the trash. This will make the machine very noisy and unstable (that's the best way I can describe it). If locked though, you can proceed to pick out the goodies between the trash as normal especially with a small coil. You said your site had a lot of metal in the ground. If you are referring to mineralization, don't worry, the MXT can handle it. If it is truly metal targets, then you will have to find clean ground to balance it. I have not had a problem with GB even with the gain set high as it will go. The machine may be noisy and threshold unstable, but the ground noise will balance out with a few pumps. I run my gain as high as possible and still have a smooth, steady threshold hum. There are more variables to this, but this is a good starting point. I hope this helps. Anymore questions, fire away. The only dumb one is the one you don't ask,

Jeff

Hi Jeff, thanks for those great tips.

I use my MXT above the Gain preset too and what happens with me is that those threshold oscillations during the bumps made me think about possibly doing something wrong, as Nancy said, maybe I'm using too much gain on this soil or those trashy metal particles are making my life harder. Your tip about locking ground balance seems to be the only way in to detect one of my soils

 

[okdirtfisher]

Confirm Ground Balance-Pull the [Trigger]all the way back as in pin pointing and move the coil back and forth on the spot of ground you've chose to set your ground balance at.If there are reading from that patch of soil,with the [trigger] held in,search around to find an area of ground that is free of any targets.Now repeat ground-balance.
Now to check the ground-balance.Raise the search coil to waist level ,squeeze,and hold the [trigger].While holding [trigger] lower the coil to the ground.There should be little if any change to threshold sound.(modest increase is OK).
I've noticed in confirming the ground-balance that if the area is truly free of even the smallest target,a12''depth reading will appear on the display for just a second

 

[Topo]

thanks for that tip jwilkes

today I did some tests ground balancing the machine on the present gain and it really goes smoother than before, I did that pinpoint bump to test GB and I noticed that I always get some threshold oscillation on the way down, I have to say that this soil is kind of tricky, its dificult to locate a spot real free of metal, I'm actually thinking on a DD coil

 

[capt. jas.]

Confirm Ground Balance-Pull the [Trigger]all the way back as in pin pointing and move the coil back and forth on the spot of ground you've chose to set your ground balance at.If there are reading from that patch of soil,with the [trigger] held in,search around to find an area of ground that is free of any targets.Now repeat ground-balance.
Now to check the ground-balance.Raise the search coil to waist level ,squeeze,and hold the [trigger].While holding [trigger] lower the coil to the ground.There should be little if any change to threshold sound.(modest increase is OK).
I've noticed in confirming the ground-balance that if the area is truly free of even the smallest target,a12''depth reading will appear on the display for just a second

I have a new MXT pro. When I try to confirm ground balance as instructed above, I get NO sound whatsoever at all from the moment I press the pinpoint trigger at waist level til I release the trigger at ground level. My threshold is set to a low hum when the PP trigger is not pressed.
Is this the way it should be or should I be hearing something as I am pressing the pinpoint trigger and moving to the ground?
If I should be hearing the threshold hum all way down I wonder if:
1. I have some knob adjusted wrong
2. There is a difference in confirming between the MXT and MXTPRO
3. The DX-1 I have on the detector prevents it


Any help is appreciated.