Bandido II Umax - Questions

[AZWIP]

Howdy folks, have just acquired a new (to me) Bandido II uMax. The deal was too good to pass up and the machine truly is like new.... it was hardly used. Looks and runs great!

Anyways, I already have the Silver uMax (bought the Cleansweep coil for the Silver uMax) and the Compadre, so thought this B2 uMax looked interesting as I don't have a lot of experience with Ground Balancing etc.

Soooooo... with that in mind, lol...

1.) Hope this is a good addition to my herd? I am "thinking" it will be the
deepest of the three machines? True?

2.) Both my Compadre and Silver have found the small gold (earrings etc)
am hoping this will do as well - or, do I dare say, even "better? Maybe?
a. Is this machine considered better than my other two? I am
mostly a jewelry hunter in parks and fields.

3.) Now, for this machine, the manual says, before powering on... I should
- Turn the GB know to the left 5 rotations, then to the right 2 rotations
- Then, make the proper settings and turn the machine one to GB and
hunt.

So, Will I need to do this before each and every hunt? The turning of the
GB know, Left 5 times then right twice????


Also, if I am hunting a park, and I have it GB'd... then say I turn it off for a min... then turn it back on... will I :
A.) Need to do the 5 turn/2 turn routine again?
B.) Need to GB again?
C.) Or can I simply turn on and resume hunting?


Also, if I am hunting in a park, and I have it GB'd... and I am hunting in MIN Disc mode (and AUTOTUNE)... folks say you should GB from time to time while hunting??? I "assume" that means... I am hunting. I get 100 feet over to another spot...
do I just... set to ALL METAL again, pump it up and down and use the GB knob, if needed?

I am assuming, the settings I will use (again keeping in mind I hunt jewelry and in parks/totlots)... will be:

Tune = Auto
Mode = Disc = 0 (or maybe up to 2)
Sensitivity = A high as it will handle

Does that sound about right?

Later, I guess I will need to learn about the Tune being set to Normal and the Reset Tune toggle. Am assuming that the reset tune would only make sense if you are TUNE=NORMAL and ALL METAL mode. This one confuses me a bit.

I have fooled around a bit with this machine, just for an hour or so last night as I just acquired it last night... and I "think"/"hope" its a nice machine.

Got a nice beach scoop and head phones with it, again, all look brand new. Pd 150.00 - I hope that's a good deal. Sounded like it to me, could not pass it up.

Thanks again folks, and appreciate any and all advice/suggestions for using this machine. I feel"at one" with my compadre and silver, but this B2 uMax, appears to be different enough, and GB'ing/tuning is really new to me. Am hoping that my "hunted out" (by me) parks, may become lively and prosperous again, with the B2uMax. Lol. Reckon we'll see.

Thanks!!

Ron

 

[Hombre]

That is quite a few questions but I'll give it a shot:

1. Yes, it is a very good machine and you did good on price, have seen them sell on feebay for $300+.
2. I have found very small gold with my Bandido ll

 

[AZWIP]

Thanks hombre... That is helpful and I appreciate it. It's funny... Trying to get ground balance as a rookie... I just tried it on my yard..and as I drop it... It's pretty quiet... But as I rapidly pull it back up it seems to make a loud noise as soon as it starts the return trip... But only for a split second.... I don't recall that happening last night... Is that normal... I only had to turn the gb knob to about the 6 o clock position... Starting at 12...after doing the other stuff of course. They say it can turn more than 3 full turns? I only went from 12 o clock to 6?

 

[Hombre]

Thanks hombre... That is helpful and I appreciate it. It's funny... Trying to get ground balance as a rookie... I just tried it on my yard..and as I drop it... It's pretty quiet... But as I rapidly pull it back up it seems to make a loud noise as soon as it starts the return trip... But only for a split second.... I don't recall that happening last night... Is that normal... I only had to turn the gb knob to about the 6 o clock position... Starting at 12...after doing the other stuff of course. They say it can turn more than 3 full turns? I only went from 12 o clock to 6?

If you lived close to me, I could show you how to GB.....I could have you up and running in no time, But trying to explain in written text it is very hard to do. If the threshold gets louder on the way up it is set too negative turn GB knob clockwise some. An adjustment from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock is a lot, make smaller adjustments. I'm logging out, I'll check back tomorrow.

 

[BarberBill]

The easiest explanation I have seen and use is to think of the GB knob like the volume control on a radio. If the audio rises as the coil nears the ground turn it back, or down (left). If the volume falls off, turn the knob up, (right). When the audio is even or changes little, your ready to hunt.
BB

 

[AZWIP]

Thanks for the advice folks, I appreciate it... based on what ya'll suggested, I have been playing around with it... and think I nailed the GB now... same tone now up and down... I know the directions say use only the drop down to judge tone... but it seems the same now in both directions. Thanks again for the advice, I really do appreciate it. Any other suggestions etc... please let me know.

I will probably hunt in mostly MIN DISC as I think the All Metal would be something I would need to get used to, lol, that hum... sure is different, as again I have been a Silver uMax and Compadre user for the most part.

Have been trying to read about the retune... seems you could use that in All Metal, and NORM... to further pinpoint??? Not sure I'll use that too often I guess... the pinpointing in DISC Mode has been pretty good, that and the Garrett ProPointer kind of get me there.

Thanks again!

Ron

 

[Hombre]

AZWIP:quote, "Have been trying to read about the retune...seems you could use that in All Metal, and NORM...to further pinpoint??? Not sure I'll use that too often I guess... the pinpointing in Disc. Mode has been pretty good, that and the Garrett ProPointer kind of get me there."

The Normall or 'manual re-tune' all-metal mode is one of the best features on the Bandido series, I use it to pinpoint with all the time. It is also good for telling the depth of target, size of target and you can tell the shape of the found target. Deep coin sized targets pinpoint in a small area about the size of the center hole on the 8" concentric coil. Deep iron will pinpoint with a wider signal, sometimes bigger than the coil. Also using the 're-tune feature of the Norm all-metal, you can toggle the spring loaded switch with the coil over the target and shrink the size of the signal, this is called de-tuning. Play around with the Norm all-metal, I think you will like this feature after you have a little more experience with it.

 

[AZWIP]

Hmmm.... sounds interesting.... to use it to size up and the such... would simply be:

- Get the hit in DISC (and Tune is in AUTO, as thats the way I'll probably hunt)
- Switch to ALL METAL, and set Tune to NORM

And that should help with size and shape?

Interesting.

Once I get used to that, reckon I'll try to hit the Retune with the same settings. Kind of a neat little machine so far.

Again, thanks folks for your help, I really appreciate it. Ya'll rock!

Ron

 

[Monte]

Hmmm.... sounds interesting.... to use it to size up and the such... would simply be:

- Get the hit in DISC (and Tune is in AUTO, as thats the way I'll probably hunt)
- Switch to ALL METAL, and set Tune to NORM

And that should help with size and shape?

The AUTO (circuitry retune) function and the NORMal (manual retune) functions are ONLY workable in the Threshold-based All Metal mode.

The Auto/Norm toggle has nothing to do with he Discriminate mode.

The choice is how you want the All Metal mode Threshold audio to function. Many like the very fast AUTO-tune, and I use it for quick hunts and pinpointing, but I prefer the NORMal setting as that is a manual retune, not circuitry-based auto-tune. That allows, as he suggested, the ability to better size and shape a target, and for many pinpointing can be easier as well..

Monte

 

[AZWIP]

Howdy again, you guys rock! Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and expertise I really appreciate it. I took ya'lls advice and finally got more than a few minutes to try some of the stuff ya'll mentioned... from GB'ing to the Auto/Normal and Re-tune features.... because of ya'll I was able to really get a feel and sense for these.... pretty cool stuff!!! The Norm and Re-run in AM mode... really gets right on top of the target, whatta riot!!! I think I am going to really enjoy this machine!!

Thanks again folks for helping me understand this and giving me advice and suggestions, it really was/is helpful!!!

Ron

 

[Monte]

n/t