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Can somebody explain the Fisher F-series Fe3O4 meter to me?

TrpnBils

New member
I've had my F5 since August and that meter has essentially been a nice paperweight on the display since then. Theoretically I know what it's supposed to be showing, but what can you actually DO with the information you're given, or how should you adjust your hunting or ground balancing depending on what that meter shows?
 
I believe the only way to get the meter to be accurate is if you pump the coil as if you were ground balancing. Mine only reads 1 to 2 bars where I hunt so it is fairly mild ground. If you run in to 3 or 4 you probably should cut back on your gain and possibly threshold because you will false due to all the magnetic particles in the ground. For instance when I hunt near some places in Culpeper Va the meter is always reading 3 to 4 bars but when I go to the Outer banks beach there is no reading meaning lack of magnetic minerals.

HH
Bob
 
I've heard that about Culpeper - I'm from not too far north of there. You wouldn't happen to be from Bedford would you? (A friend of mine from there hunts in Culpeper with a guy named Bob on a fairly regular basis, which is the only reason I'm asking).

So you're not supposed to ground balance over metal, which makes perfect sense... so if I had a 3 or 4 bar reading, would it then cause ground balance to be off?
 
Fe3O4 BAR GRAPH (magnetite)
This bar graph displays the magnetic mineralization factor, or magnetic susceptibility, of the soil.
Magnetic susceptibility is expressed in terms of the percent volume of the iron mineral magnetite,
which most black sand is made of. The depth to which objects can be accurately identified is
strongly influenced by the magnetic susceptibility of the soil. High Fe3O4 values have a greater
effect on detection depth in the Discrimination mode than in the All Metal mode. For the most
accurate Fe3O4 reading, pump the searchcoil as though you were ground balancing.
Fe3O4 approx.
Range micro-cgs Description
3 7,500 uncommon but not rare, heavy mineralization
1 2,500 heavy mineralization, not uncommon in goldfields
0.3 750 heavy mineralization, but not uncommon in some regions
0.1 250 medium mineralization, typical
0.03 75 light mineralization, but common
0.01 25 light mineralization, your G. B setting may also be low
blank <14 quartz & coral white beach sands
26 F75


A little positive or negative GB might be in order in really high concentrations of magnetite (Iron Minerals)...... fast grab should take care of GB..Manual you can go up or down a couple numbers to smooth out the operation in areas... I would not worry to much about the reading to be honest unless it is exceptionally high.......... To get your best reading pump the coil up and down while moving over your area do not push the trigger switch forward . Sensitivity adjustment can be lowered in high reading areas for better results of ID on deeper targets. All I can seem to really see and understand is in Gold fields the black sand is present so if there you may need to adjust operation of the machine for better detection depth and Gold ID..
 
Also, notice when you false on a bigger piece of iron....you get a mid to high tone and the Fe3O4 meter jumps up.
 
When you ground balance, turn the discrimination to O then ground balance after that you can put it back were you like it set
 
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