heavymetalbeeper said:
Does Tesoro ground balance the Compadre slightly positive, slightly negative or neutral at the factory?
To tell you the truth, I have no knowledge what their circuitry design is, or what the production calibration requirements are, but I would have to say I have only had two or three Compadre's [size=small](out of perhaps 18 to 20)[/size] that had a Negative Ground Balance. Those were all gently used Compadre's I had taken on trade and I am certain they had been tinkered with by a previous owner.
I seriously doubt that they have a 'neutral' GB because they can't guarantee the ground they will be worked over will be 'neutral' so they are probably GB'ed somewhat Positive. That is how most of the Tesoro models I have owned or handled seem to be .... in the Discriminate mode ... because most have a true Threshold-based All Metal mode or AM Pinpoint function that is used to GB. Most Tesoro's have a Discriminate mode GB that is offset a bit positive to the All Metal mode GB setting.
heavymetalbeeper said:
Is it based off all metal or discrim?
The Compadre has no 'conventional' All Metal mode and is a motion-based, silent-search Discriminate mode detector, therefore the GB setting is for the Discriminate mode.
heavymetalbeeper said:
Is the ground balance setting the same throughout the entire discrimination range or is it a tad different like in ALL Metal?
I am not sure what you mean by "
a tad different like in All Metal." If you have a conventional, Threshold-based All Metal mode, then once you have the Threshold you adjust the Ground Balance and you're done. You only need to adjust the GB in the All Metal mode if you change locations, or the ground mineral make-up at the site you're hunting changes.
Now, as for the first part of your question: "
Is the ground balance setting the same throughout the entire discrimination range," that one is even more difficult to answer because a lot depends upon the particular Tesoro model you have in hand. With most Tesoro's, once the Ground Balance is set, by an internal trimmer or external GB control, you can adjust the Discrimination control from, let's say mid-point to the lowest Disc. level setting or up to the highest Discrimination point and there will be little, if any, Ground Balance change.
There are, however, a number of Tesoro models that have a circuitry design glitch, such as the Sidewinder µMAX and original Conquistador, to name only two of them. With these models the glitch is that if you change the
Discrimination setting, it also shifts the Ground Balance setting! So, for example, if the Disc. control was set at about mid-point and the GB trimmer was set for a spot-on Ground Balance in the All Metal or Pinpoint mode, then it's only good while the Discrimination control is unchanged.
If you reduce the Discrimination to the lowest setting, the GB will shift negative to the point where you'll have falsing. If the Discriminate setting is increased to the highest setting, it shifts the Ground Balance more positive, often positive enough that the detector will not responds to a Silver Dollar or maybe even a Half Dollar, and I have seen some Tesoro's that will also not signal on a Quarter because the GB setting is way too positive.
heavymetalbeeper said:
I noticed when I'm holding my detector still just over ground and I briskly turn the dial from All Metal to Full discrimination I'll get a beep. Is that a beep indicating a slight ground balance shift from All metal to full discrim?
No, that's just a normal behavior of the circuitry responding to the increased setting, going from the minimum to maximum rejection level. Not to be concerned about it as almost all Tesoro's will behave that way.
heavymetalbeeper said:
I understand some of tesoros detectors are factory preset in all metal, but can be adjusted in discrimination, or maybe I have that mixed up?
Mixed up. You usually have the option to manually adjust the Ground Balance and the Discriminate mode's GB reference is based on that, or it can be done with an internal GB trimmer. With some models, like the Cortés, the GB is manually set for the All Metal mode but the Discriminate mode GB is adjusted by an internal trimmer. With the Lobo Super-TRAQ the All Metal GB is an automated adjustment, but the Discriminate mode GB is done with internal trimmers.
The only other really odd problem with Ground Balance is the one I mentioned where
some models have a GB shifted by the Disc. level control.
heavymetalbeeper said:
Also, does it naturally loose depth as you discriminate up or does it remain stable?
That depends upon the particular Tesoro model. Some of the latter models have little if any loss with a high Disc. setting, but many or most of the earlier Tesoro models did lose a little depth as the Discrimination was increased close to a target's rejection point.
Monte
