Ground balance and offset question

[issombeituni]

So i been playing with my 705 and read the manual and hand book. Such a great help.

I have a few questions when running in manual ground balance after setting it why would u want to go + or - ? Whats the benefits

I read that some go + for sharper sound and some go - for deeper range??

Also the ground balance offset is tacking why use it?

 

[Old Longhair]

This will help explain part of it.

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?55,941152,941152#msg-941152

There is a wealth of info in the FAQFAQ pinned thread in this sub-forum.

 

[Digger]

Old Longhair referred you to an excellent post by Barnacle Bill. But in direct response to your specific question regarding ground balance offset in Tracking....... when you set your ground balance, you are locking in that ground phase until you set the ground balance again. Tracking is like having ground balance "on the fly" in that the X-TERRA continually monitors the ground mineralization, and compensates for it via adjustments of the ground phase. If you never use an offset with the manual ground balance, you won't likely find a use for it when you use tracking.

I've convinced myself that, in my soil, I can obtain a measurable increase in depth of detection by implementing a positive ground balance. It is almost like I am fooling the detector into thinking the ground is more mineralized than it actually is. So from my perspective, it detects deeper when it encounters less mineralization than it is expecting. I know this next part sounds backward....... but on the X-TERRA, moving the ground phase number to a smaller number is actually making a positive ground balance. And therefore, moving the ground phase to a larger number is actually running with a negative ground balance.
If I am in an area where the mineralization levels constantly change, like detecting a picked corn field near an old home site, I implement Tracking Ground Balance with a positive offset, and am confident I have done just about everything I can to compensate for any adverse affects imposed by magnetic mineralization from the ground. JMHO HH Randy

 

[issombeituni]

Wow thanks i had to read that a few times Digger. What is ur GB settings my are seems to be around 23-27

 

[Digger]

Many of the sites I hunt around here will ground balance in the mid to upper 30's, when using the stock 9-inch concentric at 7.5 kHz. Ground phase readings will vary with soils and coils. HH Randy

 

[hotrod53]

I would question if that holds true in PA soil. So may times I see my GB change from one side of the site to the other. I got used to using tracking and and just stick with it. My fear is that if I were to manual balance and even fool the detector by using a positive GB, the soil changes so drastically that it would be counter productive.

 

[Digger]

I would question if that holds true in PA soil. So may times I see my GB change from one side of the site to the other. I got used to using tracking and and just stick with it. My fear is that if I were to manual balance and even fool the detector by using a positive GB, the soil changes so drastically that it would be counter productive.

Question what? I said if you never use an offset with the manual ground balance, you won't likely find a use for it when you use tracking. I also said if I were in an area that the mineralization levels constantly changed, I'd be using Tracking GB with a positive offset.

If Tracking is good.... and implementing a positive offset improves upon that......having Tracking GB with an offset, where that offset value of the Tracking Ground Phase "follows" you as you hunt, has got to be the best of both worlds. HH Randy

 

[hotrod53]

Question what?

Question if there would ever be an instance that it would work in PA given the wide variation in ground mineralization, especially while making that comment I did not know that offset applied to tracking too. I get it ... you said

if you never use an offset with the manual ground balance, you won't likely find a use for it when you use tracking

. I was merely commenting that wide variations in my area may make it something that I may not be able to use.

I did however learn something thru this, I was not aware that if you created a + or - offset, that it would actually work in tracking... appartently it does. I thought that it would cancel and just track normally. I wonder if once power is turned OFF, if that offset dissapears or it stays in memory. If it stays, I could see an issue if one forgot that it was there and was offsetting his GB when he didn't mean to. My guess is that it goes away with a power cycle, can you clarify?

 

[Old Longhair]

It does NOT go away. The only thing that ever changes when you power it off, is that it will always power back up in a C/T pattern.

 

[Digger]

I did however learn something thru this, I was not aware that if you created a + or - offset, that it would actually work in tracking... appartently it does. I thought that it would cancel and just track normally. I wonder if once power is turned OFF, if that offset dissapears or it stays in memory. If it stays, I could see an issue if one forgot that it was there and was offsetting his GB when he didn't mean to. My guess is that it goes away with a power cycle, can you clarify?

Pages 18 - 23 of my eBook give an explanation of Ground Balance, Ground Balance Offset, Tracking and Tracking Ground Balance Offset. They are four different "settings" that help compensate for the effects of mineralization. However, I won't go into all that detail again here. To specifically address your recent comments / questions........

Creating an offset in "normal" ground balance does NOT have an effect on Tracking or Tracking GB Offset. If you were to establish an offset in "normal" ground balance, it would not be applied when you switched to Tracking. If you (either manually or Automatically) set your ground phase at 28, for example, then pressed the minus pad 5 times and locked it in, you would now be running with a positive offset of 5. It will remain at a positive offset of 28 until you re-ground balance or switch to Tracking. By the way.... if your X-TERRA includes Auto GB, use it. Auto GB is 10 times more accurate than setting it manually.
.
Tracking is the X-TERRA's ability to automatically update the ground phase as you hunt. I sometimes refer to is as ground balance "on the fly". As soil conditions change, so does the ground phase.

Tracking is another way of saying Tracking Ground Balance Offset without an offset. (neutral)

To implement an offset in Tracking, (either positive or negative) you must use Tracking Ground Balance Offset. Tracking Ground Balance Offset allows your X-TERRA to chose the most appropriate ground phase via Tracking AND and allows you to automatically offset it by up to 15 (either negative or positive). The ground phase number on your display will reflect this offset. This Tracking Ground Balance Offset number is retained when you turn your detector off and on. However, if there is any offset in Tracking, either positive or negative, the Tracking icon will blink as you hunt. If it is set at zero, (as with "regular" Tracking), the icon will not blink. Instructions on how to do this are on page 44 of the X-705 manual. HH Randy