Ground Balance knob

[synthnut]

A lot of the soil around me ground balances somewhere around 3 o’clock on my detector….Does anyone ,for example in my scenario, move their GB knob to the 12 o’clock position once it’s ground balanced ? I know it’s a minor quirk of mine, but it’s kinda like walking into a room and seeing a picture frame slightly tilted…Still the same picture, but it drives me nuts until I straighten the picture !

Has anyone tried the Tesoro trick whereby you ground balance your detector, and for a final step turn the GB knob 1/4 turn counter clockwise (negative GB ) ?…..Have you found it to work with the X to hit deeper targets ?

 

[Southwind]

I have used a slightly custom GB setting, but I haven't used a detector with a GB knob I many years.

 

[fwcrawford]

I do not own the the Vista X, but I own the Vaquero.
The “Trick” you are referring to is called “power balancing”.
Actually in doing this it is not as simple as ground balancing and then simply turn the knob 1/4” turn to negative… this setting could vary just as normal ground balancing.
From my understanding, many Tesoro’s if balanced spot on in all metal mode would be positive when switched to disc. mode.

 

[synthnut]

fwcrawford,
Actually, yes, it is that simple…I just recently bought my 2nd Vaquero and the results are the same….Both machines do and did run deeper after turning the GB knob 1/4 turn to the negative after ground balancing in all metal, and running in disc mode

In your own writing, you are saying the same thing…..When you are ground balancing, you are ground balancing in all metal….Therefore when switching to disc mode, you are running positive ground balance…By turning the GB knob back 1/4 turn, you are offsetting that difference

“From my understanding, many Tesoro’s if balanced spot on in all metal mode would be positive when switched to disc. mode.”

 

[fwcrawford]

fwcrawford,
Actually, yes, it is that simple…I just recently bought my 2nd Vaquero and the results are the same….Both machines do and did run deeper after turning the GB knob 1/4 turn to the negative after ground balancing in all metal, and running in disc mode

In your own writing, you are saying the same thing…..When you are ground balancing, you are ground balancing in all metal….Therefore when switching to disc mode, you are running positive ground balance…By turning the GB knob back 1/4 turn, you are offsetting that difference

“From my understanding, many Tesoro’s if balanced spot on in all metal mode would be positive when switched to disc. mode.”

I did not realize that, I figured it would also depend on the ground where you would have to set it at in disc mode.
Personally I always checked and adjusted the ground balance after switching back to disc mode.
I never really looked to see if the adjustment amount was the same each time… example…1/4 turn.

 

[JCR TX]

In my experience, the Vista X performs at it’s best with a spot on Ground Balance. This is especially important in mineralized soil conditions. Best depth & best Disc/Tone. Performing the GB in Disc mode is more precise than AM because you can hear the point where the tone response switches.

 

[synthnut]

I did not realize that, I figured it would also depend on the ground where you would have to set it at in disc mode.
Personally I always checked and adjusted the ground balance after switching back to disc mode.
I never really looked to see if the adjustment amount was the same each time… example…1/4 turn.

I’m not so sure if I’m spot on 1/4 of a turn, but somewhere in that general area when checking deep targets in my test garden…It’s surely deeper than actual GB in all metal, then switching to disc mode and dropping the GB back

 

[synthnut]

Check this out…

 

[fwcrawford]

Check this out…

Quite impressive!!!

 

[JCR TX]

Good video. I can almost bet he has fairly mild soil & the soil sets the rules on difficulty.

 

[Picketwire]

Moving the ground balance knob 1/4 turn on a 3/4 turn pot is like over 1 turn on a 3 1/2 turn pot like a Tesoro Vaquero plus most Tesoros, like the Vaquero, do not disc all the way down to eliminate all metal like the X. It would also make the all metal mode mostly useless.

 

[synthnut]

Moving the ground balance knob 1/4 turn on a 3/4 turn pot is like over 1 turn on a 3 1/2 turn pot like a Tesoro Vaquero plus most Tesoros, like the Vaquero, do not disc all the way down to eliminate all metal like the X. It would also make the all metal mode mostly useless.

I’m sure that it’s relative to how many turns the GB pot is…..I remember back in the day when folks were modding their Cibola’s to have GB,it was the Bourns pot that they used ….It had more turns on it…..Since having more turns, I would imagine the modded Cibola would have a more accurate GB, and that 1/4 turn might be say a 2/3 turn…. I remember too that guys who modded Cibolas liked them more than they liked the Vaquero….

 

[synthnut]

Good video. I can almost bet he has fairly mild soil & the soil sets the rules on difficulty.

The higher the mineralized soil, the initial ground balance would be different to begin with….This would be true even if you just did a normal GB …Again….It’s all relative…..I’ve used this on many different soils with great results…

 

[synthnut]

BTW….

The tesoro GB pot’s are 3 3/4 turns……The Bourns pots used to mod the Cibola were 10 turns !…..BIG difference !

 

[fwcrawford]

I do not usually use super tune my vaquero when detecting since my ground conditions vary even within a few feet sometimes.
I would spend too much time adjusting knobs back and forth.
Power balancing though seems like it does make quite a difference and I may have to give it a try.
I have read some say that running slightly positive gains more depth, and perhaps on some brands or models it does, but that did not make sense to me.
The power balancing does make sense though.

 

[fwcrawford]

Moving the ground balance knob 1/4 turn on a 3/4 turn pot is like over 1 turn on a 3 1/2 turn pot like a Tesoro Vaquero plus most Tesoros, like the Vaquero, do not disc all the way down to eliminate all metal like the X. It would also make the all metal mode mostly useless.

Did you mean to state that the Tesoro does not disc low enough to “accept” iron?

 

[Picketwire]

Did you mean to state that the Tesoro does not disc low enough to “accept” iron?

No, I meant it will not accept all iron. Sorry for the confusion. The X will reject all iron at the minimum setting so it has a greater range of GB but way less turns on the potentiometer.

 

[fwcrawford]

No, I meant it will not accept all iron. Sorry for the confusion. The X will reject all iron at the minimum setting so it has a greater range of GB but way less turns on the potentiometer.

I’m am confused… the Vaquero will not except iron at Minimum disc settings?
The Vista X will?

 

[Picketwire]

At minimum disc, the Vaquero will accept iron down to small nails, not BBs and such. It will detect larger nails and and above. The X will detect all iron, not just some like the Vaquero. There are a few Tesoros that disc all iron like the Compadre, and Mojave. The Vaquero doesn't go that low. The Vista X does.

 

[fwcrawford]

At minimum disc, the Vaquero will accept iron down to small nails, not BBs and such. It will detect larger nails and and above. The X will detect all iron, not just some like the Vaquero. There are a few Tesoros that disc all iron like the Compadre, and Mojave. The Vaquero doesn't go that low. The Vista X does.

Now I understand!!!LOL
Yep, I understand the Vaquero will not adjust low enough in disc to pick up all sized iron.
Thanks for clearing this up!!