Ground balance/sensitivity

[dirthunter308]

This may seem like a dumb question but is it necessary to ground balance every time you adjust sensitivity? Can you ground balance at a 10 sensitivity and lower it to say 5 without affecting the ground balance?

 

[u2robert]

Yes, ground balance every time you adjust Sensitivity if your in hot or medium soil.
Here in Florida the soil so neutral sometimes the detector will not GB so I leave the GB at factory preset 5 But
some say if this is the case it should be set at 10 not preset 5?
I have tried both 5 and 10 seen no difference.

 

[tvr]

I've found that there is little if any interaction between sensitivity setting and ground balance with a CZ. If you are in very highly mineralized ground, it pays to frequently check ground balance to make sure you are matched to the ground since in highly mineralized areas, the make up of the ground can change a lot in a short distance.

In the Daytona Beach area, I've observed pink sand streaks that need to be ground balanced to and checked as the density of the pink sand changes. Other parts of Florida, like the white sand beaches on some of the gulf coast ... they are very neutral as u2robert notes; you just need to worry about running in salt mode or not. If you can ground balance and run without salt mode, the detector will be slightly more sensitive to small gold, such as earring backs. If you have to run salt mode, do; it just takes a little bit of the small gold out of the mix. I've hit earing backs in salt mode, but not as often as when I can run without it.

 

[dirthunter308]

Is it best to ground balance with the sensitivity set at 10 or set at a lower number? I'm in Northern Vermont and the soil can change from place to place.

 

[tvr]

Is it best to ground balance with the sensitivity set at 10 or set at a lower number? I'm in Northern Vermont and the soil can change from place to place.

I normally ground balance using the bobbing method. In AutoTune set sensitivity for a hearable threshold and bob (raise and lower) the coil above the ground and adjust ground balance for no change in the threshold.

The only time I can run sensitivity anywhere near ten is in AutoTune (all metal) mode; and then it is around 8 to 9. In Disc mode it will normally false with sensitivity that high. In Disc mode, I run disc 0 and listen to all tones and listen for any bounce between tones. In AutoTune, set the sensitivity to were you get a just audible threshold tone and then ground balance and go hunting. If you are using one of the discrimination modes, do the ground balance then set sensitivity in the 4 range, flip to discrimination mode and see how things go. If you aren't getting falsing (non-repeatable hits on the ground) then take the sensitivity up a little. If you are getting false hits or are digging targets that disappear when you dig, take the sensitivity down a little.

When hunting AutoTune, I've found that you can leave the sensitivity high when you get over a target and just flip to disc 0 while over the target to get an ID. When sweeping over an already identified target with a short coil sweep will often not false hit and let you get more ID information without changing settings other than a mode flip.

 

[dirthunter308]

Thanks for the help guys!! I appreciate it.

 

[tvr]

Coil sweep speed is important. If you are hunting in discriminate mode 1 or higher to exclude iron, and are digging iron as a high tone signal, slow down the sweep. Also,some detection depth is lost if you sweep too fast. Play with it and learn its language. Even with all the newer detector designs out there, a CZ still produces and is deep.

 

[Mike Hillis]

Fisher CZ Ground balance settings affect target sensitivity. A ground balance setting closer to 10 increases sensitivity to high conductors and decreases sensitivity to low conductors. A ground balance setting closer to 1 decreases sensitivity to high conductors and increases sensitivity to low conductors.

In mineral free ground where you can't ground balance, set your ground balance to enhance the response of the targets you are after.

HH
MIke

 

[Mike Hillis]

Regards sensitivity settings....you need need to bench test your unit and see what sensitivity setting gives you max depth. You may achieve max depth at a sensitivity setting of 4. Raising your sensitivity above the max depth setting will not increase depth, but it will increase the size (footprint) of your coil, which can result in more target masking.

I think the only CZ's that have performance gains at Sensitivity 10 are the digital ones, and the newer ones 1st Texas is putting out where they have redone the sensitivity settings and made them more linear.

HH
Mike

 

[dirthunter308]

Regards sensitivity settings....you need need to bench test your unit and see what sensitivity setting gives you max depth. You may achieve max depth at a sensitivity setting of 4. Raising your sensitivity above the max depth setting will not increase depth, but it will increase the size (footprint) of your coil, which can result in more target masking.

I think the only CZ's that have performance gains at Sensitivity 10 are the digital ones, and the newer ones 1st Texas is putting out where they have redone the sensitivity settings and made them more linear.

HH
Mike

Thanks a bunch Mike Hillis!! I appreciate all the info. Looking forward to getting out with this CZ5.