Congrats on your new Anfibio! It would be best to always identify which of the 3 Anfibio models you have...the 14, the 19, or the Multi. I'm sure --over time-- you will love it as you begin to understand the different setups and what works best for you. The Anfibio is a very high performance machine that does take care in setup. But VERY EASY TO OPERATE ONCE YOU SET UP YOUR PREFERRED SETTINGS AND --SAVE THEM--. Then it is a simple turn it on and go detecting! __THE BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE YOU IS TO READ YOUR OWNERS MANUAL OVER AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND IT ALL.__ I tend to read my manuals through 4 times each.
ANY TIME THE MACHINE DOES NOT SEEM RIGHT......SIMPLY DO A FACTORY RESET. Time and again you will try out things or forget which key to press (normally the + or - for adjustments) and press the wrong key with no idea of how to reverse your key selection. Not to fret...because the only answer is a --simple factory reboot--. Do this by pressing the FD/SAVE BUTTON in the FAR RIGHT "OPTIONS" COLUMN. Then there are a couple simple steps as outlined in your owners manual again under FACTORY DEFAULT/SAVE(FD/SAVE) 3 PARAGRAPHS DOWN. (No reason for me to repeat it all here if you have your manual). (Read about this button on page 23).
Now the nice thing about becoming friends with this particular button is that in addition to giving you a complete reboot to factory settings, this button can also be used to SAVE YOUR SETTINGS. So on start up, you do not have to reset each time your mode, your frequency, your gain (power/sensitivity level) level of discrimination, ISAT (intelligent self adjusting threshold) ***VERY IMPORTANT*** THIS (iSAT) COMES DEFAULT ON 1, IN MOST LOCATIONS AND SOILS YOUR MACHINE WILL HAVE NOTICEABLY MORE POWER WHEN THIS IS SET TO ZERO (0)...BIG DIFFERENCE! BE SURE TO REMEMBER THIS ONE! Once you try it both ways, I doubt you will forget. ANOTHER GOOD REASON TO SET UP THE MACHINE AS YOU LIKE IT, THEN SAVE THE PROGRAM. "SET IT AND FORGET IT."
OK...on to your questions... You are correct in saying that the TONE VOLUME must be set in groupings, no individual VDI numbers. Which to me is perfect. To try and remember a certain tone to 1 exact number (the way they fluctuate) would be an exercise in futility for me. These small groupings are very nice to adjust the TONE VOLUME on. For example: The --really great benefit-- to me is not having the machine lose power by using a lot of discrimination. Instead leave discrimination off or very low, and adjust the TONE VOLUME down to 1 for the heavy ferrous. (Setting on TONE VOLUME are from 1 to 5, 5 the loudest). This way you can still slightly hear your discriminated ferrous iron, but have the volume way low, down at 1. But now the discrimination of the machine does not have to work with its detrimental effects on good targets nearby (like low reading small gold rings, etc.) and the overall loss of power from using discrimination. You will easily understand the process the first time you try it out. Again... DO NOT BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT... your mistakes are easily cleared with a factory reset! Practice and learn by DOING. Just today I was out in the yard with mine, learning some advanced techniques.
Then go through EACH NUMBER GROUPING SHOWING ON THE SCREEN, and adjust each one from 1 to 5. Again...lots of flexibility for what YOU like. The number of groups will vary based on which mode you are using. For example there are 1,2,3,4,5,99, & specialty modes. I would suggest the easy to follow and setup THREE TONE MODE for beginning. Just to get the feel for the machine. Be aware that the factory has made adjustments to each mode such as the default power level, and types of soils recommended for that mode. A lot more happens when you switch modes than just getting more VDI groupings!
Practice what works best for you, how aggressive you want to be, how much background noise you are willing to tolerate. Start simple, go easy. The machine is VERY, VERY POWERFUL... and does not need a lot of coaxing to get it down into the depths. More often than not... less is more with this Anfibio. When you get good and have your modes learned, and your favorite settings saved...you are all set to build on those skills as you prefer. Or keep a simple easy to use machine, that is the benefit of the Anfibio...the versatility.
Any other questions...just shoot...but first read the manual slowly and carefully cover to cover.
And I HIGHLY SUGGEST Building your own "Test Bed" dug in your yard.... bury a coin of each denomination...put some coins down deep at 8 & 10", put a quarter at a FOOT DEEP....now for practice try all the different modes. Then just for FUN...try the "DEEP MODE" and see if the results please you...you will have one big ear to ear grin on your face, THAT I will assure you!
All the Best and Good Luck DirtMiner!
Jack Barlow