Noise cancelling. Digger. You are a genius!

[Mick in Dubbo]

Or more correctly, you read the manual.
I read one of your posts the other day about using the noise cancelling feature. It's been one of those overlooks features to me that just didn't seem important. I've also been wondering and frustrated as to why the visual information is usually so unreliable on the X-terra unless I've been putting the high frequency DD coils on. It's unreliability has driven me nuts at times. So today I decided it was time to use it. Wow! what a difference! Even with the standard coil on, vastly improved!! I feel a bit of a goose for not realising it's importance.
Thanks for keeping all your tips coming. It's appreciated.
Mick Evans.

 

[David]

Noise Cancelling is a just standard proceedure, and not a genius idea :blush:

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Did I say I felt a bit silly. It seems that I'm not alone as I've come across a few folks that have had the same problem. So if I'm exposing my ignorance of something basic then it's worth it if it helps others.
You know what is said about common sense. It probably applies to reading instruction manuals too. Why did Minelab make a detector that is so user friendly that you don't bother reading it. I'd better stop typing because I might just be digging a bigger hole for myself.
Mick Evans.

 

[aussie]

not so Mick I think we all need to be reminded about noise cancell as well as all facets of these machines. There is a very good Kevin Hoagland piece on this very subject aussie

 

[Snoopy36]

I thought you should only play with the noise cancel feature if the machine is showing erratic behavior. I never touch mine and I'm still finding goodies... hang on maybe I'll find more if I do play with the feature...hmmmmm

snoop

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

It the fact that the X-Terra doesn't appear to be erratic is what I think, lulls us into a false sense that it's stable. Have you noticed how the depth meter seems to what to show max depth on every target. That's the hint that a noise cancel is in order. When that's going on, you'll find that the numeric display is going to be a lot less accurate. You won't notice it being inaccurate unless you are recovering targets that are off their normal numbers or you just think that it sounded good. In conversation with other experienced users that have owned X-Terra's, it surprising how many of them have been caught out like this. They have commented on either the lack of reliability of the numbers or how useless the depth meter is.
It seems that the high frequency DD coils seem to be unaffected by it and always seems to be accurate. That's why I've been using them. I only bought the 6in DD a couple of weeks ago.
All the same, I think I'll use this feature each time I fire up.
Mick Evans.

 

[Snoopy36]

ok then. I'll give it a go next time. But which way do I go with the noise cancel? I think right now it is set at Zero - do i go +1 or -1???

Hmmm... confused

Cheers
Snoopy

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

n/t

 

[kiwi-jim]

I'm a bit confused now,I understood that the noise cancel should be set evertime it is switched on.Mostly because of atmospheric conditions and the locality of power lines etc.
I do it just as matter of course or am I wrong....cheers

 

[Snoopy36]

oh but i do have it on Auto Noise Cancel (i think)

 

[Digger]

Man, I hated to change the title of the topic. I've been referred to by a lot of different names. But genius is not usually one of them! Thanks Mick!
Regardless.....
Auto Noise Cancel initially sets the Noise Cancel channel automatically. It does not continually update the Noise Cancel Channel as you hunt. I always set my NC everytime I turn on my X-TERRA. I reset it when I change locations, I reset it when I change coils, I reset it periodically throughout the hunt if there are towers or overhead power lines in the vicinity. And, if I notice a change in Threshold level or interference of any sort, the first thing I do is reset the NC channel. If you are getting erratic behavior due to "mixed signals" between the coil and the control housing, make sure you are operating with the proper noise cancel channel before making any other adjustments. JMHO HH Randy

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Thanks for the extra info Randy.I didn't know that it didn't update. I'd better pull the manual out and give it a good read. I only half read it before.
What you said in that post didn't hit me initially, but when I started to play around with the X-Terra. When I remembered what you had said, I used the NC and the result was a real light bulb moment for me. I've always enjoyed the tones and general set up of the X-Terra's and realising how to get the visual info to be more reliable, is going to make hunting with it all the more enjoyable.
Cheers.
Mick Evans

 

[aussie]

I would like to add my voice to this post as by resetting noise cancel I have got much better results in really hot ground............will experiment further. Marco at Minelab Sydney has been very helpful on the same subject I really welcome this type of stuff as the machine is really so complex compared to a tracker 1v which I started with