OK WHERE IS YOUR GAIN SET AT?

[silvereagle]

I keep getting mixed reviews on the minelab owners site,some say keep it low,some say max it.wow confused again i was told to high and you loose depth,then i was told to high loose sens.what is the consensus here?

 

[Gaz]

Nah......set it on 30.
I think there was some early confusion with the Volume Gain.
It just enhances faint, deeper signals. It won't effect depth. I have had mine on 30 for ages with no detrimental effect.
I think the confusion stemmed from it being called 'Gain'. Older detectors used the term 'Gain' for sensitivity.
In actual fact, looking at the manual, you probably are okay setting it to 28 or so.

Gaz.

 

[Tenspeed]

Based on discussions with Andy, who taught me how to use my E-Trac, I vary my gain based on what my machine tells me. If I see my sensitivity dropping below 20, I will reduce my gain (sometimes into the mid teens) until my sensitivity starts to climb. If you run volume gain too high, you will see more chatter or falsing and the machine will not run as stable. I rarely run my gain even into the 20's unless the ground will allow it.

I have found that by manipulating it in this way that my machine runs much more stable and I don't get the spurious signals that cause me to second guess what I am seeing. Andy put it like this..."It is like running with your high beams on in the fog".

 

[John - Maryland]

I like to run it at 26 or 27., most of the time,and it works well for me. I get too much falseing higher than that. But it really depends on the ground.

 

[gibsondan]

My amateur understanding of gain is that it simply amplifies the volume of signals...and that if you run it low then deeper coins will sound fainter. I've cranked gain up high and dropped it down low to hear the differences. At 30 the signal blows my eardrums out with headphones on. I could compensate by turning headphone volume down. Instead I put gain back on the factory preset of 24. If I hunted without headphones, I think I'd be more inclined to crank gain up to 30 so I could hear the signals better.

 

[Nick A]

Nah......set it on 30.
I think there was some early confusion with the Volume Gain.
It just enhances faint, deeper signals. It won't effect depth. I have had mine on 30 for ages with no detrimental effect.
I think the confusion stemmed from it being called 'Gain'. Older detectors used the term 'Gain' for sensitivity.
In actual fact, looking at the manual, you probably are okay setting it to 28 or so.

Gaz.

This is my understanding as well, though I would not set it on 30 myself. Gain only amplifies signals. I keep mine low, as I prefer to hear the soft tones of deep targets, and louder on shallow targets. Often I do not dig shallow targets at certain sites, so this helps me decide what signals I investigate further and which I don't bother with. If you have poor hearing or poor headphones, setting the gain high may help. But my understanding is that the gain is merely a "volume boost" so it's more personal preference on what you want to hear.

 

[jbow]

I wasn't sure what to do and after speaking with Andy about it I settled on Auto+3 in most cases. It is really stable and it is deep. I don't care to deal with a lot of falsing and in fact with auto+3 and ferrous/2 tone and the relic pattern I get no falsing and I hear everything. Mine usually runs in the low to mid 20s that way but sometimes it will drop to 18 or so. Every now and then, if the site is really bad, I have to lower it to Auto and it works just fine for me. I have tried running with the sens on 30 but it becomes unstable and I end up digging things that disappear once the hole is dug.

As far as my gain, I don't remember the number but I keep it at a little over half. I like to hear a little difference but not a whole lot, just enough to know that something is deeper. If I were only after deep targets, at a site where I knew that the ground hadn't been disturbed for 100 years... then I might use a little less gain but at most sites the ground has been disturbed over the years and I might find pulltabs at 6" and old coins at 4"... so you have to be careful relying on gain in parks or yards.

J

 

[Gaz]

The way I've set up my ETrac means that I can set the Volume Gain to 30 without causing any falsing. It just increases the volume on deep targets.
It's just the way I like it. It's not for everyone!
I prefer the deep targets to blast through just as loud as the shallow ones to ensure I don't miss 'em.

Gaz.

 

[gregliss]

I'm another one for gain of 30, ensures I don't miss the deepies. Depth guage and how it sounds in pinpoint quickly let you know how deep it is.

I did read once here that some guy in his test bed said one of his deep test targets would dissapear on lower gain settings...... can't remember any details. I think this target would have to have been right on the edge of detection range though. Worth testing for those that have deep test targets.

Cheers

 

[silvereagle]

hey thanks for all the great feedback i can se it is a matter of personal preference,i to stay around 24 as not to over compensate forr deep,deep targets.so i guess experimenting with the gain to suit your needs is best again thanks for the input.

 

[mascard1]

Run mine at auto +3...gain 28.... coin program..goes deep! seems like the deep wheats hit at 1-28..29...and I have dug a bunch!