X-Terra 705 ground balance

[harryh31]

When setting up.......if you activate automatic ground balance when in all metal mode........and then decide to change the dicrimination pattern later, to say.. mode 2.........do you have to reset the ground balance again. ?

 

[mapper65]

I would say no. You are simply adding discrimination on top of the all metal mode. You do have to take into consideration that when you decide to go into a pattern, if you've moved a great distance from where you originally ground balanced, it would be a good idea to re-ground balance one more time in All Metal mode before going into a pattern.

 

[Old Longhair]

If all you do is switch from C/T mode to All Metal, then "no".
If changing to Beach Tracking mode or Prospecting mode from C/T or AM, then "yes".

 

[ramairnut]

I will re-ground balance evry so often when hunting a big area such as a park but I always re-ground balance when I am about to search a tot lot at a park. I have found that alot of parks have fill-dirt brought in when they build a tot lot and the GB numbers can be quite different from the main park along with the fact that the wood chips they use on top really hold in a lot of moisture.(at least the parks in my area)

 

[harryh31]

Hello Mapper65,

Thanks for your reply ...very helpful.....Just returning to 'Tecking after an absence of about 7 years and upgraded from Whites Coinmaster 111 to X-Terra 705...... "Quite a jump up".


West Midlands U>K>
X-Terra 705
Coil 10.5" round DD 7.5 kHz
Whites Coinmaster 111
Whites Bullseye 11 pointer
Black ada sod buster

 

[mapper65]

I'm sure you will be very happy with the 705. Just be patient with it and before you know it you'll be doing very well with it.

 

[foiler]

Tot lots useually contain some form of sand. Sand will usually GB differently. Anytime you change the medium your detecting you should ground balance for that area. If your searching a parking strip along a sidewalk then move a few feet to an unpaved parking area re ground balance your machine. The unpaved area is often gravel mixed with fill dirt and will contain a different mineralization than the sod in the grass sidewalk strip.

 

[jimpote03]

I often hunt is heavily trashy areas with my 705. Not because I want to but because I have no choice. Sometimes I am not able to use the auto ground balance feature because I'm getting so many hits under my coil. I have been relying on the ground tracking feature to find the correct ground balance. Is this a good idea or does someone have a better way to ground balance?

 

[mapper65]

Sometimes I am not able to use the auto ground balance feature because I'm getting so many hits under my coil. I have been relying on the ground tracking feature to find the correct ground balance. Is this a good idea or does someone have a better way to ground balance?

I would say that using Ground Balance Tracking in that scenario is not a good idea. The reason that I say that is the trash gets figured in the equation of the ground balance which means that more than likely you will not have an accurate ground balance which can possibly keep you from finding good targets.

My suggestion would be one of two things. I would ether try and find an area relatively close to where you are detecting and Auto Ground Balance there or what I typically do is that I have found that in most areas within 20 miles or so of where I live, a common ground balance number is around 28. If I get in a situation like you're in, I will manually set my detector to 28 and use that. Granted this may not be completely accurate because often times soil can change within a common area but 85% of the time my Auto Ground Balance is around 28-30 so I've found that works for me.

Hope this helps.

 

[Old Longhair]

I have been relying on the ground tracking feature to find the correct ground balance. Is this a good idea or does someone have a better way to ground balance?

I personally wouldn't hunt an area like that any other way.
IMO, the concept of GB Tracking "absorbing" a target is mythical. The re-sampling rate is frequent (about 30 times a minute). It's phase angle range of adjustment falls short of targets that are conductive enough to register above the low end of the detection range, and it is designed to discriminate a range within parameters of magnetic and conductive ground minerals (primarily salt and iron).

Some machines have Auto Sens (example being an Explorer), and some believe that in manual mode they can push the machine to greater depths than the Auto feature allows. This could easily be true. But Ground Tracking doesn't work that way, and we have the ability to offset GB in Tracking mode if we find we can keep the machine stable at a slightly different setting.

I find very little down side to running the Tracking feature.

 

[jimpote03]

Looks like we may have a difference of opinion on this issue so I'm somewhat confused. Should I or should I not rely on GB Tracking when I can't find a clear space to auto GB? I know trashy areas are problematical and most everyone I've spoken with have a different idea. I do know - you have to slow down your swing a lot!!
Thanks for all your ideas. Wish I had discovered this forum sooner.

 

[Old Longhair]

I guess that the best way I can put it, is that the response speed of the Xterra is slow, but recovery is really pretty fast, as is the Tracking. So I would say yes, rely on Tracking in heavy trash especially. On more open and consistant ground is where I might be more inclined to run in manual and push it, but even then the Offset feature can do that and maintain a constant level of compensation relative to variations in conditions.

 

[hitchhiker]

i use tracking nearly all the time as i haven't noticed a target disapearing like its says it could in the manual. ive had it detect a small target in manual auto mode then ive put it in tracking to see if i can lose the target but it dont seem to
you can still track in manual auto mode in a trashy place just detect a spot and remove all targets then auto ground balance in the same spot.

 

[Digger]

If you set the Ground Balance manually, or let the detector set a Ground Balance Automatically, that ground phase is set until you change it. That means that the detector is "locked in" to a specific setting that neutralizes the effects of mineralization, based on the information gained from where the coil was located when you set the GB. If you were bobbing over a piece of trash, the ground phase is set thinking the entire site is mineralized to the extent of that piece of trash. Regardless, if you are sweeping over trash, targets or in the clear.....the degree to which the detector neutralizes the effects of mineralization won't "update" until you re-establish another ground phase level.

When you use Tracking, the X-TERRA automatically updates the ground phase relationship between the earth and the detector, on the fly. That means the detector is continually updating that ground phase setting. So, regardless of whether the coil is on a piece of trash or in wide open territory when you turn on Tracking, the X-TERRA senses the immediate level of mineralization, establishes the proper ground phase and updates that ground/coil relationship throughout the hunt.

Bottom line...... if the area is so cluttered that you can't find a place where there isn't a target under the coil, you are not going to be able to obtain an accurate GB setting manually or automatically. And if it is so cluttered that you can't perform a GB, I'd opt for Tracking. Even though you may not be getting an accurate ground phase relationship between actual earth and the coil at the point in time you turn on Tracking, at least it will update during the sweep and you'll have the advantage of it adjusting the ground phase "on the fly" as you hunt the site. JMHO HH Randy

 

[jimpote03]

Thanks for all the great advice. It seems not matter what trashy areas are always going to be a problem. that I have to live with. I will continue to use the Tracking mode for those areas. Maybe the "Digger" coil is in my future.

 

[Goodbaja]

If its that trashy of a site probably just using some plastic or wood stakes I would make a 3x3 or 4x4 foot square and string it off. Grid that area every direction until clean. Even just turning on the machine and going into all metal and noise cancel should help you clean it out. Start with 10-15 sensitivity and raise it 5 after every grid to 25 if it runs stable. After its clean you should have a spot to ground balance. Just leave the string up if you can if not get some lawn paint and mark it. After that start gridding areas 5x5 feet square around it each side and corner. Good luck. Use a 6inch dd if you can.

 

[fdl]

Good morning folks.....From what I' m gathering here about GB tracking is that there is not a scenario where it wouldn't be beneficial to use. If that is the case why not ALWAYS leave it on? Accept of course when a target is detected you then may want to turn it off to pinpoint. People use manual & auto but it seems to me tracking is ALWAYS the way to go plus you have the offset feature.

 

[Old Longhair]

I use some offset often, of course depending on the site and frequency selected, so I typically have the tracking on. I personally see very little downside to letting the machine do something more often and more accurately than I can, and with the offset feature I have the ability to manipulate even that to some extent if I feel it gives me an added advantage.

 

[fdl]

I use some offset often, of course depending on the site and frequency selected, so I typically have the tracking on. I personally see very little downside to letting the machine do something more often and more accurately than I can, and with the offset feature I have the ability to manipulate even that to some extent if I feel it gives me an added advantage.

O.K.,so when I find a site to detect my procedure is #1 noise cancel #2 auto ground balance #3 set tracking on#4 set sensitivity as needed & adjust when & if needed. No matter what the ground balance comes in at I feel that having tracking on helps in that I don't need to recheck my GB every so often. As far as offset goes,I'm still trying to wrap my head around when this feature would be a benefit. I'll reread the manual again plus Digger's on line book.....Thanks.

 

[Old Longhair]

Page 22.

I also have it handy.

A feature unique to the 705 is Tracking Ground Balance Offset. In
simple terms, this allows the user to run in Tracking and at the same
time, maintain a Ground Balance setting that varies from the one