GROUND BALANCING
WHAT IS GROUND BALANCING?
Why do I need to Ground Balance?
All soils contain minerals. Signals from ground minerals are often tens or hundreds of times as strong as the signal from a buried metal object. The magnetism of iron minerals, found in nearly all soils, causes one type of interfering signal. Dissolved mineral salts, found in some soils, are electrically conductive, causing another type of interfering signal.
Ground Balancing is the process by which the metal detector cancels the unwanted signals coming from the ground minerals
while still detecting the signals from buried metal objects. This is accomplished by matching the detector’s ground balance setting to the phase of the ground signal.
When the detector is calibrated to the soil, the result will be deeper target detection, quieter operation, and more accurate target identification.
How to Ground Balance your detector:
Ground Balancing procedure with the “Gnd Grab” touchpad.
1.Turn the detector on and select AT
2.Sweep searchcoil across ground to find a clear patch of ground with no metal present.
3.Rotate SENS knob to point where you hear a slight background hum.
4.Press and hold the GND GRAB touch pad, and pump coil over clean ground. (Note: pump coil from within 1” of ground to 6”- 8” above ground)
5.When the ground value “settles down” to only one or two numbers in variation, release the GND GRAB touch pad while still pumping the coil. Note that the Audio Response to the ground changed and “Evened Out” when you released the button. Also note that the Ground setting changed. After balancing, you can hunt in
The most accurate GROUND value is the value displayed when “pumping” the coil over the ground in an area free of metal.
Understanding ground conditions assists the user in setting up the machine, knowing when to readjust ground balance, and in understanding the responses of the machine while searching. This detector provides two kinds of ground data: 1. the amount of mineralization (the greater the amount of mineralization, the greater the loss of detection depth & ID accuracy; this loss is more pronounced in Discrimination Mode) 2. the type of mineralization (which affects mostly where the ground balance should be set).
Ground Balancing continued on next page
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