Guidelines for correct ground balance and setting of metal detector BLISSTOOL LTC64X (THE BEAST).

[BLISSTOOL]

Guidelines for correct ground balance and setting of metal detector BLISSTOOL LTC64X (THE BEAST).

This article contains guidelines for correct ground balance and setting of metal detector BLISSTOOL LTC64X (THE BEAST), as for illustration and a better understanding of the matter, are described some common user errors in this area.

This material is intended mainly for users who are already familiar and have experience with THE BEAST. The beginners should first get acquainted with the user guide of THE BEAST.

The combination: "GAIN=MAX + FRUQUENCY=MIN (TURBO/BOOST mode)" is suitable only for low to medium mineralized soils and only when they are DRY. This combination in WET soils, and/or in medium or highly mineralized soils and/or in soils saturated with large amounts of salts, can lead to an overload of the electronics, which can results in a dulling and partial or full rejection of the signal from some non-ferrous objects.

It should not be forgotten that if soon there was rain, etc., even the surface soil is dry, in depth (which usually are the metal objects) it is probably still wet.

Common mistakes is when the user can not easily make ground balance or when it is objectively not possible to make ground balance of the detector, to adjust GROUND COARSE in medium setting or close to it, or with setting for ground balance to ferrite. Where is the mistake? The error in this case is that your BLISSTOOL detector tells you, actually screams, figuratively speaking, something like this: "Buddy, your settings of GAIN, FREQUENCY and THRESHOLD (written on the degree of influence of the strong to the weak), are too high and impossible for this soil. Please reduce them to facilitate the work of both of us and will have no care". Instead, some users set GROUND COARSE at their discretion and apply different tricks (mostly wrong for the case) to cause the detector to work with these impossible settings for this soil. And yes, THE BEAST continues to work, but not in the best way, which in some cases may be far from optimal, for example in highly mineralized soils and in soils saturated with large amounts of salts.

Also must not forget that:

- For hot rocks and soils, containing ferrous metals and their oxides (for example: iron and iron oxides), the manual ground balance is done in mode "All metal", i.e. with off discrimination of the metal detector (DISCR LEVEL = 0, DISCR DEPTH = 0). After the manual ground balancing on the hot rock, are set the user-selected levels of discrimination (for example: DISCR LEVEL = 4 - 5, DISCR DEPTH = 8.5 - 9.0).

- For hot rocks and soils containing non-ferrous metals and their oxides, because of their presence, usually manual ground balance in mode "All metal", i.e. with off discrimination of the metal detector (DISCR LEVEL = 0, DISCR DEPTH = 0) is not possible. In this case, the manual ground balance is performed with prior set discrimination of the metal detector (for example: DISCR LEVEL = 4 - 5, DISCR DEPTH = 8.5 - 9.0).

It is important to know this in situations where there is difficulty with the ground balance, even at low levels of GAIN.

The TURBO/BOOST mode of THE BEAST is designed to be completely stable and some users use switching from mode NORMAL (FREQUENCY=MAX) to mode TURBO/BOOST (FREQUENCY=MIN) to stabilize the detector at high setting of GAIN, but this is the wrong practice, especially in wet soil. Proper practice is to decrease the GAIN level.

Furthermore, with a random medium setting of GROUND COARSE, is permitted to work only at low mineralized soils. On medium or highly mineralized soils, is necessarily (strictly required), to make individual fine-tune ground balance setting to the soil.

The correct ground balance, in addition to ensuring stability and lack of false signals, provides correct discrimination (identification). In incorrect ground balance, the error signal from the ground (the soil) is summed with the signal from the target (the metal object), leading to incorrect identification (discrimination). This is particularly evident at medium and highly mineralized soils (they achieved ground balance at levels of GROUND COARSE = 5-8) and in soils saturated with large amounts of salts (they achieved ground balance at low levels of GROUND COARSE = 2-4), or in infinite possible combination of the two.

Also must not forget, that after each change of the setting of GAIN and/or FREQUENCY, is strictly required to make a new ground balance.

The soils saturated with large amounts of salts, are biggest trap, especially for beginners, because although they seem harmless at first glance, given that most of them are low or medium mineralized (soils with low or medium content of metals and metal oxides) and allow work at relatively wide range of settings, they require fine tuning of the ground balance and work with lower levels of discrimination (levels lower than the standard used). Otherwise, can cause to blinding of the signal from non-ferrous objects as ferrous, which effect is available also in high mineralized soils (soils with high content of metals and metal oxides). Unlike them, however, the soils saturated with large amounts of salts, visible, are a big problem, only when they are wet.

Also, in all problematic/complex soils, after ground balance in the conventional manner by vertical movements, it is necessary to check for false signals with horizontal movements and if need to adjust the level of GROUND COARSE with about +- 0.5 - 1.0 level, up to disappearance of the false signals. This additional setting provides better working of the automatic stabilizers available in THE BEAST v4, v5 and v6 and is essential in wet soils and at higher levels of GAIN.