NEW NOX Ground Balance Question

Auto GB is putting the Nox in GB mode and pumping the coil while you hold down the accept reject button until it beeps and you get stable GB numbers on the screen. Manual is doing the same thing except you manually adjust the GB number with the plus/minus buttons until the machine becomes stable. The manual suggest it's best to use Auto GBing if you are going to GB.

I know your pain, but if you look hard enough you can find a clean spot. You don't have to GB in the exact spot you are detecting. It can be on the periphery as long as the soil type is the same.

hikerdude said:

I auto ground balance because, it's so hard to find clean ground with my NOX to manual GB. Am I doing something wrong? Should I just put GB on Zero?

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A zero GB covers it all, in multi frequency.

Thank you longbow and thank you Martin.
Multi frequency Zero GB or look hard until I find clean ground and then GB. I will take both of your reccomandations to my hunting sites. Thank you both again.
HH everyone

Congrats on your new Nox!

I turn machine on, do the noise cancel, and go.

It’s setup in Field 2, and tracking gb.

Someday maybe I’ll learn more about it.

When i GB instead of just using 0,,, i get numbers from the low 30's to high 40's. I have great success with my machine. I think why some people may struggle with deep great finds like i find is because they just put in on zero and go. If i were to do this where i normally hunt my GB would be off 30 to 40 points. You can basically hunt with any machine and not GB it and still find things but to me for the really deep iffy masked targets i think by GB'ing to the actual ground makes the difference in my deep iffy finds.

So far i have not hunted a spot with my NOX on zero and then rehunted the same spot after a GB performed by me, to see the difference it might make.

Martin_V3i said:

A zero GB covers it all, in multi frequency.

Click to expand...

Not correct. A '0' setting is just a handy setting regardless of the unit being in the Multi-IQ function or a selected single frequency. The Equinox is always going to improve the detector's performance and help reduce any possible falsing caused by having an errant GB for the mode you're using.

hikerdude said:

I auto ground balance because, it's so hard to find clean ground with my NOX to manual GB. Am I doing something wrong? Should I just put GB on Zero?

Click to expand...

By "auto ground balance" are you referring to 'Tracking' or an Automated GB where you bob the search coil over a spot of ground? If you are referring to 'Tracking,' I suggest not to, especially if a lot of the area is 'unclean' due to nails, rusty tin or other ferrous discards.

Forum readers should know that here we are talking about the Ground Balance settings as they relate to the Equinox 800 and not to other makes and models they might own or be interested in. Many makes and models have an Automated GB or even a Manual GB control, but with some it only functions in the Threshold-based All Metal mode and is NOT fully functional for the Discriminate mode(s).

Fortunately, the Equinox series does have GB capability. I own and use two of the Vanquish 540 Pro Pack models and they do not have a user-controlled GB. That renders them with a design issue that can cause falsing, and the Equinox displays the same issue in some modes as well. It is correctable, however, with an Automated or Manual GB adjustment ... or should be.

'hikerdude,' I know what you mean about some sites having a really terrible amount of debris that makes it difficult to find a clear spot to GB, but I handle this in a couple of ways. One is that some of these are gold mining era ghost towns and with one detector I use the 'average' GB setting for that general area ... outside of the townsite proper ... has a GB numeric phase read-out in the '81+' to '85' range. On those two models I have the luxury of 'Saving' the GB setting so that they start out with that GB as a default when turned On.

A different model has a manual GB control and I keep it set close to where most of that challenging ground needs adjusting. The four other models I use with a GB function have either an Automated GB or a Manual GB control, so until I encounter an open area to GB, I adjust the GB for several nearby areas close to the hunt site and remember that manual GB setting. Then, when at the hunt locations, I just manually adjust the detector's GB setting to that numeric read-out and should usually be ready-to-hunt.

Depending upon the terrain, you can also look around for several exposed rocks of serious size. Use the rocks to adjust the detector's GB setting, and if they vary a lot, then use the GB setting for the more mineralized rock for that area. Detector designs and limitations vary, but these suggestions should help.

Monte

Hi Monte,

I use the Equinox and Vanquish. In the Arizona and Colorado gold fields. I often have to reject -9,-8, and sometimes -7 to take care of excessive ground noise and some hot rocks even after careful ground balancing with the Equinox. It still gives iron responses and does not seem to affect depth using Gold 1 or Gold 2 on the Equinox 800.

I and another far more knowledgeable Vanquish 540/Equinox 800 user have been experimenting with the positive-negative ground balance issue that you noticed on the Vanquish. Setting up a custom program or pre-adjusting any of the stock programs with just -9,-8 and maybe -7 rejected quiets down the Vanquish too in hot ground and in heavy iron trash. The constantly adjusting internal ground balance required for the simultaneous multi frequencies of the Vanquish to operate on higher mineralization/iron just seems to be a bit overwhelmed at times.

Jeff