How to Set Up a Metal Detector
The sensitivity “sensitivity control” on a metal detector is……. how sensitive it is to the influence of its magnetic field. If you have the sensitivity set high, perhaps maximum, the detector will be sensitive and detect small objects and objects that lie deep in the ground.
It is optimal to have the detector sensitivity setting set to maximum. But that can also mean that the detector generates many false signals if you, e.g. detect on mineralized ground.
Mineralization and Power lines
Of course, you always want to detect as deeply as possible and find small and large discoveries. But there may be times when the Metal Detector gives false signals or behaves strangely, meaning you must reduce the sensitivity slightly.
It may be due to the nature of the soil, mineralization or electrical disturbances from power lines, electric fences or the like. Then, lower the sensitivity to reduce the interference. Just a few steps down can do wonders.
Affects Depth and size of Finds
The sensitivity setting will affect, for example, the depth of your search, but it’s always better to reduce the sensitivity if you get too many false signals. Sometimes, you can get false signals that can be difficult to explain, then lower the sensitivity and see if that fixes the problem.
Metal Detector Sensitivity Settings❗
Start with the sensitivity set to maximum and see if you get any false signals. If it works, you can continue like that, but if you start getting many strange signals and don’t know what’s causing it, lower the sensitivity a couple of steps and see if it gets better.
How to Ground Balance a Metal Detector ❓
Ground balance is how the Metal Detector determines what is a find in the dirt that is worth digging for or what are just ordinary minerals that occur in the soil.
When you start your metal detector, it either does an automatic ground balance (the most common), or you have to do a manual one. It then tries to estimate how much minerals are in the soil where you will search.
Automatic Setting of the Metal Detector
The automatic ground balancing of a detector does a good job, which is sufficient for most purposes. But if you search on slightly more difficult ground, such as saltwater beaches or look for Gold on mineralized ground, a somewhat more advanced setting of Ground Balance may be needed.
Effective Balancing gives Better Results.
Ground Balance is a setting that increases efficiency in mineralized ground. The minerals in the soil respond to a detector’s magnetic field in the same way that a target in the ground does.
It is easy for metal detectors to miss small targets in the ground if they still need to be calibrated to distinguish between soil/ground and metal objects. The soil may contain, for example, salts, iron particles or other minerals, which means that the Metal Detector cannot correctly read its magnetic field.
There are three primary types of Ground Balance.
Manual Ground Balance: Adjust the ground balance manually so that you get minimal interference from the ground.
Automatic Ground Balancing: The detector automatically selects the best ground balance. Quick, easy and usually sufficient for us amateurs.
Ground Balance Tracking: The detector constantly adjusts the ground balance during detection. This means that the ground balance is always optimal.
