what is Ground Balance

[BukkDigger]

This might be a stupid question, but being a newbie to md, and it seems y,all like to share your knowlede I will ask away...What is ground balance, Auto ground balance, manual balance, and Fixed ground? The Track setting flew right over my head too. I went to Chucks site and read finds page and I was blown away I suggest ALL THE NEWBIES check this out. Talk about inspiring. Made my mouth water and surely raised an eyebrow, again and again....Can't wait to figure this out. If it was't dark I'd go dig up my yard right now... Also I saw a link to "ghost towns in your area" somewhere on this site and cant find it now, can one of you nice diggers point me there? I could go on all night but I'll save some questions for later.
Is there a good "beginners book" y'all know of?
OK, OK, bye...
anxiousely awaiting your reply(s):

[JCWhite]

Ground balance in any form is just a way for your detector to factor out the Minerals in the ground that are conductive.

[johnj45586]

I'm not a true expert on the subject, but my general electronic knowledge may help.
The MD generates an electrical field with a frequency of operation. Most of the low end detectors are VLF or Very Low Frequency around 8-16 Kilohertz (thousand cycles per second).
The presence of a conductive mass in the field causes an imbalance that generates a tone. Ferromagnetic materials affect the field in a special way. The field generated by the coil(s) of the metal detector has an "E" component (~voltage) and an "M" component (~magnetic).
With most detectors the ferro magnetic materials cause a low tone (or if there is only one tone for the detector, a "thready" tone).
Things containing aluminum, copper, silver and gold have higher conductivity than the soil around them. Usually there is a variety of higher pitched tones. The ACE 250, for instance, makes a bell tone for the good stuff.
But most of the low end detectors have Automatic Ground Balance (AGB). This is good in an area where ground is fairly constant, like dry sand. But in a location like the beach when you get to the wet sand, especially where the waves are washing the shore, there is considerable ground variability.
This is caused by minerals in the sand. By the pacific ocean there is a lot of black sand which has high mineral content.
When you swing a MD with AGB here the variation in the ground sets off non-repeatable false alarms. You might try swinging slower, lessen sensitivity and/or change discrimination. But that usually does no good.
In areas like Colorado there is a large amount of red soil that is iron oxide. That has the same effect as the black sand on the wet sand.
I would expect that different areas of the country have different ground variability issues.
Higher end detectors have a manual ground balance adjustment. These are usable in the water and in highly mineralized soil. I have no experience with them. You will have to check out the MD machine forums for info from the users of these machines.
If you go to the home location of TQ you will see the listing of the ghost town forums by state. There are some fantastic lists there.
I search in the dark more and more as we move away from the summer solstice. I start at 5 am (or a little before) and search until 8 am at my main search site. I have a simple one led clip on flashlight for my hat to check my finds. Don't stick your hands in a dark hole unless you are wearing gloves.
Metal detecting is a matter of interpreting the tones you hear. Learn your machine. The display is just an interesting distraction.
Hopefully this is some useful information for you. Get out there, detect, have fun and please post your finds on this forum.
Happy hunting.

[BukkDigger]

Thanx J.C, and John. Your knowledge helped a lot, you answered a lot of my questions with a very easy read, nice post. I’m really getting hooked on this. Can't wait to get out again. Been very busy, my daughter is getting married tomorrow (today) so I haven’t been detecting but three times. I saw a place on the way to the wedding rehearsal today (yesterday) in a small town near where I live (Galt Ca.) where they have an annual craft fair, parade, and very popular mud volleyball tournament that I have forgotten about. I have no Idea if it’s been detected but I think that will be my next look-see…

I live in the gold country here, 45 minutes from Sutter Creek an hour to Coloma, where the big gold rush began in 1848. Any tips where to go find some relics and/or gold?????

I am 30 minutes to Comanche Reservoir and I’ve read there was a bit of gold there before it was built (flooded). Any tips for detecting there??????

[The TINMAN]

Hello & Welcome to TQ. Ask ALL the questions you have, thats what we're all about. IMPO. you won't find a more Giving and Sharing bunch of Folks than right here. I see JC. & John pretty much covered the GB question and as far as the Ghost Towns, they are back on the main page of the site. Just click on the State and you will get a list by counties. This is all thru the hard work & time of Free2detect. A wealth of Info. Don't know what kind of detector your swinging but if you do have Manual ground balance IT IS KEY that you have it right. depending on what your using you can also go to the main page, scroll down to Metal detectors forums & Sub-forums by Manuf. & model and post there and get info from those using the same machine. Hope this helps a little and as we all say here just ask all the questions you want. Info for one is Info for All. Just keep Practicing & learn the tones ( the Language ) that your detector is speaking and you'll be finding good stuff in no time at all.

Good Luck & HH.
The TINMAN

[johnj45586]

For gold in California (or anywhere) you need special equipment. You need large coils, DXF, high frequency and probably water proofing. There are a lot of really good sites on this. Also, in Sonora CA there is a training program where they take you to a seeded area to find nuggets. You can use your equipment or rent theirs. They provide one-on-one instruction to help you develop your skills in detecting nuggets. Very specialized knowledge is required.
Here is a good link for California Gold and Artifacts. I would like to get in on this too. But I will have to wait until my ACE 250 finds enough to pay for a good unit. Minelab seems to be a popular brand for prospectors. But there is more info on this forum.
Gold Prospecting, Treasure Hunting, Mining, Relic Hunting, and Metal Detecting in California
Besides info on this forum do some searches on "finding gold metal detector". Happy hunting. Post those finds!

[BukkDigger]

Tinman, thanx for the tip to "Metal detectors forums & Sub-forums by Manuf".
And thanx again John for the training camp info in Sonora, Will look into that asap...You guys are great