Tigershark?

How do you Ground balance this machine and can it be done without messing with the knobs inside the box? Thank you for any info you can provide.

.....thanks for your inquiry! Here it is directly from the Tiger Shark manual:

Ground Balancing Your Tiger Shark
Now that we have gone through the Quickstart, you are now ready to take your Tiger Shark out and learn how to ground balance. (Note: If you have not gone through the Tiger Shark Quickstart, it is strongly recommended that you do so before ground balancing your Tiger Shark.)
Ground balancing is a simple but very important skill that you must master to get the most out of your detector. The Tiger Shark has controls that will allow you to tune the detector to the exact ground matrix that you are hunting in. Finding and maintaining the exact tune or balance will give you the highest possible depth and stability for your conditions. Once you have read through this section, it is most important that you get out and practice your ground balancing skills as often as possible.
To start, find an area that is free of metal targets. If your coil is over any targets, it will always give a positive signal and it will be impossible to correctly ground balance your detector. Start with your Tiger Shark in the ALL MET FAST position. (You can use the ALL MET SLOW position, but it will take a little longer to do your ground balance.) At this time, it will not matter where your GROUND ADJUST knob is set. Place your DISC LEVEL at MIN and switch the MODE switch to NORM. After the battery test is done, you are ready to begin the ground balance procedure. (Note: Unless you are on a wet salt beach, do not use the SALT Mode. It will not ground balance to normal conditions. The SALT Mode is to be used only on a wet salt beach.)
Lift your detector straight off of the ground about 6 to 8 inches. Keep the coil parallel to the ground. At that height, your detector will not be affected by the ground mineralization. As you lower the coil, the detector will read the ground matrix and let you know how to adjust to achieve aground balance. (Note: You must lift your coil straight up. Do not swing it like a pendulum.) Once you have got a steady threshold, quickly lower the coil straight down to approximately 1 inch off of the ground and listen to any change that may occur in the threshold. You will hear one of three sounds: 1) the threshold will get louder or go positive 2) the threshold will go quiet or become negative, or 3) the threshold will stay the same.
If the threshold stays the same, the detector is telling you that the ground matrix is not affecting it and you are ready to hunt.
If you get a positive or negative signal, the machine is telling you that it is being affected by the ground matrix and must be adjusted for peak performance.
If your threshold goes positive, you must turn the GROUND ADJUST knob counterclockwise or towards the negative side.
If your threshold goes negative, you must turn the GROUND ADJUST knob clockwise or towards the positive side.
Once you have made an adjustment, lift the coil up, let the threshold retune and push the coil down again while listening for any sound change as the coil drops. If there is a threshold change, follow the above directions and repeat until you have very little or no threshold changes on the way down. A very slight positive response is better than any kind of negative response.

Lift your detector straight off of the ground about 6 to 8 inches. Keep the coil parallel to the ground.

You must lift your coil straight up. Do not swing it like a pendulum.

Once you have got a steady threshold, quickly lower the coil straight down to approximately 1 inch off of the ground.

If there are threshold changes on the upstroke do not pay attention to them. As you raise the coil, the detector goes from a ground matrix (soil) to no ground matrix (air) and that difference will most likely cause some change in the threshold tone. Only changes on the downstroke are to be adjusted for.
Now that your detector is ground balanced, you are ready to hunt. You can stay in either of the ALL MET Modes or switch into the MOTION DISC. Whichever mode you choose to hunt in, it is always necessary to ground balance in an ALL MET Mode first.
Just like any skill, ground balancing must be practiced constantly. The easiest place to do it is in your backyard or any place close that has at least a 10 foot by 10 foot area. First, check for any metal targets and remove them. When the area is clean, take your Tiger Shark and ground balance it. When you are done, spin the GROUND ADJUST knob either positive or negative and ground balance again. Keep up this practice until you feel comfortable with ground balancing. Take some time to keep your ground balancing skills sharp and you will see better results in the field.

Originally Posted by Fiftytwo pennies

Hello Chuck,
How do you Ground balance this machine and can it be done without messing with the knobs inside the box? Thank you for any info you can provide.

In addition, here is a link to the manual:

Tiger Shark Operation Instruction Manual

Hope this helps explain things for you. The only internal adjustments you might want to make or change, would be the factory presets of Sensitivity, Threshold and the Volume. They are factory preset, and usually don not need chnaged.

Along with what Chuck posted I also received these 2 additional pages with my Tiger Shark.

[Black Davy]

Once you get the standard balance down, you can try the power balance.

Here is a post by Monte.
Addressing the Ground Balance setting, I have found most of the Tesoro's to have a somewhat more positive GB setting in the Disc. mode than in the All Metal mode. I guess you could say the Disc. mode has aslightly positive offset reference from the manually-set All Metal mode GB. My White's Classic's, on the otherhand,tend to be slightly more negative in the Disc. mode. What this means is that if I ground balance my modified Classic III SL so that the GB set'just-on-the-nose' or 'perfect' you might say, remaining the same as the coil is lowered from about 6" or so down to about ½"-1" from the dirt, I can go into the Discriminate mode (set at '0' rejection) and bob the coil from that 6"-8" height towards the ground and get a false response (a beep) on the up-lift of the coil. The reason? The GB (for the Disc. mode) is too negative. If I then adjust the GB slightly positive I take care of that problem ... or if I adjust the GB in the Discriminate mode the result is a sliglty positive GB in the All Metal mode. ¿No comprende? What do I mean by "Ground Balance in the Discriminate mode? It is a term I refer to as "Power Balancing" when I set the GB for the motion Discriminate mode. It was especially helpful when I used many Tesoro models the bulk of the time years ago and here's how (and why) it is done. With a model that features a GB adjustment tied to both modes, you select the motion Disc. mode. Set the discriminate level at the minimum. You will get a much more functional GB setting if it has 'full-range' acceptance which is what Tesoro refers to as ED-180. The µMAX Eldorado, Tejón, Vaquero, Euro Sabre for example. With other models, such as the Bandido series, you have the limited low-end adjustment that is slightly above iron nail rejection (sort of). So, with the Disc. level set as low as it goes and with the Sensitivity as high as possible, you bob the coil towards-and-away from the ground and reduce the GB adjustment slowly as you quickly bob the coil. At some point you'll reduce the GB setting (toward the negative) that you will get an audible 'BEEP' as you lift the coil away from the ground. STOP. Now, continue to bob the coil while in the Disc. mode and very s-l-o-w-l-y increase the GB adjustment JUST TO THE POINT WHERE YOU ELIMINATE THE FALSING BEEP ON THE COIL'S UPLIFT. STOP! You are now "Power balanced" and ready to hunt and will have the best depth of detection and responsiveness in the Discriminate mode possible. However, if you toggle into the All Metal mode and lower the coil from 6"-8" to the ground, you'll note that the audio Threshold will usually null out and go silent as the coil approaches the ground. Thus, the Disc. mode is offset somewhat positive compared with the All Metal mode. The biggest hazzard of an improper GB setting comes when the operator sets it too positively. This is more true with some makes and models that it is with others, and your Bandido II µMAX is one which you need to make sure isn't too positive. If I may, let me relate a story about hunting with my Pantera one day. I was working the hillsides of an old park in Portland, Oregon and the Discrimination was set at minimum and the GB was set in the All Metal mode. This particular 'hill' is an extinct volcano and where I had GB'ed as I started my 'bushwhacking' that day I just happened to be over some of the most mineralized ground preset.The result was a very positive GB setting. I was pushing my way thru the overgrown brush of the hillside in search of some of the old-time pathways and 'blanket' spots when I came to an end of the faint path and brush too think to get through. I looked around and noted that down-slope there was what appeared to be another faint reminder of a trail once used. Now, this is a steep hillside and I knew I would be picking up speed as I quickly side-stepped down through the brush so I aimed at a fir tree so I could brakemy decent. Once I came to a halt and had one hand on the tree, I saw a path, or at least a dimreminder of one, running along beside that tree so I made a few sweeps with my coil. I didn't get any good beeps to investigate, but I did get a real ratty, broken, chirpy response that was more like a rusty bottle cap or some sort of junk. Out of curiosity I wanted to check it out in All Metal and noted that, when I had the coil off to the side of the target to check for any nearby metal that might cause masking, the GB was very positive. As a rule, that crappy audio response was nothing more than a trash target tick or chirp. But once I noted the GB was way off I re-balanced to the ground in that area, then reswept the target spot. Bang .. Bang .. Bang! Now, that sure sounded good and I recovered a Walking Liberty half-dollar that was not more than 2"-2½" deep and laying on about a 45° angle on the rocks that were very shallow in this area. I got a couple of other detectors from my vehicle, parked down below, and returned to place the half on the rock in the same position, and cover it with dirt. Some that were turn-on-and-go wouldn't repond to it, and they happend to be the turn-on-and-go Tesoro's with a preset GB was was much too positive. The Silver Sabre µMAX that responded well was my personal-use unit that I had Power Balanced over my chosen ground sample and was quite functional. You can do an "air test" with the GB set at mid-point and you will get a response from most targets, depending on where the Disc. level is set. To be honest, I have never found a 'mid-way' GB setting with those 3¾-turn GB controls to really be mid-range for most ground. The same applies for the mid-point adjustment of the 10-turn controls. Most often a "proper" GB is closer to the upper portion adjustment and a mid-range setting is almost always negative to very negative. Anyway, if you want to see the effects of a too-positive GB setting, "air test" or with a target on the ground, set your unit in the Disc. mode, increase the GB as far positive as it will go, then move a nice big silver dollar passed the coil at about 2"-3". Oh, another reminder, some models, even from the same manufacturer, are mode quite different from others with their association between the various controls so I ALWAYS SUGGEST that you adjust the GB for the Discriminate setting you're going to hunt with. If you change the Discriminate setting, be safe and double check the GB and rebalance if necessary. Sorry to ramble. Pesky .22 shells can be a real pain, sometimes sounding quite good and other times difficult to detect at all. In the end, just make sure you have the best settings you can use at a site and investigate any 'iffy' response soas not to miss a good target.

.....awhile before trying the "Power Balance" technique quoted here. I would recommend getting very well acquainted with the detector with standard ground balance before "souping it up" with Power Balance.