AZO's Detecting Tips

Building a Coil Cable Stabilizer

Bob Dansie

Ever since I first got interested in beeping for gold I noticed that I often would get a false signal when the coil wire was bumped or moved near the connector going into the control box. This problem continued even with the PIs and seems to get worse as the detector and coil get older. I think that this is because the constant movement however small eventually damages the wire and the connector. I have had several Emails asking me how this problem could be eliminated. When I recently had several coil connectors get progressively touchier, I decided to put my mind to work on it. Digging around in my organizer boxes in my workshop I came up with some parts that looked like could be made to work. Once I had it all together I felt sure that it would go a long way toward eliminating the problem. This first photo shows the parts I used which are available at any hardware store and a lot of you might have them in your shop already.

This now will clamp on the shaft. If it doesn't clamp on firmly you may have to squeeze the 3/4" EMT clamp with a pair of pliers and try it again. Here it is in place and the coil cable will slip into the Co-ax clamp.

I decided to go one step further and added another of the nylon clamps to the bottom of the handle bracket. This was done by removing the forward tightening bolt, sliding the clamp into the slot and then replacing the bolt. Another photo.

The last photo shows the finished product from the bottom.

By leaving the nylon clamps open coil changes can still be easily done. If you look at the third photo you will see that the cord now has a straight shot into the control box plug with no side pressure and will be very difficult to move out of position. This may not seem like a real big deal to some people but I don't like hearing false signals and having to retighten my coil connector all the time. I am sure that it will prolong the life of the wire and connector and without the falsing or possible temporary loss of a good connection might just mean more nuggets in my poke. For a cost of about 50 cents and a few minutes of my time , I think it was well worth doing.---Bob

Ground Balancing the Minelab GP Detectors

Bob Dansie

I have run into quite a few GP owners who are still a little confused about the importance of a perfect ground balance. I have even run into a few who think that hitting the tune button is ground balancing the detector. Most successful GP operators choose to run in fixed and there are good reasons for that. The first thing I do when I start hunting is to get away from the car and check the ground for trash targets. This is very important because any metal target in range of the coil will affect the ground balance. Place your finger on the Track/ fixed switch. Starting in the fixed mode start moving the coil up and down rapidly. (only an inch or 2). While doing this, switch to track while continuing to pump the coil up and down. After a few up and down strokes the threshold will smooth out to where you get no variation in tone between the up stroke and the down stroke. Switch immediately back to fixed at this point. Once you get the hang of it it only takes a second or two. I do it one more time and at this point I am sure that the detector is perfectly balanced to the ground. I am then ready to hunt. As you move from one area to another you may notice your threshold wandering a little. The detector is telling you that you have moved to an area with different mineralization. Just go through the ground balance procedure again. I do this as I am walking and swinging and don't even miss a step. In most areas you will seldom have to do this. Even if my detector sounds like it is properly ground balanced, I periodically re-ground balance. If your detector is out of ground balance you will miss targets!

Some folks choose to run in tracking which will work fine in flat clear areas. The problem with running in tracking is that if you have to raise your coil several inches off the ground to clear a rock or other obstruction the tracking feature will automatically try to track to the air and when returned to the search height will be confused for as many as ten steps or so. You are out of balance! To speed up the re-tracking process switch to fixed then back to track. This forces it to instantly re-ground balance. If you are running in tracking and get a target you set the detector on the ground while digging usually. This again throws it out of balance. Now when you check your hole and pile you lift it off the ground several inches. It is really confused now and if the target is tiny you may lose it completely. My advice to those who choose to run in track is to move the coil a foot or so to the side of the target and reground balance then leave in the fixed mode throughout the retrieval process. You won't lose those tiny targets. I often find small nuggets beside fresh dig holes and I am sure that this explains why they were left behind. Running in tracking can help smooth out noisy ground and cut down on hot rock noise. In tracking a suspected hot rock can be checked by swinging over it several times listening for a rapidly diminishing signal. If the signal remains strong and doesn't diminish after 3or 4 swings start digging. Most ironstone hot rocks can be eliminated in this way but some of the basalt (lava) can't. Just remember that if you are lifting the coil off the ground frequently, then running in tracking mode can cost you nuggets unless you switch to fixed then back to track after each time it is raised more than a few inches. A consistent coil height becomes much more important while running in tracking mode.