How does ground balance work in the XP Deus V.4.1+ metal detector (explanation of functions)

What is ground balance?

No ground balance — or cutting out the soil, the metal detector will see the soil under your feet as an object and give a signal. Ground balancing is one of the forms of ground cutting, but while maintaining the ability to identify ferrous targets and targets made of non-ferrous metals, but, by and large, discriminates ferrous signals and identifies non-ferrous and useful signals for a search engine. Typical soil conditions around the world are either conductive or magnetic soils, but sometimes it is a combination of both types.

Take, for example, a typical field in the UK, it is wet, and this makes the soil more conductive, then we mix in years of accumulation of various livestock wastes and modern fertilizers, and we get soil consisting of a mixture of many types of minerals, which can vary in different parts of the field.

Another example is magnetic black sand (sometimes simply called «Black Sand»), salt, and the high concentration of various minerals in the water will require appropriate settings in your metal detector.

This is a rather difficult and serious challenge for all modern metal detectors, because sometimes it becomes impossible to align correctly with the ground, so a compromise is the best solution. That’s why XP offers preset ground balance settings, so you don’t have to worry about complicated ground balance settings.

Should I do a ground balance?

Surprisingly, the answer is «NO», the user does not always have to ground balance, because the engineers from XP have already done the bulk of the work in the XP Deus metal detector software and the preset ground balance is already suitable for almost 99% of searches are in fields and forests.

The user of a metal detector can adjust the ground balance only if there is a desire to change the characteristics of the metal detector so that they are suitable for a specific type of search, or if the user is looking for some specific targets. However, you should also not forget that if the ground balance is set incorrectly, this can lead to negative consequences, for example, incorrect target indicators on the metal detector screen (VDI numbers).

 

Numerical value of the soil and its sequence

This will probably be the simplest way to explain how the ground value is generated:

Let’s take Deus and wave a coin in front of the coil, when the coin is close to the coil, the VDI number will be stable and consistently give the same value, but move the coins away and the VDI numbers will begin to «jump» and will become less consistent.

The same applies to ground offset, strong ground echoes will be indicated by high ground numbers on the display panel, so the numbers can be trusted. And a low salinity value indicates that the ground echo is weak and the readings will be inconsistent and mostly incorrect.

Configuring ground sensitivity in XP Deus

Ground sensitivity in V4.1 (New feature)

New version V4.1 has Ground Sensitivity (GROUND SENS.) function.

This setting allows the user to adjust how strong the ground signal should be before:

A: The soil indicator shows the numerical value.

B: XP Deus starts tracking the ground.

For example, low ground readings on the indicator will require a strong ground signal to activate the ground reading. And highly mineralized soils usually have strong ground signals, which are indicated by a high value on the mineralization scale.

Mineralization scale in the XP Deus metal detector (circled in yellow)

If a strong ground signal is not received by the XP Deus metal detector, the numerical value will now show  — — (two minuses) and the ground balance will be set to the standard level 88.

This will also happen if the coil is stationary for a certain time, as soon as the coil starts moving, the numerical value will be marked again, showing how strong the signal is coming from the ground at the moment.

*Note: Early versions of the XP Deus metal detector firmware had a fixed ground sensitivity — 10.

What is the most optimal value of soil sensitivity?

In most cases it is equal to values ​​from 4 to 6.

How can I set the ground sensitivity value?

It can be set in the SOIL settings — MANUAL or TRACKING.

Simply pass the coil over the soil and you are good to go digging, we do not recommend pumping the coil as this may set the soil reading too strong.

While searching just keep an eye on the ground number and adjust accordingly, I prefer to see a constant value — — with a random number, so your goal is to use the appropriate setting to set a stable ground mineralization number.

Actually, there is no specific setting in this case, since this is a PRO level setting and it may take some time to learn this function.

And one more important point — It is not recommended to set the Ground Sensitivity function to a high value as you will see erratic numbers and this means that the detector is trying to track and report every slight change in the ground, and as described previously, you will see incorrect and erratic numbers in the Ground Balance Indicator window .

Simultaneous operation of Ground Sensitivity and Ground Tracking.

You can now use the Ground Sensitivity feature to tell the detector when to start tracking the ground.

For example: if you have set the ground sensitivity so that ground values ​​are now detected when you are searching in highly mineralized ground, then the ground will only be monitored during this period. If the ground is not tracked, the ground balance value will be indicated as standard at 88.

Why is the standard ground value 88 even if there is no signal from the ground?

88-90 is the best ground value setting for most soils and will cut out most lodestones and minerals. This is my normal setting.

Let’s imagine that you are searching on loose soft ground in Ground Tracking mode and your Ground Sensitivity level is set to only track in highly mineralized areas, the display in the Ground Balance panel will show — — (two minuses) most of the time.

As soon as you enter an area of ​​highly mineralized soil, your metal detector will begin tracking the soil and display the corresponding value. Because your soil is loose and soft, it will not be so problematic for the device to activate the tracking function on a low setting (normal), so your metal detector will remain at a higher ground level when you move out of a highly mineralized soil area , and the result will be an incorrect ground balance level.

Default ground setting — — And the default ground balance is set to 88

However, to compensate, the XP Deus will set the ground balance value to the default value of 88 until you enter highly mineralized ground again or the detector begins ground tracking again. TRACKING is best for conditions where ground mineralization is constantly changing and is not recommended for soil that is contaminated with iron or soil mineralization that changes too quickly.

Can using a low level of ground balance give an increase in depth?

Of course, in most cases this can lead to an increase in depth, but you need to understand that this can lead to some negative consequences. For example, a low ground balance setting may result in unwanted response to some lodestones, ceramics, and may also make the coil too sensitive (leading to ghosting), especially if you are searching in wet (highly conductive) ground.

Sensitivity set to 99 will also give greater depth, but in such conditions it will be impossible to search, right?

Can I set the ground balance value to 99?

Now we are getting closer to dancing with a tambourine, setting a high ground balance value can also lead to negative consequences, like underestimating the BG. Level 99 can push many highly conductive targets (with VDI above 88-90+) past their cutoff limit.

For example: a large silver plate will give an iron signal if the ground balance is set above the required value.

When I reduce the ground balance value, I get a good signal from the magnetic stones, can they be cut off?

In most situations, lodestones can be cut off. Easy to remember — Lodestones, also known as «hot», can be cut off by the correct ground balance setting, while coke can be cut off by the discrimination settings.

Ground cutting

Introducing the SOIL CUT function.

Ground cutting is not exactly what it says, the user can set a specific segment of ground that will be ignored by the metal detector and hot rocks can be cut off by cutting soil. There are no multiple «threshold values» from which you can select, as is the case with the MARK menu, however, SOIL CUT works on the same principle… This function cuts out a specific range of ground that may contain unwanted targets.

As you can see in the chart below, hot rocks register at 88, which is cut out at 83-88. The cut soil is also in the range of 60-76, while soil values ​​of 77-82 are accepted, and the value of 90 is the maximum possible soil value for its cutting.

Remember, this is the ground range, not the discrimination range.

The factory pre-set ground balance runs from 60 to 95, at 90 all of your unwanted troublesome ground and hot rocks are eliminated, even slight changes from 90 to 88 will be enough to make your machine a little more “edgy” if required.

The factory setting of the ground balance value varies from 60 to 95, at level 90 all unwanted factors, such as problematic soil or hot stones, are already cut off, even a small change from 90 to 88 will be enough to make your metal detector more stable and without phantoms.

Why does the beach setting require separate ground balance values?

It’s simple — wet sand has different soil mineralization values ​​than the rest of the soil, so in this case different soil values ​​are required, from 0 to 30.

As you can see, the usual value for wet sand is about 25, so we recommend paying attention to your ground sensitivity setting, very often you will need to set it to a lower value in order to have stable operation of the metal detector.

I want to hear hot stones and ceramics as it gives me more information about where I’m looking, but setting the BG low gives them a high tone, can I set them to a low tone?

Yes, with the new version of the 4X firmware this is possible, but only in the HOT  and in any other program that works on audio settings «POLYPHONY».

The discrimination level can now be set to less than 0, up to a level of -6.4, this discrimination value will allow you to accept targets such as hot stones and ceramics in a low tone, if you want to cut off the response, then simply set the value discrimination from -6.4 to -2, this will give you a response only to targets made of ferrous and non-ferrous metal.

This is where the ground balance and discrimination values ​​intersect.

………… But this is a completely different story and for another case.

Program «MINE» (10) uses a similar ground balance?

The mine uses a slightly modified filtration system and requires accurate ground balance to achieve better performance.

To start searching with such a program, you will need to carry out a ground balance in a clean place, simply starting to slowly swing the coil up and down and listen to the response, then, when the coil reaches the ground, press the PINPOINT button once, and you should you will hear a decrease. response. This indicates the correct ground balance setting and your 2 ground value indicators should have the same number.

If something goes wrong and the values ​​are different, then simply perform the procedure one more time, it is likely that this will require lowering the sensitivity level value.

Manual-swing-beach and the Tracking function can also be used in the Mining program (10).

I hope this gives you an idea of ​​how flexible the XP Deus metal detector can be, but how simple it can be for those who want to just turn on the detector and go looking, as well as for those who likes to change settings, the metal detector can be adjusted to each of you.

And the last tip:

Most importantly, ground conditions vary in all parts of the world, and if you want to achieve maximum depth, remember that ground conditions can and will affect the performance of your metal detector. An unstable metal detector may miss small targets.

Author: Gary Blackwell