BASIC SETTINGS

1. Sensitivity (Sens)

Many beginners crank sensitivity all the way up. That's a mistake!

• High sensitivity = lots of false signals (glitches) from grass, bumps, and ground noise.
• Lower the sensitivity until the detector runs stable.
• It's better to miss one very deep target than to dig dozens of phantom holes.

2. Ground Balance

The most important setting: the soil is mineralized and produces background noise, and the detector needs to "cancel it out".

• **Auto ground balance:** pump the coil up and down (2–20 cm from the ground) until the sound evens out.
• Repeat this whenever the soil type or location changes, or every 20–30 minutes.
• On heavily mineralized ground (black soil, peat, soil with mixed minerals), ground balance is especially critical.

3. Discrimination

• **Dig everything non-ferrous.** When starting out, don't reject anything except clearly "black" iron.
• Gold often sounds like foil or a bottle cap. If you filter out trash by VDI, you'll filter out some gold too.
• Gradually learn to recognize "suspicious" mixed signals — that's often where the interesting targets hide.

4. Quick test before heading out

Before you head to the field:

• Lay out a couple of coins of different denominations and a piece of iron on the ground.
• Sweep the coil over them and make sure the detector reliably detects each target.
• Note what VDI values the detector shows for the different metals.
• Adjust sensitivity and discrimination so the signals are clear and repeatable.

This 5–10 minute test saves you hours of digging and helps you better "read" your detector.