ON THE HORIZON = MDT-8000

Dew, it might be a little less confusing for people if we call it Salt Balance or Salinity Balance or just SB instead of "Salt GB" because Ground Balance and Salinity Balance are two very different things.

Ground balance adjusts to the ground minerals and salinity balance adjusts to the salt.

I would think that it doesn't matter whether SALT mode is on or off during the ground balance procedure because they are two completely separate settings.

If the dry sand contains any salt, the rain will turn it into wet salt sand which will very likely throw off the ground balance. I think what we are going to have to do is ground balance when the sand is as dry as possible and remember the number. Then just use that GB number whenever we return to that beach. The dryer the sand is, the more accurate the ground balance will be. The GB number of a particular beach should always be about the same.

I think the salinity balance of the wet sand may vary depending on the saturation level and possibly other factors. It might be a good idea to check the salinity balance often if the wet sand looks wetter or dryer in certain areas. I'm just guessing.

.



Edited 19 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2019 05:01PM by Badger in NH.

Maybe ...... just Salt Mode is the correct term. I did read the manual again ..... duh.... and it says turn on salt mode (which would be from a previous hunt) then GB in the dry sand. That question is answered i guess. The machine does retain your previous beach settings. So in some cases it will be a turn on and go on the same beach unless you get more chatter. The Salt Mode is retained for what ever Khz you use.... and may be different for each.

Heres one for the group: When hunting with the box submerged. AM works great out there just like an Xcal in PP mode. But just like an Xcal..... when you switch to disc and run to much sensitivity..... you get a lot of chatter... or in this case bell tones. Heres my problem...... figuring out how to REVERSE disc. I thought id just toggle to disc to help weed out iron. But its a lot more chatty in that mode as well as mixed mode when the coil runs across the bottom. YOu pick up a lot more minerals and shallow iron. The bell tones i admit are a bit of a learning curve from the standard target tones we hear for me on other machines. So what i thought was .... just bring up the disc to 0. I did that. That doesnt quit work..... because most of the minerals and that shallow iron is throwing HIGH WRAP-AROUND tones and high digits... like 28. If i had a notch id just notch out the upper digits since im looking for gold anyway. Right now im learning the AM mode...but im going to have to switch to the Disc mode and learn it first.. maybe then it will click. Lot more nails out there than i thought lol. I did notice the coil halo is pretty good on this machine in the water.... it dont loose nearly as much as most water machines.

Did a little small gold testing. Id say on the average sized mens band 18 and 12 khz are pretty close in depth and sensitivity. 9khz...... is about an inch less depth on the same rings. However, being able to run the 9khz HOT and pretty quiet out there might just make all things equal especially if you need to reduce the sensitivity or threshold on the other two Khz.

Today's wet sand/hot rock hunt went really well.

Following Tom's suggestion, I found I can easily eliminate the hot rocks on the beach simply by raising the GB to 540. Any lower and they cause a signal. Most of the hot rocks ID at -30. Now I can hunt in and around the hot rocks in Mix mode and it's as if they aren't even there.

Salinity seems good at 27. It's a pretty wide window of silence. You have to raise it up or down 4 or 5 notches to get it to make some noise.

So far, I haven't seen any need to adjust the threshold so I keep it at 0. Sensitivity is stable at 7. Disc 0. Today I ran 12 and 9 kHz and couldn't really tell any difference.

Best find today was a 1918 Mercury Dime.

.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2019 01:26PM by Badger in NH.

Dew, once the Disc setting gets above 0 it acts like a notch control. I took this straight from the manual.

"If the Discrimination set point lies within the range of 0 to +30, any Target with a Target ID lower than 0 shall be silenced and any Target within the range of +/-2 of the Discrimination set point shall also be silenced. (Numerical Target ID is always present)"

So, set the Disc up to 28 and it will silence everything from -30 to 0 as well as silencing everything between +26 to +30 which should take care of the minerals and shallow iron that are creating the high wrap around.

If that works you might then try setting the Disc on +30 which will only silence -30 to 0 and +28 to +30 while allowing everything from 0 to +27 to sound off. If you try it please let me know how it works for you.

Chris

Hummm i read that and guess my brain isnt kicking in. Dont know why but i kept seeing that + as a - so i wasnt seeing a notch. Off to the beach ..... ill play with that today. Man, thanks Chris.... just what i needed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2019 06:01PM by dewcon4414.

I got out yesterday and wanted to make sure this was not something I might have control over. I don't. I haven't heard from anyone in regards to this Tom. I do need to talk as it is a concern. I have been able to run the MD because it is quite unless you have any contact with sand. Dry or wet. I have noticed that my dry sand is 545 and have had to go to several dry spots to get a "believable" number. First near the dunes it was 629 range and then another spot on the flats its was 420. Final setting from 3 spots ended up being 545. All this dry sand was same color and only a few feet apart. When I set the coil down it just chatters and if you move it while using the scoop or trying to PP something it is crazy noisy.
I do cut my sens. back to 5 when I wet sand balance. I then cut the sens back up to 7 as any higher and it over powers it. Threshold is -1. My salt balance is normally 24 but have had to change to 26 mid hunt yesterday. I pump coil occasionally to check for a change. To stop the false signals I have to cut back to 3 or stay at 5 and turn threshold to -4.
heading out shortly and will get back when I return. Wind has finally picked up and moon is new so hoping for some sand movement. JR

ShovelNose…… is this with coil cover off...…. and also coil cover installed?

We're going to send you a new coil (free of charge)……. and will need the old coil back! This should be a good troubleshooting starting-point.

Got my 7 hours in....... man there were a LOT of hunters out today.

I played with the Threshold...... i think i have that ..... also did the notch at 28..... really made disc workable. Got a few blips of 29 and 27 but not constantly. Running AM......switching to Disc and youd get a tone every now and then depending on coil angle.... but it made the iron go away... or at least i could tell that was iron in dis and mixed mode.

I did my GB and salt balance again today just to see if they changed... didnt seem to. It still doesnt like my sand...... it either wont GB or after a few attempts it would be a real high digit, like almost 900..... next time a real low one..... 3 to 400s. So i just set it at 500.... and jumped in. See if i have this correct..... when im doing my salt balance i pump the coil and adjust it until... going down... i hear very little sound? What i heard at that point was a bit of noise going down and UP. Now...... should i go one digit lower at that point? Getting the Threshold and salt balance and the notch made working the surf even better in 18 and 12khz. But it still chatters enough that you want to run 9kzh.

Black sand on or off? Is that working like a boost? If so ... whats the disadvantage of having it on all the time?

Got out yesterday with the Tarsacci on one of my buddies permissions relic hunting. This pasture is pretty trashy so the Deus and Equinox are right at home here but I thought I would give the Tarsacci a try. GB was at 752, threshold -1, sensitivity 7, 12 KHz, black sand on, mixed mode and disc mode were used. I was pretty impressed with how it handled the trash. When I got in the real thick stuff I used disc mode which helped the Tarsacci separate better. I'm going to have to try that disc notch and run it at +30 that should help with the iron wrap. For the most part the iron was easy to tell, although I did end up digging a few nails and bigger pieces. In the photo everything to the left is junk (iron or shotgun shells) and to the right period brass or lead.
[/img]

Dew...…. I'm REALLY wanting 18-Khz to work for you in the salt-water!...……...and...……… it does look like you are making major strides to make this work...……..as...…….. I can see...….. you are getting better at it! But...…. it may end up that you land on 9-Khz (with higher Sens settings)……. for hunting in the water. (((12 & 18Khz were never intended for underwater wet-salt; yet, I still think...… it 'might' be possible...… under extenuating circumstances))). I'm also glad that you got the Notch understood/working-out to your advantage. I would still recommend running Ground Balance on 560...… and leave it there...… because...…… Your beaches should be (almost) inert.
Black Sand is not a 'boost'...……. although...…… in certain scenarios …… it may 'appear' to perform as such.

Andrew...….. nice!!!
With your Ground Balance number...…. it looks like a red clay.

Tom, while we're discussing the Tarsacci's Disc. circuit and it's functions, what spawned the decision to use only linear discrimination for the -30 to 0 range and only notch discrimination for the 0 to +30 range rather than having both types of discrimination available for both Disc. ranges?

I'm understanding this machine more and more each time I take it out. So far I've only used it in the hot rocks at the beach because all the beaches are sanded in until we get a good storm. Over the past few hunts in the rocks I've found a 1909 Barber Half and a 1918 Merc.

Today I used both the Tarsacci and the Equinox to see how they compare in the rocks. One very noticeable thing was that the Equinox gets a lot more signals over a particular area. The Tarsacci seems to be missing a lot of small low conductor targets. Most of these signals turn out to be small lead and aluminum but they could also be gold. Nothing that we're digging is very deep due to the influence of the mineralization. I was able to eliminate the hot rock signals using the GB setting as Tom suggested but it didn't help much to see through the mineralization. I'm starting to think that the Tarsacci might not be the best machine for hunting in these hot rocks. I know I'm still new to the machine. I still need to put more time in but so far, the Equinox seems to be the better machine for this type of work. That is not necessarily a bad thing because I bought the Tarsacci more for detecting the wet sand.

It has been way too cold to do any proper testing on the wet sand, but we're finally getting some warm weather this week. I'm done hunting the rocks for now so hopefully Tuesday I can do some head to head comparison testing in the wet sand and see if I can get the Tarsacci to outperform the Equinox on buried targets. I'm really looking forward to this. It will be fun. Since I'm still new to the machine, I won't jump to any conclusions if for any reason the Tarsacci doesn't win right away.

.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2019 07:59AM by Badger in NH.

Thanks Tom. Id like to get one of those freq to work as well and i can learn to hunt thru the chatter.... but im not sure the benefit of doing it is worth the time wasted and frankly the targets missed. I realize i will be loosing some sensitivity..... but it may average out if the machine works as designed. Not certain how much depth is expected to be lost on the same item of gold from in or out of the salt water. Of course a lot depends on the person setting it up and coil control out there. 9khz does loose some depth like i said just in the wet sand.... but unlike other machines seems to maintain a good bit of its coil HALO in the salt water. I really wanted the machine for this time of the year for testing......greater low tides open up more wet sand, lower tides also means more waves and we get a lot of winds and directions shifting, but few people are in the water so im looking for the older deeper gold. Sometimes thou if it aint there it just aint there.

Badger missing those tiny targets seems to be what a lot of beach hunters want thou. They dont like chasing them in the water .... several times. This machine may well compliment the use of the Nox. Depending on location and beach design, deep on larger gold targets can be a very good thing. I plan on using both machines for the exact reason you just mentioned. GL on your testing. Hopefully one of my fellow hunters with have his machine.. then together we can get our machines tweaked and do some testing as well. Always better when you have someone else with skills on their machine. You always compare a new machine to whats been working for you.

Interesting question Chris...... im trying to figure out why you might use a form of notch in the iron range? But then Tom did give us some insight into the different irons that relic hunters might use this machine for. BBS seemed to use this type of disc out iron...... but then on FBS they have the ability to notch out specific iron as well a full blocking. This machine is both KISS but not out of the box turn on and go. I lack a lot of time on this machine..... and havent been digging all the iron to see how good the TID is.... but it seems to be very good on iron. I did dig a few that sounded deep...... but man it was deep LARGE IRON.

The one thing thats throwing me right now is the bell tones. I seem to be having a much harder time getting those than say the standard iron, foil, penny tones. Ive got to get away from using AM for awhile. Its just an easy already learned sound......i have noticed in disc it seems more sensitive to the mineral or hard pan.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2019 11:19AM by dewcon4414.

Dew, good point. Sometimes I don't want to waste time on the tiny stuff. I'm sure I'll still be using the Tars' in the rocks at times because it seems to be doing great on the bigger stuff.

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2019 12:40PM by Badger in NH.

Chris...…… The Tarsacci primarily targets the Relic hunters...… and the Jewelry (salt beach) hunters; so...……. the decision was made for this specific "1-Notch Window" type of Discrimination in the non-ferrous region.

Badger; yes, the Equinox is much more sensitive to small/tiny targets over the Tarsacci…….. due to the request of the bulk of the hunters NOT wanting to find small/tiny targets. They are not interested in earrings and tennis bracelets. What they want is...…. large gold rings. Soooooooo…….. the Tarsacci very specifically targets tiny, small, medium & large RINGS. And 'rings' are categorized as 'larger targets'.
If..…… for some reason...…… the bulk of the folks renig……... change their mind...….. and want to find the small/tiny targets..... like tennis bracelets, gold chains, earrings, pendants etc...…. The Tarsacci platform lends itself nicely to the creation of GEN-2. It would still take some time...…. but...…. can be done.

Dew...…. I'm a bit confused by something you said. Is a "HALO" a good thing???...…. or a bad thing?

Tom, I get the same response with cover on or off. Early in thread when I asked if I could run the unit without the cover I was starting to notice the noise. I was thinking the trapped sand might make a difference with this tech. Removing made no difference. Give me a heads up when shipped.

To me Tom.... lets use the CTX as an example, you can really get that scoop to close.... but once in the water the halo is significantly reduced. There are a lot of variables to depth out there. Maybe I’m wrong but machines seem to very coil halos in the water which appears to relate to depth and near target response. Both the Nox and 8000 have good halos out of the water... but clearly in the water the 8000 retains more. Educate me....especially if I’m out to lunch.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2019 04:02PM by dewcon4414.

NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Badger; yes, the Equinox is much more sensitive to
> small/tiny targets over the Tarsacci…….. due to th
> e request of the bulk of the hunters NOT wanting t
> o find small/tiny targets. They are not interested
> in earrings and tennis bracelets. What they want i
> s...…. large gold rings. Soooooooo…….. the Tarsacc
> i very specifically targets tiny, small, medium &
> large RINGS. And 'rings' are categorized as 'large
> r targets'.
> If..…… for some reason...…… the bulk of the folks
> renig……... change their mind...….. and want to fin
> d the small/tiny targets..... like tennis bracelet
> s, gold chains, earrings, pendants etc...…. The Ta
> rsacci platform lends itself nicely to the creatio
> n of GEN-2. It would still take some time...…. but
> ...…. can be done.


Tom, thanks for the explanation. Dimitar said basically the the same thing in an email. Now that I know that the loss of small (mostly trash) targets is not a bad thing, I'm totally on board with it.

It's great that you and Dimitar are around to explain this stuff to us.

.

Dew...… Ok...… understand. You are referring to the electromagnetic footprint laterally/circumferentially outboard of the coil (not above or below the coil).

Badger...….. I'm trying!!!!!,,,,,,,,, I'm trying!!!!! Yet..... time is a bit hard to come by.

Here are the results from the wet sand depth tests. It went surprisingly well considering I'm still new to the machine.

Conditions today were perfect. Sunny, temps in the 60's, light wind. That doesn't happen very often the first week of February in NH.

I talked with Dimitar on the phone this morning and he gave me a lot of great tips to make sure I would have everything set up right. First I went to the dry sand beach just to see what kind of GB reading I would get on the dry sand. I lowered the Sense to 5 or 6 and used Auto GB like he said to do. Every spot I checked gave me a different number. Then I went to the wet sand beach that I chose for the testing. Dimitar also said that if there is no dry sand around, you can auto GB on the wet sand. Just find the least wettest spot you can and GB there. I did that and ended up with a solid 600 that didn't change. That seemed a little high but I figured I'd try it and it worked great.

For Salinity balancing, Dimitar said to dig a hole in the sand, let the hole fill with water and Salinity balance over that. You have to do the salinity balance procedure each time you change frequencies. Each frequency will have a slightly different number.

For the depth testing I had a silver quarter, a silver dime and a medium sized mans 14k gold ring. I had drilled tiny holes in the center of the coins, ran a nylon string through each one and tied a knot on the end. This is to ensure that coins stay flat when buried. I would bury the coin at 15 inches and slowly pull the coin towards the surface a little at a time until it just came into detection range. When I reached the edge of the max depth that the coin could be detected, I grabbed the string where it came out of the sand, pulled up the coin and measured the length of the string. It worked perfectly. The gold ring is attached to the end of a fabric measuring tape.

I tested the Tarsacci MDT 8000 against the Minelab Equinox 800.

Settings were -

Tarsacci - GB 600, SB 26-30 depending on Freq, Sense 7, Threshold 0, Disc 0, Mix mode.

Equinox - Beach 1, Sense 23, 2 tones, AM on, recovery 6.

To achieve a max depth designation, the detector must have a clear repeatable non-ferrous tone and reasonably accurate numerical ID.

Tarsacci max depth on the silver Quarter was 13".

Equinox was 10".

Tarsacci max depth on the silver Dime was 12.5".

Equinox was 9".

(All the Tarsacci frequencies picked up the coins at max depth but 6.4 kHz sounded best.)

Tarsacci max depth on the gold ring was 13". (All freqs picked it up but 18 kHz sounded best)

Equinox had an iffy signal at 11" and 10" but only got a decent tone and ID at 9".

I tried radically changing the GB number on the Tarsacci to see what that would do but came back to 600 because it got the best depth. I forgot to test Black Sand mode but will do that another time.

So the Tarsacci wins the depth test by a large margin. I am extremely happy with it.

.



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2019 11:05PM by Badger in NH.

I’m kind of surprised after catching up on this thread of the conversation / results of not finding ‘small or tiny’ targets with the 8000. I have had no trouble picking up tiny pieces of lead split shot, swivels and even tiny aluminum punch outs from beach chairs. I really don’t see much of a difference between my Equinox and my Tarsacci and if someone asked me to find a stud earring I would be just as comfortable using my 8000 as I would the equinox. Maybe I just have a hot 8000 (or a not hot Equinox) ;-).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2019 02:55AM by Gary in Daytona.

As someone using it in the water .... ive found 9khz works very well, much like an Xcal when ran in AM. You loose a bit of depth going from 12 to 18Khz.... but if you cant run 18khz and have to turn it down... i think all things are equal. My ring test between the two machines showed at 10" i would have dug the ring with both machine.... but at 12 clearly the 8000 would hit it if the coil scrubbed the sand but the Nox would NOT. The salt setting is a bit different for the freqs...... it also changes from shallow to deeper water a couple of digits. I did notice ... the previous saline balance remained... ie 18 might be 27.... and 9Khz 32.... switching back and forth each kept those settings. So is there really a need to do the salt setting each time on the same beach?

Im still messing with that crazy GB lol. I understand the BEST GB would be dry sand, but here even moisture under the dry can affects the Nox modes other than beach modes. IF we already have the salt setting in the machine from previous hunts.... why would the machine pick up the salt? The manual say turn on the salt setting before the GB.... isnt salt gone at that point? I thought that was the beauty of this machine..... not seeing salt? So why would it matter where you GB? For my hunting in the water it appears a more realistic GB would be nearer the water? Badger..... how did you settle on the salt setting you used? I say that because mine dont like to GB...... and like you i get different settings each time. For some reason i SETTLE on a GB near 500. Mine may give me a GB from 480 to 930. So .... ive choosen to run 540.... rather than it giving me that number. Should i just be taking what ever the GB is..... say 930 which is a crazy high GB to and using it? Our sand gets turned and its appears dry...... but our very fine sand stays pretty damp just under that dry sand this time of the year especially.

Those depths seem pretty accurate...... but what got my attention is the machine isnt supposed to loose a lot of depth from out of the water to IN. Thats should REALLY increase the depth of targets in the water compared to other machine...... there's your real depth factor IMO. I also did some air testing on about 10 or 15 crosses i have which were found with the Xcal/CTX and Nox....... the machine hit on all but 2 very tiny ones found with the Nox. But it seems if the Xcal will find it so with the 8000.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2019 11:00AM by dewcon4414.

Dew, when I salinity balance, I bob the coil up and down 8" to 1" over the water filled hole that I dug and adjust the salinity balance until I hear little or no sound. It's easy at my beaches because there is only one setting that is silent and it's always not far from 27.

GB is more difficult but I'm learning to trust Auto ground balancing on the wet sand rather than the dry sand. An auto GB setting of 600 seemed to work very well for me yesterday. Dimitar said to look for the least wettest spot on the wet sand and auto GB there.

So far, Manual GB hasn't worked at all because I can't get it to give me much sound to go by.

.



Edited 10 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2019 01:00PM by Badger in NH.

Badger...….. your results are nearly exactly what I find/experience … here in Florida...….,,,,,,,, with one Difference: I am not able to run Sens on '23' with the Equinox on my wet-salt beach. I can only run (as high as) '20' whilst in Beach Mode-1...… and the conditions must be perfect. For TESTING ONLY...…. I could almost run Sens as high as '23'...….. but this would be TOO unstable for actual wet-salt hunting...……. here on the Florida beaches ((( higher salinity ))).
Your Tarsacci depth results are correct.

Dew...…. Yes. When I Grnd Balance to the dry sand (here on the East Coast of Florida)….. there are times when the GB numbers run wild. In my case...… this is due to VERY low mineralization...…. and the Tarsacci is simply 'not seeing' anything to Grnd Balance TO...…. and will grab ANY number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hence.... the numbers are spanning the entire spectrum. I speculate that you are encountering the same!..... low mineralization resultant.

Dew...… Yes. If you Salt Balance the unit in 18Khz. Then you perform a Salt Balance in 12Khz. Then you perform a Salt Balance in 9Khz. Then you perform a Salt Balance in 6Khz.
The Tarsacci will remember the specific Salt Balance for that SPECIFIC frequency...…………… soooooooo…………… when you switch back to a different frequency...…. the unit will REMEMBER the Salt Balance number..... and still be Salt Balanced.
But...…… remember. Temperature of the water will change the salt level/volume (held in solution)……… hence; different days (or conditions) will CHANGE the level of the salt..... held in solution. This is 'why' you may see one or two points difference...… from day-to-day.

NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dew...… Yes. If you Salt Balance the unit in 18Khz
> . Then you perform a Salt Balance in 12Khz. Then y
> ou perform a Salt Balance in 9Khz. Then you perfor
> m a Salt Balance in 6Khz.
> The Tarsacci will remember the specific Salt Balan
> ce for that SPECIFIC frequency...…………… soooooooo……
> ……… when you switch back to a different frequency.
> ..…. the unit will REMEMBER the Salt Balance numbe
> r..... and still be Salt Balanced.
> But...…… remember. Temperature of the water will
> change the salt level/volume (held in solution)………
> hence; different days (or conditions) will CHANGE
> the level of the salt..... held in solution. This
> is 'why' you may see one or two points difference.
> ..… from day-to-day.


Good info Tom. That is a real time saver.

If I understand you correctly, you can salt balance all your frequencies when you start your hunt and they will be set for that beach on that particular day. Then from that point you can change frequencies without having to Salt balance each time.

.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2019 03:47PM by Badger in NH.

Badger...…… that is correct. And...…. those 'remembered' Salt Balance settings may be good for the entire season.... unless there is large temperature changes...… or a Northerly current sweeps in.…. (also with differing temps).

Let me also add Badger.....you tested for wet sand.... in the water you have to use beach 2 which has less power and you run less sensitivity on the Nox. Depth suddenly swung even more toward the 8000 even in 9khz. The Nox will likely have the edge on small gold in or out of the water

I agree with Gary about the small targets. My unit hits targets so small I have to use a PP to find them. We have a great deal of aluminum in the sand here from years of drinking on the beach. It gets down to some very tiny pieces and is color of wet sand. It is quite the conundrum. lol Still testing but seeing ID pattern on them and adjusting the disc may come into play. I am also considering just going to digging low conductor signals in near future when the season kicks in. I feel if I keep digging all the high conductors looking for that round object attached to the big gold chain I may be wasting time not using this MD for what its intent was and that's gold rings.
Going to the beach tomorrow. No wind for last 2 days and really warm. Beaches flat and sand is deep.

We also have tons of tiny MELTED aluminum. On the Nox i noticed much like the bottom of rises on the dry sand where wind blows foils...... it happens as well in the water with tiny flakes of can slaw.... which can cause falsing too. I hunted in an area yesterday with a lot of larger cans and can lids throwing HIGH digits...... like you i passed on those. Im watching targets still in the penny range and below. At least with this machine there is some modulation so you know if its a BIG OLE CAN. But...... it still doesnt get the tiny tiny stuff the Nox gets....so the machine compliments the Nox if used right i believe.

Several more observations/thoughts:

It is REALLY neat to see the learning-curve that all Tarsacci owners are going through. (This helps me ….in many regards). Yes...… there's still more performance to be gained. No...…. I'm not 'keeping secrets' about the unit...…. due to the varying conditions that each individual owner is exposed to.

One person reports that "Black Sand" invoked..... presents a tremendous performance boost.
Another person reports that "Black Sand" OFF.... presents a tremendous performance boost.

Another person reports that Salt Mode ON...…… in a non-salt environment..... presents better EMI stability under unique circumstances; subsequently allowing for much higher Sens settings.

Many people reporting a few inches deeper than Equinox..... on a gold ring...…. in the wet-salt. Equinox goes 9" on a particular gold ring. Tarsacci goes 1/3 deeper than 9" on this particular gold ring. (((1/3 of 9".... is 3-inches))). From an engineering standpoint...…. this "1/3 deeper".... is a tremendous gain.
I also want to say...…… in an air-test...…. the Equinox would win this test. But........ In the wet-salt (and especially IN the saltwater)…….. the Tarsacci is showing a paradigm-shift in technology.

The owners are starting to see that this unit is NOT a VLF (due to the ….above.... wet-salt resultants). . . . . . . . . . even though some folks are still incorrectly claiming that it is a VLF.

One of the neatest characteristics of this unit is...………………… the "Salt Balance" is completely divorced from "Ground Balance". 'Why' is this important/significant?
For example: Let's look at some other top-performer units in the wet-salt (or bad ground). The CZ-20 & CZ-21, Sovereign and Excal……. are locked into a form of "salt" mode. It is not adjustable. The Equinox can be "Ground Balanced" on the wet-salt. I speculate that what's taking place is...…. the EQX is primarily compensating for the wet-salt.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,. and secondarily (maybe) compensating for the ground mineralization. This is a compromise of both.... with primary focus on the most inhibiting component...… which is the wet-salt.
Because the Tarsacci has a separate "Salt Balance" and separate "Ground Balance"...… you do not have to 'compromise' either. In fact.... you can accurately hair-split both. "WHERE" you will see the greatest attribute of this...…. is...…. wet-salt WITH black sand. The Tarsacci performs exceptionally well in this type of environment...… because you can achieve a perfect Salt Balance...…… AND...… achieve a perfect Ground Balance. This is 'why' some folks are reporting 1/3 greater performance with the Tarsacci…… over other units.

Something else I want to convey/impart...…… and in a non-expanded nutshell fashion: Lets use a Nickel (or gold ring) for example. When you air-test a Nickel with a particular detector.... it may air-test to 16". Then you bury the Nickel in the (salt) "damp" sand...… and can detect the Nickel to 11". Then you bury the Nickel in the "wet" sand..... and can detect the Nickel to 10". Then you bury the Nickel IN the water..... IN the ocean...…. and can only detect the Nickel to a depth of 8" below the floor of the sand...… on the bottom of the ocean. >>>>> Now go see what the Tarsacci will do!!!...….. and you will also see …… again...…. that the Tarsacci is NOT a VLF.

The Minelab GPX series units (totally different technology..... and is comparing apples-to-oranges...…. because they are a P.I. platform) does indeed perform the best in black sand combined with wet-salt; yet, there is a lot that is forfeited in the ID arena/department...….. as compared to the Tarsacci. Depending upon your age, health, time-availabilities, digging capacities...….. and a host of other variables.,.,.,.,.,.,.,...… will dictate if the GPX or the Tarsacci more suits your capabilities/limitations.

This brings up another thought: I often wonder ……. where are all the Civil War silver coins...….. for those folks of whom are utilizing the GPX-Series units for Civil War relic hunting? I have never heard this reported.