I decided just a while ago to test my V3i for the feature of Auto Balance, so I first thought that I would need to de-balance it. Well, I first balanced it over my buried 5 quarter, then went to the clean spot I knew about close by to see how much of it was. Mind you now, the Auto feature was OFF, LockTrack ON. The first lower of the coil with the trigger and menu button depressed, like you do for pumping the coil for GBing, showed a perfect balance, arrows switching without any pumps. So, still in Lock Track, using the GB I actually did over THAT VERY TARGET. I swept the 4 quarter again, it read as well as always when using the 6x10DD coil. I proceeded to test the 8 quarter I had buried close by, and it hit as good as good gets for the 6x10DD. So I went insane and went looking for ultra junky ground to balance over, and I'll be danged if I could ever make the V3i NOT get a good ground balance. I couldn't make the V3i fail getting a good GB. Again, my conditions wereand this test began in a venture to test the Auto Track precision, not just being a trouble maker)

Lock Track engaged
6x10&quotcheesysmile:
C&J(tweaked a bit)
Balanced right over buried treasure
Also balanced misc -Vdi junk
Tested for finding a 5 and an 8 buried quarter
Tested GB over known clean ground

As an extreme, I even tried balancing over a surface coin, but of course it never quietened completely during pumps, so I took the best it offered, and it STILL passsed.

It passed without having to scrutinizing the cleanliness of the ground in every situation, at least with every target I had buried in the garden. In fact, if anything, I got better results, which I know has to be nonsense. What am I missing here?

Unless I am missing something, and I may be...all this hype of ground balancing over clean ground being an absolute must, is an extreme overture. martin