I started this post, so I guess it's about time I wrote some stuff in regards to my testing with DT and BM. I would have done so sooner, but I got caught up in lengthy discussions on another forum about the new update.
The following is a post of all my post from three different threads on that other forum. It's not in the order I posted everything, and some of it may be repeated. I just copied and pasted all of it here, and I can't be bothered to organize it, or edit it to remove any repetitions. If you don't like that, then move on
Here goes....
I've learned that BE isn't about the ID, because the ID is erratic and inaccurate on nonferrous targets. In fact, the description for BE states that "
Targets at fringe depths may not give an ID or their ID may be unstable". I've also learned that whenever instructions say something like "may not", it usually means "will not"
BE is all about the audio. With my tests on wild fringe targets, BE screams "nonferrous!" on some targets. With the same targets, the audio using DT is not nearly as blatant, and the audio in regular mode is broken up or 1 way. All of that doesn't occur on all fringe targets.
Put another way, BE doesn't usually know the type of nonferrous target it's seeing at the fringe, but it's
very bold when it tells you that it sees a deep nonferrous target (compared to regular and DT mode, and provided the AG is similar)
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DT was working well in my testing. It very often turned a one way signal or an iffy one way signal, into solid 2 way nonferrous hits. It normally did so with clean audio and accurate IDs.
BM worked well on about 30% of the fringe targets. With the other 70% of fringe targets, it either did no better, or did worse than Park Mode. BM also severely up averaged nonferrous targets, but that effect was more pronounced on lower conductors like foil.
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From what I've read, other than the depth thing, many are expecting BM to give accurate audio and ID, but I don't think that's possible. I mean, BM is designed for fringe targets. Fringe targets don't contain enough information to have accurate audio and ID. That is the very nature of fringe targets. That's why I don't think BM can provide better ID and audio than the other modes. All it can do (sometimes), is give an "on" audio response to indicate a nonferrous target, when other modes can't.
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I did even more testing, and I think I'm convinced that BM often, and deliberately, ignores shallow to mid depth targets (mid to high signal strength targets). That would explain why so many of my in the wild targets weren't even detectable in BM, but came through loud and clear with a good ID in Park mode. The 30% of targets in which BM was much better than Park mode, were all deep or tiny targets (low signal strength targets).
Notice the audio is much louder in BM compared to Park and Field? So maybe on some non-fringe targets, the signal strength is so high that BM sees it as an audio overload and then just ignores the target?
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BM mode would be beneficial for hitting fringe targets in low trash sites, OR hitting fringe targets on sites that one has already cleaned out using Park or Field.
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I used a U.S. nickel, ground balanced at 26 on clean ground, and buried the nickel deep enough that in Park mode, I would very occasionally get a tone and an ID of 2 and 3. The signal was so iffy, that it could easily be mistaken as some of the ground signal coming through.
I switched on DT and set it to 3. I now got fairly consistent two way hits, but they were kind of "crunchy". The ID jumped from 2/3, and I saw a 48 / 50 a few times.
Switched to BM using A and set the IR at 2, AG at 3. Ground balanced at 31 on clean ground. The two way hits were much cleaner than DT, and the ID was similar to DT.
On a side note, I tripled checked the ground balance in Park and BM, to confirm that the ground balance was slightly different between those modes.
I didn't even bother going through the whole 2nd ground balancing thing, because my ground is so darn mild, that I didn't think it would matter.
With some further experimentation in my backyard, I'm beginning to think that DT and BM aren't "technically" going deeper. Rather, DT and BM are exposing small and deep nonferrous targets that were previously missed, or very iffy, due to masking from the ground signal and / or iron objects. It's as though the improvement is in the
separation of nonferrous targets from the ground signal and iron.
I'm finding the DT does what it claims to do, is easy to use, and has a consistent ID. BE on the other hand, is a "screamer" lol.
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DT set at 2 in my conditions is a definite improvement on the fringe targets. Plus, I really like how easy it to use, while still being able to use all the other features.
BM has been a strange one for me though. At first, I really disliked the pitch type tones of BM, but after a lot of testing, the zip-zip tones of BM has really started to grow on me. Enough so, that I might start using pitch in Park and Field mode.
BM is much more limited in its use than DT, but I have found a few deep targets with BM that gave a solid and clean two way hit, that Park could barely hit (if at all), and Park with DT would get a one way hit, or a very scratchy two way hit. On many other targets though, BM would be no better than Park and often it was worse. For me, BM only works at a specific depth, but when it sees a nonferrous target at that specific depth, it sure does let me know in a way that Park without DT can't do.
So ya, contrary to DT, BM is a very niche mode that does have benefit under certain scenarios. An example of that, is a private swim area that I hunted that had little to no trash and a lot of jewelry. I cleaned it out of all the nonferrous targets, but I really want to go over that area again in BM. Given my testing and comparisons with DT and BM, I'm certain I can find a few more pieces of jewelry if I use BM.