How Essential is Sensitivity Control?

Prospecting units should if possible come with a sensitivity control unit. However, this is a control that is not always fully understood by prospectors. There are a lot of people that use detectors that think that in order to go deeper they have to set the detector at the highest level of sensitivity there is. However, this is only done in cases when the detector is testing the air. When in the air, the detector does not become obstructed to be able to transmit or receive. In the same way, the highest amount of sensitivity means the most depth in detection. Nonetheless this is not always so when one is working out on the field. one of the set backs of a great amount of iron mineralization is that it can make the signal to come back to the detector more and so much so to the point where it overloads the preamplifier in the audio system. What occurs in these cases is that the ability the detector had to hear a signal becomes reduced or completely eliminated. The detector can completely stop working and shut down. Almost all of the prospecting detectors have been made to bring down the chances of saturation or overload though given that the manufactures design the circuitry to avoid this from happening. However, this can happen to units if they are used in a higher than needed sensitivity. If the prospector adds too much signal to the ground there will be too much signal bouncing back. Too much signal is one of the worst errors that a good amount of prospectors make when they are using a detector. Given the fact that gold is usually found in highly mineralized areas, it is more of a problem than if they were just doing the typical metal detecting. And for prospectors that are coin hunting the same can occur in areas that are highly mineralized as well. If there is too much sensitivity the detector will work in an unpredictable way. Often times false signals are received which do not repeat themselves which means they are not targets. Some detectors have a way of informing the operator if the loop is becoming overloaded. The prospector should check the manual to see if the detector has this function. Therefore contrary to popular belief, less sensitivity can actually provide more depth in detecting gold nuggets.