Whites Spectra V3i information

[Ben78]

@wolfau

I'd have one in a flash if I could afford it and still looked for coins

 

[Guest]

Narrawa, who is now on this forum also, started this thread:

http://golddetecting.4umer.net/t17810-whites-spectra-v3i

Found 1 x 0.8gram bit with it in trash but hot rocks seem to be an issue? Maybe he will comment when he logs on next?

I really don't think any VLF will take off here for our goldfields. They have their uses/place but aren't going to perform as well as a PI in most goldfield situations.

 

[Narrawa]

G-day, i have found a few bits of gold with the V3I in WA where i thought of all places it would struggle. Not so, given the lengthy menu system and parameters that can be had with it, you can manipulate the V3i to handle the ground reasonably well. However being a VLF detector, dont expect it to penetrate all that deep. Its better suited to cleaning up in trash areas where gold is sitting on top, or just below the surface. It can and has picked up targets at reasonable depths, but none of were large bits of gold. I was unable to walk over one of these with the V3i this season.
It has no problem picking up .5 gram bits and over if they are on or close to the surface. The stock DD coil i found better to use over the 10x6 Eclipse, only because of the ground. If the ground was a little more polite in the areas i was working, the 10x6 would have been the better coil.

The Yank prospecting program is just not happening over here, but if you make adjustments to suit your detecting style, you can re-model much of the program and make it useable. Or simply design your own program to suit your detecting style/needs, this is not easy as we are all different and it takes time to nut out this machine. The ground is ever changing as you walk about meaning programs from others may not work if you simply copy their settings. In order to get the best from it, you need to learn it.
As a coin/jewelery machine, its fantastic even in the stock yank programs it comes with.

If your thinking of buying it for chasing gold, you'll be disappointed, it will test your patients to no end. As a crossover detector for dabbling into all the styles, you'll love it. But be warned, its learning curve is not for those with a short fuse. I love it because i like to fiddle with settings, and there is no end to what you can fiddle with on this machine...for me it means boredom is a loooong way off.

I found it better to mod certain programs for chasing gold in and around the trash areas where i was looking for shallow nuugs among the rubbish. When you get to know the detector a little, you'll find this easy enough to do, and a lot more fun using the ID screens and your nominated tones for a better decision whether to dig or not.

I also wish there were more discussions on the V3i in oz,

 

[ronniecruisin]

Now that's an excellent review, and an honest one too. Thanks very much for your input. I'm sure many people here will appreciate it as much as me. Thanks to everyone else who has responded too. Regards... Ronnie.

 

[Narrawa]

Pretty much using mine on a daily basis (pending temps) and loving it.
Found a nice little coin spill under my mums cloth line the other day after mowing the lawn. A few coppers 1c-2c and a few 5c coins as well as the norm $1-2 coins. Also what i thought was going to be a rare find. Got me a coin called a "New Pence" 2p..1971...did a little read up on it but no go.....not one of the rare models in that range. Still, i hadn't found one before so new to me. Given the tightness of their location id say kids of yesteryear found away to break the boredom by hammering coins into the ground. :lol:
Also in the hole was a 63 Sixpence. Not a bad effort for about an hrs work. However, that work only covered about 2x2 meters....and there are plenty of targets left for me to sort through as i was only digging certain tones and the temps started getting up there.
Love the Mixed Mode with a few tweaks and i pinched the 10x5 Eclips coil off my partners MXT for its better separation abilities. Top little coil, and the ability of the v3i to weed out tones that are bunched up with shredded aluminum thx to the John Deer's mulching program. :/ Yep, nothing more enjoyable than sifting through years of lawn mower kill. :lol: The best thing about these old houses dating back to the 30s, is there's never a shortage of targets.

Have a few more old houses iv lines up to hunt over the coming weeks, anything worthy i'll put a pic or two up.

Be good to hear of others using the v3i here in oz. Love reading about the settings others use, but most of that is coming from overseas forums where their settings are not always suited. Iv tried settings from a few that sounded worthy but our soil seams to put rest to any real benefit compared to what was being used to start with.
And the v3i being what it is....a tweakers paradise, means your on the dials a lot learning and tweaking as you go,
and those new settings you punched in seam to find new values being added and subtracted from to the point of becoming an entirely new program. :lol: