Can anyone help with the settings on my V3i? My machine seems unstable now.

[metaldetective]

I'll do my best to explain what's going on...

I have maybe 15 hours on this machine so I'm still a newbie. I've made some super finds already with it so I know the machine is locking on to good targets...tonight I dug an 1883 Indian at 6" and an 1899 Indian at 4". The problem seems to be with its threshold / stability.

When I turn it on and ground balance, if I just keep the coil on the ground in a clean spot without ANY movement, the VDI numbers are jumping all over the place, even well into negative range. And the corresponding tones also sound off. So even though I'm not swinging it side to side, its sounding off incessantly as if I were actually swinging it. It seems like maybe one or more of my settings could be way off, or worse, there could be an issue with the electronics.

Here's my settings:

Battery: 11 volts
Program: Coin & Jewelry
Discrimination:
Visual reject: ON
Bottle cap reject: 5
Hot Rock: +0
Sensitivity
RX Gain: 6
TX Boost: ON
Discrimination: anywhere from 65 to 90 with no change
All Metal: 50
Frequency: Three freq.
Freq offset: +0
Ground Tracking: Locktrac
Soil Type: Normal
Filter & Speed: Search
Ground Filter: 7.5Hz Band-pass
Recovery Delay: 60
S A T: 20
Filter & Speed: Analysis
Ground Filter: 10Hz Band-pass
Recovery Delay: 60
S A T: 20

Maybe I'm ground balancing incorrectly? Maybe my threshold is not set correctly? It just seems to me that it should not be this jumpy / unstable. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

metaldetective

 

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[mduggins]

Try adjusting your frequency offset either +or - to the smoothest point.

 

[leprechaun]

You might need to turn t boost off and turn the gain up to 8.Good luck.

 

[bobcat]

try even going higher then 8 for you rx gain. back down the the rx gain if you get too unstable. TX boost should be off just like leprechaun noted.

 

[Sandman]

Stop playing with the menu's and do a reset on the V3i to factory specs till you learn the unit better. Also turn off your cell phone and see if that makes a difference, or try another area with lower EMI emissions. Get away from any security systems or dog fences. According to your settings it is jacked up where it will be touchy.
http://detectorstuff.com/2009/08/05...ay-by-first-texas-lead-engineer-dave-johnson/

 

[Eu_citzen]

I think you already got several good pointers.

In very troublesome areas correlate (frequency) can help stabilize things, to.

 

[Giant056]

The stock coil that comes with the V3i is highly susceptible to EMI. Whenever I'm hunting near power wires (sometimes even a few hundred feet away) I'll get the dreaded emi with mine. Many times I'll have to run in just one frequency. Last week I was hunting a spot that was near high power lines which I couldn't see from where I was at, I was using my orange labeled D2 which I really like because it's so very light compared to the D2 that comes with the V3i and I thought the old coil had finally took a dump on me until I spotted these high power lines after I had changed to my 4x6 coil. I put my D2 back on that came with my V3i on a later date and just thought man is this thing ever heavy so I put the old coil back on in a spot where I've hunted often and there was no problem whatsoever. The V3i is really picky when it comes to interference from them power lines, sometimes even when they are a long way off.