Lots of Silver, some Gold, and a First For Me... Results from my V3i Upgrade

[West Jersey Detecting]

I got my V3 back with the upgrade to the "i" last weekend. I tried it out last Saturday at one of my colonial sites, but it is hard to gauge any change in a detector's performance when there are not a lot of targets left in the ground. Even though I prefer looking for older finds such as colonial and post colonial coins, I wanted to go to an area that I was reasonably sure would have old deep coins, so after work yesterday I hit an early 20th century swimming hole that once had a dance hall and picnic area. I swapped out my favored 950 coil, replacing it with the stock D2 because the dried up lake bed is very mineralized (as you can see by the coins) and the DD coil is a better choice than a concentric in these conditions. I never cared for the D2 before I got the V3i upgrade, but I figured it deserved a second chance. I am glad I did.

On the drive I was thinking that this would be a good choice of a spot to find my first SLQ, and wouldn't you know that the first coin I dug was one! As you can see the V3i performed like a champ, digging 8 silver coins including the 1917 SLQ and 1905 Barber Dime. I also dug some Wheaties and a lot of old beach tags, but the find of the day was the vintage gold crucifix with the date 4/5/55 engraved on the back. The AutoTrac feature of the V3i was flawless,and even after an hour of detecting the ground balance was still perfect, which is one of the many improvements over the V3. I also like the Polar Plot feature, which I have switched to the default when the toggle is pushed forward as you can see in the photos below.

I only detected a 15x15 foot spot and the site is huge, so I will be returning again soon! I detected this exact spot with my DFX over a year ago and found one Barber Quarter. That setup missed all of these coins. The V3i with the D2 really hit hard on the deep silver, many were more than 8 inches deep!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[jeff741972]

You got me sold on the upgrade! Great finds. What kind of settings from stock did you run? I have been putting off the upgrade since I missed the magic date by 2 weeks, but it looks to be worth the investment.

 

[N.J.THer]

Neil,
Congrats on some nice silver and gold finds.

I'm a White's guy and was thinking about making the jump over to the Minelab E-Trac but your starting to make me have second thoughts. Maybe the V3 is the way to go...if you don't mind me asking what is the V3i updated all about...I assume it cost more.

NJ

 

[mrtim]

I will have to send mine in for the upgrade now, Thanks for posting your results. Great finds!

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

You got me sold on the upgrade! Great finds. What kind of settings from stock did you run? I have been putting off the upgrade since I missed the magic date by 2 weeks, but it looks to be worth the investment.

Hi Jeff. I also put off the upgrade for a long time. I needed to send in the unit for a minor repair, so I figured that would be a good time to make the leap.

I generally use the Relic setting, but I made some changes to suit my preferences. I accept all targets down to -40 because I have noticed that some deep buttons can read as low as -15 in certain conditions. I also lower my ground filter to either 5 Hz or 7.5 Hz (depending on ground conditions) to allow for a slower sweep speed, increase the Recovery Delay to 95, Lower the Trac Speed to 25, VCO is on, Tone ID is on, Mixed Mode is on. Rx Gain is usually around 12, Discrimination Sensitivity as high as I can go (usually around 93), All Metal Sensitivity around 75. These are the basic performance enhancing settings, as there are many more configuration settings I have adjusted as well. I hope this helps.

Neil,
Congrats on some nice silver and gold finds.

I'm a White's guy and was thinking about making the jump over to the Minelab E-Trac but your starting to make me have second thoughts. Maybe the V3 is the way to go...if you don't mind me asking what is the V3i updated all about...I assume it cost more.

NJ

The V3i does not cost more, it is the updated version of the V3, which is no longer being manufactured. Current owners of the V3 can opt-in to have their unit upgraded to the newer software for free if they purchased it after November of 2009 (I am not sure of the exact dates, check with White's). Owners of units purchased prior to the date can have theirs updated for $99.99 plus postage, which is a great deal to have the latest and greatest.

Many of my friends use the E-Trac and we compare signals, etc. When using comparable coils there is no advantage on depth as far as I can tell. The V3 was prone to EMI, but in my few outings since the upgrade and after speaking with other owners, it seems like this is no longer an issue.

I do feel that the V3i has the E-Trac beat in its ability to find deep, tiny targets such as cuff buttons. These sometimes are invisible to the E-Trac while they give good (but jumpy) tones on the V3i. This is only my opinion, and i ma sure that user settings have a lot to do with it. I really like the Polar Plot screen (pictured in my post) which was one of the new additions to the "i". Bad alloys such as bottle caps show as squiggly circles like this:

While good alloys and metals, such as bronze, copper, gold and silver, show like this:

There is also the sizing option, but I think audio in pinpoint is a more accurate indicator of size than the graph which looks like this:

The other additions to the V3i are multi-language support, Mixed Mode Stereo (All metal in one ear, the discriminate in the other), On Board Reference Guide, Coil Selection (change to the coil size you are using for more accurate depth indication), Soil Type Selection, and Prospecting Scan (great for gold detecting).

 

[Kut2TheChase]

Way to go! I like that polar plot.

 

[Elad]

Nice finds. I would also be pleased with these results.

Hey do think if I send Whites my Minelab they wouldn't notice and upgrade it anyways?

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

Nice finds. I would also be pleased with these results.

Hey do think if I send Whites my Minelab they wouldn't notice and upgrade it anyways?

Just send it to me, and I will take care of it ....I promise!

 

[Wldbil]

Great finds... I hope to one day upgrade from the XLT to the V3i myself.

 

[N.J.THer]

Thanks Neil...I was speaking to a dealer that carries White's and Minelab. When I mentioned about making the jump over to the E-Trac he did tell me to think about the V3. Whatever I do it still has to wait until I have some spare cash and with two little ones that does not happen too often...lol.

NJ

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

Thanks Neil...I was speaking to a dealer that carries White's and Minelab. When I mentioned about making the jump over to the E-Trac he did tell me to think about the V3. Whatever I do it still has to wait until I have some spare cash and with two little ones that does not happen too often...lol.

NJ

Two little ones become two big ones and two big ones means two college tuition bills. My advice is do not walk back to that dealer, RUN!

 

[HISPAN]

nice Gold ... congrats !

 

[detectahead]

Great hunt! Just found a '17 SLQ the other day myself, congrats!

 

[billydabeeg]

Nice finds and a good spot to keep hammering. Congrats

 

[MonkeyBoy]

I bought a V3.. when I was first learning to use it, it was giving me some problems (other then th eones I was probably causing) with "falsing" on the ground balance. Sometimes, I would get a target, dig it and the V3 would not pick it up once I got it out of the hole unless I lied the item on the ground, reground balanced and then bam! That was really bugging me, sort of a show stopper if you can't trust the GB! I qualified for the upgrade, go it done and man... I love it now! I have picked up the DFX a couple of times, usually setting it up for my son to use and it is like a toy now! It goes deep, is good around interference and easy was you get the settings down. If I was only relic hunting in the fields I'd think about a TDI first, but we hit a lot of cellar holes/house sites soo the V3i is still top of the stack for me right now.. I think the minelab vs. white's is a lot of what you are use to hunting with.. hunt with what you know because that is 90% of it... I just like the V3i showing me the freqs it is using.. showing me the response of each.. and the strength.. that is just invaluable in the field..

Just my humble opinion here... not looking for another this vs that thread.. ;-)

MB

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

I bought a V3.. when I was first learning to use it, it was giving me some problems (other then th eones I was probably causing) with "falsing" on the ground balance. Sometimes, I would get a target, dig it and the V3 would not pick it up once I got it out of the hole unless I lied the item on the ground, reground balanced and then bam! That was really bugging me, sort of a show stopper if you can't trust the GB! I qualified for the upgrade, go it done and man... I love it now! I have picked up the DFX a couple of times, usually setting it up for my son to use and it is like a toy now! It goes deep, is good around interference and easy was you get the settings down. If I was only relic hunting in the fields I'd think about a TDI first, but we hit a lot of cellar holes/house sites soo the V3i is still top of the stack for me right now.. I think the minelab vs. white's is a lot of what you are use to hunting with.. hunt with what you know because that is 90% of it... I just like the V3i showing me the freqs it is using.. showing me the response of each.. and the strength.. that is just invaluable in the field..

Just my humble opinion here... not looking for another this vs that thread.. ;-)

MB

I agree, if you are used to White's detectors you are better off staying. I think they all have their strengths and weaknesses, although what I am seeing so far is that the upgrade has resolved some of the weaknesses of the V3. Definitely worth the small investment!

 

[deanv63]

sweettttt!