New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

We seemed to of gate crashed a previous topic so figured it best to open up another topic for the operating the V3i:

Digger - since you about to take the leap away from the factory programs and into using and programming your own, here's some tips and programs I have found helpful.

General Programming

1. Always just change one thing at a time until you learn what effect that setting has. It's easy to change 4-5 settings at once then get confused as to what's effecting what when id'ing a target

2. Change & save the name of one of the factory programs as your personal one. Once you have sussed out a setting change and like its effect then save it. If you find out later that you don't really like it you can re-install your personal program before the change.

3. I find it helpful to keep all the tones and frequency colours the same in any program I use. These are easily changed with the settings and by standardising them you know at a glance (or sound) what the detector is telling you no matter what program you are using.

4. Record your program changes on the form found at the back of the manual. Use photocopies to allow for various changes and fine tuning over the years, also write in the margin the effects the setting has. This I haven't done and always kick myself over!

5. Turn on Pinpointing VCO for all programs (its off by default).

6. You can change which Icons match which VDI's quite easily. Remember they are set for US coins and targets - why not change them to match ours?

7. When discriminating out VDI's always allow some buffer between the numbers. For example if you air test a $1 coin at 58 then allow a buffer of at least 5 numbers either side (accept 53 to 63). When a target is buried it can fudge the VDI's a bit and this will allow for it.

Programs I like

By going to the Whites Forum at the link Ed gave before: http://forums.whiteselectronics.com/forumdisplay.php?70-Detector-Programs you will find a list on non-factory programs that the various Whites guru's have come up with. The V3i ones have a large leap in performance over the factory programs in certain situations. The factory programs are more generalised. Detector performance can be further increased by fine tuning it with your own setting changes to match them to the soil / environment you are hunting in.

Tips:
When changing Tones or VDI's etc instead of setting each one of the 190 individually, just set one then as its highlighted keep your finger on the enter button and down or up arrow through the VDI's you want to set at that number. Repeat for all variations. (I learnt this the hard way!). Also when programming inside the house its best to just unscrew the cable so you don't get interference from the coil.

The following are what I use the most with the program it was based on listed, all settings are the same as the base program unless stated below:

1. Goldie
Used solely to quickly hunt down our $1 & $2 coins without being side tracked by other targets (good for when I'm feeling broke or want to buy more detecting equipment!).

Start with the factory Coin & Jewellery program.
RX = 6
I have discriminated out all VDI tones from -95 to +48 by giving them a 0 tone, allowed +49 to +66 with a tone of 200, +67 to +95 also has a 0 tone.
Ground Filter = 10HZ
Recovery Delay = 80
SAT = 20 (don't bother adjusting unless using one of the All Metal modes)
Colours changed to my personal preference.

2. FMP Park
This is a "hot" program to use on land. It offers maximum depth in average junky areas (like most parks away from picnic tables) but you will get falsing if RX is too high for the area and it gives a lot of info so its not a "Beep - Dig" type of program.

Start with the program Fox's Max Performance - 10"DD (hence FMP)
Sensitivity All Metal = 80
Search Audio = Mixed Metal Mode (unless junky area then change to Discrimination)
SAT = 25
Recovery = 80
VDI tones = -95 tone 80, -94 to -31 tone 0, -32 to +0 tone 5, +1 to +12 tone 112, +13 to +24 tone 150, +25 to +51 tone 178, +52 to +64 tone 200, +65 to +94 tone 250 (These tone changes are just my preference and are standardised over all programs that use them).

3. FMP Salt
This is the same as FMP Park but with the salt settings selected. Works well with the 10"DD on the beach in dry and wet but I also use it for the Super 12 just because I'm too lazy to change a program to suit that coil.

Start with FMP Park.
Ground Filter = 7.5Hz Bandpass
Transmit Frequency = Salt
Ground Tracking Soil = Salt
Bottle Cap Reject = 2

4. Magics Pro
I use unchanged apart from site selective settings. BEWARE you only want to use this one in a very clean area, any junk will have you tearing your hair out. But it is a very deep program.


Any changes to settings should be made for your own personal preference - for example Ed likes to have a faster recovery at 45 compared to my 80 and Fox's 105. Find out what you like by experimenting one setting at a time.

Edited by user Friday, 22 February 2013 9:15:50 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Yes quite enlightening really.
:-))

think i should stick to the ace for now its automatic hahaha

Dammit I want one of those. My dream machine, hopefully I may be able to pick one up secondhand when I go to UK this winter.

Quote "Thus for a site specific setting the recovery delay should be adjusted to how much junk is around in proportion to the size of the coil used." Quote

Shilo, this is so true. If I'm detecting a trashy site I will start with a lower recovery delay and adjust it upwards until I'm happy with the degree of separation. When you determine what is a good setting for that site and coil the next thing to work on is your swing speed. When it all fits together it feels so good.
The one thing we haven't covered is the ground balance; all the best settings will not do their job if the unit doesn't have the best GB you can get. Often I will do a second GB after a minute or so of doing the initial GB just to get it that little bit better, sometimes it's as good as I'll get it the first time. I think you have more leeway with the settings than you do with the ground balance.

Cheers ed

Expat, With a V3i you will defiantly learn a lot about how every detector works. Most machines do the same as all the jargon above, but they are set and can not be adjusted. With the V3i just about anything can be adjusted if you want and thus can be customised to any particular ground situation. It's a fun one to use.

And it even contains Easter Eggs! (the software writers humour - hit the secret sequences of keys & it will play different tunes).

garrett ace250 has the best programs...step 1..turn on.
step 2..swing.
step 3..find stuff..
ehh simple machine for a simple mind lol.

Shilo, I'm using a track speed of 15 and 0 off set. With report and inhibit X'd.
What settings are you using?

Thanks Ed, yes as I suspected - I need to play around with that track speed a bit more. Currently I have it set at 20 as standard in all my programs. Did Carl say that the noisy sweep for too high a track speed can be heard using Discrimination Audio (via the Threshold) or can it only be picked out with the All metal audios? Reason I'm wondering is that it might only show up in Dis Audio as falsing?

My offsets are set to 0 as standard. I do play around with them a lot when I find that GB can not be obtained - normally on the beach around black sand or in high EMI situations (I've got high tension power lines above my house thus the EMI level is ridiculous in the backyard). But even in the worse situations I find that the Offset only has to be moved to the max of +/-2 . If this minor adjustment doesn't work then its better to change the Frequency Offset as well and then if needed decrease RX Gain until GB can be obtained and in the case of EMI use TX Boost to make up for the lost depth.

Edited by user Saturday, 23 February 2013 10:37:41 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Shilo I am at work now will check my notes when I get home around 4pm
Cheers ed

Edited by user Saturday, 23 February 2013 2:57:16 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified