Recently, I got a great deal on a Whites Classic III, along with a 5.3" Black Max coil. I have always liked the Classics; the instrument just swings so naturally in the hand, what with it's counterbalanced configuration. It is easy to like, right off. Of course there is no real ground coverage with that small coil, but working it in tight around trash and park equipment oughta be a breeze. Besides a great deal on an old favorite is hard to pass up. 
Once acquired, I sent the CIII off to Mr. Bill to do his "mods". In case you dont know, Mr Bill Crabtree is known for the modifications he does to these detectors, which to be honest, have had their gain circuits "throttled back" at the factory. The capacity is there, but Whites has held down the "heat", if you will. Bill has been in cahoots with Whites for years in making these changes, so ho knows what he's doing.
He first pulls out the GB and THRESH adjustments to the control panel - these changes alone are a real boon in terms of performance and usability. Then, he changes some components in the gain circuits, adding a "boost" element which increases response at the upper end of the SENS control - adding a little more depth.
The detector has a great single tier DISC circuit, too, exhibiting a real aversion to iron and foil trash that surprised me when I first tried it out. Since it's such an easy swinger with that little coil and tends to disregard these common trash items so well, it oughta be good for sniping in the parks, schools and other trashways so often available to us.
Now, with that single tier DISC, there is little I can do about the tabs it will find except work with it for awhile. But, since we all know that gold and tabs/screwcaps are tied together, it seems natural that it ought to be tested on a desirable target which I would want to find in the places mentioned. So, I used my favorite item: My wedding band!
This band is 14K gold, so it has the low end conductivity of an average square tab/nickle, which is to say, not so good. Silver is easy, but nickles, rings, etc... well, they're a bit more challenging.
I tested the CIII/BlackMax5.3 against all my other detectors on this ring for response. Each instrument was set up similarly, thus:
SENS: 80% of full
MODE: Jewelry or equivalent DISC setting
GB(if available): slightly positive
This was a straight test and no "super tuning" or any other extras were employed. I also wasn't concerned with VID/TID, as the CIII has none of that. A tab will read tab, a gold ring will read tab...so, I was mostly concerned with target response vice distance (depth).
All instruments hit hard with the coil close to the target, but in terms of response as I raised the coil from the target, things began to change, as well you might expect.
The CIII got the ring reliably up through 5 3/4", and began to fall off from there, although, "zipping" the coil over the target once you acquired it, got a better response and another 1/2" (this held true for all the detectors I tested). Not bad for a sniper coil and an older, "obsolete" model.
Now, here's how my MrB-CIII fared against >>>
My Garrett 1350, 'Old Trusty', with stock coil - The Garrett got the ring up to 7 1/2" , where the response fell off, turning choppy and hard to make out. A fast swing speed improves response and would get you a little more. No surprises; also NOT a sniper set up.
My Garrett Ace 250, 'Lil Trusty', with stock coil - Fall off after 7". Ditto on the swing speed for the little Ace 250. This one borders on being a sniper set up.
Tesoro Golden uMax, stock coil - Equal to the MrB-CIII, NOT a sniper instrument.
Tesoro Vaquero, 5.75" coil - Fall off after 6 1/2". Faster swing speed improves reponse and would likely get you a little more. In fact, going too slow caused the response to disappear altogether - so much for the much hyped "slow Vaquero swing"! (I've held all along that the Vaq should really be considered a moderate swing machine.)
Tesoro Tiger Shark - Fall off after 6 3/4". Slightly better than the CIII. This could be imporved with a little "SuperTuning", as THRESH was set at just audible.
This is not definitive by any means. I used no MAX SENS air testing, but tested under mineralized matrix conditions, at SENS levels one could normally run at. Neverthelsee, it gives some idea of the capability of the instruments mentioned (and the MrB-CIII) as far as depth response is concerned. Conditions at each hunt site are different also; in some cases helping, in some hindering response.
However, DO note the performance of the Garrett's - quite good. Again, no surprises there! The Ace is still an awesome little package for the little money it costs.
Since I really want to use the MrB-CIII/Black Max 5.3 Combo as a park-yard "trash picker", I'll do a bit more swing speed and target masking/separation testing next time around. This is the "acid test" and will make or break the best of them.
C'Ya
Once acquired, I sent the CIII off to Mr. Bill to do his "mods". In case you dont know, Mr Bill Crabtree is known for the modifications he does to these detectors, which to be honest, have had their gain circuits "throttled back" at the factory. The capacity is there, but Whites has held down the "heat", if you will. Bill has been in cahoots with Whites for years in making these changes, so ho knows what he's doing.
He first pulls out the GB and THRESH adjustments to the control panel - these changes alone are a real boon in terms of performance and usability. Then, he changes some components in the gain circuits, adding a "boost" element which increases response at the upper end of the SENS control - adding a little more depth.
The detector has a great single tier DISC circuit, too, exhibiting a real aversion to iron and foil trash that surprised me when I first tried it out. Since it's such an easy swinger with that little coil and tends to disregard these common trash items so well, it oughta be good for sniping in the parks, schools and other trashways so often available to us.
Now, with that single tier DISC, there is little I can do about the tabs it will find except work with it for awhile. But, since we all know that gold and tabs/screwcaps are tied together, it seems natural that it ought to be tested on a desirable target which I would want to find in the places mentioned. So, I used my favorite item: My wedding band!
This band is 14K gold, so it has the low end conductivity of an average square tab/nickle, which is to say, not so good. Silver is easy, but nickles, rings, etc... well, they're a bit more challenging.
I tested the CIII/BlackMax5.3 against all my other detectors on this ring for response. Each instrument was set up similarly, thus:
SENS: 80% of full
MODE: Jewelry or equivalent DISC setting
GB(if available): slightly positive
This was a straight test and no "super tuning" or any other extras were employed. I also wasn't concerned with VID/TID, as the CIII has none of that. A tab will read tab, a gold ring will read tab...so, I was mostly concerned with target response vice distance (depth).
All instruments hit hard with the coil close to the target, but in terms of response as I raised the coil from the target, things began to change, as well you might expect.
The CIII got the ring reliably up through 5 3/4", and began to fall off from there, although, "zipping" the coil over the target once you acquired it, got a better response and another 1/2" (this held true for all the detectors I tested). Not bad for a sniper coil and an older, "obsolete" model.
Now, here's how my MrB-CIII fared against >>>
My Garrett 1350, 'Old Trusty', with stock coil - The Garrett got the ring up to 7 1/2" , where the response fell off, turning choppy and hard to make out. A fast swing speed improves response and would get you a little more. No surprises; also NOT a sniper set up.
My Garrett Ace 250, 'Lil Trusty', with stock coil - Fall off after 7". Ditto on the swing speed for the little Ace 250. This one borders on being a sniper set up.
Tesoro Golden uMax, stock coil - Equal to the MrB-CIII, NOT a sniper instrument.
Tesoro Vaquero, 5.75" coil - Fall off after 6 1/2". Faster swing speed improves reponse and would likely get you a little more. In fact, going too slow caused the response to disappear altogether - so much for the much hyped "slow Vaquero swing"! (I've held all along that the Vaq should really be considered a moderate swing machine.)
Tesoro Tiger Shark - Fall off after 6 3/4". Slightly better than the CIII. This could be imporved with a little "SuperTuning", as THRESH was set at just audible.
This is not definitive by any means. I used no MAX SENS air testing, but tested under mineralized matrix conditions, at SENS levels one could normally run at. Neverthelsee, it gives some idea of the capability of the instruments mentioned (and the MrB-CIII) as far as depth response is concerned. Conditions at each hunt site are different also; in some cases helping, in some hindering response.
However, DO note the performance of the Garrett's - quite good. Again, no surprises there! The Ace is still an awesome little package for the little money it costs.
Since I really want to use the MrB-CIII/Black Max 5.3 Combo as a park-yard "trash picker", I'll do a bit more swing speed and target masking/separation testing next time around. This is the "acid test" and will make or break the best of them.
C'Ya
