Can anyone post a bit about the Eagle Spectrum model; particularly the Jimmy Sierra Edition?

[christopher-ohio]

I just saw a nice review about one...I know nothing about this detector...pros and cons...thanks in advance

 

[nc-joe]

What do you want to know? It's basically an XLT that is a little heavier, smaller screen uses 4 "C" batteries instead of 8 "AA" and has what some say are slightly better electronics than the XLT. It was at one time the flag ship detector for White's. They are very good machines, but the downsides are weight, battery life is a little less, and you are limited in the coil choices, (same as the XLT, only 1 DD coil available and it's mediocre at best) The Stock coil performs well and there are other concentric coils available (any 6.59kHz coil for the XLT, or DI PRO or PRO XL will work) These machines are fairly deep. The backlight is usually the one and only thing that goes bad on them, otherwise the are rock solid.

As far as the Sierra model, I THINK that is the "hip mounted" version. You can view the owner's manual for the Eagle Spectrum at this link:

http://hobby.us.whiteselectronics.com/images/manuals/Spectrum%20Manuals/

 

[Steve from Ohio]

I've owned one since 1991 and I would say that it is one of my all time favorites. I own 6 other detectors and have bought and sold 20 more. The Eagle Spectrum is on my top 2 list. The other on my top 2 is the Explorer SE.

I updated mine with the hip mount and added the Bigfoot coil. Killer combo. Almost like the Jimmy Sierra Spectrum without the stickers.
Not as deep as the Explorer SE, but much faster. I can clean up a school yard or park at least 4 times faster than any other machines unless they also have the Bigfoot coil. Very light and easy to use for hours and hours without getting tired.

The pros........Very quick on recovery. Very light with the hip mount. Can be as deep as or even deeper in some instances than other newer machines out on the
market. The Bigfoot coil!!!!!!!. Still a very popular machine. Still in demand after all these years. Rock solid ID. Still being serviced by White's.
Very easy to use.
Easy to program. Able to change all the settings easily to tailor the machine to each user.
Start and go programming set in the machine for excellent first time users. No long learning curve as with other machines.


The cons........The screen and the type on the screen is smaller than the newer models. Kind of hard to read at times. The back light on the screen usually dies. Not
a big deal. I don't use the back light because it kills the battery faster. The C batteries. I solved that problem by getting 4500 Mah rechargeable lithium
ion C batteries and that solved that. The Ni cad rechargeable batteries. You must run them completely to the point that the Spectrum says low batteries. If
you recharge them before that, you will get memory in them and not get all the power you could from them.
It would be nice to be able to save a few more programs instead of the two available custom program slots.

I also own a White's XLT and I am planning on selling it to my brother. It is redundant. I prefer the Spectrum to the XLT because I perceive a slight edge in depth with the older Spectrum. Not sure if that is true or not. I do know I find deeper items with the Spectrum. Could be that I just prefer it because I am more familiar with it.