DFX programs and advice?

[solitude]

Greetings everyone and thank you for taking the time to read my post. Not long ago I hit a deer on my motorcycle and my life changed. I am no longer able to do many of the things I once enjoyed due to physical limitations. I can still walk for a couple hours at a slow pace though and need to start doing it more often. I had purchased a Whites DFX before my crash but between being busy and to be honest somewhat confused and frustrated by the machine it ended up in a closet. Recently I decided that it may be just what I need to get active again. The problem is while I now have the time I still find the machine difficult to use. I don't have the money to upgrade right now so I am determined to figure my machine out. I had previously had some success (found a walking liberty half and a few silver dimes and quarters) at depths of up to 6 inches or so. But more times than not I find myself digging for "trash".

I live in Western NY and encounter a lot of clay and harder soil. I have access to both high trash areas and others that are relatively clean. My DFX is unmodified. I have been doing a fair amount of research on various websites but there seems to be a lot to consider. I don't expect anyone to waste there time "nursing" me along but would appreciate some pointers that would help a relative beginner like myself. Because my endurance isn't very good anymore I just want to make the most of my time outside. Also would you recommend I buy one of the DFX instruction books to use in conjunction with my manual? Are there any good starter programs for someone like me to get going with? Thanks again for your time and any help you can offer. God bless!

 

[RonNH]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. When I was riding bikes, that was one of my biggest fears..hitting a deer or other critter. There is a DFX Forum right next door>>>>> and people over there who can help you figure out this machine. I have one and it can be real simple or real challenging. There is a neat program by the late Dave Z who was the moderator. Most of us guys use it and as he was from upstate NY, it should work for you, too. See you on the DFX Forum. Ron

 

[DFX-Gregg]

First and most importantly sorry to hear about your accident. Second of all hopefully no one would feel like they are wasting their time. One of the things (there are two) that confuses me is that some people do nothing but post about their own finds, do not mention if they are using a special program, often don't even bother to mention their detector in some forums!!! Buy they get the same responses...nice finds, great finds and so on! They never answer any questions when people need help but claim great success! But hopefully as Ron mentioned between the White's forum and the DFX forum you should be able to get some help.

OK now my other confusion>>>when you say it is difficult to use and you are not modifying the programs at all, what is the problem? Are you not getting signals? Are you digging to much trash? Is there possibly something wrong with you detector?

Maybe start with the coin program, (not sure which coil you are using) and see what happens. The second part of my confusion also is with my machine if it reads toward 80-81 (penny dime) it usually is a dime. pennies 55-78 usually a penny, nickels (16-24)usually a nickel, quarters (82-84..85)usually a quarter. When I get this readings especially with the quarters and dimes they are right probably 90% of the time! So I am not sure if your problem is with readings, pinpointing, or a defective detector...

 

[solitude]

Gregg,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. Sorry that I was not very specific in my earlier post. Let me first say that I am quick to blame myself and not my DFX for the troubles I am having. I understand the machine is only as good as the person operating it.

First off my coil is the stock DFX coil, multi harmonic/wide band. Also, yes, I had been using mostly the coin program. A great deal of my trouble is that I do seem to dig up a lot of pull tabs and nails. (the areas I spend the most time searching have produced some nice finds but I had to dig up a ton of trash to get them) Much of the time they seem like legitimate hits so I guess a lot of my trouble comes from my readings? I would love to get to the point where I could be right 90% of the time like you stated in your post.

Also if there is another coil I should be considering I would like your input there as well. In addition is there any specific pin pointer I should purchase? I really need to become more precise in my digging!

Once again thanks for your time and help! I realize I am asking some very basic questions but your answers are helpful in getting me started. I will agree that it would be very interesting if people not only showed there "finds" but also mentioned what sort of soil they were digging, what machines were used and what programs they find the most effective.

Last night I loaded Dave Z's program and then woke up to four inches of snow! So I guess I will have to wait a little while longer to get out there!

Thanks again!

 

[DFX-Gregg]

In the trashy areas, if you have enough worth hunting, I would look at the Eclipse 5.3, or the 4x6 coil. I use the 5.3 and what the smaller coil will give you is better separation. You will lose some depth, I believe the 5.3 goes slightly deeper than the 4x6, but the 4x6 gives slightly better separation. I have had no trouble with the 5.3, and have had hits over 6 inches with it.

What may be happening in the trashy areas is the larger/stock coil is actually picking up more than one signal. If for instance you are getting mixed readings say vdi reading bouncing from 20's to say 83. If at this point you are mainly digging trash I would guess you are missing the coin. Do you re check area once you dig that bad signal (trash) to make sure you are not getting another signal? Because of the size of the coil it is picking up on several or more than one signal at a time. The smaller coil obviously will separate much better.

Is your pinpointing anywhere near accurate enough? Is your shallowest reading always your best reading....I am not sure anymore...I now believe go with the signal in pinpointing mode that shows the depth bars exactly even at the shallowest point you find them even. It usually is the same, or extremely close. If you find yourself digging holes to small (when my pinpointing is dead on I go smaller and smaller)go a little wider or deeper as needed.

I would not recommend playing around with pre amp gain or sensitivity until you are able to pretty much predict most of the time what is coming out of the ground. The hardest readings seem to be 8-50, where the trash and gold mainly are.

If you do just have a stock coil and do not own another coil (smaller), you are going to have to be more than patient in the trashy areas..... But you should be getting some pretty solid readings.....

If you feel something is wrong or you are having trouble grasping the readings, (I am no fan of spending months pretending in your own yard) drop a few coins on the ground and look at the readings. Also maybe in a trash free area bury a (penny, nickel, dime and quarter) an inch or two down and test your pinpointing skills.

I think one of the main things that stopped me from going crazy now is using tone id on. If you go into the pro options, go into audio arrow down to tone id, in coin program it is off, you simply hit enter and it switches to on. Then squeeze your trigger in release and try it out, the detector will give you a whole new range of sounds. The sounds seems crazy at first, but you will learn there is a tone assigned for each vdi reading so you don't get the same redundant beep all the time. The beeps start out low for a nickel, penny, but for a dime or quarter the pitch is higher and higher and very distinct.

Or even though this will give you less dicrimination try the beach program in a less trashy area, it is basically the same as the c/j coin jewelry program with just a few minor changes. That way you will not have to dig into the programs yet. Go into beach program drop a quarter and listen to that sound! Then a dime and so on. You should be able to get your mind to react to certain tones, much easier than the exact beep all the time...Give it a try either by putting tone id on in the coin program or just try the beach program if you are not comfortable with switching a option yet. I keep editing because I keep adding...

 

[fotofinish2]

n/t

 

[Detector Man]

I dont know how much you know about the machine but if reading is ok for you then get a book..for starters (i have the XLT) use the pre programs on the machine....turn on the VCO and TONE ID and go get em....thats as simple as i can make it for you. Those two controls made my life great on my XLT (DFX little brother).
HH
GIlbert

 

[jack in omaha]

I would say you should spend some time changing programs and also short hunting an area close to your home that has produced results for you. Your stamina will build and it is great excercise.

There are some great programs here and on your machine. Try Daves program. You do not need to upgrade you have the best machine already. But I would say that can play around with the manual and becomming familar with all the controls. You may have to read the manual multiple times, you can do this at home in your spare time. But then you can adjust programs and try them in your own yard or very close. Bes of all, this way you should not get tired.

And the next thing is research a place you want to hunt.Stick with it and use the dfx classroom forum here. You will find that the people there are great to help you and can speed your skill development. You can master the machine but think of it as a 747. And so in my opinion it is the highest skill hill to climb but it will do everthing for in the coin mode or you can get very specialize. Have fun go slow but keep at it.

 

[solitude]

Just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who has replied to my post so far! Here in NY it has been snowing again for the past 4 days so I have had time to study up on my DFX. Honestly though I think I need to get out there and put some new tactics to practice and see what happens. The manual is a lot to swallow all at once without trying things out as you go. But once again I just wanted to say that I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to post a reply and help me out!

Also I need to purchase a pin pointer to assist me. Is there any model that is great or one that I should stay away from. I have been researching three specific ones, they are: Whites bullseye I & II, vibra probe and automax v2 and v4. Thanks everyone!

Go easy!

 

[DFX-Gregg]

Check out the general metal detecting forum about six posts down (at this time) someone else asked same question.

 

[timberbeast]

I am a new-bee, myself. I thoght the DFX, was top of the line ?? I live on the west coast, Washington to be exact. I put mine on the shelf for a while. My confusion is high trash areas.

 

[mrowdy]

I have owned a DFX for several years and prefer to use the beach and jewelry mode wherever I detect...not just on the beach. While in the woods, clean signals usually result in coins, but broken signals yield horseshoes, medals, spoons, knives, musketballs and bullets,etc. It's a great start-up-and-go mode.

 

[NHBobK]

These are probably the two most popular upgrades for the DFX.

I have the Uniprobe with the headset and love it. My wife has become very interested in detecting after our trip to DIV VII. She wants to get a better probe than the Bulleye that she got with her M6. I knew once she really started detecting the Bulleye wouldn't cut it for her. I asked a very knowledgeable dealer/consultant about the DX-1 and Uniprobe. Here is what the he had to say.

>Hi Bob,

The two are very different. The SunRay unit is integrated with the actual detector and thus uses the detector power supply and of course has all of the features of the detector itself. This would include the discrimination capability etc. It is model specific, so you have to buy the model which matches your detector. For example, the DX1 works on the DFX,MXT or M/6

The Uniprobe by Detector probe is also a good unit, but it is more expensive than the Sun Ray unit, but it does go deeper. ?This may or may not be an advantage. It is a pulse detector, that accounts for the depth. Therefore, it also has no way to discriminate the target. It runs on its own power supply and does not integrate with the detector. It is a stand alone unit.

So it is up to you which is more important. A bit more depth or discrimination and price. It is your call,
>>

I have been using my Uniprobe for two years now. I like the fact that it uses it's own 9v battery and doesn't draw from the detector. Discrimination is not important to me with a probe. When I'm using it I have already dug a hole! At this point I want to see what caused me to dig, good or junk. It is more expensive. The probe with the headset (integated) is $350 MSRP. This include the probe and headphones. I have seen it for $315 and free shipping. One thing it does not have is somethig to clip it to the shaft like the DX-1. You just stick it in your pouch or a pocket. I just heard there are some plastic clips you csn get for about $10 to attach it to the shaft. I may give them a try. There is also a pocket probe which cost less. I am not familiar with model. I like it plugged into the headphones.

Hope this helps.

Bob in NH

 

[NHBobK]

The first thing you may want to do is read some of the posts in the DFXONLY forum. WWW.DFXONLY.COM. You should also pick up a copy of Jeff Foster's book "Diggind Deeper with the DFX". You can get it online or from most White's dealers.

HH

Bob in NH