DFX-V3i

[grumpyjohn]

Been thinking of an upgrade to my DFX which I have swung (very happily) for 6 years now with some good finds.The V3i is the machine I`ve almost decided to go for but would welcome any opinions regarding its performance compared to the DFX. The service we get from Whites here in Scotland is excellent, in fact second to none!!

 

[Larry (IL)]

Many of us has moved up from the DFX to the V3i and in my opinion, worth every cent. You have a lot reading to do in past posts about the differences, all good except I did not like losing the live DC phase reading but that is off-set by the advantages of the other live data on the V3i.

 

[corvair]

The DFX while a very good detector is not in the same league as the V3i. I do own both and the DFX served me well and is still my back-up detector.The V3i has more depth and is infinately adjustable.
That feature alone makes it completely customizable to the soil you hunt and the conditions of the site, such as high trash and mineralization.

I thank Magic for turning me on to the V3i. He gave me personal instruction on it's use and how he has his main custom program set-up. The V3i's ability to turn off the audio(or to #5 like Magic's program) for each VDI makes the V3i hunt areas you would be overwhelmed with when using the DFX.The lack of audio on those poor targets makes the V3i exceptionally quiet for my old ears.

Don't get me wrong the DFX can be set up to handle hard to hunt grounds just not as well as the V3i can. The V3i is extremely sensitive to small targets using the 10 DD standard coil and has exceptional depth. I have recovered silver dimes from 10-11 inches already and consistantly to depths of 9+ even in poor soil. Bear in mind that the operator also plays an integral part in what your detector can "see". Knowing all the ins and outs of the V3i takes time and practice in the field to become knowledgable of what to adjust when and where conditions warrant.

I am a newby with the V3i, but have been metal detecting for well over 20 years. The V3i might be intimidating to some but I wouldn't trade mine for any other make or model.(unless Whites comes up with one even better)

 

[Rebel8]

Larry (IL) , my V3i has DC phase reading, composite 3 frequency or each individual frequency. That is if we are talking about the same thing.

 

[Larry (IL)]

Not quite that simple, this is how we can do it on the V and it is read in degrees not as a VDI# as on the DFX. (Copied from a previous post)




Checking Phase with the Target Ground Probe

 

[Rebel8]

I am looking at the ground probe screen. It lists VDI -93
2.5 + 0.3
7.5 -3.1
22.5 -5.3

2.5 10.4%
7.5 12.2%
22.5 28.9%

(RX Gain=

On board manual: "The information that is displayed in the ground probe is the calculated VDI, the phase at each operating frequency and the strength at each
operating frequency."

Please help me to understand how this VDI calculated is not the same as on the DC phase of XLT ( I don't have DFX ). I sure would like to use the work
you have posted in using DC phase as a tool for predicting gold and aluminum targets. Thanks in advance!

 

[Larry (IL)]

Search DC Phase for lots of info, here are a few of them. To the best of my memory, the VDI# on the Ground probe might be after filter processing while the XLT and DFX Phase is raw data before processing............. I need some help on this one because I don't use this feature.




(From Anne AK_1234)

Ideally all targets and ground should fall between 0 and 180 degrees (positive). In air, when you zero the detector, you will see phases of both positive and negative values - those are just noise and don't pay attention to them. If you are getting a negative phase for any of the frequencies when you lower the loop to the ground however, you probably have an overload problem. A ferrite bead should come in at 178degrees. Most ground that we see is 178 to 165 degrees (except salt which falls close to 90 degrees - different for each frequency). The VDI reading at the top of the screen is converted from the phase into VDI units like you'd see for normal targets (VDI = 19 = nickel, VDI = -78 = probably iron...) It's either going to be from the strongest signal if the detector is running best data, or the average of the two strongest signals if correlate is selected.

Hope that helps some too. But the best way to get at least a starting point on gain is to zoom the sensitivity live control


http://www.findmall.com/read.php?66,1012639,1013850#msg-1013850

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?66,956463,956804#msg-956804

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?66,956463,956804#msg-956804

 

[grumpyjohn]

Many thanks all for your input. It all seems a little confusing at the moment but will probably become a lot clearer when I get the machine and read up on how to operate it. All else failing I will be back on the forum with what might seem to be silly questions. Please humour me and have pity on my lack of knowledge!

 

[Larry (IL)]

If all of this is only a little confusing, you are off to a great start. What is nice is you do not have to understand any of these advanced readings and settings to successfully use the V3i.