First Hunt - 1700 era coin & some feedback on V3i

[earthmansurfer]

Well, after spending about 2 hours in my test garden and being able to find a 8 3/4" burried clad dime (with iron around it) with little problem I was pretty excited to go out to my "spot". There I buried a thin silver coin (roughly dime sized) at 9" and hit it with NO problem. I was actually pretty shocked. My basic settings were Rx 8, Disc 90, no discrim, recovery 60, 10Hz band filter, no modulation (a first for me) auto trac GB with a manual GB first. I never thought I'd run an auto trac GB but it performed flawlessly. I did a probe first in the air and ground. There was basically no EMI and the ground was at around 13%. Glad I checked as the 5Hz filter probably wouldn't have been right and I checked and found that to be true. And thanks Rob, before I went out for 2 and 1/2 hours or so today I read a recent post of yours that said just put the machine on the menu screen before placing it down so as to not track to the ground and be quiet of course. (I might not have figured that out right away. LOL)

I have pretty much cleaned this spot of any silver coins with my Omega 8000, at least down to 7" or so and small thin coins, some hammered, won't go much farther. I got a clean signal but the VDI was only at 11 or so, almost missed it as it was a bit low and I did up the tone a bit. At around 3"-4" was a thinner than dime sized "counting pfenning" made of brass. It is nothing special, probably worth 5 bucks in the condition it is in, but a nice first coin to find. (No date, but there were a variety made between 1702 and 1711). Pic of the same type of coin at bottom - mine is not clean enough yet. I then found another coin that I can't make out what it is but am pretty sure it's another counting one. There was a market there I found out and they used these counting coins to help count change and such. There is a road not real far from this place that stretched from France to Prag, so it's a major old trade route.

I also played with a Deus emulation program and damn was it fast. The recovery was set at 20! It even sounds a bit like a Deus from what I saw online. And you may not believe it but it EASILY got the 9" buried coin (only with a fast swing). (Filter at 10 Band, Rx 8 and Disc 85). I'm gonna hunt more with this program when I hit iron and then when things clean up I'll switch to my deeper "Big Papa" program that found the two coins and button today. I also think I'll create a "deep check" program so as to save time from going through any of the menus and adjusting recovery, filters, etc.

Regarding my impressions of the unit. I really had zero problem operating it. I was fearful in a way after reading about a few people with problems but I read the manual like 4 or 5 times before I got it and read even more on the net. I haven't operating really complex detectors before (Nautilus IIB, T2 and Omega 8000). I have to say that this detector is on a another level compared to some nice detectors I've had in the past. The thing that shocks me first is the depth without even trying. I know I can find silver over a foot deep. That is like 50% deeper than I'm used to. I dug some iron but it didn't really fool me, just wanted to know the machine. I think I'll lower the Rx and disc some if it continues to be a problem and I might try the correlate as well as the high band filter next time. The "spike" sounds are what sort of tricked me but I notice that when I pin pointed the target moved - very easy hint regarding iron. Also, the beeps were not consistent.

I'm really shocked at how incredibly stable this machine is. For such a powerful unit it just amazes me. I LOVE having the wireless headphones. I can move through the expert Menu quick and love the live controls. BTW - you can close many opened expert menus by holding enter and pushing the left arrow key - saves time. I'll edit the live controls next and also delete the Menu screen as I don't use it. That will allow me to get to the expert menu quicker - sort of like having a shortcut. I think that using the expert menu helps you to see more of what the machine can do and to experiment. Yes I have gotten lost in the menu but never too bad.

I was worried about not having an iron volume, really worried. No problem at all. It is softer than any machine I've had before and I'm not used to running discrimination anyway. (Important note - In my test garden that deep dime sounded off much better with the iron tones from -95 to -30 at 0 as opposed to me hearing them. The tones really seemed to hide the coin hit at times.

The weight of the machine wasn't too bad. Wish it could be lighter but the balance is dead on and with the arm cuff band it really helped. I didn't have fatigue after 2.5 hours and I haven't been detecting but once this year. The screen is awesome, I run the back-light on 1 at all times, I just can't see the screen without it, it's very faint to me ( I have great vision though). The overall feel is solid and the buttons seem like they will last. I just have to find a backpack that this detector will fit in nicely, along with a folding shovel, pinpointer, etc. as I bike around. (Anyone?)

Well, that is all for now, hope it was helpful to some of you newer folks. Please give any suggestions or ask any questions.

3 Questions -
I notice VDI numbers, pos and neg, appearing on my screen with no sound sometimes. Why is this, as the detector is set to sound and I had no discrim?
Sometimes when I'd go over a target it seemed to play a melody almost, like escalating notes (sounded a bit like a Minelab online) - quite pleasant. How is that?
Can I get the VDI % number on the search screen too? I see it on the analyze screen but can't find how to get it on the search screen.

 

[Rob (IL)]

A great report and informative. Sounds to me like depth will not be one of your problems. It was a good idea to post your settings. They aren't what I use but that's the point. You are experimenting not just copying what you see posted on the forum. I'm glad for your success. It sounds like you have plenty of detecting experience.

I never tried recovery at 2O, but as I said experiment and use what works.

What has been happening is in some cases when using AutoTrac is the V loses G/B because the coil is only seeing AIR. This is because of the way the detector is set while digging. By going to menu you stop tracking. When you are done and pull the trigger the G/B hasn't had a chance to change and you are ready to go.

The % doesn't work on the search screen.

If you are using the stock tones the flute sound is just the reading bouncing around. For one program I set the 50's VDI range to alternating tones like 100 -110 - 100 -110 etc. and it would warble to get my attention..

You might want to post the Deus emulation program. I saw it once but don't have a copy. We have many guys from your side of the pond reading.

 

[MANDAD76]

Great info - thanks for posting! Glad to hear v3i working so well for you - sounds like you're on the way to doing very well with it. Don't you just love the versatility? gl and hh

 

[Larry (IL)]

It sounds like you are going to do very well with the V. Thanks for your post and finds.

 

[earthmansurfer]

Thx for the comments guys. Another good suggestion Rob, regarding the "flute" sounds. It sure gets your attention. (I guess that happens anyway - flute sounds - if your tone goes up 1 per 1 VDI, thought your jump is more profound. The problem is that we have coins all over the place and there is no quick way to alternate the sounds for all the VDI's and not just a range - if you can understand me. You should really try the recovery at 20. I mean if I can get 9" on it, then one might as well try it in iron. I don't really know how much better separation it gets than say a recovery of 60.

Mandad76 - Versatility, yeah, it's insane. Had I not gotten the programs off a spreadsheet (see below) I never would have imagined (nor played that much with the tones) the power and flexibility of this machine. Absolutely insane. The key here is for us to share what we find out. In particular according to geographic location. The V3i is a powerful machine but there aren't so many of them in Europe. Perhaps that will change if word gets out. I really don't think it's a tough machine. It takes maybe 10 minutes to get it set up for a new location and then you mostly can run with that program. Write programs that are similar to the one you like to access on the live menu as "deep checks", "dense iron", etc. to easily adjust the machine without having to go to the expert menu. It's nice that what you last used on the live menu (e.g. - programs) is just a couple of pushes away to switch (to another program). Or you can use the trigger forward (with other settings - don't match) to do essentially the same thing.

Here is the Deus program. I have to give credit to Ramases as he sent me a whole spreadsheet for European hunting. I have also tried a Stereo Mixed mode Hammered program. Will take some time to get used to that and will have to adjust the tones to my liking (strongly recommended in general).