Has anyone tried using "consistency" and mixed mode pro question...

[jbow]

I am not sure from the manual if it is an either/or between consistency or intensity. I'm not certain if it turns the spectragraph off or what. I've been reading Jeff Foster's book "Digging Deeper with the DFX" and a lot of it applies to the V3 but the terms they use for function are different so I am confused on this one.

I am going to try to use Mixed Mode Pro today of some sort of mixed mode. I plan to set the disc to -40 instead of accepting everything and probably turn off tone ID. I notice when I use mixed mode pro my detector sounds like it has a slow heartbeat, a really lowtone pulse... do you know what causes this and should it be doing that or should I adjust something to make it stop... and if so, what?

Thanks,

Julien

 

[Rob (IL)]

The low heartbeat is the the threshold, change the threshold tone to what you are used to in mixed mode pro it is 50, in C/J it is 195. Tone ID is already off in this program.

You can apply mixed mode to any program you run.

I am not sure from the manual if it is an either/or between consistency or intensity.
It's on page 44 of your manual use use one or the other. Rob

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

Consistency

 

[Rob (IL)]

Since Neil included base threshold,
If you have a base threshold set to 90, it will go off the strongest signal and display the top 10% of that signal as well as signals that are >90% of the strongest signal. Any deep targets that are less than 90% of the strongest signal will not be displayed on the spectragraph. However for a setting of 65, the deeper targets need to be only >65% of the strongest signal to show on the spectragraph. So, if you don't want to see as much of the surrounding noise, you increase the base threshold. To catch the deeper targets relative to your strongest signal, lower your base threshold.

Most of the programs use 90 except for HiPro. which uses 65. I use HiPro and like the lower base threshold setting but it is personal. I would try adjusting this to find what looks best to you. Rob

 

[jbow]

Thanks. I will adjust the threshold tone however, someone must have thought that a threshold tone of 50 was a plus for some kind of hunting. Do you know the thinking that is behind a threshold tone of 50? Any reason that it would be better or situation that it would be better than say the 195 in C&J ?

I'll play around with the consistency and see what I think. I know I changed something one day (well I changed several things) without paying proper attention to what I was doing and the spectragraph went away. I restored the program I was modding from the library... whew...

J

 

[Rob (IL)]

Certain changes in the programs were done to show the versatility of the V3. There is no special reason Bob used black as a color on his signals anymore than he liked it. The same goes for his threshold of 128. I set mine to 140 for the reason it sounds good to me. The same goes for the different color schemes, no one is better than another. You will notice all programs use intensity and so do most guys. Rob

 

[jbow]

I'm going to have to read this 15 times over a couple of days and try it so maybe I can understand it better...
So "base threshold" applies to intensity and lower or higher numbers in the consistency setting controls the consistency. I sort of assume that they do similar things based of different readings. Would a lower consistency number do the same thing in consistency as a lower base threshold in intensity (like you explained in your above answer?). Still the question... consistency or intensity? What would be a situation where consistency might be preferable to intensity? I don't think that consistency is a default setting in any program, however it must have a purpose since it is there... explain please. (thanks)

Doesn't resolution do sort of the same thing with more or fewer bars and width of bars, or am I, personally, in "mixedup mode" ??

I notice that two programs (I don't have my manual in front of me) have different resolution, 3 and 4... all the other programs have 7. I also notice that the 3 and 4 setting makes the spectragraphs display many more narrow bars. I assume that this is more information but I am not sure how to read it. Do you have anything to say about resolution that can help me to understand how to use this extra information... and remember... I need the "for dummies" version. I am not very technical so I have to really dwell on some things before I can understand them. I have enough technical knowledge to be dangerous. I can read a simple schematic and can build tweed Fender amps from parts and witing diagrams... but some of the stuff I just do because it says so, laff. Examples and especially analogies will really help me to learn.

I know I am asking a lot so thanks!

I have 7 top notch detectors and I almost always carry 5 or 6 with me because I never know what sort of site I may end up at or what I might be hunting and I think that some machines are better suited to some applications...>>> BUT<<<... for a while I am only going to carry the V3 with me. So I want to be able to get what I need out of it where ever I go. That is why I am asking questions about the things I don't yet understand. I've read Jimmy Sierra's book on the DFX and am reading Jeff Foster's book on the DFX. JS is much easier to understand and I like his idea about hunting in mixed mode with VCO, it makes sense but, of course, i'll have to try it with tone ID and see for myself if it is necessary or if it overloads my senses. The names of functions are different on the DFX but it looks like many are basically the same. Of course the V3 has the multigraph and color. I don't see resolution on the DFX or either it was called something else.

I intend to learn this machine and make it work for me with with maximum depth and seperation. With the correct balance between the two where ever I happen to be hunting I should be able to make it equal to or better than any other machine if I understand it.
I don't want to make wrong assumptions with this machine because there are too many adjustments that interact with each other. It isn't a Tejon...

So.. thanks for everything you can add.

When I first got the V3 I read the manual twice but frankly, it leaves a lot to be explained to a first time White's user. After twice reading it I began going through it again and re-writing parts of it I thought were important or that were new to me in a notebook. That helped me some but I am still making some uninformed assumptions. I think laying all the others aside for a season will help me a lot, I just don't want to get lazy and have a couple of "go to" settings that I juat automatically use. I want to develope the use of this machine as "site specific". I want to have a ritual, the correct one, in the correct order, that I can go through at every site to set the machine up so that I get the most out of it where ever I hunt. I am convinced that if I get that right and if I understand want all the information is telling me... then the V3 will equal or beat any machine anywhere. That is my goal with the V3 and once I get there I will write it all down to try and help others... but right now I need some help understanding a few things better.


ALSO...
I would really like to see someone who is really knowledgable on the V3 do a "tip of the day" or something like that. I think a V3 classroom might be needed since no one has published a book yet. The post JF did on the analize screen was good but i'd really like to see someone (like you Rob)... go through the expert settings, maybe a point post every day or two as you have time, throw out a setting or point, a short explaination, in different words than the manual uses, maybe with an example or analogy and see if others have comments or questions.
Anyone who understands the more complicated settings could do it really, then it wouldn't be like a job or something.

Well, thanks for the help.

Julien

 

[jbow]

Thanks Rob,

I did notice that and I had read before that the color scheme was just a personal preference, I changed it... I just wanted, more info on the consistency/intensity difference. Thanks for the info on the base threshold. That makes sense... but I answered that above.

Thanks again! I'll play around with the threshold tone. I am curious if it was set at 50 by the programer out of pure preference for the tone or if they think it gives some advantage.

I apologize if I am being a bother with too many questions, especially if they are answered in the manual and I just didn't understand it.

Julien

 

[ak_1234]

Consistency counts up the number of times a VDI has been seen during the course of the target. It's a lot noisier looking than intensity.

Intensity is how strong the signal is at the seen VDI.

Theoretically for consistency, (although around here I've found it to not be very useful. This may not be true for areas with no mineralization in the ground) a good target should have lots of the same VDI whereas an iron target will have lots of scatter. For intensity, if there are various VDI's for the target, the signal strength will be displayed at each of the VDIs that it sees. In this mode, there will also be scatter for the iron targets whereas a coin will generally have a good cluster right around the expected VDI. And the signal strengths for the coin (until you get deep) should be much higher than the ground effects.

Resolution is how wide the bars are. So say you have a resolution of 7, you will have the same bar for 7 different contiguous VDIs (maybe 81-87 for example). If you have a resolution of 1, then each VDI gets its own bar, but they're a bit harder to see because they're a lot narrower. (Tradeoffs). So, that's the horizontal resolution.

Base threshold is how much you set to block out the noise region. If you have a BT of 90, then only signals that are > 90% of the strongest signal will be shown. So, if you have a strongest signal of 100strengths (not real numbers - using it as a way to explain), any signal that has strength < 90 will not be displayed. 90 and over will be. So, setting the BT down to 65 would not show signals 0-65, but 65 to 100 would be. The BT set to 65 (like in Hi-Pro) is set to show more iron scatter effects. Setting it to 90 you don't see near the scatter so a nail might appear as a real good target under the right conditions. So, BT is the vertical resolution control.

 

[Rob (IL)]

As usual Anne said it better and she should know. Rob

 

[Rob (IL)]

Julien, I came from an MXT not a DFX. First let me say that if I had to own two detectors they would be the MXT and V3. When I get home and sell a couple of detectors they are the two I will keep. OK, I think I had an advantage learning the V because I wasn't always comparing it to a DFX. I ran the MXT hot and some people would say noisy. To me the V is so quiet, and smooth I can't believe it.

Offering tips is hard because I won't know what people need. Notice when I posted on G/B of the V it got little response and believe me it doesn't G/B like an MXT or DFX.
Rob

 

[jbow]

Thanks Anne,

This is very helpful, all of it but especially this, "The BT set to 65 (like in Hi-Pro) is set to show more iron scatter effects. Setting it to 90 you don't see near the scatter so a nail might appear as a real good target under the right conditions."

Being primarily a relic hunter most sites I hunt are infested with square nails and other iron, plus there is a lot of iron ore here. There were furnaces all over the place here before the Civil War.

I think I am going to restore all my programs from the library. I am getting different VDI numbers on the same target in different programs and some seem unstable while others are rock solid. Yesterday I played in the yard with all my coils, a few different targets and programs. I have a nickel at 3 1/2 inches but it is colocated with some iron (I didn't clean it out before I buried it because I wanted it to be more like "real world" detecting). The only coil that would give me a fairly consistant 19 VDI was the 4x6 coil. I tried the D2, 950, and the 5.3 none of them would give me anything other than a trash signal.
I also tried some targets that are semi buried, mostly surface and the "Coins" program performed perfectly and was very steady. "Coin and Jewelry" was ok but a little more jumpy, I think because the disc sens is higher, it would double beep on coins etc.
I think I may have some settings too high so I am resetting everything.

I like to lower my disc to either -30 or -40 on my programs. I like using mixed mode and yesterday I played around with changing the levels on the tones and trying different combinations, like VCO on or off, Tone ID on/off, both on/off etc.

I am learning but still get confused. You are very helpful though. I do like that 4x6 coil. I have made some good finds with it and with the D2.

Thanks

Julien

 

[jbow]

You are a gentleman and a scholar.

Julien

 

[jbow]

Well, I didn't reply but I began yesterday pumping the coil 20-25 times or until it is quiet. I put it to use and I bet others did too. Keep it up, I can use any help anyone can give and sometimes it helps us to hear things over again that we already know... but I didn't know that... about the GB.

Thanks for it,

Julien