Just bought a new V3i!

[CoiltoSoil]

Hey everyone, just bought a new V3i, well most of it was paid for as a Christmas gift so unfortunately I can't touch it until Christmas. I have the manual though which I've been reading. I have a few questions, does anyone know any deep seeking programs for normal soil? The soil here in Se PA isn't too bad, also I like a fast sweep speed and spend most of my time hunting low trash sites in the woods and around cellar holes. I seen a "God" program on youtube that looked impressive in air test anyway, the guy was getting a half at like 17in, not too shabby. I was on the fence about getting a VX3 but everyone talked me into the V3i, and I got an awesome deal on a factory certified unit which was too good to pass up. I know it has more features but are the V3i and VX3 displays the same? I noticed in some ad's they claim the V3i has a color HD display but just say color LCD for the VX3 with no mention of the HD. Another question I was curious about is what the best large deep seeking coil for open sites and field? Something in the 12-15in range.

 

[msviking]

You will enjoy the V3i, it is a great machine! Spend the next few days pouring over the forums and related websites for tips and advice. Learn how to "extend" the menu on the live screen and place the parameters you want to tweak on the live screen, then it is super easy to try one setting, then the other. It will help you quickly tighten down the settings that work in your area. Something as simple as buying a quarter at 7-9" and then work with different filters (for me slam dunk 5khz low band) and Recover Speeds as well Intensity vs Consistency will have you off and running.

I have a variety of coils for the V3i I love the 4x6 in the trash and unless I am in a real clean area I rarely use the Super 12" due to trash under the coil, but in it's place it's a great coil.

As for deep seeking programs, what I did was take the built in Coin & Jewelry program (as it contains the most "norma" or traditional settings) and then saved it as my version, then I started altering as my 8" buried quarter dictated. You will have tons of questions, find a few good forums and use their search features and 99% of your questions have already been answered. Spend a lot of time jumping into the expert menu and navigating the settings and their locations and that initially drove me crazy (i.e. trying to find where I alter some specific setting).

The learning journey with the V3i is fun, enjoy!

Robert

 

[CoiltoSoil]

Thanks! What do you mean by extend the menu's on the live screen? I am familiar with on the fly adjustments such as sensitivity and disc, is that what you mean, the menu across the bottom of the search screen? Once I get it Wednesday I'll start messing around with the programs, I did use an XLT so it might help me out somewhat but this detector looks leaps and bounds above the XLT in terms of technology. The one thing that is confusing me is how to take a factory program, tweak it, then save it as a whole new program, with a new name while also keeping the factory program. I use to tweak factory programs on the XLT and save them as a new program under a new name but from what i'm reading it almost appears like if you tweak a factory program on the V3i that it just replaces that program with your new program saved program rather than saving it separately. Sorry if that's confusing, I'm confusing myself right now haha.

 

[msviking]

What I am calling the live menu are the menu choices that are on the bottom of the active search screen that you can easily scroll thru and any changes you make here are "live". This is a opposed to double clicking the menu button and entering advanced mode or using the 6 block menu. The changes in advanced mode will not be heard till you revert back to the active screen. You will notice that many of the different factory programs have different live screen menus. You will determine which parameters are most important to you. For instance I rarely alter the Bottle Cap or Filter setting so I do not have have them on my live menu, but I am always adjusting sensitivity, TX boost, and Recovery so I have them on the live menu. If memory serves me correctly there are about a dozen parameters you can place on the live menu. If you placed all of them on the menu you would spend to much time scrolling thru parameters you will never tweak. I have found that the factory Coin & Jewelry is a close to my preferred settings making it a good starting point.

If you change a factory program it will designate this with a triangle before the name. You can always recall the orignal program settings as they can not be erased. I find it easier to rename the program s CJmine and still retain the original C&J settings as well.

I realize a lot of this will sound confusing, but after a month or so it will all be quite simple to you.

Good luck HH
Robert

 

[CoiltoSoil]

Ok, I'm starting to catch on, i've been reading the manuels and forums and am slowly proceessing all this info haha Thanks for the tip's, I really appreciate it.

 

[johnedoe]

You might want to spend a little time in this thread, Lots of good usable knowledge here........ http://www.findmall.com/read.php?66,1951992

 

[msviking]

Excellent link!

 

[CoiltoSoil]

yeah great link thanks! Hopefully I can get some basic depth and stability adjustments down and get in some detecting later this week. Most of my sites are old with little trash so I dig every signal, disc isn't too much of a concern for me right now, so I can work on adjusting that later. I've been checking out the 12x15 SEF white coil, has anyone used one?

 

[CoiltoSoil]

Never mind the link just answered the white self coil question for me haha

 

[JamesBondaka]

Dont forget the videos on Whites website.....they will give you lots of information.

 

[Bill_S]

If you're looking for depth run in single frequency 2.5 or 7.5. Change to the 5khz filter, use no discrimination or just set the targets you don't want to hear to a 0 tone. Run the discrimination sensitivity pretty high if the detector is stable.

 

[Rob (IL)]

Coil to Soil,

Glad to see you came over to the forum. When you need info, ask one question at a time, it will help you get the correct answer. Things should be learned in the correct order. Like don't worry about a new coil until you know your detector.

 

[msviking]

a quick thought on larger coils, most people, myself included want larger coils for more depth. As a rule larger coils will gain more depth, but the gain is usually small and not "wow". On most high end machines the manufacturer has paired the machine with a great all around coil. While I have larger coils for all of my machines, they are specialized coils that are not often used. Most of my sites are trashy and the larger coils just "pull in" to much trash.

Just a thought, don't feel limited with the stock coil.

HH
Robert

 

[burlbark]

What ever you do dont run the gain any higher than 4-5 the first hour. Run a simple coin program or heavy trash program.

Get used to the machine and sweep slow. It can be a very noisy detector around power lines and buried cables and will have you scratching your head till you figure it out.

Take your time and post question with specifics if you are having difficulties.

You have bought the most user friendly and advanced detector on the market, that being said it can also be the most difficult and aggravating machine for someone that does not take it slow and put trust into what it is telling you.

 

[CoiltoSoil]

Thank's everyone. I mainly want the larger coil for the ground coverage since most of the sites I hit are open and not very trashy. I use to run the Pre-amp and AC sens really high on my XLT which worked well for me at my sites but I'll have to see how the V3i will handle the same locations, i'm guessing better but it seems like a hotter detector so I might not be able to run as high. One thing I could never get use to was a slow sweep speed which is why I loved the XLT, I could whip that thing and cover more ground, the faster I swung it the deeper it would go haha

 

[msviking]

Sweep speed settings are easy to alter with the Recovery button. It is def. one control I always have on my live menu.

 

[CoiltoSoil]

Thanks for all the tips and advice, I've been messing around with the V3i, adjusted most of the settings the way I like them, set up a custom coin/relic program suited to my faster sweep speed, and adjusted the tones. I hope it's a good combo and works well in the field.