Hi guys, I am new to the forum and just got my first White's machine a few days ago. It is aVX3. I have used a Garrett GTI 2500 for about 10 years now and thought I knew how to metal detect, but the VX3 is a whole different animal. I have taken it out 3 times now for a total of about 6 hours swing time and I haven't yet figured out how to shut it up. I have tried repeatedly to manual ground balance and have adjusted the rx gain way down in many different soil types and program modes but it still chatters more than I think is acceptable. I am using the stock 9.5" coil and I must admit some of the soil is highly mineralized, containing some iron ore, but I have hunted it before and was able to adjust the Garrett to a tolerable level. I am impressed with the depth of the few targets I did dig with the VX3. I am looking forward to learning this machine and would appreciate any advice you might like to share.
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New to the VX3
- Thread starter Gandorf
- Start date
Welcome -
Well I was in your shoes a couple months ago. Had been on a basic machine for 7 years and then upgraded to the VX3. It's going to take some time to get used to the machine and what it's telling you. Some of the noises will become more tame as you learn the machine and follow instruction that on this forum, but some of the noise will always remain. I'm not saying all of the noise, but you'll learn to filter out certain sounds as being "normal." Those sounds will be telling you something.
I was frustrated too, but my situation was different in that I had an electronic failure that caused a problem. It's been fixed since then. I wrote about it on the White's forum.
REALLY make sure that you're practicing on good soil with MINIMAL targets. Find something as clean as possible. Do your ground balance. If you're playing in clean soil, it shouldn't be chattery at all.
There's a wealth of info on this forum and others. Utilize the search mode and read up on everything related to the VX3. Most posts about the V3i can also be used with your machine.
Well I was in your shoes a couple months ago. Had been on a basic machine for 7 years and then upgraded to the VX3. It's going to take some time to get used to the machine and what it's telling you. Some of the noises will become more tame as you learn the machine and follow instruction that on this forum, but some of the noise will always remain. I'm not saying all of the noise, but you'll learn to filter out certain sounds as being "normal." Those sounds will be telling you something.
I was frustrated too, but my situation was different in that I had an electronic failure that caused a problem. It's been fixed since then. I wrote about it on the White's forum.
REALLY make sure that you're practicing on good soil with MINIMAL targets. Find something as clean as possible. Do your ground balance. If you're playing in clean soil, it shouldn't be chattery at all.
There's a wealth of info on this forum and others. Utilize the search mode and read up on everything related to the VX3. Most posts about the V3i can also be used with your machine.
Larry (IL)
Well-known member
You might have to reduce the Discrimination Sensitivity as well as the RX Gain. You might try a high discrimination pattern like coins or changing location to see if it quiets down. It there is a lot of iron in your ground a smaller coil might help. In other words, you give us very little information to work with and all we can do is guess what might help you.
Thanks for the input. I will put your suggestions into practice. I would like some advice on an upcoming hunt; I have been asked to find a silver ring that was lost at an old homeplace more than 80 years ago. The house has been gone since the early 60's. I first hunted this sight 30 years ago with my $29 radio shack detector and dug up a lot of iron, but nothing else. I hunted it again about 5 years ago with my Garrett and dug a 1864 2 cent piece at about 6 inches, and more iron. The soil is sandy loam with very low mineralization, and has been disked up frequently. There is not much in the way of foil or pull tab trash, just a lot of iron relics. How would you more experienced VX3ers approach this hunt? Keeping in mind that I am intersted solely in finding this silver ring. Jewelry mode, deep silver or other? Which filter? Single frequency or multiple?
Larry (IL)
Well-known member
Small silver ring or large? Just about all silver rings will VDI from about 60 on up into the 80's depending on size, like a silver coin. I would use three frequency coins program or coin and jewelry with the discrimination turned up to reject everything below 50. Anything that would beep would probably be silver, copper or brass, filters would not be a big factor in this case.
Larry (IL)
Well-known member
You might do fine with the Coins program, just ignore any target below 50 if you are not up to speed with setting the discrimination pattern.
I don't know if i would discriminate that high (50's) i have found a lot of small silver rings with the vdi in the 30's with my vx3. If you have the time to keep going back i would dig most every signal. You don't know if that rings is being mask by some iron or any other target. I would also recommend a DD coil for your vx3. That really calmed my vx3 down a lot. Good luck.
sliverngold
New member
Once I put my first 100 hrs. on my VX3, I started feeling really comfortable with understanding what it is telling me. Each trip out with your VX3 you are going to find that recognising good targets and pinpointing them accurately will become easier and easier. The VX3 is an excellent machine. Using 3 frequencies at the same time, the VX3 is able to see many more targets at once that many other metal detectors would miss. This is why it is making so much noise. Eventually that noise is going to sound like your VX3 singing pretty music to you. My advice is to play around with changing the program settings as much as possible. You can't hurt anything, because you can always use the "RESET" option in the menu and set any program back to its original factory settings. Or, while the machine is still turned on, remove the battery pack and it will reset the whole machine back to factory settings. By playing with program settings, you can see how any given adjustment affects the performance of the machine. I was in factory " Coin & Jewelry " and found a small sterling silver pendant 6" deep. One thing that I really like to do with my VX3 no matter what program I am using is to turn on " Tone ID ", "All Metal VCO", and "Pinpoint VCO". I do this because one of my favorite features of the VX3 is the 191 different audio tones. When you get used to the noises that the VX3 makes, it will all sound like music to your ears. The good targets will sound out from bad ones. And add to that the VDI, Icons, and Spectra Graph and you have more than enough information to decide quickly whether to dig or move on.
I really do appreciate all the advice and encouragement. I was so excited to get the machine that I just grabbed it and went to some of my favorite sites. I need to take the time to do some testing in the garden and document my results. Which DD do you suggest? Keep the comments coming.
All the DD coils will handle the ground the same way. The difference will be coil size. Have you read this information?
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?66,1851422
Some people love the 6x10 my hunting buddy doesn't own one. He constantly out hunts me and doesn't even use a small coil. I can see people telling you what coil they like but they can't tell you which you will like.
Remember it will depend on your site, amount of trash, your ability to handle coil weight, and your preference. So include these factors in your question.
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?66,1860112
Coils aren't cheap, put some hours on the detector before you run out and start buying coils.
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?66,1851422
Some people love the 6x10 my hunting buddy doesn't own one. He constantly out hunts me and doesn't even use a small coil. I can see people telling you what coil they like but they can't tell you which you will like.
Remember it will depend on your site, amount of trash, your ability to handle coil weight, and your preference. So include these factors in your question.
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?66,1860112
Coils aren't cheap, put some hours on the detector before you run out and start buying coils.
sliverngold
New member
I have the stock Eclipse 950 and the Whites D2 coils. I don't know that I would call one my favorite over the other. Because each of them will handle certain conditions better than the other. I have them both mounted on their own extention rods, so it is quick to switch from one to the other. One thing to note: pinpointing with one is completely different than the other. But they are both accurate enough that you can usually use the popping method of retrieval, rather than cutting a plug or digging a hole.
I really appreciate the VX3 Owner's Manual. I don't believe I have ever seen a better written Owner's Manual. Even though I've read it from front cover to back about 50 times, I still take it with me on every hunt. I haven't had to refer to it for quite some time. But if I do need it at some point, it'll be handier if I have it with me.
Do a Google search for "Fox's VX3 programs" and give them a try. It is a good way to get started with learning to make adjustments in your machine.
I really appreciate the VX3 Owner's Manual. I don't believe I have ever seen a better written Owner's Manual. Even though I've read it from front cover to back about 50 times, I still take it with me on every hunt. I haven't had to refer to it for quite some time. But if I do need it at some point, it'll be handier if I have it with me.
Do a Google search for "Fox's VX3 programs" and give them a try. It is a good way to get started with learning to make adjustments in your machine.
Great info guys. Thanks. The manual was what sold me on a Whites. I had narrowed my choice down to either an etrac or vx3. After reading both manuals online I felt like the vx3 would be a better choice. Although the blogs said the etrac was easier to learn, the Whites manual was much easier to understand.
I have the stock 950 coil and the d2 coil for my vx3. I use the 950 for the beach only and the dd coil for my soil conditions in my area. Like Rob said you need to figure out what is going to be the best coil for your area. I have a lot of mineralization in my area i am in the coal region of Pa. I am also considering a smaller dd coil too. Good luck and keep us posted.
Thanks. Right now I am going to follow the advice of learning to use the coil I have, then when I get another one it wil probably be one of the smaller dd's as I work a lot of trashy and mineralized areas too. I have never been so excited to find a zinc penny as I was this afternoon. I spent about 30 minutes at one of my old sites on the way home from work and found 8 zincs and a dime. These are the first real repeatable targets that I have found in the few days that I have had the VX3. Using coin mode, rx at 10, am at 55 and dx at 75 in sandy but fairly trashy soil. They all registered a consistant VDI of 75, so did the dime. None more than 3" deep. I was able to learn though how to spot a penney using the spectragraph which I consider a victory.