There only seem to be a few people hunting with the M6 and I know it's our nature to compare with other units available. I got an M6 for my wife to use...she don't get to go a whole lot so simplicity is a must and she comes coin/jewelry hunting and relic hunting with me. Often times the relic world is too slow paced for her and with non ID machines she was getting discouraged learning the language of the detectors when it came to the large amount of iron in the ground. So I wanted something she could set up real easy and be able to set the disc next to nothing and dig everything above iron on the meter. Or in coin/jewelry hunting, for her to have somewhat an idea what is in the ground. More so for coin hunting than jewelry hunting.
I've been playing with the M6 quite a bit here lately. I've not had much experience with Whites machines. I had an MXT for a short clip and the DFX for a little while. I never did like the MXT...not when I owned one nor when I came back to it later on to see if there was something I missed or didn't do with the one I had. The depth just wasn't there for me, unless you turned the Gain fully clockwise and here, that lead to falsing. The ID on the MXT was too quirky for my liking as well. It seemed like it never could get a very consistent lock on targets. Long story short...of the detectors I've owned I rank it as the bottom of the list for my liking. I really liked the DFX though. I could program it to my hunting style and ground but that was the problem in itself. I was spending lots of time adjusting and tweaking instead of hunting...I always feared I would set it up wrong so I abandoned it just for the fear of not knowing it.
So when the M6 came and I umpacked and assembled it, the first thing I noticed is how well Whites builds their machines. They have the most professional look to them of any machine out there. I was really afraid that since it was based on MXT circuitry that I wouldn't like this thing. I really was and I hoped it would be good for my wife...cause I didn't want her to be discouraged out in the field. I put the machine together and tested it on the ground with some coins. I noticed right away that it wasn't as quirky as the MXT was and on coins the ID display locks and locks good...even at fringe depths. I liked that about it. The air test depth was pretty good too. I done an airtest between it, a Tejon and Shadow X5 and on coins it was right there with the Tejon and that says alot because it air tests really good. The X5 was always a little better in air test but in the ground is where stuff is...so onto that.
I played with it BREIFLY at a Civil War site we have been hunting. I mean we have literally gone over this thing several times in pattern form...hunting checkard board style....long ways all the way then coming back across from another angle. Digging EVERYTHING. I ran the M6 through it to see how it does in iron. Got a few signals that were in the positive range and dug them. Dug two small pieces of melted lead the size of a pencil eraser at about 4-5 inches. Then dug a shotgun shell in a different part of the field that hit pretty good too....it was about 7". Then I took it coin shooting a few times. I really love how it locks on coins. Now I do prefer the "center" trigger position over the forward tone position. In my testing I got around 1.5 to 2 inches better depth out of the center position. In one site I had to cut the sensitivity down a little bit...somewhere in the 75 to 80 % range. Like the MXT...you will notice a BIG difference in where you set the sensitivity control. If you set it at the 100% marking it does decent...but if you go into the area beyond the 100% marking (sort of like the max boost area on a Tesoro) you will pick up 2-3 inches depth. I kinda don't like that about it, but other than that it is a pretty good machine or it seems like it thus far.
I know it's been said alot here lately with these new waves of detectors but it's a "fun machine" to use and hunt with. Its well balanced...like any Whites machine. It's quieter than the MXT and gets better ID locks on targets than the MXT. Or atleast better than the one I had. Maybe I had a bad MXT. Don't know. In hunting the other day I was digging coins 4-5 inches deep with the sensitivity backed off. The meter is fairly accurate too in its depth assumption...on coins anyway. I got into a nest of pennies that I thought where Wheaties when I was digging them....but turned out to be memorial cents only lacking a year or two of being wheaties. Anyway the machine was reading them consistent 1c/10c and 4-5 inches on the depth scale. I was able to hold the coil 3-4 inches above the ground and still get an accurate ID and beep on them. So I'm assuming if I were able to turn the Sensitivity knob fully clockwise that I'd be able to add 2-3 inches more onto that. That may not sound impressive to you but take into consideration this is in some Tn Red Clay that is hard on alot of machines. In good ground I imagine you'll be able to get pennies and small coins in depths around 11-12 inches or better.
I've been playing with the M6 quite a bit here lately. I've not had much experience with Whites machines. I had an MXT for a short clip and the DFX for a little while. I never did like the MXT...not when I owned one nor when I came back to it later on to see if there was something I missed or didn't do with the one I had. The depth just wasn't there for me, unless you turned the Gain fully clockwise and here, that lead to falsing. The ID on the MXT was too quirky for my liking as well. It seemed like it never could get a very consistent lock on targets. Long story short...of the detectors I've owned I rank it as the bottom of the list for my liking. I really liked the DFX though. I could program it to my hunting style and ground but that was the problem in itself. I was spending lots of time adjusting and tweaking instead of hunting...I always feared I would set it up wrong so I abandoned it just for the fear of not knowing it.
So when the M6 came and I umpacked and assembled it, the first thing I noticed is how well Whites builds their machines. They have the most professional look to them of any machine out there. I was really afraid that since it was based on MXT circuitry that I wouldn't like this thing. I really was and I hoped it would be good for my wife...cause I didn't want her to be discouraged out in the field. I put the machine together and tested it on the ground with some coins. I noticed right away that it wasn't as quirky as the MXT was and on coins the ID display locks and locks good...even at fringe depths. I liked that about it. The air test depth was pretty good too. I done an airtest between it, a Tejon and Shadow X5 and on coins it was right there with the Tejon and that says alot because it air tests really good. The X5 was always a little better in air test but in the ground is where stuff is...so onto that.
I played with it BREIFLY at a Civil War site we have been hunting. I mean we have literally gone over this thing several times in pattern form...hunting checkard board style....long ways all the way then coming back across from another angle. Digging EVERYTHING. I ran the M6 through it to see how it does in iron. Got a few signals that were in the positive range and dug them. Dug two small pieces of melted lead the size of a pencil eraser at about 4-5 inches. Then dug a shotgun shell in a different part of the field that hit pretty good too....it was about 7". Then I took it coin shooting a few times. I really love how it locks on coins. Now I do prefer the "center" trigger position over the forward tone position. In my testing I got around 1.5 to 2 inches better depth out of the center position. In one site I had to cut the sensitivity down a little bit...somewhere in the 75 to 80 % range. Like the MXT...you will notice a BIG difference in where you set the sensitivity control. If you set it at the 100% marking it does decent...but if you go into the area beyond the 100% marking (sort of like the max boost area on a Tesoro) you will pick up 2-3 inches depth. I kinda don't like that about it, but other than that it is a pretty good machine or it seems like it thus far.
I know it's been said alot here lately with these new waves of detectors but it's a "fun machine" to use and hunt with. Its well balanced...like any Whites machine. It's quieter than the MXT and gets better ID locks on targets than the MXT. Or atleast better than the one I had. Maybe I had a bad MXT. Don't know. In hunting the other day I was digging coins 4-5 inches deep with the sensitivity backed off. The meter is fairly accurate too in its depth assumption...on coins anyway. I got into a nest of pennies that I thought where Wheaties when I was digging them....but turned out to be memorial cents only lacking a year or two of being wheaties. Anyway the machine was reading them consistent 1c/10c and 4-5 inches on the depth scale. I was able to hold the coil 3-4 inches above the ground and still get an accurate ID and beep on them. So I'm assuming if I were able to turn the Sensitivity knob fully clockwise that I'd be able to add 2-3 inches more onto that. That may not sound impressive to you but take into consideration this is in some Tn Red Clay that is hard on alot of machines. In good ground I imagine you'll be able to get pennies and small coins in depths around 11-12 inches or better.