White's Spectra V3 Field Reports

From this Forum and others I look into, and from just talking to guys on the beach and elsewhere, it seems like the V3 is just exploding in popularity!:shock: Did the DFX take off like this?? Got this thread marked so I can learn as I save!:D
 
Sunday April 26th will go down in the books as my first official hunt with the new Whites Spectra Vision 3 . I purchased my detector the day before from my local dealer who has had a lot of trouble keeping them in stock. He had three in stock when I went to pick mine up. Two of the original Vision branded detectors, and one Spectra V3 detectors. I decided to go with one of the Visions for no other reason than I liked the name. All the detectors had the most current revision software loaded into them (v1.1). I purchased it with the Wireless headphones. He expected the other two to be gone by the end of the day. I played a little in my coin garden but, the rain came and that was it for the day. I spent some time that evening roughing in a Correlate based program trying to emulate the one I use in my DFX as best as I could. Saving programs works very similar to how you save on the DFX. You have a lot more enhancements and can add your own programs to the main listing in the menu. Modification to factory programs stay in place now until you reset them. This is nice as theses changes would be lost on the DFX when the battery is removed.

I started out my first hunt with the Super12 mounted up and using the Correlate based program. I was very happy to see it respond just as I hoped it would. Nice and quiet, sounding off loudly on coin targets. I spent about 3 hours working a parkway strip that had been good to me in the past and I wondered over next to a city pool area. I found a lot of clad and really gave the DX-1 Sunray probe a good workout. The Sunray mounted up nicely and responded even better than it did on the DFX. So far no problems with the DFX equipment. Thats a good sign. I switched back to the stock D2 coil and hit a school near my house to play with the Best Data based coin and jewelry program. Other than turning on Tone ID and adjusting the Sensitivity to the hunting area and volume settings, I left all other settings the same. The first thing I noticed was how many nickels were popping out of the ground. When the Spectra locks onto a nickel there is no mistaking it. This machine is truly a turn on and hunt detector. Good job Whites! Don't be afraid of this detector if your thinking about a purchase. I used both the Wireless Head phones and a set of Grey Ghost Headphones on the unit through out the day. I have to admit I like the tone quality better on the Grey Ghost headphones. The wireless was not bad, just different. Other than a shallow ear cup the headphones where very comfortable. I have smaller ears so this did not bother me, but I can see where it might be an issue if your ears are larger. The audio from the Spectra was very much enhanced and finally the Modulation setting on the detector works as advertised. Deeper targets respond in an almost 3d surround distanced tone. I have never been a fan of using the Modulation setting on the DFX but, this was actually kind of neat. Well, thats about it for the first few hours of hunting with the Spectra Vision 3. Just thought I would share what I have experienced so far.

Keep Swing'in
Jack
 
WTG Jack! Thanks so much for taking the time to write up your review after using it the first time. I should take delivery of my V3 this week and I am very excited about seeing what I can pull out of the ground. I've been using an MXT which is a very good machine of course, but I've had terrible luck with finding any nickels. It sounds like the V3 is going to be a nickel magnet - in addition to the silver of course.
 
Great write-up Jack. I'm following your progress closely because I know how good you are with the DFX. As a MXT'er switching to a multi-freq machine, I need all the tips I can get.

Thanks!!
 
Don't ask how I did this...

I took the V out today for the 6th hunt after spending some time over the weekend "tweaking" various settings in the "Expert Menu". Turned on and ground balanced in C/J mode and noticed that the "analyze" screen was displayed when the trigger was in the center postion. Huh? Flipped the switch forward and the "hunt" screen (spectragraph) was displayed.

I figured the machine had lost its mind and started to hunt.:lol:

All went fine until I reached my "silver hotspot" and I changed to the "Deep Silver" program and the "analyze" screen was now in its rightful spot...trigger forward. Huh?

By now, I'm totally confused...not hard as I'm about a french fry short of a Happy Meal anyway.:lol::lol:

Changed to "Coin" program and all was just fine. C/J, however, remained screwed up. Huh?

Long story short (I know it's too late.)...I used the "Restore" function in the expert menu and everything is back to normal.

Anyone have any idea what I did to mess up the trigger postion in C/J program?
 
Optimizing The Sunray DX-1 Probe For The SV3

I was relieved to find out that upon hooking up my DX-1 Probe to the SV3 that it worked without any problems. The design of the Sunray probe allows for it to be used in Discrimination or All Metal mode. It is however much more functional in the All Metal mode. The reason being is you get use of the VCO audio response and do not have to keep the probe in motion to elicit a response. Another key advantage is seperate sensitivity adjustments. If your Discrimination sensitivity is turned down then you loose a great deal of functionality. Since All Metal Pinpointing use a separate sensitivity adjustment, you can turn it up and not effect your motion hunting. (Unless you are using a mixed mode). The first thing I noticed on the SV3 was the first thing I noticed on the MXT. You have to hold the trigger with one hand and run the probe with the other leaving no hand free to manipulate the dig site. With the DFX you just lock the trigger forward no problem. Well the SV3 offers a solution to this dilemma. You simply reprogram what flipping the trigger forward does! Now the down side is you will loose your Analysis display. This the screen that gives you a cool looking graph that gives a size estimate and dominant frequency responses. The pinpoint screen will still give you the Dominant frequency response but, the sizing is no longer available.

How it's done.

1. Hit the MENU/TAB twice.
2. Arrow down to Expert Menu and hit Enter
3. Arrow down to the CONFIGURE menu and hit ENTER
4. Change the following option...

LIVE SEARCH SCREEN - ANALYSIS -PINPOINT SCAN (ON) - PINPOINT SCAN - DEPTH (ON)

Thats it! Now when you flip the trigger forward you are in pinpoint mode, have a hand free, and your sensitivity for your probe is switched to all metal witch should be turned up to accommodate your probe. Sweet!

Keep Swing'in
Jack
 
Jack...you're too smart.:lol:

Thank You!!! I'll play with it some tomorrow. However, I'm used to pulling the trigger on the MXT and won't know how to act with an extra hand.:lol:
 
Anyone have any idea what I did to mess up the trigger postion in C/J program?

Lowjiber,

I just saw your post. As you have found out all the trigger positions are programmable to some degree. Ideally I would like to see the Analyze displayed when I pull the trigger, but this is apparently not an option.
 
Another way is to lock the pinpoint mode in by the following steps:

1. Pull the Trigger and hold in do not release.

2. Press Enter and hold then release Trigger.

3. Release Enter.

4. Double click the trigger to resume searching.


This will lock the pinpoint mode in while you are pinpointing your target with the probe.

rcsnake
 
Thanks for that info rcsnake! I was aware of that but, wanted to simplify the process and emulate the DFX. Great to have that option. This will keep your Analyze screen intact as well.
 
Hmm, wonder if it makes sense to make a special program for use with the probe. When you want to probe, just switch to the probe program. That way you can probe any way you want. Just a thought.
 
Good News For Bigfoot Fans!​

I spent about two hours with the SV3 and the Bigfoot coil today. Went to a near by school again and used the Coin & Jewelry program. Turned on the Tone ID and set the volumes. I used the Sensitivity probe funtion from the Live menu and it told me to use a setting of 15 on the RX gain. This was a little high and I ended up using 14 and a discrimination sensitivity of 90! Still seemed like way to much but, the Bigfoot performed very stably and like a dream. The Quarters still jump out of the ground like they are going to bite you in the leg. I tested the TX Boost setting and it worked without any issues. When I went to pinpoint with the Sunray DX-1 probe it went into overload. Turning off the TX boost made the DX-1 behave again. I can say without any question the Bigfoot works much better with the SV3 than the DFX. The only small problem was I had to move the coil much slower when using the analyze feature, but once I had the timing down the graph was very detailed and able to show multiple targets within 2 inches of each other. I will be tweaking a Bigfoot program for the SV3 and will post it when it's done.

Keep Swing'in
Jack
 
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Swing Speed Question...

As most know, I'm a MXT guy at heart. MXT's are very fast to respond/recover, and I may have a tendency to be a little quick at times.

I'm trying to adjust my V to accomodate my swing speed in normal C/J mode. I realize the filter setup has much to do with it, but the units for swing speed are in/sec.

I had Dana time my "normal" swings and did the math...40in/sec!!! Am I way too fast? What are you guys using for swing speed?
 
Lowjiber,

I am thinking the filter settings are the main control for this. The SV3 has no Swing speed adjustment as did the DFX. I kept this at 1 all the time any how. I have been using 10.0 Hz Band Pass (default). Based on how the DFX worked I am going to venture a guess that the higher the filter setting the more consistent and exacting your swing will need to be. When I use the Super12 coil I really move slow. I guess this will be one of the first test when I run across a deep coin. My experience shows me that to high of filter settings can make good targets disappear. The DFX had 5 filter settings 2,3,4,5,6. I always hunted with a filter setting of 3 irregardless of swing speed. I will make the filter setting my next project in the field.

Keep Swing'in
Jack
 
Whites Spectra V3 "Analyze Feature"

That "analyze feature" is really innovative! I think they should market it and support it as a " market leading" feature.

It's like having a ground radar. Anyone having a SV3 in a trashy site will cleanup where others will wear out :lol:

I see the SV3 as my next "used upgrade"...but in many years from now as no one will sell them for the next 3-4 years;)

Ain't it sweet that the V3 is protecting your investment in responding well with the BigFoot coil. time to sell that DFX, nothing is holding it to you now CyberSage!:tumble:
 
In the Analysis mode the Ground filter, Recovery Delay and the SAT can be set independently of the main search settings. I suspect that this is already known but thought I would just mention it.

As for the settings for the Rate I use a setting of 3 and then for Sweep Speed I use a setting of 5in/sec. These two settings will only effect the analysis screen and will not effect the performance of the detector. As where the Sweep Speed will calibrate or size the ruler for showing increments. As for the rate this will effect the ruler to on the increments but it will also effect on how much the graph is spread out or crunched together.

This is why I usually turn the ruler off as I am more interested in the actual waveform and will set the Rate to where it makes a nice curve with a coin being a target.

rcsnake
 
I really need to stop reading these threads about the Vision/V3. It makes me just want one more and more. :(

Dave
 
Hunted today a modified C/J program...Bottlecap reject ON and = 10 and Search Recovery delay = 20 (started @ 30).

Made the spectragraph much more realistic. Really helped when in a bunch of coins...allowed me to use the D2 similar to my MXT.

Mineralization was big issue today. Couldn't hunt with gain much over 8.

Ran Deep Silver on pass across park with one target about 9" (clad dime).

(End of report.):roll:
 
Mineralization was big issue today. Couldn't hunt with gain much over 8.

Are you sure your issue was not EMI? What did the probe function say? Just curious. Good info on the recovery time settings. I am glad I used the MXT for awhile. I understand exactly what your saying on response time. Thanks

Keep Swing'in
Jack
 
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