My review of the Spectra V3i (and finds from the last two weeks)..

[Rattlehead]

Hey guys.. Just thought I would give a little review for anyone who is considering this machine. I was originally planning to wait a couple of months before posting a review, but I've already tested it pretty well and feel very comfortable using it, so I decided to go ahead and post it now.

First of all, let me just say that I know some folks might expect a biased review from anyone who spent big money on a high end detector.. and although it may seem that way after reading my review, I can assure you thats not the case. Matter of fact, if I spend over a thousand dollars on ANY product, I will be the FIRST person to complain if it sucks. lol Fortunately that wasn't a problem with the Spectra.

I've been using White's machines pretty much exclusively since I got into the hobby more than 20 years ago. I did try an F-75 for a while but that detector and I just didn't speak the same language, so I sold it and got another XLT. Not knocking the Fisher.. I know a lot of folks do really well with it, but it just wasn't for me. Anyway, due to financial issues I had to sell my detector and put the hobby on hold for a while, but just recently things turned around so I jumped back in with both feet and a new machine.

I probably spent the good part of a month reading reviews and watching videos of the Spectra and Etrac. I was torn between them for a while but finally decided to pull the trigger on the V3i just because I've had good luck with White's detectors in the past. I'm sure I would have been happy with the Minelab as well, but since I do a variety of detecting I figured the V3i might be a better choice for me.

Before I ever recieved the detector, I had already read the online owners manual from start to finish two or three times. I also read the Advanced User's Guide posted on the Whites forums. So when I finally got the Spectra in my hands two weeks ago I was already fairly familiar with its controls.

I've seen a lot of folks say that it has a huge learning curve compared to other detectors, but I'd have to disagree. It may be due to the fact that I've owned multiple XLTs and am already familiar with what most of the controls do, but to me it was very easy to navigate and understand the settings. Plus it has a ton of little shortcuts to jump from one thing to the next very quickly. I can see where it might be difficult for someone who has never used a similar detector trying to absorb all the info too quickly, but fortunately they don't need to. The Spectra can be as simple or advanced as you want. The preset programs work just fine out of the box, and as you become more comfortable with the detector, you can learn the settings as you go. Navigation of the machine isn't difficult at all. If you can operate a modern smart phone, you'll have no trouble navigating the V3i.

The over all feel and quality of the detector is very good. Its well balanced and not too heavy, although I could definitely feel the extra weight of the Sunray DX-1 which was mounted. If you've ever used other White's detectors such as the DFX, XLT or MXT.. the Spectra should feel right at home.

Anyway, I'm not going to bother describing all of its features since thats already been covered a million times online.. Instead I'll just post the results of four outings with the detector.

After a couple of days of waiting on the rain to pass, I loaded my gear onto the "history machine" () and headed to the local park.



I didn't have high hopes of finding anything too old because this place has been hunted for years.. but it always seems to replenish itself with lots of clad so I figured it would be a good place to familiarize myself with the V3i.

I started out in the preset Coin & Jewelry mode with a few minor tweaks. The ground there is decent, so I bumped the RX gain up a little until it became noisy, then backed it down a notch. It was on 10 for the majority of the time I was there.

After two days of detecting, the old park yielded a nice pile of clad, two tokens and 6 wheat pennies that had been missed before. No silver though.

A few of the wheaties were at 5 or 6 inches, but nothing was extremely deep.



One of the things that proved very useful to me in the park was the analyze mode. With the color coded camel hump graph and sizing feature, it makes spotting coins very easy. I haven't had a chance to try the Polar Plot yet, but will soon.

Next place I headed was to the old train depot right across the street from my house. I've detected here before as well, but never found anything very old because its so trashy. I used the "trashy areas" program and started in the front where it wasn't so junky. There I found a bunch of clad, an old tax token, two wheat cents, and a bunch of junk.

After not having much luck in the front, I moved to the side where folks actually boarded the train. After about 3 hours I had found lots more clad, and 3 more wheaties. Still no silver, but that was about to change. As I walked further down the side, the Spectra locked onto a penny/dime signal at 7". It sounded nice and clean no matter which way I swept the coil, so I was pretty excited. After digging down at least 7 inches (seemed like more) I finally saw the glint of silver! I was hoping for a seated or at least a barber, but it was just a merc. I'll take it though!

After taking a short break, I came back and started sweeping the area on the side again. Less than 10 feet from where I found the merc, I got big signal that was jumping around between half dollar and quarter. It seemed too big to be a coin but just for the heck of it I lifted the coil a few inches higher off the ground to see if maybe it was multiple targets close together. When I lifted it higher, it gave a nice penny dime signal in several places really close together. So I decided to dig it. About 4" down I pulled out a wheat penny. Scanned it again and still had a signal. I scooped out a big clump of dirt saw two more pennies fall back into the hole! Swept it again and still had a good signal! This happened several more times and when all was said and done, I had pulled 14 wheaties out of one hole! I sure was hoping to find some silver mixed in with them but no such luck. I don't know if this was a pocket spill or a small cache that some kid had buried or what.. But all of them were within a few inches of eachother.

I spent a couple more hours there and found even more clad, two more wheaties and a silver rosie. Nothing spectacular, but I was really pleased with how the machine had performed.



The following weekend I decided to hit a spot that had produced a lot of Civil War relics in the past. Its just a small patch of woods, which used to be part of a Union camp before most of it was covered with pavement.

For the most part, this area is very clean because I've grid searched it so many times in the past and pretty much cleaned it out... or so I thought!

Once again, I jacked up the sensitivity as high as possible until the detector became erratic, then backed it back down a notch and started sweeping.

No more than ten minutes after arriving, I already had a solid signal at 10" deep. It was a musket ball! I covered a little more ground and then got a jumpy signal that was saying quarter in one direction, and somewhat broken in the other. The depth meter said 8". Dug down and found a copper disk with the number "150" stamped on it. No idea what this is, unless its some kind of baggage check.

A few feet in front of that was a dropped 3 ringer, also very deep. By the time I was ready to call it a day I had found another musket ball, a fired miniball, several more pieces of led, a shell casing, a small silver looking button (not sure what this is), and also a heavy brass ring that maybe came off of a rifle or something?



This was my favorite outing with the Spectra for two reasons:
1) I like relic hunting much better than coin shooting.
and
2) I got to see first hand how deep the V3i could really go! With the exception of the small button thingy, ALL of these targets were between 8 and 12 inches deep. Whats even more impressive to me is the fact that I have grid searched this area multiple times with my XLT and missed these deeper relics. Now I'm wanting to go back and search all of my favorite sites again!

Here's some close ups of the unknown items if anyone can identify them.






So back to my review of the Spectra. Here's a few things I really like about it:

1) This thing goes deep! When properly tuned I have no doubt that its getting a good three of four inches deeper than my XLT.

2) Its a coin magnet! I know that I didn't make any really impressive old coin finds within my first two weeks of use, but just the way this thing locks on to a coin and verifies it with the analyze screen makes it a great coin shooting machine in my opinion. I think I've found more clad with it in one day than any other day in the past.

3) I actually like the lay out of the menu/settings. I was expecting it to be much more difficult to navigate but it turns out to be alot easier than my previous detector. I think anyone who is upgrading from a DFX or XLT will find the Spectra's menu/navigation to be a big improvement.

4) The wireless headphones are great! I tried these out while I was detecting near the road at the depot and they're really nice.

It would be hard for me to find much that I didn't like about the detector. But just to nitpick a little, if there's one thing I'd like to see White's do, it would be to conceal the cable inside the shaft like Minelab did with the Etrac. Other than that, I'm extremely impressed with it.

[RWJR13]

Thanks for the post...always good to see finds like these......Congrats....

[goodmore]

A nice review. I'm glad you are clicking with your new detector. I know about trying to find the one that speaks your language.

[DIGGER27]

Thanks for the post.
I am planning on getting this one eventually, hopefully it will be my last.
Right.

Anyway, I love the fact that you can tweak the heck out of this thing.
I love tech, and I am awful glad that tech gets results.

Thanks again.

Also, that round thing with the number might be a miners tag.

[Joves]

That was a great review. I chase the Etrac over the Whites because for one Im new to this and it seemed to be an easier machine to learn. Now Im thinking I will eventually get the V3i as well.

[BountyHunter]

Great review in that you tell us that you have pounded areas with a known and popular detector before you went over with this new V3i.

Thank you for sharing this

[vanstheman3]

Loved the review. GL & HH......

[The Rebel]

Nice review. Thanks for Posting! The V3i is an awesome machine. It's not all that hard to learn other than getting used to a new machine, unless you've used other Whites machines before. Please join our group V3i Drivers & post pic's of your finds .

[pulltabMiner]

Excellent review.

I agree with it 100%. I am presently hunting a park that is legendary for not having anything left in it except for trash. It seems every time I run the V3i over that park, I find a missed target, be it an old coin or a relic.

I haven't yet found a dime at 9 inches which is what I believe I can achieve with the V3i but I have found wheats at the 7+ range.

What's really exciting for me is that even I am fairly successful with the V3i after 2 months of hunting with it, I haven't even began to test the limits of this machine! I am stoked and look forward to some great finds in 2012!

[Rattlehead]

Thanks all!

Originally Posted by DIGGER27

Also, that round thing with the number might be a miners tag.

Cool, I'll have to search google and look into those. Thanks!

Originally Posted by BountyHunter

Great review in that you tell us that you have pounded areas with a known and popular detector before you went over with this new V3i.

Thank you for sharing this

Yeah, after thinking about it, I hope my comments didn't offend any XLT owners. That wasn't my intentions. I think the XLT is an amazing detector which has made a lot of great finds for me. I wasn't putting it down.. Just wanted to show the depth advantage of the Spectra for those who are considering the upgrade.

Originally Posted by The Rebel

Please join our group V3i Drivers & post pic's of your finds .

I'd love to. Where and how do I join?

{EDIT} Nevermind, I figured it out and joined! Thanks!

Originally Posted by pulltabMiner

What's really exciting for me is that even I am fairly successful with the V3i after 2 months of hunting with it, I haven't even began to test the limits of this machine! I am stoked and look forward to some great finds in 2012!

I agree. I still have plenty to learn as well and look forward to it.

HH!

[triplehooked]

Rattlehead;1109116]Thanks all!

No, thank you for the review! It's just what I like to see in a detector I'm looking to purchase...

Yeah, after thinking about it, I hope my comments didn't offend any XLT owners. That wasn't my intentions. I think the XLT is an amazing detector which has made a lot of great finds for me. I wasn't putting it down.. Just wanted to show the depth advantage of the Spectra for those who are considering the upgrade.

Naaa, no offense here. I also own a XLT and would be disappointed if you did not get 3" increase in depth out of a new machine! The best part of your review is that you returned to a frequented site to test out the V3i under real world conditions, especially the trashy areas. More people equals more trash, which also means it's more likely something of value was lost. I'm even more anxious to pick up this machine now...Thanks!!

[Rattlehead]

You're very welcome triplehooked. I think you'll like the V3i. I know I do!

[(Heavy)]

Good review and don't forget the resale of a V3i is just as nice. This one of a kind machine will hold its place in history. Never will an MD be made with so much user end access again.

Happy Huntiing and enjoy the whole V3i geek, monk, control freak challenge thing... I know i did



now give me something with no bells and whistles for a while

[Rattlehead]

Originally Posted by (seven of nine)

Good review and don't forget the resale of a V3i is just as nice. This one of a kind machine will hold its place in history. Never will an MD be made with so much user end access again.

Happy Huntiing and enjoy the whole V3i geek, monk, control freak challenge thing... I know i did

now give me something with no bells and whistles for a while

Thanks!

[DIGGER27]

Originally Posted by (seven of nine)

now give me something with no bells and whistles for a while

So this one probably is out of the running...huh?

[ggolds5]

Hi, I have a V3I , how do I join the drivers group?. Can't seem to find it.

[The Rebel]

http://metaldetectingforum.com/group.php?groupid=117