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V3i Vs MXT Pro And Some Of My Thoughts This Week...... Asking For Some Of Your Thoughts


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Have recently got a hold of a nice V3i......I had one about 8 years ago and I decided back then it was not for me. I have Been comparing a MXT pro to it. Straight out of the box the MXT is way faster on recovery and obviously way easier to set up.

With the 6X10 DD coil the V3i cannot see a penny about 1-1/2 inches from a piece of iron.

If I put the same coil on the MXT it picks it right up. Very well actually.

I have fiddled with the V3i on and off for a couple of days. I am on the fence about hanging on to it. I have been talking to a friend here locally who swears by the V3i and it is his go to machine. He told me that once I get it figured out it is deeper than the MXT.

I guess that is possible.

I am not a fan of the D2 coil as much as the white 6X10 DD coil. With the white 6X10 DD coil on the mxt I can hit an 11 inch nickle in my test garden with just turning the gain up.

With the same coil on the V3i I have to go and adjust the ground phase and the recovery settings plus SAT as well....Sorry I do not know what all they are called but it used to be pre and post gain or AC and DC or whatever was on the XLT and such. Plus there is also the transmit gain and all that too that I can adjust and I am trying to just hit a 11 inch nickel with the V3I!!!

I have messed with the recovery speed and the internal filters and have managed to get pretty satisfactory results after lots of hair pulling and time out in my back yard.

I paired up the 13" DD Coil to the V3i. It made the machine way more sensitive without hardly doing anything else to the settings. It is like a match made in heaven actually on the V3i.

I normally am a turn on and go kind of guy. I guess once the V3i is set up the way I like to run a machine it would become a turn on and go unit.....It will just take a bit to get there.

I am on the fence kind of. I know there seems to be a little more action here with a few of you who still use a V3i so I am going to ask, is there any way the V3i can be adjusted to be as deep and as fast as the MXT pro??

If not I may just wind up selling both and sticking to lighter machines....... Had a blast with my Equinox yesterday!!

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  • The title was changed to V3i Vs MXT Pro And Some Of My Thoughts This Week...... Asking For Some Of Your Thoughts

If you have a 13 "ultimate coil on the Spectra V3i ... then you don't have to worry about the depth of detection ...

My recommended base setting for a good depth on the Spectry V3i... is  :
3F multifrekvenci-Best data program Hi-Pro ... Mix-mode, .. Ground filter - 7.5 hz Band /High filter, Recovery delay 70 .., Rx Gain 10-12 .. Tx -Bost Off, Allmetal 85, Sensitivity DS 88 -93 ..., Modulation OFF .. bottle cap reject OFF ..

If terrain conditions allow .. slight mineralization of the terrain ... you can try using RxGain- 6-7-8 with TX Bost ON ..

If you cannot use such a setting. -for example if you have a medium-mineralized terain.. just set RX Gain to 7-10 without TX bost ... and change the ground filter from 7.5Hz Band / High  groun filter to 10 Hz Band / High  ground filter...

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Thank you. 

 

Yes the 13 inch coil is good on depth. 

 

I am still trying to get the recovery speed up to par. 

Am trying to like the unit. It is a nice and pretty one. 

 

Maybe if I forced myself to only use the v3i I would not ask so many questions ! 

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If you want depth and speed, the Ultimate 13" coil on the MXT is a great match.  You shouldn't have to work this hard tweaking a machine to get what you want (unless you are simply enjoying the tinkering - which is what the V3i excels at most).  You are comparing the V3i ultimate depth to the MXT based on something someone said.  Yet you have a perfectly capable MXT sitting right there that can get it done and be deep with that ultimate coil.  Is the infinite tweakability, spectragraph, and MF worth it for what you want to do with it considering what else you have in your arsenal?  If you are enjoying the challenge and tinkering, that's one thing.  When it turns into frustration, that's another.  To me the MXT was a high water mark for Whites in integrating capability and tweakability (love those analog knobs) of key parameters with relative ease of use.  A classic.

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I think maybe I am enjoying the challenge possibly.  I kind Of want to keep the V3i. .

Your correct about the mxt pro just being a workhorse with the best and easiest set up there is from the whites line up.

Not to mention battery life compared to the V3i. No comparison whatsoever. 

 

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What I have noticed is the programming throughout the different programs are different internally.

It does not seem to carry the same parameters across the board.

There are many more choices in mixed mode pro to adjust than in coin mode.

I found that out today.

So it looks like the ultimate find everything mode is mixed mode pro I think it is called.

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Therefore, I recommend Hi-pro .. Best data. + set to Mix mode .... it's one of the deeper programs ... with low discrimination that works OK ... out of the box ..

   If you have doubts about how to set the recovery delay .... then in my opinion the optimal value for coins in the depth somewhere is between Recovery delay 65-75 .... this applies to every coil size you use ...

Don't be afraid to add DS sensitivity to at least 88-90 ... and you can go to 93 ... if the conditions allow.

On small 7 "coils you can certainly increase to DS 95 .... and the detector will process satisfactorily ..

set the sensitivity of Allmetal ... 80-90 so high .. that it alerts you to the target on deep signals .. which may be beyond the reach of discrimination ..


If you want to be more certain ... bury a few coins on your terrain at the depths of the depth and check your settings in such a test ...IMG_20200329_181024.thumb.jpg.b850793c4c194377dbf841bde18d9e91.jpg

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It looks like you know the V3i inside and out. I like how the mixed mode acts but I am going to have to tweak a lot of settings on it.

Yes I have a pretty good test garden. That is what lead me to start asking questions on the V3i here on the forum. I could not get the V3i to hit a copper coin about 1-1/2" inches from a piece of iron in the ground with the D2 coil and the 6x10DD coil.

But it will hit the coin next to iron with the 13" DD ultimate coil without much parameter adjusting.

I wanted it to be as fast on recovery speed as the MXT is however I do not think it will be possible. I do have it way faster than the stock programs is though.

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 Spectra V3i ... in Mix mode and SAT set to 25 and more ...., and Recovery delay to from 20 to 33 ...... is a faster responding detector ... in this case better separation use Ground Filter 10hz band / high, or 12.5 Hz Band. Filter .. and you will still get an acceptable depth ...

12.5 Hz high The filter is the fastest Ground filter..but it is already visibly shallower in range .... than other Ground Filters .... of course, due to the strong separation, the loss of depth does not matter ..

 For good separation, always set the Bottle cap to OFF ... ,,, it is a similar function .. as the Iron bias setting for Equinox ..

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