Steve Herschbach

Ken may have seen the writing on the wall, and it is doubtful the company would be worth more in 5 years. The squeeze is really on now, and I do not see how White's can keep going at current pricing, or make money at lower prices. Ken is no kid anymore. Just cash in the chips now for the best he can get, and sail off on that boat while he can. It's either that or double down, and I doubt he is ready to do that at this stage of the game. Not happy to see it, but probably a smart move.

They have IP worth buying... if Kenny is willing to sell at a reasonable price.

Even between 2002 with the introduction of the MXT up until 2009 with the introduction of the V3i White's was a force to be reckoned with, producing extremely competitive machines. Once CEO Alan Holcombe left however, right around the time the V3i came out... that is when the end really started. White's just never found anyone capable of really replacing Alan.

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/3688-whites-electronics-visit-and-a-new-v3i/ Well, to me the sad part is they had the tech... they just milked it instead of advancing it. Minelab never stops development. White's does a new machine, then nothing. The TDI? Well, the Impulse AQ from Fisher could have been White's since they are both based on Foster designs. But White's took the TDI and then actually watered later versions down! White's V3i - was the Equinox before Equinox. All White's had to do was slim it down. But no, they come out with watered down VX3 and then... nothing. Heck, the V3i had decent wireless before anyone - and White's never implemented it in any other models. White's MXT? I told White's ages ago that a 50 kHz MXT would be a killer. High frequency plus target id. The GMT was the MXT sibling - they could have done it. It took another decade before we got the Makro Gold Racer, and then everyone else jumped on that bandwagon. The story of White's the last 15 years is the story of missed opportunities and undue faith in big box machines.

Yeah, the Goldmaster 24K will go down as White's last great detector. I guess if you have to go better to go out on a high note than a complete disaster.

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/12929-important-announcement-from-whites-electronics/ Important Information from White's Electronics June 18, 2020 To our valued White's Dealers- This is a very difficult message to write, but the time has come for retirement from White's Electronics. We are suspending manufacturing operations at our Sweet Home facility while we re-evaluate the future of the company. It is never easy to make these decisions, however, we are faced with the reality of intense competition in the industry and ongoing counterfeit instruments coming from China. Lastly, there have been critical material shortages since the Covid 19 shutdown that we now find insurmountable. All of us here in Sweet Home are grateful for your service. We consider each you part of the White's extended family. Sincerely, Ken White American Made Metal Detectors since 1950

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/12929-important-announcement-from-whites-electronics/ Important Information from White's Electronics June 18, 2020 To our valued White's Dealers- This is a very difficult message to write, but the time has come for retirement from White's Electronics. We are suspending manufacturing operations at our Sweet Home facility while we re-evaluate the future of the company. It is never easy to make these decisions, however, we are faced with the reality of intense competition in the industry and ongoing counterfeit instruments coming from China. Lastly, there have been critical material shortages since the Covid 19 shutdown that we now find insurmountable. All of us here in Sweet Home are grateful for your service. We consider each you part of the White's extended family. Sincerely, Ken White American Made Metal Detectors since 1950

Wow is right. It is not 100% saying they are gone, but sure does not sound good. And unfortunately not unexpected. I figured they were next out of the remaining players that might take a fall. Both Garrett and especially FT have modern manufacturing facilities and White's Achilles Heel is high cost designs that are basically hand made, compared to First Texas, for instance, stamping stuff out in a brand new modern high tech facility. The brain drain of the last few years was also severe - COVID was just the last straw. I wish everyone at White's well and hope everyone lands on their feet somewhere. I also hope somebody buys the name or at least the IP so some legacy of the company can continue in some form. If Kenny is retiring, he can reap quite a bit from the patents and such at the very least. But wow, my first metal detector was a White's Coinmaster 4 purchased in 1972, and I was a premier White's dealer for many years. I've a lot of history with the company and have known many of the people who work there for a long time. I am very sad indeed to see them go. Steve Herschbach

All I know is in 45 years of detecting I’ve not had any issue of genuine consequence. I actually had a gal a few weeks ago loudly get my attention to tell me I can’t dig in parks. I politely told her yes ma’am, I can, I have a parks permit in my wallet that says so, would you like to see it? She apologized and that was that. I actually like having a permit as it removes confrontation instantly. I will never ask a government type as they usually do not know the rules and no is always a safe answer. Any permits of consequence can be researched online, and so 99% of the time I Google for restrictions. If I find nothing online I use common sense and am discreet. If challenged, I am not going to make a big I know my rights scene, I’ll just quietly go away and either come back later or go somewhere else. The main secret is try to pick times and places when people watching rare at the minimum possible number for the location. I try to be invisible, and it’s worked real well for me.

We are just dreaming anyway, though peat based loam is considerably less dense than normal soils. Another related subject is normal fishfinders and advanced acoustic devices. They can penetrate bottom sediments for some distance and could possibly see small gold items at shallow depth in beach sand. Gold being denser would present better than aluminum to such a device. https://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/neil.mitchell/sonar/pen.html https://acwi.gov/sos/pubs/2ndJFIC/Contents/P03_Snellings_12_21_09_abstract-for-papers.pdf http://www.meridata.fi/Meridata_High_Definition_Sub-bottom_Profiler.pdf

Yeah, he is an active member. That’s why I pointed you at him in case he missed this thread. Book is on an unrelated subject, delayed while I take some college classes to boost my knowledge base. Nothing on detecting yet but I’m sneaking up on it. Thanks for asking.

Best to not get that going here as a separate thread - go here instead. Welcome to the forum Captain!

Whink will dissolve quartz as well as high potency HF, but it takes months instead of minutes. I’ve stuck my finger in the stuff... they sell it in grocery stores. It works on stuff other acids won’t touch, but will frost the quartz or feldspar if left more than 12 overnight so you do need to watch it.

So we put it on a little plastic sled to pull around the park. Aim a small wireless camera at the screen to send to cell phone. But something tells me it costs more than my Time Ranger Pro!

I can tell a ring from a pull tab just looking at it!

This guy does a lot of GPX beach detecting......

I honestly have no idea what happens to likes when a thread gets nuked. I hate to say it but my plate is full enough just chasing these folks down. If it keeps ramping up I may have to impose some kind of new member limitations but for now it is just a weekly cleanup task on my part. There have been a couple though that join and start creating a huge spam post every two minutes, and if they hit me right after bedtime could create hundreds of posts before I wake up and alerted to it. Got lucky and zapped the last couple in minutes. If that got common I'll have to do something.

He logged in the one day and has not been back since. Not sure why people do that. Been a few spammers lately also, in case anyone is wondering why some of the greeting posts disappear periodically. They are not used to forums where somebody is keeping an eye on new members. Anyway, my apologies to some of you who see your kind responses to the scummy spammers get deleted in the process of them getting nuked.

It’s not a pressing concern for me. I got the Tarsacci to try as a nugget detecting machine, and hopefully will be doing that in the next couple weeks. I plan to get up to Tahoe again tomorrow to hunt with the AQ but my plan is to go detecting, not testing. I did enough of that to satisfy myself on the last trip. When I next get to a nugget location I will be using both the Impulse and Tarsacci looking for gold nuggets, and will be comparing the Tarsacci to my other VLFs, so I may gain some insight at that time.

I apologize. I thought you were looking for an explanation as to why 5 kHz might be working well for you. Sounds now like you think your detector is defective. You say you have covered every possibility already so no point in me getting into this further. Minelab service center: Detector Center Pennsylvania, USA T: 1-888-949-6522 E: service@minelabamericas.com

I guess I don’t entirely understand the concern. If 5 kHz is working best for you, why would you not want to use it? Were they to have left it off the machine as having no purpose? The entire reason for having the frequency options is in being able to have them for use in situations where they might offer an advantage. It may simply be your particular location, the combination of ground and targets sought, plus background EMI, favor using 5 kHz. I keep telling myself I should try 5 kHz more often than I have due to persistent reports it may offer some advantages in some situations. Unfortunately, in my area it seems to be the frequency most prone to EMI if used on its own. I’m assuming your detector is operating properly. If it is not, that would be a different issue. You say you have tried everything, so I assume you have done a full factory reset? If multi is remarkably and persistently deficient on all targets at a wide range of locations, you may have an issue with the machine and I would not want to discount that possibility. But 5 kHz working better on some targets at some locations? If it did not it was a mistake including it as an option.

All as in all brands, or as in all Nokta/Makro detectors? Oh well, whatever. I personally see little or no value in something quite this complex for what I do. I do think recording recovered target information is helpful, and have done so as an aid to gold nugget prospecting, but a GPS is far less complicated for that purpose and already works with any detector. Unfortunately tracking location information has not proven to be of great interest to most users. The CTX and GPZ systems are overlooked or even complained about by many users as a waste of money. I’m not sure Minelab will even pursue the idea on future models. I wonder if Invenio has developed into much of a market? Never heard of anyone owning one yet, and way more hardware than I’d want to tote around for my purposes at least.

We have been experiencing a dramatic drop in new detector prices along with a large uptick in new detector capability. This has left quite a few older models very overpriced at the moment. Nothing wrong with the F5, a decent detector. Way more coil options than the Simplex. I have to be honest though and say for the money I’d be taking a hard look at the Minelab Vanquish also.

Gold Mode is the most powerful, for sure, but maybe too hot for some applications. I’m with you, I love that zippy VCO audio, though it seems quite a few people are not so fond of it.

Well, just for starters the Fisher F5 has been discontinued, and at the price it last sold for about twice the price of the Simplex. Are you getting some kind of super deal on the F5, because if not you can get more for your $549 these days. Thats a round about way of asking if you have a budget, and what your intended use is for the detector. Is being fully submersible important? Look at the specifications for detectors... are there key features that seem important to you? The fact is, like cars, most get the job done. So looking at features is a major way of deciding. For me personally I’ll lean for a machine just out versus one at the end of its life cycle. The main drawback to the Simplex is its a little more like a high performance detector than an entry level unit, so not quite as easy to learn as some. But you say you have that covered.