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As explained elsewhere my metal detecting is winding down from my glory days. I will never quit detecting, but it is a more casual close to home thing going forward. With that in mind I just don't need the dozen detectors I usually have had banging around the house for most of the last couple decades. I had already weeded things down pretty well but job one was to stop getting new detectors. The last new detector I added to my mix was the XP Deus 2 a couple years ago. After disposing of other models, like the Tarsacci for instance, I was left with the following: Minelab Equinox Garrett Axiom XP Deus 2 White's DFX For what I do I'm pretty satisfied with the Axiom as a general purpose PI so that's settled. The DFX sports a Bigfoot coil, and I own the machine as much to run the coil as the other way around, so it is not going anywhere. In fact it might become my most used VLF soon. So what to do with the Equinox 800 and Deus 2? The Manticore was really looking like a replacement for both. I can't really get enthused about the XP way of things. People rave about the light weight being a real factor for them, but I don't consider weight to be an issue for me with any detector weighing under three pounds. At the end of the day coils are a big deal for me, and I don't like proprietary limited coil options. Wireless coils leave me cold. People can argue with me all they want but they are wasting their time. I like wired coils, and I lean to detectors with third party coil options. So it is the coils that decided it for me. Minelab took too long with Manticore coils and now I just don't care any more. I'm also peeved XP has withheld the 5x10 coil from Deus 2 owners. My Equinox 800 I have a 6" round coil, the Coiltek 5x10, the stock 11" coil, and the Minelab 12x15 coil. XP has nothing similar to offer in way of coils. Nor does the Manticore. Plus I have custom rods for my Equinox perfect for both compact backpacking and for beach use. I even have an S rod that I have yet to use. The icing on the cake is a set of custom Tony Eisenhower underwater headphones I really like. Would I get rid of all that and keep the Deus 2? No. Would I trade all that for the Manticore as it exists right now? No. So I think I have after ages finally weeded it down to three detectors. The Deus 2 will find a new home. And I am left with... Garrett Axiom - my most used detector for gold prospecting and beach detecting Minelab Equinox 800 with full accessory set - do it all coin, relic, jewelry, gold nuggets, you name it White's DFX with Bigfoot - Park jewelry use almost exclusively Maybe, just maybe the Manticore will tempt me again in a year or so, once the software bugs and coil drought get straightened out. But after 50 years I feel like I have got off the new detector merry go round. There really is something to be said for using a machine you know inside and out, and fact is my Equinox talks to me. The Deus 2 still speaks French and frankly I just don't care to make the effort to learn French. Too old to learn new tricks? Maybe. The main thing for me is I won't waste any more time thinking about this machine or that machine and instead just focus purely on using what I have to best effect. Compared to what I started with 50 years ago I'm drenched in fabulous technology I once only dreamed of, so now matter how I look at it I'm thrilled with the detectors I have now. Minelab Equinox 800 with 6" coil and telescoping rod White's DFX with Bigfoot coil Garrett Axiom with 7x11 coil Equinox 800 with 12x15 coil and steveg counterweighted rod The perfect pair? Axiom 7x11 and Equinox telescoping 5x10

My Craigslist Whites DFX purchase happened successfully......... I brought it home, stock 950 coil and original 1.0 software with two battery packs, $250. After making the mistake of turning it on in my backyard using preset Coin and Jewelry mode and listening to R2D2 have a heated conversation with me I almost called up the guy that sold it to me in order to return it. Then I had a momentous, cogent revelation and remembered that the DFX is simultaneous multi frequency, so I figured out how to get into the basic adjustment menu and lowered the AC sensitivity to 40. Whewwwww. Problem solved. In my house I have to run it at below 30 sensitivity but that is fine for learning how it works and learning how it responds to targets. I have to do the same thing with the Equinox. EMI in my area sucks!!!! I really like this detector. I can usually tell in minutes of actual field use whether a detector is going to work for me in the short or long run. This Whites model looks like a keeper. My DFX has already been on two 2 hour hunts and even though I did not challenge it with super deep targets or with lots of trash (2 baseball/soccer field hunts) I can easily see both why this detector could drive some people nuts (in full tones) and why some people that I know personally, absolutely cleanup on coins and jewelry in the shallow to 6" depth with a big foot or SEF coil. I have seen them do it repeatedly at club hunts. It happened again yesterday at an impromptu wild targets club hunt......... I have the mighty Equinox and I am coming in second or third to a guy with a DFX in both quantity of coins and value along with good jewelry finds too and I worked my butt off. I did out hunt the XP and Garrett guys however...... The DFX has really good target ID and I particularly like the full tones (which I still don't like much on the Equinox and could not stand on the Deus) and all of the easily accessible settings. Now I have to learn what those adjustments do and how they may help in moderate to high mineralization. The in-ground and air testing that I have been able to do in the coin and jewelry mode and the prospecting mode with the 950 coil has been very comparable to my previous M6, MX5 and MX7 results. It will hit sub-gram gold ( .25 gram) easily in prospecting mode. It actually has more accurate target ID than the M6, MX5 and MX7 in my dirt and I really like those detectors except for their single frequency and slow recovery speed. I look forward to picking up a decent 10X5 elliptical DD coil for my DFX and maybe a small concentric down the road. Very impressed for an 18 year old detector Jeff

Is there something for the DFX as there is for the XLT? The XLT will play a tune if the correct sequence of keypads is pressed. Tried this sequence for the DFX but nothing. May be someone can pour some light on this secret. Any help is appreciated.

Hello. I am new to the forum. I love Whites products and will probably stay loyal. I currently use a Whites DFX and exclusively hunt farm fields in the spring and fall for relics. I have a chance to buy a V3i with 4 coils for $750. I haven't fully learned the DFX yet so getting the V3i is overkill but I am intrigued by having White's last model. Maybe I should consider a better relic machine considering I won't take advantage of the machine's capabilities. Any suggestions for a great relic machine? I am considering the MXT sport so I can take it into the water. Getting back to the V3i. It is 10 years old. Will I need to worry about the possibility that it doesn't have a proper software upgrade? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Chris

Chose to post this to illustrate what we all know, the masking effect is real. Went to a park that is pretty well picked through. It has been hit hard by every detector club and enthusiast in our area. Last year I was able to pull a $5 gold coin that was masked by iron out in the brush, and yesterday I was able to pull 4 coins, one being a nice semi-key barber quarter in areas that I've detected no less than 20 times with my host of detectors, and I'm sure has seen thousands of swings over it. It was only 4-5 inches down, but was surrounded by nails. After getting a new to me 10"DD replacement coil for my V3i, which seems a little hotter than my previous coil, I headed out to see if I would be able to find something I've missed. There are no 'dig me' signals to be found, just a rare bouncy or very iffy directional signal to dig. Working in an old nail bed with small river rock down about 4-5 inches where trails were once graveled, I was near big old iron and a lot of nail signals. First signal was messy, something I've never considered digging before, but it had a few inconsistent high beeps mixed in with plenty of iron in my Mixed audio program (iron in one ear, good tones in the other). Opened the plug and had several responses from the pin pointer. Picked one, loosened the soil a bit deeper expecting a nail, and removed a small scoop. Out pops a VF 1899 S Barber Quarter on edge. A bit surprised, but thrilled. Then I recovered 3 nails in the hole making a nice little circle around it, none further than 3 inches away. In the next few minutes I'd repeat the same dig on a signal I'd generally pass on, and out popped a 1907 IHC and a 1912S wheat all at about 5 inches in the rock/dirt matrix. and with iron nearby. Could have covered these with a garbage can lid. I'd dug 3 or 4 wheats before in the near vicinity, so I knew something might be here, but how on earth have they remained hidden this long with so many detectors passing over them, me included. Thank you iron! The hobby has gotten tough, but there are still good targets in those 'hunted out parks'. While i like my Deus quite well in many applications, the V3i with it's sophisticated programmability (such as selecting how many signal responses in a particular range result in an audible and visible VDI response, and it's mixed mode audio ) allows me to eke out a few well masked targets and keep the hobby fun!

With the soon-to-be-released Manticore (maybe) about ready to take over this site's discussions, I'm curious to get some educated opinions about its forerunners in graphics capability. I'm pretty sure I know what's been revealed so far about that detector from the limited number of (emphasize) quality videos done in September in Europe. But many here have experience with current and former models with related readouts. 1) What detector(s) with graphics readout have you owned? Please give at least a rough description of what the graphics showed. 2) Please describe how this detector(s) improved your detecting experience. Also helpful if you'll describe your type of detecting (coins, relics, jewelry) and type of sites (beach, strength of mineralization). Did the detector(s) actually give you useful capabilities that other detectors that you've used -- without graphics -- couldn't? (I mean out-performed in some way.) 3) What were the shortcomings of this detector(s)? 4) Is this detector(s) still in use by you, and if so, where does it rank/rate in your arsenal? Anything else you can add that would be helpful is welcome. Although I don't want to discourage valuable discussion, I'd rather not read second hand info (my friend had one..., I read on a forum that...). Thanks.

Hi, I've got a Whites v3i that I've barely used but need to (hopefully) leverage to find the perimeters of a well (i.e. outgoing water pipes (copper & steel), incoming power lines, pressure tank) so I won't have to dig up the whole area before trenching for a new power line. Is there a way this detector can locate a power line in PVC conduit?

I picked up a used V3i and was curious if there were any hardware changes and/or software changes across the production run. I remember many moons ago, when I decided to buy my DFX in 2010, there was a program to send in the Spectra V3 and White's would upgrade it to a V3i. I assume it was a software update to make that happen. However, aside from that, were there any other software updates later in the decade? Thanks, Gabe

https://doczz.net/doc/2452635/white-s-v3i-advanced-posts-“book“ This has been linked to before and then was broken, making this information hard to access. Here’s the lastest working link. What I did personally this time was I took screen shots of each page, cropped them to size and then forwarded them from photos to iBooks which created a PDF file I can always access from my phone, computer and tablets.

Have you ever seen one of these before? This just went up for sale around my way. Seller states it was only available at some kind of show. At $650 it is tempting as a backup, but I’m not as big a fan of camo as I once was. I just found it interesting that there ever was one (turning the S rod backward annoys me greatly btw haha).

Yesterday I drove an hour to pick up a V3i off Craigslist. Everything tested out fine when I bought it. By the time I drove back, I had about half an hour of sunlight so went to the park and found about half a dozen coins. When I got home, I restored the modified programs and went out in the grass to adjust to my liking when the machine started behaving erratically. I noticed the battery voltage was getting low, so thought that might be the problem. Today when I got home, I inserted the recharged battery and it’s still acting up. I searched the forums here and found someone else has reported the same issue, but I didn’t see a post about it being resolved. Any help is appreciated!

hello guys, it's been some time since I wrote on this forum, my name is Luca and I write from Italy. I need to know if any of you have any positive experiences on the first Whites Spectra Vision model. I currently have a spectra V3I, but I have heard that the first Vision type is the best of the whole series. Thank you luca

Hi Jeff. Did you have some testing time with your new Spectra? How do you like the SpectraSound WHP? I do like them a lot since I use them.

Do you think I'm kidding? Today I was in the mood to watch "Treasure Hunting America" again. While watching I came across the advertising "Meet Ken White of White's Electronics" in the specials. But this time it was a first to me that I realized the Software Version of the DFX used in the Ad. Anyone else ever noticed that in the past?

This used to be a deep, dark secret although the process was leaked and posted on various websites. It was kept secret because this process gives you access to the factory calibration process, and if you mess with the calibration your detector may need to go back to the factory. Do Not Do It - STAY OUT OF THE CALIBRATIONS SETTINGS! However, a Master reset can put you back to the way the setting were the day you got the detector, and cure various oddball problems that may arise. A good idea for a used machine you have purchased in particular. White's V3i metal detector Master Reset Process

If so ls. post and do you still use it? TIA!

Greetings! My first post here. I have a wooded area (not NPS or Nat'l Battlefield) that I hunt where my best finds have been minies & modern coins. I believe there's more. The site was farmed (no structures) Antebellum and up into the 1950's. It was the site of a documented CW skirmish. But it is littered with trash, both 70's construction, it was a beer drinking spot for teens, and lots of barbed wire and other older metal junk in the ground. I really want to tune all the junk out, even if I lose that gold bracelet at 6" down, and work this hilly, wooded, mineralized area of several acres and not be spending the rest of my life digging junk. I'm OK with just cherry-picking since I feel any area that is productive will make me slow down anyway. I wanted to ask the group if there's a fav custom-made anti-trash program for the V3 they might offer up? Links to same are fine too. Seems like there used to be other forums where this info was common 5+ years ago or more. But don't see it now. Can you help? My machine is a White's V3 with Eclipse 950 coil. I still have the Spectra D2 coil as well. Thank you for reading and hope you can help!

Tucked away on the 'Geotech1 dot Com' forum is an incomplete 'Advanced User Guide' , written by Carl Moreland when he worked for Whites. No doubt a few of you are registered there, so here is a direct link: Link: https://www.geotech1.com/forums/showthread.php?26512-V3i-Advanced-User-s-Guide Here are the first 7 chapters for the V3i User's Guide" 1-Intro.pdf 2-QuickStart.pdf 3-BasicSettings.pdf 4-OperatingModes.pdf 5-AudioBasics.pdf 6-CustomAudioDisc.pdf 7-ExpertMenus.pdf

I need validation or correction on these 2 photos.. Thanks ahead of time. Richard Serial number indicates 184th day of 2020 or July 2nd ? Number on the display indicates software date used ?

Hi, so I've been metal detecting for a while now and have had some really good metal detectors like the Garrett Ace 400 and such and last week I just purchased the whites DFX Spectrum E-Series because I couldn't beat the price. This metal detector is awesome but really advanced and what I really would like to know is if this Jewel can be set up to find small gold nuggets or any gold nuggets for that matter. Any advise or knowledge would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

I'm still new to the forums, so forgive me if I've covered an old topic. I'd like to invest in a few coils for different grounds/targets, but I'm struggling to find coils specific to my machines. I just bought a V3i (Thanks to everyone who helped me sort out the EMI issues I initially found) and have an XLT as a backup. I primarily hunt trashy parks for coins and jewelry but will likely occasionally get permission to hunt private properties and fields and may hunt for relics too. I already know White's coil serial numbers start with a "V" if they're ideal for my V3i. If there are any coils that will work with both machines, I'd be happy, but I'm managing my expectations.

I have just returned to detecting after 6 years and am disabled. I used my DFX and DFX 300 (which I just bought before the injuries) previously and have now found they are too heavy for me. I now have a Minelab EQ 800 and have stopped using these two Whites. The DFX300 is mint for sure and the DFX is also in great shape. Trying to find comparative values before posting in classifieds. Saw one on Ebay. Any ideas? Thanks.

It seems most like FBS machines but a good V3i hunter could maybe make this machine shine for silver.I never had a V3i.

hi guys, my name is Luca and I am writing to you from Italy, I have recently purchased a Whites V3i, I ask for your precious help. I need the settings to make a program that turns my V3i into an MXT Pro in Relic mode. I would like it to be like Mxt Pro, identical in sound, recovery and performance. Thanks to those who will help me! greetings from Italy and good life to all! luca

Battery packs for Whites V3i