New White PI Nugget Hunter

Steve Herschbach

Hero Member
Apr 1, 2005
659
1,016
Nevada
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
New White' PI Nugget Hunter

Hi,

The new White's PulseScan TDI will soon be available. It is a new ground balancing pulse induction (GBPI) detector that offers quite a set of features for the price. The unit is configured like most White's units with the control box rod mounted under the elbow. The control box can be removed from the rod and chest mounted or hip mounted. The unit uses drop in Lithium Ion batteries. It has a built in speaker and headphone jack. The lightweight coils are waterproof and it has the ability to use industry standard coils from Coiltek, Minelab, and Nugget Finders. It has manual ground balance, adjustable gain, adjustable pulse delay, and more. The MSRP is $1599.00.

Why would a person want one? If you normally use a VLF detector to nugget hunt but are having problems with extreme ground mineralization or hot rocks, a GBPI unit is the answer. While not as sensitive to small gold as a hot VLF units pulse induction machines by nature are more resistant to the effects of mineralization. But in the worst ground even PI units have problems and so the ground balancing PI was developed to handle the worst possible conditions. The bottom line is if you have a VLF nugget detector and it is doing the trick for you, great. But if the ground you hunt is so bad you are getting poor depth with your VLF or the hot rocks are driving you nuts then a GBPI unit is the answer.

Other units in the same general price range are the Garrett Infinium at MSRP of $1250 and Minelab SD2200v2 at MSRP $2795. The Infinium never caught on much with nugget hunters since it is designed as a fully submersible dive unit. The Minelab units set the standard but their price puts them out of reach of some people. The White's PulseScan TDI offers another alternative to consider.

tdi.jpg


Steve Herschbach
 

Upvote 0
OP
OP
Steve Herschbach

Steve Herschbach

Hero Member
Apr 1, 2005
659
1,016
Nevada
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Re: New White' PI Nugget Hunter

Hi Thompy,

Thank you. Sometimes I wonder why I bother. You & Jim are why. I hope I have helped.

The following is a “Power User Tip” from Steve Herschbach. It is not in the White’s Electronics TDI Owner’s Manual, and White’s Electronics` cannot be held responsible for any claims made in this post.

From Steve H – I’m passing this along in good faith as information I have discovered, but which others have discovered first. Many thanks to George, Reg, and of course Eric. But please understand my findings are preliminary, and can certainly be improved on by those of you willing to take on the challenge.

5/19/2008 posted by Steve Herschbach:
“But an experienced ground balancing pulse induction (GBPI) user can use the tones in some circumstances to dramatically reduce the amount of iron and steel. Reduce, not eliminate. Repeat that several times - reduce, not eliminate iron and steel compared to a dig it all PI approach.”

I was wrong, totally wrong. I first learned with a PI that you just dig it all. Then I learned to separate tones with ground balancing pulse induction (GBPI) detectors.

Since 5/19/2008 I have learned how to use a GBPI unit and not dig ferrous targets! Tonight I spent two hours in the turf, and dug 18 coins and three pieces of aluminum. And frankly, the aluminum was iffy. The coins were no doubt. Not one ferrous item.

What about depth? I’m digging silver and older coppers from areas long since deemed worked out. How deep? Deep enough a 1000 other detectorists with the best VLF detectors left them behind. I am not exaggerating and actually understating this. If you do not believe this I can understand and frankly I’m not out to convince you. I do believe depth is relative and so do not look to me for inches. With VLF versus PI units it is all about ground mineralization. Results will vary by location, and so quoting figures is an exercise in futility. All that matters to me is I am making good finds with ease, and in the end the only person I need to convince is me.

Rick K said it best “What interested me was the obvious speed and ease of the whole process. Silver from a "hunted to death" site at good depth and with no mumbo-jumbo about faint or ambiguous sounds.”

Yeah Rick, you got it right. Others reported it, and I’m just confirming it.

I have a Pulse Induction detector that allows me to pass 99% of the iron targets. But there are a lot of tricks involved. My “WOW” moment took a couple hours to hit but now I’m taking to the TDI like a duck to water. You have to hunt by ear, and for me that is a good thing, as that is how I learned to hunt years ago. I’m glad the meter is gone because it gets between me and the detector. This is a detector for those who are willing to forget all they learned with VLF detectors and more for those who have been detecting a long time. Frankly, nobody knows all about what the TDI can do yet. It is a new frontier.

If you think this is hype, I can understand. I was not really able to believe what George and Reg were telling me. Eric Foster and White’s Electronics have produced the first pulse induction metal detector that can reject iron if the user knows what they are doing. This is a real advance in metal detector technology.

I am 90% sure I know what I’m doing. But just tonight I learned how to separate shallow coins from deep. Every time I go out I learn something. The TDI is the most fun I have had from a detector in ages. It has me detecting until late in the evening and up early the next morning.

So here it is 1:37 AM in the morning Anchorage time – this unit has me really jacked up! More later.

Steve Herschbach
 

OP
OP
Steve Herschbach

Steve Herschbach

Hero Member
Apr 1, 2005
659
1,016
Nevada
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Re: New White' PI Nugget Hunter

Hi Jim,

I am doing a writeup now of my TDI coin settings and target response observations along with some tips. Time to wrap this phase up. Starting today I am on a countdown to head to my mine at Moore Creek on Sunday. So today the TDIs get packed up with thousands of pounds of other supplies in order to get shipped off to the mine on Friday. So we have two days to shop and box to get everything to air cargoon Thursday. No matter how far ahead I plan it always gets down to a last minute rush.

In any case, I'll get that posted today, and then the next time I use a TDI it will be for gold at Moore Creek. Due to the miracle of technology we went from no communications a few years ago, to satellite phones, and in the last couple weeks the crew got satellite internet access installed at the mine. So I hope to get weekly reports and photos out to everyone about what kind of gold the TDI is finding. We will have at least three TDIs at the mine for the use of our visitors.

Steve Herschbach
 

OP
OP
Steve Herschbach

Steve Herschbach

Hero Member
Apr 1, 2005
659
1,016
Nevada
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Re: New White' PI Nugget Hunter

Hi Jim,

Since this is a nugget forum I'm going to let this thread die. But it does record a fun moment in my detecting history - the point when I saw the light with the TDI. As you note, it was a roller coaster ride! For anyone interested in the coin write up I just did on the TDI I posted it at http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,160176.0.html where it is more appropriate.

I'll start a new thread here next week on nugget detecting with the TDI.

This if fun Jim. Part of me wants to keep the TDI secret. Just let people think it is a nugget detector. It is that, but so much more. Luckily I am a kid with a new toy and what fun is that unless you tell everyone about it!

Steve Herschbach
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top