Tips for older Whites detector ??

ArthurC

Full Member
Mar 19, 2013
138
155
South Carolina
Detector(s) used
Whites M6

Garret Pinpointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I've been using my Whites 6000 di pro sl since march 2013. Its a great machine and ive found allot of coins and interesting items. I've mainly used the presets on each control and it works beautifully. Now i'm interested in getting more depth and trying some pro settings but I cant really find much online since its an old detector. Anyone on here have any tips or know any online resources besides the Whites manual? I'm interested in using as much signal as possible without compromising my depth readings and pin pointing. Is that possible with this detector? Also, when I turn the discrimination up am I losing depth?

Thanks, hope that made sense
 

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Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,360
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
That's a great machine. If you've got the type with the 950 loop (the flat loop with the hole in the center), you've got a machine that some people, to-this-day, refuse to change from. Good all around relic, beach, demolition machine. Sure there's machines that go deeper today, and sure there's machines that ferrett around trash (ghost townsy) today, but for a general versatile machine, that's a good one.

You did right to start with the presets. Naturally, to get more depth, you can turn the sens. (aka "signal balance") up. If you do, be sure to re-ground balance on a spot of clear/clean ground each time. Another way to get more depth, is to take it out of auto-track ground balance, and put it in "lock". HOWEVER, this assumes you're going to hunt in an area of un-changing mineral compositions. Eg.: flat ground, etc... If you're in a terrain that changes, and/or near water's edges, etc..., then you might want to keep it on "track". But if you put it on "lock", that dis-allows the machine to muffle deeper whispers (that it thinks are just a part of the back-ground matrix). Or if you're in a heavily iron ridden site (ghost-townsy type site), eventually having it in auto-track will make the machine think that amount of rusty composure/iron is a part of soil (iron-rich-soil). In which case, you'll de-tune it so much that ...... eventually ....... you'd only get banging louder/bigger conductive objects in the mess. Thus you want to "lock" it, when getting ready to hunt iron-ridden sites.

As far as whether you'll loose depth when upping the disc, that's a good question. I know on the earlier 6000's, that was indeed true (because they were/are a progressive knob). But with that last generation of 6000's, I forget if that was the case or not. So I'll let someone else chime in on that question. I know if some people say "yes you'll loose depth", it's often not that you actually necessarilly really loose depth, but rather, that whenever someone ups their disc, they loose the benefit of "random bounces" on the really deep ones. You know, like how a super deep one might waffle around while trying to "make up its mind" on where it really hits. Well, if you have the disc. set high, then obviously those lower "bounces" will simply be a null. But the higher "bounces" are not discriminated out. Hence if those first few swings over a target were the low bounces (like if you weren't exactly "centered" over it), then you'd simply walk on, without ever trying a 2nd or 3rd pass to "bring it in". Dunno if that makes sense.
 

cudamark

Gold Member
Top Banner Poster
Mar 16, 2011
13,172
14,457
San Diego
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Detector(s) used
XP Deus 2, Equinox 800/900, Fisher Impulse AQ, E-Trac, 3 Excal 1000's, White's TM808, VibraProbe, 15" NEL Attack, Mi6, Steath 920ix and 720i scoops, TRX, etc....
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Yup, best of the analog machines IMO. Like Tom said, run the sensitivity up as high as you can stand and rebalance.
 

jmoller99

Sr. Member
Jan 8, 2010
294
109
Colorado Springs, Colorado USA
Detector(s) used
Whites GMT, Goldmaster Vsat, 5900, Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 and Falcon MD-20.
Primary Interest:
Other
I have a 5900 Di Pro SL. It's similar to the 6000 except it lacks automatic ground balance. When you turn the discrimination up, you loose depth (I would say this is consistent with every other detector that has discrimination capability). On my 5900, I lose as much as 30% depth with discrimination. However, its really not always a good idea to go overboard with discrimination as many targets that you would dial out as trash may not be (for example, rings often read like pull tabs). It depends on the area that you are in (if riddled with trash, maybe you want a smaller coil to help reduce the area you search). The first gold items I found with my 5900 (at a playground) were small gold necklace strands - these read very low on the meter (ie. trash range). Deep silver will show up on your meter (the 6000 is pretty sensitive to it), even with the discrimination set up higher.

I suggest that you create a detector garden in your yard someplace with some practice targets (4, 6 and 8 inches down (so you can practice with your detector and see how it reacts to different settings). Getting to know what your detector is telling you will make your outings more successful in the long run.

I now use my 5900 mostly for relic hunting (I found my 1st gold ring near an old outhouse pit with it). Relic hunting tends not to use any discrimination since you have no idea what you are going to find and you don't want to discount anything.

As a side note, most of the current Bounty Hunter detectors run at the same frequency that the Whites 5900's and 6000's do. There are people who make adapters to allow you to use the Bounty Hunter Coils (I use the 4 inch BH coil on my 5900 on occasion in trashy areas). You can also adapt some of the DD coils to work too. Obviously the 'guess the depth' display is only accurate on the the stock coil.
 

GRiley

Full Member
Apr 15, 2013
231
92
North Central Indiana
Detector(s) used
Whites Coinmaster 6000/DI Series 3
Whites 6000/DI Pro SL
Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Hi Arthur,
You have a great machine. I have had mine over ten years and it's still working great. I just bought an AT Pro but that was only because I wanted a fresh water detector. I have found lots of good stuff with the 6000. I personally like the analog display. The only tip I can give you is learn when the machine is lying and when it's not. Same as any detector. The 6000 has good depth and good discrimination. Listen for a good solid, repeatable reading, not one that's jumping all over the display. If it's jumping around it's probably a bad target. Dig and learn is the best advice I can give you. I do still use the presets in 90 percent of my hunting. The ground around me seems to be highly mineralized. I have found lots of gold and silver rings with the 6000. It does a good job with them. I think you do lose depth with higher discrimination. Depends on where your hunting but the preset discrimination has worked well for me.....G.
Is this your first detector?.......G
 

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ArthurC

ArthurC

Full Member
Mar 19, 2013
138
155
South Carolina
Detector(s) used
Whites M6

Garret Pinpointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Yes, this is my very first detector, my dad bought it years ago and passed away before really ever using it. I decided to give it a try after it sat in a closet collecting dust....and now that i'm pretty familiar with what its telling me, ive been practicing allot since March, ive found four silvers & lots of clad, 351 coins so far plus some rings and pendents. I only began using the discrimination set on tabs recently when I ventured to a very trashy spot looking for clad. Its a tad on the heavy side but I love how much stuff it finds.
 

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ArthurC

ArthurC

Full Member
Mar 19, 2013
138
155
South Carolina
Detector(s) used
Whites M6

Garret Pinpointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Thanks guys, i'll give it a try, and yes GRiley, this is my first detector. I want to get a backup detector like an M6 but i'm starting to think I should just find another 6000 di pro sl!
 

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