Anyone go from ACE 250 to DFX?

Trescher

Full Member
Jul 29, 2006
114
1
San Antonio Texas
Detector(s) used
GTI 2500, ACE 250
Aussie Okie said:
Hi,

Just wanted to know if anyone, like me, has gone from an ACE 250 to a White's DFX?

Paul

I just got my White's catalog today. I've paid for my ACE 250 in just 5 months, so it is time to upgrade. I will spend the next 45 days researching a $700-$1000 detector for its replacement. This way the wife/kids can use the ACE 250 and share in the excitement. Any tips or ideas welcome.

Paul
 

Michigan Badger

Gold Member
Oct 12, 2005
6,797
149
Northern, Michigan
Detector(s) used
willow stick
Primary Interest:
Other
Aussie Okie said:
Hi,

Just wanted to know if anyone, like me, has gone from an ACE 250 to a White's DFX?

Paul

Nope. Went from an Ace 150 (free with new Minelab) to a Nautilus IIB.

Until the wife complained about getting dirt in her eyes at night I used to bring my Nautilus to bed with me.

LUV the Naughty!

Badger
 

S

SouthCarolinaTeacher

Guest
Went from the Ace 150 Aluminum finder to White's XLT. The best decision I've ever made.

People swear by the Ace line, maybe it's just the 250, but the 150 isn't what it's cracked up to be.

There's no ground balance feature on it. Everytime you hit a target, the TID bounces around like Tigger. Just not worth it.

Go ahead. Get that Whites! Then, come over to the White's Forum: http://forum.treasurenet.com/whites/index.php

Ian
 

ramjet2187

Hero Member
Nov 29, 2005
926
141
North Central Tennessee
Detector(s) used
MXT
I went from an MXT to a 250.....................kinda. Santa was at the Nashville Civil War Show today, and picked up an Ace 250 for his little digger...........won't she be surprised. She thinks she wants a Cabbage Patch doll..........Santa disagrees.............

Ho Ho Ho

Roger
 

Bigcypresshunter

Gold Member
Dec 15, 2004
27,000
3,338
South Florida
Detector(s) used
70's Whites TM Amphibian, HH Pulse, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
SouthCarolinaTeacher said:
Went from the Ace 150 Aluminum finder to White's XLT. The best decision I've ever made.

People swear by the Ace line, maybe it's just the 250, but the 150 isn't what it's cracked up to be.

There's no ground balance feature on it. Everytime you hit a target, the TID bounces around like Tigger. Just not worth it.

Go ahead. Get that Whites! Then, come over to the White's Forum: http://forum.treasurenet.com/whites/index.php

Ian
The Ace is an aluminum finder. :( It will pick up every tiny piece. It is also a silver dime finder and picks up small gold. If the screen bounces around it is usually trash. If it is a dime, it will lock on and give the good ringtone.
 

Johnny Cache Hunter

Sr. Member
Oct 16, 2006
399
34
North America
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox, White's Spectra V3, Minelab Excalibur
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
ramjet2187 said:
I went from an MXT to a 250.....................kinda. Santa was at the Nashville Civil War Show today, and picked up an Ace 250 for his little digger...........won't she be surprised. She thinks she wants a Cabbage Patch doll..........Santa disagrees.............

Ho Ho Ho

Roger

That is hysterical!
 

Monty

Gold Member
Jan 26, 2005
10,746
166
Sand Springs, OK
Detector(s) used
ACE 250, Garrett
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I went from a Garrett GTI 2500 to an ACE 250! Seriously , I had the 2500 first but went to the ACE as a backup and now I find myself using it more. I started with a BH Land Ranger and it is still a top preformer for me when I want to be adventursome! I think the DFx is probably a very fine machine and I will probably own it or a Minelab some day, or heck even a Nautilus, or ?? You never have too many options for an outing, but I only have two hands! Dear me, what to do? Do it, you won't regret it. ;) Monty
 

S

sendin

Guest
I am looking forward to the answer. The ACE 250 is very popular, but I can see how some will want to upgrade. My friend uses the DFX and I use the XLT. Yesterday we worked an old (by CA standards) baseball field and we both ended up with the same $ of clad and we each got a ring, except his was silver and mine was some very light alloy that looks like aluminum.

The transition from ACE 250 to DFX would be interesting. Would be nice to be able to tell someone about that.
 

OP
OP
A

Aussie Okie

Sr. Member
Oct 2, 2006
369
162
Full Time RVer based in TX
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX 3030
Minelab Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Seeing that I have done this (but the snow is stopping me detecting) I will let you know the differences.
I was hoping someone else had made the transition and could give me some tips to make it easier, maybe VDO on, Tone ID on?, so it sounds (& acts) a little bit more like what I am used to, if that makes any sense.
 

OP
OP
A

Aussie Okie

Sr. Member
Oct 2, 2006
369
162
Full Time RVer based in TX
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX 3030
Minelab Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Here are my first impressions using the DFX after the ACE 250.

These are just my initial observations.
The two are totally different in high trash areas. I used the preset Coin Program on both and them tweaked some settings (on the DFX).
I changed Audio Threshold to 18 (personal preference), I increased the AC Sensitivity to 70 and the Pre-Amp to 3, I also turned VCO 'ON' which I like a lot. I also adjusted the sweep speed to 5 as this was a very trashy area. I found in VERY trashy areas the DFX was VERY chatty, and I would get the 'Overload' message if I went over an aluminium can close to the surface. The good thing was that I could tell when using the DFX that there were numerous targets in the same spot (another reason for the overload), which with some fine tuning I could separate and distinguish what they were. The ACE tended to just pick the 'loudest' target. On the DFX I did reduce my AC down to 65 but I should have also (& firstly) reduced the Pre-Amp to 2. Next time I will try this and also use my 5x3 DD shooter coil.
Remember this is my first outing with the beast.

I started off not digging 'bottlecap/penny' readings but after finding a penny laying on top and it read bottlecap/penny I then went ahead and dug up those signals, and the majority were clad penny's.
Mental note: dig bottlecap/Penny's! (later a friend of mine also told me that IH Penny's can come in the Bottlecap/Penny range)

I find the differences in the two machines to be that the ACE will find coins, but with the DFX you have control over a whole myriad of subtle adjustments to not only increase depth but to fine tune your machine for particular areas and conditions.
The DFX's tone is certainly different after getting used to the ACE's bell tone, I did try Tone ID, but I didn't like it so I think I will leave that alone for now.
As I said this is just my first time out and I am learning the machine.
I want to next time try the VDI at 90 for faster deep coin VDI response and maybe try 2 freq correlate in really trashy areas.

The main differences are the huge range of settings and adjustments that the DFX has to suit various situations, of course the you would expect this in a machine that costs 4x the ACE 250.

I hope I have explained myself OK, any comments welcome and as I go along I will post more if anyone is interested.

Paul
 

Dick from IA

Sr. Member
Nov 21, 2005
439
1
Fort Dodge Iowa & Aransas Pass Texas
Detector(s) used
Ace 250
I'm with Monty in a way on this one. I bought an XTerra 70 this summer, intending for the Ace 250 to be the Back Up Machine. Well, it hasn't happened yet and I don't think it will happen. Sure the X70 is probably better, offering Beach Mode, Manual GB, Threshold, Prospecting Mode and maybe a bit deeper.

BUT 4 Times The Price Better??....No Way :-\.

The Ace, for me at least, is more user friendly, works on salt sand, ID's more accurately, runs longer on 4 AA's, and has a 4.5" coil that the X70 doesn't have.

Just my take on it. To each their own :D

DFIU
 

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