whites prizm 4 junk or what????

[vabuckhunter]

i bought this machine 2 years ago and havent used it till this weekend. hit it hard friday and saturday at a couple old houses and came up with 11 memorial cents a key and junk no clad or silver. is this machine junk or is it operator error?

 

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[Frodov]

I have one that I bought for my son and I also use as a loaner when Baldingboy and I go out hunting. On a hunt not too long ago his son, I think he is 10, found the only keeper coin of the night with the Prizm IV.

The one thing that I can honestly tell you is that new people to this site as well as old tend to forget that for every good find we dig there are probably 20-30 trash targets. I took $38 of scrap iron, $25 of scrap copper and $15 of scrap aluminum I had dug and cleaned up last year alone. That is not counting all the trash I tossed!!!

You cannot buy a detector and use it two or three times and expect to know how the machine works. I will also say that location plays a huge roll in finds. If you go to a park or a school playground a day or so after another detectorist has been there your finds will not be good. If you get lucky and hit a school or park several weeks after it has been done your chance to have a decent find increases dramatically.

Remember that a Metal Detector is a tool, and like all tools you have to use it a LOT to get proficient with it. If you think you are wasting your time with the Prizm IV buy something else. But I don't really think the machine is a piece of junk and for what it is supposed to do I think it does a fine job.

That's just my 2 cents worth........ Welcome to Tnet

What he said! No really, there is a learning curve on any machine. The Prizm IV is an excellent machine and it's very very user friendly to a newby, like I was when I bought mine a few years ago. Took me a little while to learn it, hell I'm still learning nuances both of the machine and the hobby in general. In six months my Prizm and I had found enough clad to pay for the price of the machine (new even) since then it's paid for itself 5 times over at least! I have found relics, coins, jewelry and lots and lots of scrap, crap and trash. EVERYONE finds trash, but as you learn your machine you will dig less and less of it and more and more coins and good stuff. Have faith, hang in there and most importantly...
~HAPPY HUNTING~

Frodov

 

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[CrazySlasher]

I don't mean to fuel the fire, but I really do think the Prizm series is garbage. Obviously some people here had luck with it, but they're better men than I am. I could not stand the machine and could no depth out of it. I switched over to the Ace 250 and my finds increased 10 fold. I guess it's just how you use the machine. It just wasn't for me.

 

[underdogger]

The first metal detector I bought was a White's Prizm 4. I took it out and found just modern clad with it in the summer of 2007. It's a good machine for clad hunting and just to get out but from my experience with it, it just plain sucks!!! The deepest coin I ever found with it was a wheat penny at 4 inches and that was the only old coin I found with it that summer. I dug a lot of trash with it at more then 4 inches, It would give you a good signal until you retrieved the target and once you had it out of the ground it would give a iron signal like it was suppose too. Then in the winter of 2009 my interest's peeked again in metal detecting and I bought a Garrett GTI 1500 and in the summer of 2010 I found a total of 24 silver coins. 1 Barber Quarter, 2 Washington Quarters, 11 Mercury Dimes, and 10 Roosevelt Dimes. 48 wheat cents with the oldest being a 1909 Plain. And 1 1897 Indian Head Cent. I just bought The Garrett At Pro for this year because I wanted a metal Detector that I could hunt the fresh water beaches and I also could go into the water with it. So far this year I have been out 4 times and have found 2 Mercury Dimes, 1 Roosevelt Dime and a 1892 Indian Head Cent which is the oldest coin I have found so far. So my personal opinion is to buy one of the higher end models or you will get bored with metal detecting pretty quick. Good Luck And Happy Hunting!!!

Well this a true case of the blind leading the blind . I own a Priz IV before that a Priz II . The II found 50 some odd ring mostly silver . plenty of silver coins. I have been swinging the IV going on my 3rd year last year I found my most silver coins ever with it . Most were at a depth of 5-6 inches. most were mercs and I also found 2 barber quarters and a barber dime. Spend your first 100 hrs digging everything this year and I will garantee. you will find more than you ever have . learn the signitures of merc dimes and silver quarters. I know the difference between a memorial and a wheat before I dig it . If you not willing to take your time and learn it .Well you will have nothing but an EXPENSIVE and FRUSTRATING hobby you will probably give up . Priz IV is an excelent detector IMHO. nuff said Rob

 

[hogge]

I have one that I bought for my son and I also use as a loaner when Baldingboy and I go out hunting. On a hunt not too long ago his son, I think he is 10, found the only keeper coin of the night with the Prizm IV.

The one thing that I can honestly tell you is that new people to this site as well as old tend to forget that for every good find we dig there are probably 20-30 trash targets. I took $38 of scrap iron, $25 of scrap copper and $15 of scrap aluminum I had dug and cleaned up last year alone. That is not counting all the trash I tossed!!!

You cannot buy a detector and use it two or three times and expect to know how the machine works. I will also say that location plays a huge roll in finds. If you go to a park or a school playground a day or so after another detectorist has been there your finds will not be good. If you get lucky and hit a school or park several weeks after it has been done your chance to have a decent find increases dramatically.

Remember that a Metal Detector is a tool, and like all tools you have to use it a LOT to get proficient with it. If you think you are wasting your time with the Prizm IV buy something else. But I don't really think the machine is a piece of junk and for what it is supposed to do I think it does a fine job.

That's just my 2 cents worth........ Welcome to Tnet

What he said! No really, there is a learning curve on any machine. The Prizm IV is an excellent machine and it's very very user friendly to a newby, like I was when I bought mine a few years ago. Took me a little while to learn it, hell I'm still learning nuances both of the machine and the hobby in general. In six months my Prizm and I had found enough clad to pay for the price of the machine (new even) since then it's paid for itself 5 times over at least! I have found relics, coins, jewelry and lots and lots of scrap, crap and trash. EVERYONE finds trash, but as you learn your machine you will dig less and less of it and more and more coins and good stuff. Have faith, hang in there and most importantly...
~HAPPY HUNTING~

Frodov

NICE POST FRODOV!

 

[scaupus]

1st weekend? chuckle. I'd say it's too soon to say it's a bad machine. But, if you don't like it, sell it. You'll probably pick up another one at some point.

 

[High Plains Digger]

Underdogger---when you find a machine that tells you the date on the penny before you dig it, I want to be on the list for it. Otherwise, I am looking to win the lottery for a top of the line GPR. With optional litho-nano technology and plasma circuitry

 

[fishbone3d]

I am not here to compare detectors. Everybody has their favorite one. Ask a Ford man about a Chevy or Dodge, or vice versa. Here is a little advice on the Prizm. Put it on 0 discrimination. That notch stuff is bad. Ask the Veterans. Look at your targets. It will be chatty. The jumpy ones that go high to iron or the opposite are usually junk or nails. If you have iron notched out, you will only hear the high beeps, and will dig a lot more junk. Ones that stay up high, and pretty constant are "usually" decent. Detectors read the conductivity of the metals, not a photograph of what is in the ground. I use my Prizm 3 as a back up detector. It takes a long time to get to know signals on any detectors. I know an 80 year old man, who puts me to shame with a 1980's Tesoro detector with no fancy options. He has been detecting since they pretty much first came out. It took me over a year to get really good at the detector. Find new places. Study old maps ect. Not all places, even old ones will produce. Its kinda like fishing, but for metal. Good luck my friend.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I went out today with a Prizm 2, I did really well with it, and I think its because I listened to the machine, and used my judgement. It's not you, and it's not the machine, it just takes a while for you to understand each other. I pulled 26 quarters today, and a lot of other clad and misc keepers. Just keep at it, it'll come. This hobby, (addiction) isn't about instant gratification. i got all kinds of clad and junk out today, next I look for what's left. All I can say is "patience", it will sort itself out.

 

[CRUSADER]

it was not true sorry for the mistake

Welcome from the UK

I seem to repeat this a fair amount. I don't like machines with Visual Display Units (VDUs) they are for the most part unreliable. The only way to get good results, specially if your not doing ploughed fields is to know what a deeper signal sounds like. However, you won't get good deep stuff unless you have done your research or you get lucky (I never rule out anywhere until I have tryied it & covered the whole field).
What you need to learn is the machines capabilities & more importantly all the different sounds. If I had a VDU, I would tape over it & never look at it. To me its a waste of digging time, if your looking down & making a call based on it, you are eating into your time spent & not using your most valuable asset - your ears!
To start off with its not a bad idea to dig everything, as by doing this you will learn what not to dig (sound wise that is).
When you have learnt the sounds & trust me there are no shortcuts (the VDU has already shown you this), you can start treating each field individually, ie. using a strategy which best increases your good finds based on the conditions encountered.
If your not willing to spend years digging tons of trash & a whole year just learning the sounds then you may as well pack it in now

THE most important lesson to finding great finds is too totally Grid a field & I mean cover ever inch like you were cutting the grass at home.

 

[veronasteve]

My first thought is , if your going out every 2 yrs then don't upgrade ........i had the prism 3 when i first started and quickly got a dfx after....i realised these machines are ok but i wanted better detecting than this MD can.in saying that ,they are fine for many people and will pay for themeselves, don't trust the icons like dollars and rings on the screen.
.

 

[deanv63]

I started out with that machine, and I found silver, coins, and silver rings. It a great starter, and you can have a real cheap machine, if you don,t dig, you don,t win. It all about digging, and at the right place. Good luck, and hang in there,and dig all targets. I have the dfx now, and I still dig all target until I tirer out, then I mark my spot where I left off, and start back again.GOOD LUCK,YOU WILL FIND SOME GOOD COINS, AND RELIC,S!

 

[ivan salis]

va buck hunter -- you sure did not learn all about deer hunting in 1 weekend * now did ya?-- it took some time I bet --metal detecting is similar --it takes some time to get the hang of it --and like deer hunting it takes skill , a bit of hard work and a bit of luck as well -- and like deer hunting you got to find the "right" spot to hunt to score big time .

 

[naviegunner]

"What"! Don't blame the machine, it's just like your 1st day at drivers ed. if they used a stick {manual trans.} for you to start learning in and the only thing you ever drove before was an automatic.
And in ONE WEEKEND?! PLEASE!!
Follow most of the "helpful/constructive" advice on here and you will start seeing some returns that will "change your lifestyle". good luck & HH. Gunner.

 

[mastereagle22]

Just to add to this topic. My son has been out twice now with his Prizm IV to a place heavily hunted. He has brought home multiple coins a ring, a necklace and the front lid of a small reliquary box (modern). This place has been hunted by people with Explorers, DFX and even and MXT.

He is only 6!

The machine works if you take the time to learn how to use it.

 

[underarock]

its a "METAL DETECTOR" not a magic wand -according to you it found metal --it is only going to find what metal is at the spot --if the spot is full of "newly dropped items" * ( like mem cents and such- thats what your going to find ) -- if you are hitting areas that were heavily hunted areas in the past by other detectorist -the good pickings might be a bit slim -

so in a way it could be "operator error" -- bad spot selection (the place you hunted sucked or has been pounded to death by others ) -- a bit of research can aid greatly -- since you can only "find" what was lost there in the first place .---- one needs to "target" likely areas in which what your looking for is liable to be --much better chances to find civil war relics at a old civil war camp site than just picking some random lot to detect --get the drift?

if you "hate" your machine feel free to send it to me --theres several kids in my detecting club that would just "love" it to death -- its takes time to get to be "one" with the machine at least 100 hours in the feild , minimum.

Agreed!

Maybe not the 100 hours thing personally but…. sure.

Doing the research and knowing you have a good spot will keep you digging all day.

Your at least helping clean up some trash getting some fresh air and exercise. In the end its your time and if your not happy then your not happy. I'm always for trying again.

 

[Deftone]

Hi! All this brand and model loyalty is all fine and dandy. I was all about bounty hunter pioneer 202 n 505. Which are excellent detectors for who takes the time and has the patience. I made some cool finds and emassed a hoard of coins. But then came a chance to upgrage. Snagged a vaq. After that. I'm a firm believer in getting an upgrade. So yah upgrade go deeper.

 

[spitfire55]

It's most definitely an operators error. You ever fired a gun at an object thinking that you would hit it but, never came close to hitting it? well it's pretty much the same results with your detector. it's going to take a little on hands practice on handling and operating the equipment before you get the results you're looking fore from it.

 

[nova]

Your finding ML cents well then it will find IN cents.

 

[jarrow]

I've hade the prizm IV for only one week. I think there is something wrong with it I have not found any bottle caps only clad and pull tabs in that junk infested park where I normaly find thousands of bottle caps.

 

[Aussie]

Hang in there you will get to know the signals over time, I have a Sov GT and it used to drive me crazy until one day I realised Im like a Lab Rat......get a signal.......no reward......different signal better reward.....that damn signal again.....pull tab....etc.
Having said that Im still a firm believer that if you have done research for the area you are in..... and it has potential, dig every signal.