Would appreciate help in deciding what to upgrade to from 1991 Whites Spectrum

[Gilligan]

Would appreciate help in deciding what to upgrade to from 1991 White's Spectrum

When I first started detecting as a teenager in 1977 or so, I started with a White's Coinmaster IV. I found alot of good stuff in the Millard, NE area. I dug most everything, so I came up with some good finds. Now I use an old White's Spectrum that I bought back in 1991 or so. I know I need to upgrade and have considered a DFX. I have also read some good things about the Minelab Soveriegn. I am more comfortable with White's, but I am not sure what to upgrade to. l live in Wilson, NC area and love to find coins. I have found considerable amount of CW stuff in the Goldsboro, NC area when I lived there. Any advice concerning what detector would be a good upgrade for me from the old White's Spectrum would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a million, my home email is bpbauman@embarqmail.com --if there is anyone in the Wilson, NC area who is interested in metal detecting, please email me. Thanks, BP

 

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[NC_Horn]

Re: Would appreciate help in deciding what to upgrade to from 1991 White's Spectrum

Up the road from you a short ways in Burlington. I too have a 90's era detector, the Silver Eagle, with an 8, 9.5 and 12 in coils. Like you, I have considered an upgrade but at the moment, the finances won't allow. Have been watching E-bay and the forums classified, checking the used prices on the DFX.

I am also a White's fan. Feel like they produce a fine line of detectors. In the whites line, have looked at the MTX and XLT. Really don't know how much of an upgrade those detectors would be from the Spectrum. The DFX with the dual frequency and ability to run in either single frequency looks like it is top notch. Found a link http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,49579.0.html for the Jimmy Sierra book, Understanding the DFX, free from White's. The date for the offer was long expired but I filled out the form anyway. Got the book in the mail a week or so later. Good reading.

Reading the forums, I get the feeling that the electronics in the DFX is super sensitive to deep coins and relics and would open up a lot of hunted over areas where we have missed coins with our detectors.

Good luck, and keep us posted on what you decide.

HH

 

[doozis]

Re: Would appreciate help in deciding what to upgrade to from 1991 White's Spectrum

Metal detector improvements don't happen over night like computers
do. There are a lot of people out there with 20 or 30 year old machines
that could out hunt many of us with the new top of the line detectors.
According to your post you have a lot of experience with your old Whites so keep in mind there will be a bit of a learning curve with a new detector, and you probably won't get instant ground shattering results. However after you have spent some time with your new machine you will probably get a little more depth and a better trash to
keeper ratio. Although detector reviews and comparisons are good to read , you have to remember that a lot of those are just opinions and not truly controlled tests. You mentioned you have always like Whites detectors so that's already a good starting point when choosing.

Good luck on your choice and keep us posted

Doozis

 

[Ascholten]

Re: Would appreciate help in deciding what to upgrade to from 1991 White's Spect

I owned a whites spectrum and upgraded to the xlt many years ago... both are excellent machines, and the xlt is basically a souped up xlt really. Bit more user friendly, a few more custom programs and one issue they fixed, I forget what it is but still a great machine.

now the dfx is a step up from those because of the dual freq and a few more bells and whistles on it, but if you are not one who always pushes the programming to it's absolute limits on a machine id say the xlt is a good choice for you. It programs almost identical to the spectrum so the learning curve should be fairly minimal

aaron

 

[Gilligan]

Re: Would appreciate help in deciding what to upgrade to from 1991 White's Spectrum

I have decided on a Sovereign GT. I was going to go with a Tejon, but I figured since I had a thumbs up from my wife, I better go for it. I have read alot about the GT and it sounds Awesome. I should get it in a couple days, and I will be going on vacation to Onslow Beach for a few days. I will put it to the test on the sand, and in some old worn out sites to see if the added depth will pick me up some goodies. I will report back at a later date. I have always used my 1991 Spectrum on the Relic mode in fields, so if the GT does well in the same areas, that will say alot about the GT's capabilities. Bryan

 

[Ascholten]

Re: Would appreciate help in deciding what to upgrade to from 1991 White's Spect

Another thing you might want to try if you have the time.

use your soverign and when it says theres something good down there. run the whites over it for a comparison of the two..... then next hunt run your whites over stuff, and when it says goodies, runn the sovvy over it to see what it says about it.... maybe even do a bit of ground with one machine, then do it with another, and if you get anything the first machine missed, run it again with the first machine on that spot, to see if you did indeed get more depth from the machine or just missed it in the swing.

Aaron

 

[EasyMoney]

Re: Would appreciate help in deciding what to upgrade to from 1991 White's Spectrum

Your Spectrum is probably a better detector than the Sov. There is a Polish site that when testing they found it to beat or match the depth of not just an Explorer, but even a Compass Challenger x-200, and a Baron, and it matched depth with a Tejon too.

When I find a deep target with my Sov and it says it's a good one and then I run my cz-70 over it and it says otherwise, (most) of the time the cz is right and the smooth running Sov gets fooled, especially on deep pulltabs.

The same thing is true with my souped-up Compass Relic and Coin, especially when I hunt in all metal using only the meter to ID it.. The Compass ID's deeper than the Sov too. About 2".

The same thing is true with a DFX or an MXT. Both the Compass and the cz ID deeper than the Sov, the DFX, AND the MXT, but the Sov doesn't need any ground balancing and sometimes that's a plus, and it handles nasty ground the very best of all of them, and you can take that to the bank..

Actually, the cz ID's (audibly) deeper than either any of the four and the Compass ID's deeper than all four when using it's TID meter.

To get a really good upgrade, I would buy a cz3-d or F-75 for the really d-e-e-p coins, or an Explorer SE if you like to work real slowly, or a Garrett 2500 with the factory or aftermarket chip installed in it for any really seriously bad ground or beaches. The Garrett and the Explorer have a whole bunch of toys to play with too, especially the Garrett. I personally would take the F-75 first though, because of all it's raw power and it works better as a discriminator than the Explorer and in some cases beats the Garrett.

Many people run an Explorer first and then follow it up with an F-75 to get even deeper targets and more stuff in between the trash, and you can find those posts on this forum too..

 

[Mike Silver -gold]

Re: Would appreciate help in deciding what to upgrade to from 1991 White's Spectrum

Man easy money, you have one hick of a lot of detectors. I had a Eagle a,Spectrum and an XLT. Now I have a DFX. I like Whites. I think once you learn one brand it not too hard to get used to a newer model. I have hip mounted all my whites and I doubt if I would be happy with any hand held detector. Good luck all,I think they are all good detectors once ypu learn them. Mike.