Monte,

While this isn't directed at me...it has been many times in the past. I'm a big boy and don't really care what others think. Not looking to win popularity contests. I've enjoyed the hobby and shared w/ others as I hope they enjoy it to. I hope I've never made anyone feel negative about what should always be fun/positive. I appreciate what you have shared regarding detector function, tip/tricks, and your historical knowledge. You are probably in the top tenth of a percent of time spent detecting in one's life.

However, I've quit posting as much and will do so sparingly, if at all, in the future. Why - because it gets old having it implied that I'm lucky, that my equipment is inferior, and that anyone could have found it w/ any machine. Truth is, nearly any machine will work work if the person using it gets over the target and digs what beeps. It may not tell them it's a good target, but it likely will beep in most instances (a really deep silver target at the edge of detecting depth will often sound off in the iron range as most of you know). So, is there some luck involved...sure. Dig it all...find it all. Does this mean I'm sensitive and let it get to me when the passive aggressive barbs fly - not at all. I mostly avoid the drama posts that occasionally show up here. I'm just choosing not to spend time in my life absorbing it and deciding how or whether to respond. Don't want to have to decide to take the high road.

While my detecting is limited to both single and SMF White's machines (and a Deus in the last month) over the last 9 years and conservatively 2000 hours, I'll take my SMF machine over my single frequency machines most of the time. Why? Because of what i can determine from the 3 frequencies displayed. To me that makes them better (at least the V3i). To name a few....
- I can tell a bottle cap from a quarter 99% of the time, and my single frequency machines can't do that ( the Deus loves bottle caps as does my Sport and my little Tesoro i rarely use). You can do the same w/ your quick pass reject most of the time, but that's a hack you developed to compensate for single frequency behavior that i don't need to do.
- I can tell rusted tin from a good target in ghost town nearly always based upon the visual clues from the 3 frequencies on the screen. Very clear pattern. I still dig a lot to ensure I'm not missing a masked target.....but I have YET to dig a single coin that had this rusted tin visual profile.
- I can tell a silver dime at 8" from shallow foil or deep iron. Over 8", on a small target, and I don't have a machine that gives me a good VDI or clear higher audio tone in our soil. This may be where the Minelab machines have a slight advantage down a couple more inches. If I dug every iron signal at 10 inches, I could build a house with old nails.

Now, why would I use Single frequency instead?
- The M6 is great on surface targets with a very fast swing and response.
- The MX Sport has been useful in water and is great on small jewelry in play areas.
- The Deus is super light, a very quick response/a little better separation than my V3i. Easy to adjust for noise reduction. Great on tiny targets. Fast adjustments. At the end of the day, i like it and will use it, but it's basically a dumbed down V3i using the same polar plot, and nearly all of the same adjustments used on the V3i. So, easy to transition between the two and will use it in areas where I'm not going for max depth or sorting out bottle caps, pull tabs, and lots of foil. I will try it in ghost towns and HOPE the fast reactivity will give it an edge...even though I'm sure the rusted tin will sound good and appear good, like it does on many single frequency machines I've peered over the shoulder on...or those I've used myself.

Am I missing any good targets - sure.....as is everyone else or nothing would be left. Do i have experience w/ 20 different machines - no. My experience on the units I've used tell me that SMF, by and large, provides an advantage over a single frequency machine when the displays provide adequate frequency based feedback. Do they take more effort to learn - seems reasonable to say yes. They aren't simple for those that want simple....but they aren't that hard either.


Very sorry to see Rich and El go as I appreciated seeing what they had to share.

I wish you the best in regaining your health, and hope you Holiday's are pleasant.

Brian (Zincoln)