My last leap of faith......

[fmurphy]

I am new to the hobby and have tried numerous high end detectors in the last yr or so and have decided on the V3i....a friend of mine is a dealer and highly recommended this machine. I love the hobby and excited about owning one of the best detectors on the market.....BUT....all the adjustments available are driving me batty!! For some reason my confidence level is shot down the tubes here. While researching the V3i, I saw a post about this forum and the knowledge of the members regarding the V3i and the "Book of Jack" .
I have faith and hoping this forum will be the divine intervention I need to keep me from wrapping this machine around a tree. (if I can find one here in the Texas panhandle).
sorry for such a long post.......
thanks for the advise in the posts here......
frank

[Digger Don]

Welcome from Northern Illinois.
You are right, there are a lot of knowledgeable people here to answer your questions.

[freemindstuck]

Welcome to the forum,
I've been using the v3i for 2 years and feel like I have a handle on it. You should read the Book of Jack and Earthmansurfer's Advanced User's Post book as well. Both of them do a much better job of explaining how to run the v3i then the users manual which reads like stereo instructions written in swahili. If you shoot Lowjiber a pm he'll send you a copy of the book of Jack. And you can get Earthmansurfer's book here https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0Yof4QTY_z8NjVhOTc0ZTEtMDZhYy00NzgzLWJiMjEtM2Q2O TNiZjc2NDJi/edit?pli=1
Feel free to ask questions and one of us will surely come up with a satisfactory answer.
Good luck

[del]

Welcome to the forum Frank :waving: John (Lowjiber) usually stops by early in the morning I'll point out this thread . Him and Jack did a great job on putting this book together and I;m sure he'll send you a copy. Glad you found the forum.

Dan

[Lowjiber]

Frank,

I'm sending you the "Book of Jack" as soon as I get your email address.

However, there is an important thing that often plagues new V owners more than anything else. I've passed this along to more folks than I can count...

Any machine that is as adjustable and powerful as a V is prone to being "overdriven", thus sacrificing stability. "Stability-wise", there is a definite correlation between RX Gain and Discrimination Sensitivity. When you're adjusting your parameters, remember this rule-of-thumb: Always give priority to Disc Sens. In other words, bump RX Gain down a bit to allow Disc Sens to be as high as possible.

Many new users love to over-drive RX and don't realize the importance of its relationship to Disc Sens.
It's in "the book" somewhere. :lol:

BTW: The Book of Jack was named such because of the influence of our own "Cybersage" (aka Jack) on the early tuning of the V's. Much of the book seems strange, but it was compiled when the manual was either non-existent, or very sparse. The new manuals are much better.

[fmurphy]

to all for the welcome and thank you Lowjiber for the Book of Jack!! I started going over it and think it will be very helpful...Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend......
Frank M

[DELTADIGGER]

Greetings fellow detectors,
I too am a V3i owner and even after a year I do not feel I have a good understanding about it. I would very much like a copy of the Book of Jack if possible. It seems that may be a great resource for we who are in need of better instruction. My email is on my profile.

[KCFindIt]

I'm glad I started with a lower end machine, so I can learn and work my way up and get a good understanding in the field, thereby reducing or eliminating a frustration overload and ultimately giving up! I have SoOOOOO much to learn still. Thanks to all of you folks who have provided me/us with valuable knowledge and help along the way. It means so much, and I'm sure I'm speaking for more than just myself.
Kasey

[Boulder]

I to have learned alot form this forum, and while I only have the VX3 machine the book of jack and posts here have helped in a big way.
I would of liked a V3I with it's boost, password protected ownership and many programing features, but for me and my personal skill level, I feel the VX3 with it's lack of top end performance and packaged features is still a great machine only being a tad overpriced.
I have found after selling off all my other detectors to help out younger people the past two years, that between my VX3 and my upgraded Blisstool I have learned the value of "less is more".
After I save for a waterproof ATX or CTX I will be a happy camper. I did not mean to post so long but want to say thanks for the great reading and information.
John, NJ... :interesting:

[Tom]

Hi frank, not saying there is a problem with your V3i but you might want to check out this thread:
http://www.americandetectorist.com/forum/showthread.php?14991-V3i-Driving-you-Crazy

Good luck with the V3i it is a good machine.

[wagon wheel]

not to be too much of a stick in the mud, but after my DFX and V3i, my Minelab E-TRAC has brought me new meaning to the "joy of metal detecting" And I'm detecting so good old coins while all the time not wondering where all the distracting sounds were coming from or if my brain was getting a hole in it. I have not looked back since my switch!