Brian Thomas's Opinion on the White's Spectra V3

by Brian Thomas, Peterborough, NH

My metal detector dealer friend, Streeter gave me the opportunity to test the new White's Spectra V3 metal detector. WOW !! I used the V3 at a small park, several fields, a well maintained public gathering place, and a couple of night detecting forays.

In 2 weeks, I was able to put about 15 hours of solid detecting time, behind the swing.

Several things about the swing that were of particular notice to me. First, I was surprised at the center of gravity (balance) difference from my personal detector (to remain brand-less for this writing). Second while swinging with my right arm, was the continued interference of the battery box hitting my pin-pointer and digger on my belt.

After a short time the swing became familiar and easy to maneuver. I swing for extended times with both arms, and became comfortable with the balance of the V3.. However, with my pinpointer in my favorite place, I continued to hit my pinpointer on my belt when swinging with my right arm. The only way to avoid this was to ether move the items or extend my arm out away from my body further. This way caused severe fatigue. In the end I could not adjust my swing with my right arm to become comfortable. Maybe if this was my personal detector I could live with the dings that would end up on it, but it is Georges & I was very careful not to injure the detector.

The V3 has a nice rechargeable battery pack and a regular battery pack that holds 8 double A's. The battery life indicator is easy to identify. The detector uses a lot of power, and battery life is not as robust as I had anticipated. There are some features that are power drains. One being the TX boost. I did not run the detector long enough to see the advantages of this feature. Another is the backlight. During day light detecting, there is not much use for this and thus you can save battery life by turning it down or off.

I ran the V3 at night for about three hours a couple of times. One of the really nice features of the V3 was the ability of the backlight. I would start out with it on, and after a few minutes shut it off, and the residual light from the LCD would leave a very nice amount of light. Detecting with the LCD back light on is interesting. Your swing leaves a streak of light in your swings path. This causes your eyes to constantly adjust. But, with the back light off, the glow from the LCD is just right. For those of you that detect at night, you should like this feature. My personal detector has no light at all, so I run strictly by sound, and then turn my head lamp on for VDI confirmation.

I ran the V3 in a city park on my lunch break one afternoon. This is a park in Manchester that has undoubtedly been detected many, many times. I switched the detector to high trash, and swing away. I was surprised and happy with the level of nulling. I swung the detector directly over pull tabs and bottle caps and was pleased with the response of the nulling out. This is exactly what I would hope for. Although you will bypass good finds, using this detector will allow you to hunt city parks with results. I found a silver, Ben Franklin half dollar that lunch break. I think this detector, in the hands of someone that takes the time to learn the menu's and programs will be very successful in places that have been "hunted out".

You can customize your own high trash program or any other. This is a great feature. It's easy to save your own settings and retrieve them. So when you are going between hunt sites, you can reset that program for that location.

I went to an old field that I had recently found 1700's coins and many buttons. I was able to dig a couple more buttons at 10 inches that I surely missed before. I wish I had more time at is field with the V3. I'm sure to have found some deeper targets.

The wireless headphone feature is awesome, however a bit expensive at $250.. No cord! One great feature for the wireless headphones is that more than one set of headphones can be used for a single detector. The headphones are really comfortable. But, as with most things, there is one serious drawback to these headphones. The fabric covering the foam is very thin, and the stitching is not adequate. The fabric rips easily.

After using the V3 , I was impressed and pleased with the detector. Although there are lots of menu picks and selection choices. Taking the time to learn this detector will certainly reward the owner with new finds in old hunting grounds.

This particular metal detector was purchased by Peter Osowski, Gardner, MA