WHITE'S P.I.3000 TEST REPORT
By Alan Hassell?
Copyright ? 1/11/92
In 1980 White's Electronics UK. knew the Diving fraternity were looking for a deep seeking metal detector for locating wrecks and lost treasure. Exceptional depth being the first consideration. Hence the development in Scotland of the PI. 1000 by a team of White's technicians. Ikelite, the American Company who specialises in underwater camera housings, introduced a range of waterproof torch case's submersible to 200 ft.
One of these was just the right size to incorporate the circuitry and batteries of an underwater metal detector. Pulse Induction was the obvious choice at the time owing to exceptional depth on small objects, i.e., 15 inches for a pre decimal penny.
Unlike, V.L.F.s, P.I. are not affected by Salt Water or heavy mineralization such as Black Sands. Manufactured in Scotland, the 1000 soon found it's way to White's U.S.A. and into the hands of Frank Carter & Bob Trevillian.
Frank and Bob were shallow water treasure hunters who like myself modified land based detectors for use in water. Because they realised the quantity of valuable rings and jewellery that had been lost in swimming area's. The exceptional depth of the P.I. meant they could now find rings in the same area's that were considered thrashed or worked out.
Such was their success, that they were able to retire and devote full time effort to recovering valuables lost in many of the lake recreational swimming area's. Wanting to share their experience with others, they wrote a book entitled, 'Diamonds in the Surf.'
This was followed by a second book called 'The Second Adventure', All were published by SpyGlass Enterprises of Glenburnie, M.D. U.S.A. These are now out of print but, Miner's Den of Whitehorse Rd, Mitchum, Victoria, maybe able to lay their hands on a few copies.
The P.I. 1000 became the workhorse for shallow water detectorists. Designed as a divers detector it became more popular for wading around in the shallows. So much for the brief history lesson,
White's have replaced the ten year old P.I. 1000 with a new updated version called the P.I. 3000. The 3000 uses the same Ikelite housing that is submersible to 200 feet, and is now yellow instead of orange.
There are two L.E.D.s inside the control box. One green for battery condition, the other red to indicate the presence of a target. This is very useful if you are detecting at night. 6 AA 1.5 volt batteries supply sufficient voltage to give 12 hours use.
However Alkaline batteries will give up to 48 hours use. I do not recommend using rechargeable batteries because they rate at 1.2 volts x 6 = 7.2 volts against 9 volts reacquired to drive the circuitry.
I throw my batteries away when they get down to 1.3 volts because I know I'm losing depth and at the same time losing rings. Better I find them with fresh batteries than let someone else find them for me.
An 11 inch coil is more than adequate for not only finding small gold rings at depth but also pennies at 15 inches or more in some cases.
In air target comparisons do not apply to Pulse Induction metal detector's, as they will more often than not detect small targets deeper in water. Water is a conductor as such it greatly enhances the field pattern and penetrating capabilities of P.I.s This enormous field can penetrate through heavily concentrated BLACK MINERALISED SANDS.
Something manufacturers of VLF/TRs have been unable to achieve despite all efforts so far. Pulse Induction metal detectors unlike VLFs, do not use tuned circuits. Simply put, if you place a microphone and loud-speaker close together and increase the volume on the amplifier, it will finally generate FEEDBACK.
The same thing happens with the transmit and receive coils in the search-head of a VLF metal detector. Pulse Induction uses only one winding within the coil. As such greater voltages can be passed through them resulting in Massive magnetic flux fields unattainable with VLF/TRs.
I'm not saying VLFs dont work in salt water they do, but they dont have the depth capabilities needed to locate small objects such as rings at depth.
The detector, that will detect a small object such as a gold ring at five feet has not been invented as yet. By the same token, who wants to dig a five foot hole in order to retrieve a gold ring. Not to mention the difficulties involved when working in water.
Many experienced users of Pulse machines will confirm, they have failed to retrieve a target at even 3 feet such is the power of the Whites PI. 3000. Dont take my word for it, After using one for over 10 years, having met and been privileged to talk to leading designers in the U.K. I should know more than most about P.I.s in Australia.
The 3000 can be used handheld or hip mounted via a pouch, (supplied) which can go on your belt. A single multi function control knob sealed via O rings completes the control box.
Position 1 is OFF.
Position 2 is battery check, green led comes on.
Position 3 is the Auto tune. Place coil on seabed and flick switch to
Pos 4 after several seconds.
Position 4 is the working position after tuning in the detector. It's so simple even a child could use it. As a bonus the 3000 comes complete with a pietzo electric headset, which sounds more like the detectors you're familiar with.
A threshold tone is heard continually until you pass over a target when the tone increases, indicating the presence of a metallic object. This was introduced owing to the growing number of land detectorists interested in changing to shallow water detecting in the U.S.A. Improved sensitivity and faster response times have been included in the newly designed circuits.
The 3000 is also slightly buoyant that means that after you have located a target the detector will float beside you whilst you recover the buried object with your scoop and sieve. I did find a sentence in the instructions misleading.
It concerned the use of the detector in the Auto mode, which I found decreased depth considerably. One should always remember to use the P.I.3000 in the pin-pointing position at all times.
Using the Auto only to retune when necessary, then switching back to the pin-point mode. Signals given in the Auto position are very wide making the actual location of the target difficult to pin-point.
Having used the P.I. 1000 personally for the past 9 or 10 years I used the same method of tuning on the 3000 and it worked. It appears the instruction books needs to be amended in this respect. The 3000 functioned perfectly in wild surf as it does in calm water.
As you get into deeper water you may find the threshold increases.
This is normal and a peculiarity of Pulse Induction. You should retune the Pulse which is only a matter of switching to Auto and back to pin point. The same applies as you return from deeper water to shallow water.
Hence the Auto position on the detector. Maintaining penetrating depth on the detector at all times should be the number one priority of any user. The only way to do this is to retune the 3000 ensuring maximum penetration at all times.
Although this might appear disturbing to some user's, it will be those who take the time to retune who will recover targets' others have missed. The 3000 can be used in three different configurations.
First it can be used as a shallow water detector for wading around in the shallows. Second the stem can be shortened and used for diving purposes. Lastly it can also be used hip mounted by means of a special pouch which can be fitted to a belt and worn around the waist.
You are warned not to fit the pouch to your weight belt, but to a separate belt. The reason for this is simple, if your diving and need to make an emergency assent and have to drop your weights, you could lose your detector in the process.
Not to mention the possibility of jerking leads out of the control box causing damage to your detector. Being an underwater detector one should dry the control housing with a towel prior to changing batteries.
Make sure this is done in a clean dry area.
Sand should be avoided, because if this gets onto the O rings, the seal could be broken resulting in a leak and subsequent water leak. You must remember too that you are working in a new element water. This is going to slow down searching owing to water resistance and currents.
Do not fight this resistance or currents as damage to the stem could occur. You have to work slower than you would on land, you should also know that you are covering the area more thoroughly in the process.
You should work slowly, because you are trying to recover small gold objects such as rings.
Remember too that once in the water you will have little or no competition. Time can be spent griding an area by sweeping paths say 3 feet wide than searching haphazardly hoping you'll find a target.
Griding will always be the most profitable method of searching any area especially in water. If you can find a near shore channel, chances of recovering rings increases because water currents remove tons of sand bringing the rings within reach of the detector
It is no exaggeration to state that some people have made exceptional finds such as $4000 diamond bracelets and 1 or 2 carat gold rings on their first adventure in the water using a White's P.I. For this reason the White's PI. 3000 is without doubt the most popular fastest selling underwater detector available in Australia, and England today.
White's guarantee all their detectors, which are put through an intensive quality control process prior to leaving the factories. Considering I am still using a ten year old P.I. 1000 which has never missed a beat or given the slightest hint of trouble
I have no hesitation in recommending the product, which should give the owner just as much pleasure as it has for myself. ? Happy Hunting.
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