White's TDI ;Any new info on this detector

[Hobby]

I have not found much about depth on nugget's useing the 12" coil or bigger coil's,weight, How it handle's vary mineralized ground. Any one .Thank's Hobby

[Digger Bob]

I have not found much about depth on nugget's useing the 12" coil or bigger coil's,weight, How it handle's vary mineralized ground. Any one .Thank's Hobby

The best information out there from experts to beginners can be found right here on this site.

http://tdi.invisionplus.net/index.php?mfor...amp;showforum=3

Eric Foster and Reg Smith are regular contributors and have some truly fascinating insights. It will take some time to read through all the posts as it's been up awhile, but well worth it.

Digger Bob

[Hobby]

The best information out there from experts to beginners can be found right here on this site.

http://tdi.invisionplus.net/index.php?mfor...amp;showforum=3

Eric Foster and Reg Smith are regular contributors and have some truly fascinating insights. It will take some time to read through all the posts as it's been up awhile, but well worth it.

Digger Bob

That's a good place fore info but not many people posting there find's or depth on size's of nugget's. I don't care about finding coins .I think there will be a lot more info on the TDI in the next few month's as more use them. ...........Thank's Hobby

[Tony Teixeira]

There is another site and a gentleman by the name of "Ole Grubstake", not to be confused with "Grubstake" who frequents here. Ole Grubstake is a moderator to the nugget shooting section of the board below and he swears by White's metal detectors and knows them inside out.

http://treasureforum.net/

Good Luck!

[fredm]

hey DiggerBob;

does this mean you no longer have or use a TDI? Are you sworn to secrecy regarding the past and present uses you have or had for the TDI?

I notice that several users of the gs5 and the tdi have sold their units...curiouser and curiouer....I am

Fred

[Hobby]

There is another site and a gentleman by the name of "Ole Grubstake", not to be confused with "Grubstake" who frequents here. Ole Grubstake is a moderator to the nugget shooting section of the board below and he swears by White's metal detectors and knows them inside out.

http://treasureforum.net/

Good Luck!

Hay thak's Tony the more info the better....Hobby

[Digger Bob]

hey DiggerBob;

does this mean you no longer have or use a TDI? Are you sworn to secrecy regarding the past and present uses you have or had for the TDI?

I notice that several users of the gs5 and the tdi have sold their units...curiouser and curiouer....I am

Fred

Oh contrare! I use my TDI every time I go out nugget hunting. In fact, I use it more than my Minelab these days. It's much easier to use, lighter, and every bit as sensitive. And I can use all of my Minelab loops with it if I get into an area where the gold is deeper. Mainly I use it to prospect a new area, or to do a quick check of a wash or diggings to see if there are any targets. It's very quick to start up and use. Once it's ground balanced and the controls set for an area, it rarely changes. I have not found a ground that it won't balance out, even pure serpentine. I've used it successfully down in Mariposa where the hot ground changes constantly.

I have been using the new 9x5 eleptical loop lately and like it better than the 12' round. That's mainly because the shape lets me get down in the hard to reach tight places under bushes and between rocks. It has about the same sensitivity as the 12" on small nuggets.

Now, as far as depth... Every one knows, or should know, that depth is a relative thing. Many, many variables affect how deep any detector will go. But, if one were to compare say a Minelab 3500 to the TDI with the same size loop, side by side, on an undug and unknown target, I would say you were looking at a difference of about 15%, with the Minelab having the edge. There are things the TDI will do that the Minelab won't, and vice versa. So there is no way to compare them side by side, they are different machines with different capabilities. There advantages and disadvantages to both.

I have not had the opportunity this year to more thoroughly test the differences as I had hoped. The wildfires we had this summer and foot surgery severly curtailed my hunting time. Here is a picture of my last TDI nuggets found over the 4th of July. The larger one is 3 dwt and the smaller ones are half a dwt each. The large one wasn't that deep, only about 6 inches but gave a loud signal. I've dug some very deep trash, but no nuggets yet.

I could go on and on about the features and advantages, but there is information on the other forums that cover that better than I could here. Suffice to say, it's an outstanding machine with capabilites that have yet to be discovered. Minelab is firmly entrenched in the market and no machine is going to bounce them out any time soon. And let me re-iterate what's been said before; This machine was NOT intended to compete head to head with that leader. It fills a niche between that and the VLF's, and does it very well!

Digger Bob

PS. Don't be too confident of what you might hear from "Ole Grubstake". I won't go into it here, but if you want to know what that's all about, talk to the real Grubstake who knows him and his methods well.

[Ridge Runner]

Hi Digger

One thing about gold it don't make any difference what detector you find it with it's still gold.It's said a picture is worth a thousand words and thanks for it.

Chuck Anders

[fredm]

Thanks Bob;

I forgot about your foot problem, I hope it is healing well...we don't heal up as fast as we did when we were 20 do "we"..?

I appreciate your lucid response. I am not one that expects the TDI to compete with a 6000 dollar machine...I am just obtaining vicarious experiences with the TDI...it is much less costly for me and nearly as good because I respect the opinions of you, Steve H and Reg to name a few...

thanks again

Fred

[grubstake]

In reguards to "OLO.Grubstake" if you believe in fairy tails, you will hang on his every word of what he writes. The real Grubstake

[RTP]

Here is a couple small nuggets I found yesterday using the TDI with 12" stock coil. The one on the left is 0.4 grams and the one on the right is 0.9 grams. I was hunting out in Bonanza Gulch......Rick

[frank c]

Rick, I'm taking for granted because they are smaller pieces they were very close to the surface, like 1- 3 inches ????

Curious as to depth you're finding these at??

[RTP]

Frank, you are correct both were less than 3" deep, but they were in an area with lots of basalt that drive VLF crazy.

[Ridge Runner]

Rick

I'd say I'm just like everybody else all want to know what the depth was because we all want to spend no more money than we have to do the job.I think it's the same way with coin detectors.I can spend 5 thousand and get the very best are I can put out 1600. and get one that may come close to the big boy.In this I'm talking about gold detectors and gold, that's what this forum is all about.

On money alone tells the two detectors cannot be the same.I have a TDI and I have yet been out with it in the gold fields of AZ to try it out.I'm one who don't like to coin hunt with a gold detector but at this time thats all I can do with it.O'h don't get me wrong I'd love to have the GPX4500 but I can't justify spending the the money being I can't gold hunt all the time.

As you shown and others have the TDI can find gold and if I was out there I feel I can find gold with the TDI also.Now you may say yes but how much gold have you walked over.There is a old saying what you don't know don't hurt you.People have went back over a patch over and over again and find more each time yet wonder why they didn't get that gold before.

I think over time you can get the TDI at a discount price from some dealers.Minelab sets a price that dealers cannot go below and thats why Rob gives such a great package with any detector you buy from him.

The mark up is less on the TDI so dealers have less to play with.The dealer I got my TDI from gave me a probe and we all like something a little extra.

You can never have enough detectors I've been told and if you would see all the coin detectors I have it must be true but I've been at it a lot longer.

You all go out and find some gold with whatever detector you like.

Chuck Anders

[RTP]

Chuck, I have been nugget hunting for many years with various VLF nugget detectors. I have always preferred the Goldmasters, but that’s me. I always wanted one of the Minelabs, but couldn’t justify the cost or I’m just too cheep to buy one since I’m only a weekend prospector. But when White’s came out with the TDI the price wasn’t all that bad, so I thought I would give it a try. So far I like it. I have only found 3 small nuggets and they were all no more than 3†deep. I have found bullets as deep as 8†with good signals, so I think the TDI will probably suit my needs. I’m too old to be digging deep holes anyway. The area that I have been searching is loaded with basalt and drives a VLF crazy but I and many others have found nuggets there with a VLF. The TDI just makes it easier because it tunes out the basalt so it’s runs nice and quiet. That in itself is worth it for me. Hopefully I’ll find some bigger gold, but for now I happy with anything I can find……Rick

[nuggethunting]

Hey Guys,

Great to hear more news about the White's TDI. I have used the unit in several spots from Alaska to down here in Arizona. The first thing people try to do is compare this unit with the big Minelab's, such as the GPX-4500. Hey, I do it also since I use the GPX-4500 99.99% of the time. I know for a fact it won't match the GPX-4500 side by side, but the TDI does have some advantages with the much lower price and lightweight design. I have considered purchasing the TDI for prospecting just like Digger Bob stated. Sometimes I hate wearing the battery in the backpack and fighting through all the brush down here.

Recently at Rich Hill I done a small "shootout" with another customer that has a TDI. Out of 5 different senerio's I beat the TDI. Some of these senerio's included small gold at depth, bigger gold at depth & a few very hot rocks that only the GPX-4500 would balance out in "Enhance" timing. However, the TDI was impressive for a $1,500 PI unit.

Keep in mind, some of the most important facts are being one of the first to discover a location and getting your coil over the gold!

Take care,

Rob Allison

[Digger Bob]

Hey Guys,

Great to hear more news about the White's TDI. I have used the unit in several spots from Alaska to down here in Arizona. The first thing people try to do is compare this unit with the big Minelab's, such as the GPX-4500. Hey, I do it also since I use the GPX-4500 99.99% of the time. I know for a fact it won't match the GPX-4500 side by side, but the TDI does have some advantages with the much lower price and lightweight design. I have considered purchasing the TDI for prospecting just like Digger Bob stated. Sometimes I hate wearing the battery in the backpack and fighting through all the brush down here.

Recently at Rich Hill I done a small "shootout" with another customer that has a TDI. Out of 5 different senerio's I beat the TDI. Some of these senerio's included small gold at depth, bigger gold at depth & a few very hot rocks that only the GPX-4500 would balance out in "Enhance" timing. However, the TDI was impressive for a $1,500 PI unit.

Keep in mind, some of the most important facts are being one of the first to discover a location and getting your coil over the gold!

Take care,

Rob Allison

Just a quick note here... I was able to take off a bit early yesterday from work and just happened to have my TDI still in the truck from the weekend ( it ended up raining so I wasn't able to go out). I ran down to an area where I have had good luck in the past. I only had a couple of hours but within an hour I had a nice 1.5 dwt. nugget. I wasn't real deep, about 6 inches down incased in bedrock. I have hunted this area extensively with my Minelab and so have others. The point is, it was missed. You can never hunt completly out an area. The machine ran nice and quiet and I was experimenting with different settings on targets. I may have come up with something that helps indentify more iron from gold and lead. More on that later...

But again, the quick, grab and go of this machine makes it easy to use. No strapping on battery packs, back packs, or headphones. No dangling cords to get hung up. Just grab the machine, a pick, you can be off for hours. Much the same as a VLF. And much like the old 2100, once it's ground balanced, you can leave the controls alone for the day. Simple, easy, and quick, yet with the performance of a PI at a fraction of the price.

Digger Bob

[dutch john]

Digger Bob... As we know the TDI is what I slangly call a "small battery" Pulse-type with

ground balancing. Another example is the Garrett Infinium... I understand the Pulse delay

for TDI ranges from 10 to 25. At 10uS, the TDI is capable of finding small gold... I believe

the Pulse delay (just a guess) for the infinium is 15uS to... ??? (Anyone know???).

But, the Infinum will not find the smaller gold as does the TDI at 10uS. (Anyone who happens

to read "Bellas Nugget" in a recent ICMJ will become aware of this); but this is not bad;

go to the areas where larger gold is to be found. I have done well with mine... nuff said.

As a geologist I believe the critical thing to be aware of while using any gold-specific

Pulse is the gold content (purity). Thus, the "conductivity" of an alluvial/eluvial "modern

or fossil" nugget of detectable size can be low or high conductive... Also, if it is "solid" or

"spongy." Those that tend to dig ("cherry pick") either a HIGH/low or a low/HIGH could be

missing gold... many eluvial placers have gold from different sources. Dig everything.

Gosh... Digger Bob, I miss Reg's not posting on this forum... He is most knowlegeable

regarding the "big battery" minelabs, and the "small battery" TDI, GS 5, and the

GS 5C. [Also, I remember when you(?) were trying to sell your 2100(?), I should

have bought it...].

The bottom line... the "small batteries" are the pathway leading to the "big battery"

Pulse-types. However... also, the various "VLF-types", ranging from about 5 to

70 kHz all have their place...

Hey... this is just my thoughts... I could be wrong... will not argue... Keep the Faith!