Whites PRIZM II User manual

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Prizm™ II • III • IV * V
manufactured by
®
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www.whiteselectronics.com
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Local Dealers and treasure hunting news.
White’s Electronics, Inc.
1011 Pleasant Valley Road
Sweet Home, OR 97386
USA
Part Number 621-0476
™
Prizm

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Prizm™ II • III • IV • V

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Prizm™ II • III • IV * V
Assembly ....................................................................................................... 4
Batteries......................................................................................................... 6
Getting Started - Prizm II, III, IV.............................................................. 8
Prizm™ II Controls ..........................................................................10
Prizm™ III Controls.........................................................................12
Prizm™ IV Controls ........................................................................14
Prizm™ V Controls..........................................................................16
Displays..........................................................................................................18
Optional Accessories.................................................................................19
Service............................................................................................................21
Warranty ........................................................................................................24
Target Recovery ..........................................................................................27
Notes...............................................................................................................28
Guide to this Manual
White’s Electronics, Inc.
1011 Pleasant Valley Road
Sweet Home, OR 97386
USA
®

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Prizm™ II • III • IV • V
To Assemble
1. Remove all parts from shipping carton (see diagram next page).
2. Use nonmetallic washers (between round search coil and clevis
ber rod), and ber bolt and thumbnut to secure search coil to ber
rod.
3. Unlock Camlock on “S”rod, insert ber rod into curved rod, line up
buttons into one of adjustment holes. Twist Camlock to LOCK.
4. Unravel search coil cable and wind around rods (rst revolution
over top of rod). Plug search coil cable connector into control box.
Screw nger tight to secure. Secure cable to ber rod near search
coil (rst revolution) with small hook and loop strap provided. Allow
slight cable slack (prior to rst revolution) to allow search coil tilting.
5. Grip by handle, with arm in elbow cup, and sweep search coil over
oor. If necessary for comfort, unlock camlock, compress buttons
and reposition ber rod. If necessary, elbow cup is also adjustable for
comfort.
6. A large nylon strap is provided. When woven through the slots in
the arm cup, additional leverage is provided. Insert smoothest sec-
tion rst (left slot for right-handed individuals, right slot for left-hand-
ed individuals) hook and loop facing up. Fold tab at end of rougher
loop into “T” to lock this end. Insert opposite end through second
slot so arm can be inserted and removed from arm cup without
readjustment of strap.

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Prizm™ II • III • IV * V
Assembly Diagram
Search Coil
Handle
Search Coil Cable
to Control Box Connector
Camlock
Thumbnut
Fiber Rod
“S” Rod
Search Coil Cable
Non-metallic
Washers
Fiber Bolt
Large Nylon Strap
Display
Control Buttons
Elbow Cup

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Prizm™ II • III • IV • V
Batteries
1. Open battery door by pressing elongated button on back of
display and ipping open door.
2. Install two 9-volt alkaline batteries taking note of (+) and (-) posi-
tions (only t one way), close door.
3. Press ON/OFF button.
4. Batteries that are weak, or become weak during use, will au-
tomatically indicate Low Batt. with a battery icon on the left center
portion of the display. Replace with two good quality alkaline 9-volt
transistor batteries. Low volume beep, without a Low Bat display
indication, requires only the one battery on the headphone jack
side of the compartment be replaced.
5. One may expect about 20 hours of continuous searching with
two good quality alkaline batteries. Battery life will vary with inter-
Display
Battery
Battery Door
Search Coil Cable to Con-
trol Box Connector
Battery

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Prizm™ II • III • IV * V
mittent use, temperature, control settings, target indications, battery
quality, battery condition upon purchase, and shelf life. One may add
or subtract as much as 50% depending upon the above variables. It is
always wise to carry back up batteries when traveling far from home.
6. Good quality rechargeable transistor 9-volt batteries may be
purchased separately for use in your Prizm. Typically rechargeable
transistor 9-volts will fall short of 20 hour continuous search time by
as much as 30%. Expensive types may exceed this alkaline life rating.
Either way their rechargeable option is desirable for avid (everyday)
searching. White’s Electronics, Inc. has chosen not to compete in the
transistor 9-volt rechargeable battery market. We would suggest
common reputable brands and retailers for such systems.

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Prizm™ II • III • IV • V
Getting Started (Prizm™ II, III, IV, V)
1. Once assembled with good batteries installed, press ON/
OFF.
2. Due to the many metals used in modern construction it is
best to use and practice outdoors.
3. Sweep the round search coil from side to side over ground
evenly (near to or touching ground surface) keeping it very
close to the ground throughout each pass and overlapping
each pass as if mopping a oor. About two seconds per pass
from left to right, and two seconds returning from right to left
is necessary for the Prizm to perform as designed. Sweeping
too slowly (signicantly less
than two seconds per pass)
will deter good performance.
It is also necessary for the
round search coil to be mov-
ing (sweeping) for the Prizm
to detect and identify metals.
Once an interesting signal has
been located, (Step #6) the P/P
(pinpoint) button can be used
to allow much slower search
coil movement isolating exactly
where to dig.
4. Solid repeatable beeps and
repeatable display after several
passes indicates an interesting
metal target.
5. Broken, sputter, or inconsistent beeps and display, indicates

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Prizm™ II • III • IV * V
likely uninteresting metal targets. Ignore these targets.
6. Once a solid repeatable beep and display indication are lo-
cated, press P/P button and“X” area to pinpoint exactly where
to dig. Press P/P again to continue searching.
7. Sweeping the round search coil over the ground, recogniz-
ing solid repeatable beeps and display indications from broken
or inconsistent ones, pinpointing, and digging all take practice.
Be patient. To speed the learning curve bury a nail, coin, and
other items an inch or two in the ground and practice locating,
recognizing the dierent sounds and display indications, and
pinpointing.
8. You must have permission to search both public and private
property from the owners or person in charge of managing
the property. In most cases, you can locate the owner through
City Hall or the County Seat. It is important for the future of
metal detecting that you take care in digging. Unsightly holes
are dangerous to people and livestock as well as detrimental
to continued use of detectors. Fill all holes and remove all
trash you encounter. Some areas have restrictions on the size
and type of digging tool you may use which may present ad-
ditional challenges. Check with your Dealer, Area Detecting
Club, Local Police, or Parks & Recreations Department.
9. Known and marked historical sites are certainly “O Limits”
to metal detector use. Educate yourself, follow the laws in your
area, and always aid Law Enforcement and Archeologists to
further promote this great hobby. With research and thought,

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Prizm™ II • III • IV • V
Prizm™ II Controls
1. ON/OFF turns the Power ON and OFF. Batteries that are
weak, or become weak during use, will automatically indicate
Low Batt. with a battery icon on the left center portion of the
display. Replace with two good quality alkaline 9-volt tran-
sistor batteries. Remove batteries for storage beyond two
weeks.
2. SENS (sensitivity) adjusts the responsiveness to metals,
ground, and external electrical interference. The Sensitivity lev-
el is continuously shown on the display. The further to the
right the ll towards taller bars, the higher the selected sensi-
tivity setting. Use the SENS Up arrow button to increase, down
arrow button to decrease. Use the highest level that behaves
predictably. Use lower levels for areas the Prizm™ behaves un-
predictably or is unstable (false signals without the presence
of metal). Areas of high power electrical lines or extremely
mineralized soil conditions will likely require lower SENS levels.
Areas of little electrical activity, and dry beach sand, usually
allow high SENS settings, and thus more detection depth.
Standard settings work well in typical conditions.
3. P/P activates pinpoint mode for better item location. P/P
can also be used for searching when iron and steel is de-
sired as well as all other metals. Once P/P has been pressed
(tapped) all types of metals respond with a beep that is basi-
cally the same. No adjustments can be made while in the
P/P mode. Press a second time prior to continued searching
to return the Prizm to Discrimination, which varies the beep
according to the DISC setting. Holding the P/P button during
pinpointing allows automatic return to Discrimination search-
ing when released. P/P status shown on display center.

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Prizm™ II • III • IV * V
4. DISC (discrimination) selects the acceptance or rejection
(regarding audio beep) of each category on the display from
iron to z1 (zinc cent). The current settings are indicated con-
tinuously on the display as a speaker in a circle with a slash
through it directly under each category selected as a rejection.
For more jewelry, except for iron, accept as many categories as
you can endure digging. Press DISC arrow up to increase the
rejection categories and arrow down to decrease the rejection
categories.
Prizm™ II Display

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Prizm™ II • III • IV • V
Prizm™ III Controls
In addition to the features of the Prizm™ II, the Prizm™ III
has an additional feature -
1. The depth of coin-sized metals is automatically indicated on
the lower left-hand portion of the display.
2. Metals larger or smaller than typical coin size will skew
this indication slightly. For example, a pop can will indicate
very shallow, however, may in fact be found quite deep in the
ground. A metal much smaller than a coin will indicate quite
deep, however, be found to be quite shallow in the ground.
Whatever the nding regarding a particular size, the results
will be consistent, repeated time and time again. If a metal
indicates an inch and after digging three inches it is still not
located, that item is larger than a typical coin. If pop cans are
common to the area disregard.
3. Typically lighter metals like the aluminum pull tab will
remain fairly shallow. A TAB indication that indicates fairly
shallow is likely a TAB. However, gold is heavy (typically sinks
more deeply into the ground) and may also indicate in the
TAB area of the display. A TAB indication that indicates fairly
deep should be dug, at least until determined that deep tabs
are also common to the area. Older more collectable coins
are found at greater depths in the ground. Deep indications
that have questionable tone and display indications are more
worthy of investigation compared to questionable tone and
display indications that produce shallow depth indications.
4. Regardless of the metal detector used, when searching, you
are going to dig some trash metals. Use the tone, display, and

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Prizm™ II • III • IV * V
depth reading, to hedge the odds against trash and for valued
metal items.
5. The depth indicates from 8 inches at the right towards 0
inches to the left.
Prizm™ III Depth Display

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Prizm™ II • III • IV • V
Prizm™ IV
In addition to the features of the Prizm™ II and Prizm™ III the
Prizm™ IV has additional features -
1. Tone I.D. (Tone Identication) is engaged when the Tone
I.D. note is displayed. Press TONE I.D. to disable/enable. At
minimum DISC, three dierent tones now indicate the display
categories, “large” Iron “Low Tone”, Foil & TAB “Medium Tone”,
ALL coins “High Tone”. This Tone I.D. feature makes the opera-
tor immediately aware of the likely category of the metal item
without looking at the display. Display categories selected for
rejection with the DISC control either produce no beep at all
or a broken inconsistent beep. In addition, a very low tone in-
dicates metal overload when too close to a large metal object.
Prizm™ IV display with three tones indicated for
three categories.

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Prizm™ II • III • IV * V
2. Smart Notch. Press Smart Notch. With DISC control set at
FOIL or below, pull tabs are eliminated. With DISC control at
Nickels or above, Nickels are accepted. Smart Notch either
eliminates TAB or accepts Nickels. A missing or added DISC
symbol indicates Smart Notch is engaged.
The DISC categories are linear in that as DISC is increased rst
IRON is rejected, then FOIL, then 5 Cent, etc. from left to right
based on these metals electrical properties.
However, one may wish to reject a category higher on the
scale while accepting one lower on the scale. Prior to Prizm™,
such a feature was only available on high-end metal detectors.
With the Prizm™ IV & V, the two most common needs for such
rejection are available automatically with the Smart Notch
feature.
Once Smart Notch is pressed, the Prizm™ IV automatically
selects the notch appropriate for the current DISC setting. If
DISC is increased to Nickels or above, the Nickel category is
accepted even if the DISC is set high enough to reject the TAB
category. At lower DISC setting, Foil or below, the TAB cat-
egory is rejected even though the DISC setting isn’t set high
enough to reject TABS. Increasing or decreasing the DISC
control automatically switches between these two dierent
Smart Notch options.
Prizm™ IV & V

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Prizm™ II • III • IV • V
Prizm™ V
In addition to the features of the Prizm™ II, Prizm™ III, and
Prizm IV, the Prizm™ V has additional features -
Prizm™ V display with eight tones indicated
for eight categories.
1. Multi Tone (Tone Identication) is engaged when the musi-
cal note is displayed. Tap Multi Tone to disable / enable. At
minimum DISC, eight dierent tones now indicate the display
categories, from iron, at the lowest tone, to 50 cents at the
highest tone. This Multi Tone feature makes the operator
immediately aware of the likely category of the metal item
without looking at the display. Display categories selected
for rejection with the DISC control either produce no beep at
all or a broken inconsistent beep. In addition, a very low tone
indicates metal overload when too close to a very large metal
object.

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Prizm™ II • III • IV * V
3. VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) Pinpointing. VCO pro-
duces a progressively higher pitched tone as the target signal
becomes progressively stronger during pinpointing.
Press Pinpoint to activate the pinpoint mode. Then press
TONE ID to enable or disable VCO pinpointing.
VCO is a feature that only operates in the Pinpoint mode.
When ON, the stronger the target response, the higher the
pitch of the sound.
VCO is an excellent aid to pinpointing. Slowly “X” the loop over
the suspected target area. The highest pitch sound indicates
the center of the target.
At the point of the highest pitch sound, the target depth fea-
ture indicates its most accurate depth.
Prizm™ V
2. Press and hold Multi Tone a few seconds (instead of tap-
ping) to enable three tone Tone ID (like Prizm IV). An operator
may wish to limit the tone range to three tones, good targets
at the higher tone, questionable foil range targets at the me-
dium tone, and iron at the lowest tone.

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Prizm™ II • III • IV • V
The Prizm™ Display, and information above the Display, pro-
vide a wealth of information about the metal target.
Smart Notch Display

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Prizm™ II • III • IV * V
1. Eight distinct target categories are listed across the top of
the display and indicate the most common metals found with-
in these categories. It is important to understand the display
information should only be consulted after a solid repeatable
audio tone “beep” has been located.
2. A specic metals category is dictated by that metals exact
content, size, and shape. The reference label above the dis-
play provides a comparison of known metals. Identical metal
items indicate identical display categories. Similar metal items
produce similar display categories. And dierent metal items
produce dierent display categories. Dierent types of metal
may, however, share the same category based on their electri-
cal characteristics (size, shape, exact content). For example,
small aluminum foil and small gold jewelry may indicate in the
same category. The display simply tells you the most common
items for that specic category. One must use this informa-
tion as a guide. Consistency is the key. For example, if three or
more bullets are dug at the same display indication, one can
assume these bullets are common to that specic area and
further identical indications are highly likely to be additional
bullets of the same size/type within that specic area being
searched. If those particular bullets are not of interest, one
may choose to ignore (not dig) any further identical indica-
tions within that area.
3. Low battery condition is automatically listed on the display
in the form of a battery icon. Low battery indicates you need
to replace the batteries. One may expect about 20 hours of
continuous searching with two good quality alkaline batteries.
Battery life will vary with intermittent use, temperature, control
settings, target indications, battery quality, battery condi-
Displays

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Prizm™ II • III • IV • V
tion upon purchase, and shelf life. One may add or subtract
as much as 50% depending upon the above variables. It is
always wise to carry back up batteries when traveling far from
home.
4. Control status is also shown on the display. P/P All Metal on
is indicated in the center of the display. Sensitivity setting on
the lower right. Discrimination settings on the upper portion
under each display category. Prizm™ III and IV shows depth
indication on the lower left. Prizm™ IV also indicates the status
of the Smart Notch and Tone I.D. features.
5. Metal overload is indicated in all modes by a very low pitch
tone. Lift the search coil and resweep target since target er-
rors can occur when target is too strong.