First Impressions Of The Deus II

[Erik Oostra]

Here's what the antenna assembly looks like underwater.. Tough and strong or flimsy and weak? You be the judge.. 

 

 

[Erik Oostra]

Thanks Steve for your simple explanations to a tricky problem.. I'm learning that the salt sensitivity settings make a difference here, they simply make the Deus II detect gold rings better than the Equinox in seawater..  

I think (but I could be completely wrong here) that the Deus II processes signals better because of the salt sensitivity settings.. In seawater I usually set the salt settings from 6 to 8, but on really iffy signals or when I'm on a recovery job I run them full-bore on 9.. None of the different salt settings (0-9) seem to affect the detector's sensitivity, something that always worried me with the Equinox (when you crank the sensitivity down too much, you'll miss good targets)..

All this can also depend on how salty your sea is.. For example, the Coral Sea is like a shallow underwater basin, making it much saltier than the deep Pacific Ocean which nearly surrounds it..      

[Jeff McClendon]

18 minutes ago, Erik Oostra said:

Thanks Steve for your simple explanations to a tricky problem.. I'm learning that the salt sensitivity settings make a difference here, they simply make the Deus II detect small gold rings better than the Equinox in seawater..  

I think (but I could be completely wrong here) that the Deus II processes signals better because of the salt sensitivity settings.. In seawater I usually set the salt settings from 6 to 8, but on really iffy signals or when I'm on a recovery job I run them full-bore on 9.. None of the different salt settings (0-9) seem to affect the detector's sensitivity, something that always worried me with the Equinox (when you crank the sensitivity down too much, you'll miss good targets)..

All this can also depend on how salty your sea is.. For example, the Coral Sea is like a shallow underwater basin, making it much saltier than the Pacific Ocean which nearly surrounds it..      

Erik, I would like to see you test your theory that it is Salt Sens that is making the difference as far as sensitivity to jewelry targets like gold rings. At least on paper, Deus 2 Beach mode used submerged (not talking about Beach Sensitive) should already be more sensitive to small targets and lower conductors due to its much higher frequency weighting than Beach 2 on the Equinox for sure when used submerged. Equinox Beach 2 and Deus 2’s Diving mode again on paper are operating at very similar frequency weighting and should have similar results. If they don’t, then your Salt Sens theory may be for real.

I would still be careful about cranking up Salt Sens to 9 on ring finder type dives for customers. That is why I added the caveat in the manual to my earlier post. Most gold rings should land in the 45 to 85 target ID range under normal conditions. If the ring is on edge, damaged or being partially masked by another target or black sand it may read much lower and closer to the 30 or lower target ID range where too high a setting of Salt Sens and the saltwater ground balance area could attenuate the signal and audio.

[phrunt]

you don't have any little gold nuggets laying around you can test on it in the prospecting mode do you Erik?  That's something I'd be interested in vs the Equinox, even air test depths would do me, I know my air test results vs my soil results which are very similar for the Equinox here so it'd give me an idea.  I'd also like to know the smallest flake it can hit on but that might be a bit much to ask for you to have something like a 0.001 of a gram flake laying around 🙂

[Erik Oostra]

13 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Equinox Beach 2 and Deus 2’s Diving mode again on paper are operating at very similar frequency weighting and should have similar results. If they don’t, then your Salt Sens theory may be for real.

From what I can make out from the manual, in the Deus II's Beach program the range of available frequencies are 4.08 to 4.76 kHz - 6.94 to 8.08 kHz - 10.39 to 15.15 kHz - 15.62 to 20.75 kHz - 22.06 to 28.57 kHz (topping out at 24 kHz) compared to the Equinox’s Beach modes using 5, 10 and 15 kHz.. The Diving program has multi-frequency ranges up to 14 kHz..

The manual says that ‘’unlike some multi-frequency detectors that offer fixed multi-frequencies, the Deus II uses different high and low frequency combinations depending on the programs… These frequencies can then be subtracted to remove electrically-conductive soils or added together to help locate a wider range of targets’’..

Perhaps it's all a matter of 'fixed multi-frequencies' vs 'multi-frequency ranges', but I'm finding that the Deus II's Conductive Soil Subtraction together with adjusting the salt sensitivity settings gives the Deus II an edge over the Equinox in seawater..   

[Jeff McClendon]

25 minutes ago, Erik Oostra said:

From what I can make out from the manual, in the Deus II's Beach program the range of available frequencies are 4.08 to 4.76 kHz - 6.94 to 8.08 kHz - 10.39 to 15.15 kHz - 15.62 to 20.75 kHz - 22.06 to 28.57 kHz (topping out at 24 kHz) compared to the Equinox’s Beach modes using 5, 10 and 15 kHz.. The Diving program has multi-frequency ranges up to 14 kHz..

The manual says that ‘’unlike some multi-frequency detectors that offer fixed multi-frequencies, the Deus II uses different high and low frequency combinations depending on the programs… These frequencies can then be subtracted to remove electrically-conductive soils or added together to help locate a wider range of targets’’..

Perhaps it's all a matter of 'fixed multi-frequencies' vs 'multi-frequency ranges', but I'm finding that the Deus II's Conductive Soil Subtraction together with adjusting the salt sensitivity settings gives the Deus II an edge over the Equinox in seawater..   

I think you are mis-reading the manuals of both detectors. Equinox Beach modes are multi frequency only and have been shown to both run a low frequency (below 10 kHz) and a higher frequency around 20 kHz for Beach 1 and around 14 kHz for Beach 2. the 5, 10 and 15, 20 and 40 kHz selectable single frequencies don't apply to them. Deus 2 in it Beach modes is running at least two frequencies like the Equinox and has a lower one (below 10 kHz) and each modes higher frequency is printed in the manual which says, Diving has a maximum of 14 kHz, Beach has a maximum of 24 kHz and Beach Sensitive has a maximum of 40 kHz.

If you can run Deus 2 Beach submerged (maximum of 24 kHz) you should have a big advantage on a wide range of target sizes and conductivities compared to Equinox which has to run Beach 2 submerged (maximum of 14kHz, probably). Throw in Salt Sens and submerged the Deus 2 Diving on paper equals or beats the Equinox Beach 2 and if you can run Deus 2 24 kHz Beach submerged, its no contest plus your Deus 2 can go to 66 feet, has bone conduction headphones (which should really help you with your hearing loss) and Deus 2 hasn't leaked so far. For a saltwater diver like you, Deus 2 hands down is the way to go. 

[Jeff McClendon]

If a Deus 2 is able to run Beach Sensitive (maximum 40 kHz) on any given beach and an Equinox runs Beach 1 (maximum 20 to 24 kHz) there is no contest if one is trying to detect micro jewelry like a .5 gram 10K gold earring back buried at 3". The Equinox might hit it but Deus 2 running Beach Sensitive in that scenario is going to win every time. If Deus 2 can't run Beach Sensitive due to instability and has to run Beach (maximum of 24 kHz) the results will be closer. Its not magic, its just physics. 

[Erik Oostra]

4 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Erik, I would like to see you test your theory that it is Salt Sens that is making the difference as far as sensitivity to jewelry targets like gold rings.

Sorry for the sketchy replies Jeff but the internet keeps going down at my house.. just took my laptop down the beach and am sitting under a palm tree so I can get online again.. 

I've tested this underwater on a small gold ring.. cranking the salt sensitivity settings right up did not make the target disappear.. nor did it seem to effect the sensitivity of the detector no matter how deep the ring was buried..

4 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

I would still be careful about cranking up Salt Sens to 9 on ring finder type dives for customers. That is why I added the caveat in the manual to my earlier post.

I'll heed your good advice here Jeff, I usually run the detector between 6 to 8 anyway.. I cranked it right up on the job because I'd checked that the salt setting works on a similar ring without losing the target.. I've been testing different sized rings (gold and silver) buried at different depths so I know what I'm looking for on the job..    

[Erik Oostra]

26 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

If you can run Deus 2 Beach submerged (maximum of 24 kHz) you should have a big advantage on a wide range of target sizes and conductivities compared to Equinox which has to run Beach 2 submerged (maximum of 14kHz, probably). Throw in Salt Sens and submerged the Deus 2 Diving on paper equals or beats the Equinox Beach 2 and if you can run Deus 2 24 kHz Beach submerged, its no contest

I run my Equinox on Beach 1 when diving as Beach 2 is less stable.. for the same reason I've been running the Deus II in Diving rather than Beach or even Beach Sensitive.. Not sure what's going on under the hood as to which frequencies are operating at any one time, but I have noticed with both detectors that running at higher frequencies destabilises them.. I know that on paper at least I should have an advantage of a wider range of targets, but in seawater I'm limited to what programs I can use.. 

[Jeff McClendon]

Equinox Beach 2 runs lower frequencies than Beach 1. That is a proven fact. No debate. So your saying Beach 1 is more stable in submerged saltwater than Beach 2 is very puzzling unless there is an EMI source near where you are diving that is effecting Beach 2.