ColonelDan

Chase gave good advice.  

My RC locked once upon a time and I just let it stay on until the battery died.  I then plugged it back in and all was well.

I’m on board with the good Captain and F350 in that I’ll be keeping V1.0 for the long term.  

Still in the experimentation phase but have zeroed in on 4 modified programs I’ll be testing at the beach with an eye on fine tuning them for saltwater beaches.  
 

In short,  I’m both encouraged and impressed. 
 

Good job Captain…

I see a lot of significant potential in V1.0.  I particularly like the max frequency adjustment capability.  I foresee that being useful on the beach.  Having said all that, it will take a new round of experimentation on my part to zero in on the settings that suit me and my hunting environment...and that experimentation starts today.  I'll post my findings/settings along the way.  I'm also looking forward to reports of other's experimentation efforts.

Since relic hunting is not my wheelhouse, I'm particularly interested in relic experimentation so I can get a head start on the next trip to Tennessee and my daughter's new property.  😉

Impressive validation run.  Good job soldier👍🏻

There’s no one set of settings appropriate for every beach.  The settings I use on east coast Florida beaches may not work as well on Virginia Beaches.

Given that reality,  I suggest you start off with the factory beach sensitive program, do a noise cancel and adjust the salt sensitivity and reactivity enough to quiet/stabilize the detector.   Those two settings are key to stabilizing the Deus 2 on a salt water beach.   If you experience a lot of interference , then adjust overall sensitivity but adjust the salt sensitivity first.
 

On my beach, I normally use a salt sensitivity setting of 7 and a reactivity of 0.  Why 0?  It maximizes depth and you generally don’t need a lot of separation on our beaches that the higher reactivity settings provide.  
 

As I always say, predetermined settings only serve to get you in the ball park. It’s up to you then to pick the best seat!

Good hunting….

In the Florida sun on the beach, my hunting buddy and I usually only last about 2.5-3 hours....but then he's 68 and I'm 75.   We then go to lunch.👍    It's become a welcomed routine for two old beach scavengers!  😅

Excellent report in every regard. 

Thanks

Steve’s rods are unique.  Outstanding is the word!!!

Just a few concluding/clarifying comments:

1.  I agree that Pitch is not the best option as a tonal discriminator.  Multiple tones is much preferred.

2.  My sole objective in referencing this video was not the tonal aspect but rather how it interestingly demonstrates the difference in beach sens vs dive’s TID ability.  Frequency weighting being the difference as I see it.

3. As always, Chase and Jeff make excellent points throughout.  👍🏻

Much depends on the particular beach and its mineralization.    I too am a ferrous/nonferrous kinda guy that uses VDI as more of a "second opinion"or just another indicator of what might be down there.

Excellent report soldier!  You put a lot of effort into both the hunt and the report.  A salute to you sir!!  👍

As we know, the D2 is primarily a tone machine...which is how I use it.  I posted this video as an interesting demonstration of how the frequency weightings affect TID.  A takeaway here is that by switching programs over a wavering tone, you may get a better idea of what your coil is trying to tell you.  I've done this on our beaches and in some cases, it cleared up the picture somewhat.  Having said that, I'm still a tonal kinda guy. 😉

Just the view from my sandy foxhole.... 

The ability to accurately ID a good target at depth on the beach is a real plus particularly when one program IDs the good target in the pull tab range while the other yells “dig me”  😉

https://youtu.be/nbyAwzDbVuw

Jeff nailed it.  Been hunting beaches for a fair number of years and have been using the D2 exclusively since it came out.  Jeff nailed it.

just the view from my beachy foxhole….

Thanks to all for your input.  I’m a self proclaimed novice when it comes to arrowheads.  Not many are found on Florida’s east coast tourist beaches where I always hunt. 
My daughter now lives in the area where this one was found so I better educate myself on arrowhead ID!  😉

If one of our relic experts out there can provide any information on this arrowhead, I'd very much appreciate it.  It was found in Tennessee along the Caney Fork River near Buffalo Valley which is about 60 miles east of Nashville.   It's 2 inches long and 1.25 inches wide.   Thank you....

😊. Good job CPT!

Great looking ring and a valuable education…. All in one day!!!!😊

Good job soldier…..

F350, that’s clever.  Creatively clever.  👍🏻😊

It wasn’t a heavy winter coat but I did strap a coat onto the 280 as shown

5 minutes ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

Thank you for that review, Colonel! I got my 280 long before I got my D2 and it accomodated my other detector well, but haven't flown with either yet. I actually never considered using the 280 to fly with and usually pack my detectors (all except the control pods) in a checked bag. I have to fly next month with the D2 and was wondering if I could put the coil in a check bag or would have to carry it on with the control pod because of the internal batteries. I was considering getting the hard plastic case to carry on the whole D2, but your review convinced me I can use the 280 instead. Thank you again!

What I related is just my TSA experience at the two airports we used. Like beaches, they(airports and TSA crew)  can all differ to some degree I suspect.  

Having said that, I much prefer keeping important pieces of equipment with me rather than trusting them to some unknown fate that's out of my sight and out of my control.  The 280 fits that bill perfectly.

As many are probably aware, based on the posting of My First Relic Hunt with the Deus II, Mary and I took a flight up to Tennessee to visit our daughter and her husband.  They recently bought a house on 12 never detected acres about 45 minutes from Nashville.  Beautiful mountains, rocky terrain, trees galore!

Although I've had the 280 for awhile now, this is the first time I've taken it through the airport as the back pack it was designed to be.  In a word, Perfection!

Efficiency:  First and foremost this back pack is tremendous in how much and how well it can hold all parts and pieces of the Deus II with plenty of additional pouches designed into the 280 that can hold other items of mine I'm sure XP never thought of.😉  Each section is graphically marked with the part it was designed to accommodate...an extremely helpful touch! My Deus is outfitted with the 11" coil and Steve Goss' carbon fiber shaft which is a mite longer than the factory shaft and the 280 accommodated that entire set up perfectly...and very securely.  I also had my MI-6 pinpointer in its assigned compartment and thought if the TSA questioned anything as the back pack rode through the X-ray machine it would be the MI-6 because to me, it closely resembles a stick of dynamite! 😅  Just in case, I brought along the owners manual and photos from the web of all that equipment and was prepared to demonstrate their function if questioned.  The TSA didn't even change their bored expression as it rode through the scanner.👌  There are two pouches on the left shoulder strap...one for the remote and a larger one behind it I'm assuming for a cell phone.  Since I tend to modify everything, no matter how well designed, I used the larger one for the remote and placed a cut piece of sponge in the smaller front one which added an additional layer of protection for the face of the remote...just in case I ran into an over achiever at the TSA.
Everything simply worked great and it fits very easily in the overhead compartment.

Comfort:  I've worn many back packs and ruck sacks in my life as you might imagine and I'm here to tell you this is by far the most comfortable one I've ever had rest on my shoulders and back.  The shoulder straps are wide and very well padded...totally and easily adjustable.  With the chest strap in place the shoulder straps fit securely on your shoulders and don't slip off to the sides as I've had other packs do.  As the pack rests against your back, it feels like a soft but firm support and you never feel any detecting equipment poking you in the back.  The belt around your waist is also wide, adjustable, well padded and very comfortable.   

Build Quality:  The best I've seen.  Heavy duty fabric, straps and buckles throughout with professional strong stitching all around as well.  The zippers close easily yet very securely with each sporting a nice zipper pull attached.

Bottom Line:  XP certainly didn't scrimp on anything in the design, choice of material or manufacture of the 280.  This is extremely well thought-out and simply first class in every regard...5 all the way 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Just the view from my foxhole...

An exciting find.  You beat me with that one.  😊

Good job soldier…..👍🏻

19 minutes ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

Good hunts for your first foray into relic hunting, Colonel! It definitely looks like some tough terrain. If your daughter's house is older, the I'd suggest looking for what might have been a dump or an outhouse (usually a small rectangular depression) near the house. People use to dump everything behind their houses and a dumpsite can provide many targets and some really good finds. Also look at the site on the Historic Aerials site to see what has changed over the years. It can give you good ideas for future searches. 

I agree with TJ, that rectangular piece looks like a gear frame (usually brass) for another clock, similar to the more complete one you found earlier. I'm drawing a blank on the rusty iron piece.

I imagine it will feel good to get back out on your beaches after hunting in the rocky hills of Tennessee! Happy Hunting!

Thanks CPT!  My daughter’s house is not 19th century period…it’s of modern construction.

I’ll be back here and my D2 will come with me for sure.  This place is a 19th century relic site and shows signs of habitation from that period.  I just need to get this knee repaired and go again.  
Thanks again for your interest and input.  👍🏻

Can anyone ID these finds?  The square plate rang up a high non-ferrous while the smaller one was strong iron.  Both in the same hole.

This beach hunter is stumped.

The terrain was exceptionally beautiful, exceptionally steep and exceptionally rocky. 
I had to call it an early day as my torn knee meniscus had all it could take in climbing over and around those TN hills.  
Sadly, I didn’t make it to the area reputed to have had a slave quarters on it because of the knee. 😡

I switched between the Reaper, Relic and modified General programs.  Unfortunately, the limited time of today’s hunt, I didn’t do them justice in any sense of the word. 

What I could tell was this undetected property has a ton of potential for those capable and willing to negotiate the terrain.  

I’ll be back after I get this knee surgically repaired….bank on it.

I want to thank all who have been following this thread.  I was sincerely hoping to bring you a better/ more productive report, but that’s the way detecting life sometimes unfolds.
Now back to my more familiar beaches!!! 😉