Jeff McClendon

Do I use AI to help my metal detecting skill set? Absolutely not. Maybe when AI is more mature and if I’m not dead or unable to detect, I might consider it.

All the air testing and in the ground testing that I did with Deus 1 and the ORX with HF elliptical coil was excellent and basically on par with the Equinox 800 as far as sensitivity in mild to moderately mineralized ground. I noted a problem almost immediately after getting my Deus 2 with 9" and reported it here. Basically Deus 1, ORX and Deus 2 Mono and definitely the Equinox 800 were obviously more sensitive to sub 0.25 gram and smaller targets than FMF Goldfield on air tests and in the ground test. That gap has shrunk some with the HF 2 coil from the videos I've seen. But we also had the release of the Equinox 900, Legend and Manticore since Deus 2 was released. That competitive gap has not shrunk enough yet between those detectors and the lagging Deus 2 for small gold prospecting. Some people don't get the point about micro gold jewelry or small nugget prospecting. I know you get it. I am just happy to find some gold. It doesn't matter how big or small it is.

Air testing has always worked even with previous software and even with my 11" coil. However, the intensity of the audio response drops off really fast in FMF Goldfield even with V2.00 and PWM audio on these small targets. Deus 2 Mono with all of the filters turned OFF and switched to Pitch tones/PWM is a little better. The audio response is really loud with the target close to the coil and then drops off rapidly to nothing. It's not gradual at all. Raising the audio response setting does not help. Neither does changing the audio type. Haven't tried Beta 3 yet. The coil I ordered will be here in 2 weeks. Put targets in moderate to high iron mineralized ground and that quick loss of audio response intensity basically means these small target's audio responses are swallowed up by the mineralized ground.

I would expect some fairly severe up averaging of target IDs using single frequencies. Up averaging using FMF modes can happen too where I often detect even with V 2.00 software depending on depth and ground mineralization levels. However, having anything at and above zincs on the target ID scale be 99 regardless of depth is not good. As noted by Andy in his small gold nugget testing video, ground mineralization handling seems to be an issue across the board with these current Beta software versions. Using a lower max frequency than the default may help.

The XP ORX and its direct predecessor the Depar are two top ten in the world gold prospecting VLF detectors and up until Deus 2 HF2, they could run at the highest single frequency available at that time for any gold prospecting VLF detector using the HF elliptical coil running at 81 kHz. So, there is an established precedence for XP to include a dedicated gold prospecting mode on Deus 2.

Your latest video test results mirror everything I have experienced trying to use Deus 2 with the 9” coil and FMF Goldfield. That was with V2.0 and earlier software. Now, whether that performance is good, bad or in between, somewhere else matters for sure but for me and where I hunt I get the same as you. Anybody making the comments you described in your second paragraph has NO CLUE. It was exactly the opposite with Deus 2 running hot and the Manticore detecting those targets using very basic, conservative and definitely not hot settings.

I’ve written this before but for newer Deus 2 users who think it might be a good gold prospecting detector in the USA for really small gold, XP included a dedicated FMF gold prospecting mode on Deus 2. We didn’t ask for one, they just did it. By default, that says to me that FMF Goldfield was ready to go as a competitor against the other do it all SMFs that also have a gold prospecting mode. Maybe that is not what it means to include a gold prospecting mode on a VLF SMF???? Maybe asking Deus 2 to run the XTreme Hunter software and having tiny gold nugget capabilities while not infringing on competitors patents is just asking too much.

The HF2 coil with Beta 3 software at least tried to hit those targets. The 9" coil with Beta 3 software was a total NO SHOW FAIL. Had Andrew been able to run a lower reactivity setting, the HF2 coil would have had better audio responses. Having to run reactivity 3 just to get it to settle down a little, was crazy. Manticore smoked it and so would an Equinox 800, 900 or Legend using their simultaneous multi frequency gold prospecting modes. Some will say just run the HF2 coil in Mono 90 kHz or higher. The whole point of using the latest do it all detectors that have a simultaneous multi frequency gold prospecting mode are ground mineralization handling advantages. Beta 3 software needs some work in that department. XP should really get some people in the Western USA to do ground mineralization testing for them if they haven't already done that. I was really hoping for a lot better performance. There was nothing UNIQUE about that comparison except how bad it was. I'm super disappointed.

That was my experience with a Detech 11X6” coil. It wouldn’t calibrate in Ultra Fine with the previous software but I could still use it in Fine, etc. With v2 it wouldn’t calibrate in Ultra or Fine. It wasn’t that old. That coil went bye, bye. I have an ancient Nugget Finder Advantage 10X5” coil that calibrates easily. Got a new 9” Coiltek Elite Max for a ridiculous price ($320 US). It calibrates, no problem.

I was at an event this past weekend where Minelab USA had a tent. Debbie said hello to you Steve and wished everyone well on this forum. She said Minelab is just finishing up the display and target IDs. She hopes to have a GM 2000 by September to let people tryout here in the US.

I am definitely a fan of the Legend. No doubt about it. Nokta shifted away from language based labeling to mostly icon based labeling with the Simplex and continued that mostly icon based labeling with the Legend, Triple Score, Double Score and Score models. Whether they did that to "globalize" their detectors so that they weren't totally multi-language dependent for economic reasons or for translation reasons, I don't know. With the Simplex, it actually made that detector a little more complex for those that were used to language based labeling. Since I had used a lot of Minelab VLFs, I was more used to controls that were mostly icons instead of language specific words on the display and keypad. For instance, I didn't need to use the full Equinox 600/800 screen protector with all of the language specific labeling. I just used the clear part of the protector and cut the black part with the button labels OFF. But, even for me, the already icon complex Simplex became a super icon complex Legend as far as the UI. The language base abbreviations took some getting used to also. My biggest complaint with the Legend and even their earlier language based UI like the Racer 2 displayed above, was that I simply had trouble seeing the character size for the icons and letters. Also, as most of us Legend owners found out, the keypad icons on the Legend were impossible to see without users highlighting them with a permanent light colored marker. My other big complaint is having to hold down the pinpoint button while pinpointing. For me personally, the addition of the M3 setting and Beast Mode are useless where I detect along with the labyrinthine process of just freaking finding Beast Mode on the Legend. Like Loren said, it's ridiculous to setup even for a guy like me. I simply won't use it even if it did work in high iron mineralization. Thankfully, Nokta made Beast Mode easy to use on the Triple Score. After hundreds of hours of use and after doing so many factory resets due to software updates where I had to reload all of my custom settings, I now have a really good grasp of the UI and it doesn't bother me one bit. For those that are new users or rarely use their Legends, it must be tough especially if they are used to English labeling. Like others have mentioned, I have to relearn the Deus and Deus 2 UI every time I use them. There is always some short cut or feature bin placement that I forget about and that two different button press to get into and out of pinpoint mode drives my right thumb crazy. I too hope there will be a Legend 2, Legend Pro, Legend Plus, Legend Ultra or whatever they choose to call it in the near future. I also hope that the next Legend will have a similar hand grip as the original Legend. That grip at least for me, is so comfy!

Silencer settings make a big difference. Even with V2.00, I can test a default land based program in my house. I want some EMI. What is most EMI similar too as a target.........very small micro sized targets or deeper small non ferrous targets that are poorly oriented, partially masked or just at the edge of detection. If I turn up the Silencer setting from 0 to 5 or so, those EMI responses go from non-ferrous to ferrous audio responses just with the coil in mid-air.

I need the HF2 coil since I really liked the Deus 1/ORX HF coils for gold prospecting and I don't like the Deus 2 9" FMF coil much for gold prospecting running at 40 kHz max frequency. Anyway, lots going on in this video that looks discouraging but is probably settings related more than anything. Also, you have an 8 X 5.5" coil versus a 9.5 X 5" coil. That extra half inch or so in width of the M8 coil does matter. Most people don't realize how many ground related settings and filters are in play using some of the Deus 2 stock programs in V 2.00 and earlier software versions. They also don't realize that almost all of those filters can't be accessed and are turned OFF using FMF Goldfield. It is possible to minimize the filtering in some of the other land based programs to help things. With Beta 3.02 and Beta 3.03 there are the new silencer settings and the new iron disc settings. I have zero idea how that effects the main land based programs and if V2.00 silencer 0, 1, 2, 3 etc. is the same amount of iron filtering as B3.02/3 silencer 0, 1, 2, 3 etc. or if the discrimination settings between say +6.8 and -6.4 are the same values in V2.00 vs Beta 3.0_ since I have not installed B3.0_ yet. Manticore was running AT low conductors with the horseshoe button engaged so all target audio responses accepted which was not the case with Deus 2. If Deus 2 software Beta 3.0_ has similar default settings as V2.0 then there were all sorts of default settings that can mess with small/deep low conductor detection. Silencer and Ground Stability are the two biggest ones along with the preset notches in Sensitive, Sensitive FT, Fast and Park which happen to fall in the mid 20s to mid 30s right where many edge of detection and small low conductor responses can hit sometimes. Max frequency differences, soil subtraction and tone break and tone volume default settings also have a real effect. Several times Mike said "Nothing" when there was a faint audio response but it was usually an iron response or very low conductor non ferrous response. Whether XP needs to do a lot more work on B3.0_, who knows. Really small low conductor target hunting is not something most people do very often including the people in the USA that have received the HF2 coil and posted YouTube videos. They may think they know what they are doing but experience matters and this really is unknown Beta software. I sure like the frequencies available on the HF2 coil for my main purpose using it which is gold prospecting in basically unfiltered FMF Goldfield.

Dirtshark, I have one listed right now in the classifieds if you are still looking for one.

Multi-Au and Echo Wave are both shown as graphics on the new Goldmonster 2000 packaging.