NCtoad

Nice bunch of finds!   Is that service button civil war era?   It looks like the D2 is working out for you.  I’m really liking mine.  It’s just a fun machine to use.  Is that a predator phoenix shovel you’re using?

I got out Saturday morning to my only permission. Second target was a buffalo nickel on the far end of the property.  I then worked my way up near the old house in an area where I had been over before with both the nox and deus 2.  This time I was in sensitive, program 2, but in full tones.  I slowed down and just dug decent signals.  I got an old junk pocket watch, a military pin with an eagle, another large pin that looks to be navy  and a small broken pin or broach that looks to be silver, but has no markings.  I also got another wheatie.  
 

On Sunday I hit some curbstrips in town and got in a hot spot where I pulled 10 wheaties. This wasn’t actually a curbstrip, but was a grassy area in front of a commercial gravel parking lot.  There used to be two houses there and the grassy area was the front yards of those two houses.  I thought for sure I’d hit a silver coin there, but no luck 😥

1 hour ago, Carolina said:

Nice!  For my land hunting I’m good with the stock shaft, but I’d still like some info on what you have.  

Congrats on your new detector Bob!   I’m sure the more you use it and get to know it, the more you’ll like it.  Since getting my deus 2 I’ve only used my equinox for about an hour.  I’m thinking of mounting the 6” coil on it for detail work until deus comes out with a smaller coil for the deus 2.  
 

Good luck with your new deus!

40 minutes ago, ColonelDan said:

I have to say that I have not experienced this flex problem with my Deus II.  Now I haven't taken my D2 in the surf yet and I never extend the lower shaft beyond 4 so more of it is into the upper shaft and my cam lock is solid and tight.  I guess I lucked out.

Same here.  Mine’s solid.  If I swing it at speeds too fast to detect with the sides of the armcuff flex.  I don’t use the strap, btw. 

Nice stuff!   Yeah those mason jar lids can be a real nuisance.  Finding those items of everyday living from yesteryear makes for some good fun.  I’m glad you didn’t hit my brother toad with your shovel!   Lol!

8 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Go Toad! You got some great stuff there. Cool to find one of those sterling service buttons, Wonder what the era is. Nice rein guide too, odd attachment. 🤔 Just on a curb strip... Wow.

I got the rein guide at the park. Found some copper rivets last week and the two buckles this week, so there is some horse tack there. 

I ended up leaving the factory screen protector on and I also bought a Deanos control box cover.  

8 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Completely followed what you were saying.  It would be neat but it would also be a completely different detector design.  The second paragraph of my reply addressed the wired coil option.  We're talking about a wholesale detector platform redesign because the Deus/Deus 2 rely on the coil electronics not just for wireless signal transmission but the coil electronics also handles much of signal processing duties.  That's why you can run the detector with either the remote or the smart headphone puck as the controller.  In other words, as XP says, the brains of the Deus/Deus 2 platform reside in the coil.

Ok, now it’s starting to sink in.  Lol!   So I guess that’s why the battery on the nox is in the handle.  It’s too big for the control box because it’s not only powering it but the coil processing also.  Thus separate batteries on the deus divvying up the power source so the batteries can be smaller and fit inside each component. Am I on the right track?   Lol

12 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Interesting idea, but I think XP would probably just be better off providing an external shaft insert battery like they did with the white elliptical HF coil and make it simply wading submersible like with the white coil.  However. XP has also stated that the Deus 2 FMF coil electronics package also presents a challenge fitting into the small coil form factor.  So an external power source doesn't necessarily solve that problem.

Anyway, presuming the coil would still transmit and receive the control and target signals wirelessly and that the on-board FMF coil signal processing and radio electronics package could fit,  it would still require a redesign of the remote connector to add more pins for coil power and you would have to change the power management system on the remote to deliver power to the coil (it only receives charge power).  After all that, unless you could somehow fit a higher capacity battery in the remote, run time would be severely limited because both the coil and remote are draining the remote's battery.  And as brys said, if you did want it to be operational submerged at shallow depths (even if not dive rated), you would still need to string up the waveguide antenna coax wire between the remote and the coil.

If, instead, you wanted the coil to be purely a dumb wired coil you would probably have to redesign the entire platform from the ground up because the remote relies on the coil electronics to do some of the target detection signal processing.

I’m not sure you guys are following what I’m saying.  Would it be possible for xp to make a small coil with a cable that plugs into the back of the remote?   Not a wireless coil.  A six inch coil just like the equinox has.  I don’t know if the plug in the back of the remote could even run a coil.  The coil would not be transmitting wirelessly, but through the cable just like on any other detector.  I highly doubt that they designed the remote to work with a cabled coil.  But wouldn’t it be neat if they could?   That way guys that don’t really want a wireless machine could buy a wired coil. Plus it would be less complicated to manufacture (no battery, no wireless transmitter) and you wouldn’t need the antenna if you’re wading in water.  Another plus is that the wired coils would be less expensive.  So it would be a hybrid wireless or wired detector depending on which coil you buy.  

Yesterday morning I hit a few curbstrips.  Our curbstrips are small; less than three feet wide and sometimes only 16” or 18”.  But still worth detecting as I got three wheats, a small sterling cap shaped pin, and a surprise 1867 10 centesimi Italian copper.  I also managed to get $6.98 in clad.  
 

Today I went back to the park where I dug a slq last week.  Today was a repeat with another slick, no date slq although this one looks like it may have been under a burn pile.  Also got some more relics.  The two little buckles were about two feet from each other and both were deep, but the second one was really deep at 11”. 
 

I was using the D2 in a custom general program, but I checked some targets by switching to deep high conductor and park and sensitive just to see how each sounded.  

From what I’ve read there are no small sniper coils, like a 6” round because of there not being enough room for a battery.  I wonder if it’s possible for XP to make a conventional wired coil that plugs into the back of the remote?   The coil would probably be less expensive and you could use it in water without the antenna.  Might be a killer coil for gold hunters and trashy curbstrip hunters.  
 

What I mean by using it in water is wading where just the coil is submerged.  You wouldn’t be able to submerge the RC because you’d lose your wireless headphone signal. 

7 hours ago, BeachHunter said:

Has the 0.7 update been released yet? All I can find is the 0.6.

I’m assuming if you got on the XP email list they will notify you when the new update is ready.  My deus II with the original 0.6 version is finding stuff just fine.  Although I’d like to have the big numbers, I can wait until 0.7 is released.  

4 hours ago, relicmeister said:

Would a round carbon fiber tube inserted into Deus 2 lower stem add stiffness without any noticeable added weight?  In other words strengthen it rather than trying to make non- round fiber stem replacement?  Just thinkin 

I think you’re onto something.  Maybe deus (or an aftermarket company) could make a thin D shaped carbon fiber rod that just slides inside the factory plastic lower rod.  I don’t know if the tolerances on the stock lower would allow a nice tight fit though.  

Tuesday evening I took the deus out to practice in the yard and hit some fringe areas.  I had probably had my nox in these areas but only maybe once or twice.  The first two good finds were copper memorials in different spots.  There’s a power pole in the yard and a while back I hit a wheatie maybe ten feet from the pole with the deus.  So after hitting those two memorials I headed over near the pole to see if I might find another wheatie.   This time  I went on the opposite side of the pole from where I had found that wheatie.  I got a strong 88 tid and thought that maybe it was a deep smashed beer can because I had dug a few of those not too far away with the nox a good while back.  I dug about five inches down and see a small spill of a few pennies.  I get those out and stick my pinpointer back in there and it goes off again. To make a long story short, I kept doong this over and over with the pinpointer and then the deus until I had 61 memorials!   It probably took me a good 45 minutes.  I checked the date on a few of them as they came out of the hole and they were 60s and early 70s.  So in all I got 63 memorials ranging from 1959 to 1975.  
 

Wednesday night it rained but this evening it was nice and sunny.  So I decided to hit an area over by my shed.  In the pic it’s on the opposite side of the shed.  I dug a couple of junk targets and then I got a nice 91-93.  From about six inches down out comes a 1947 rosie!   I have searched and searched for silver in my yard.  The only silvers anywhere close by have come from an old spring which is about 120 yards away.  This rosie puts me at 14 for the year.  

11 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

I use the puck stem mount adapter as the protection. It's about $15 and also enables you to mount the puck to the stem of the Deus shaft/stem assembly if desired.

 

Thanks Chase!  Somehow I missed this.  

I’d wager that ring was made for the stone.  Very nice!

6 hours ago, Allen Moore said:

I'm new to the hobby so go gentle with me in other words dumb it down for me.

My question is to ignore iron targets what are the best settings to use. I'm currently using 3 tone gain at 88 

                                                                                                                                                        Disc. 3

                                                                                                                                                        notch 4

                                                                                                                                                        Fe Vol  N2

                                                                                                                                                        tone break 4-70

                                                                                                                                                        tone 50-70

                                                                                                                                                        isat-1

                                                                                                                                                       Freq. 14  

Hi Allen and welcome to the forum!   I don’t know anything about the kruzer, but I think you would get more responses to your question on the nokta/makro forum.  Maybe try posting your query there.  There’s lots of knowledgeable nokta/makro guys that would probably be eager to help.  

5 hours ago, steveg said:

Steve, and others...

Thanks for the interest!

I've had a number of customers raising this issue with me.  It seems there's fairly great demand for a Deus shaft replacement, with stiff/sturdy carbon fiber and high-quality cam locks.  Since this is exactly what I try to provide my customers with, it would seem that this would be "right up my alley."

The PROBLEM(S) are this, when considering the production of a Deus/Deus II...

1.  NON-ROUND SHAFTS...

To make a long story short, production of non-round carbon-fiber tubes is costly; there's a rather large up-front cost, as a non-round tube requires a mold for production, and then the cost of the molded tubes themselves are MUCH higher than round tubes.  Additionally, a non-round tube requires a matching, non-round cam lock, matching non-round shaft fittings, etc. -- all of which require their own injection molds to be produced.  

2.  NON-STANDARD COIL EAR...

One of the two coil ears of the Deus has that "proprietary" non-round "plug" that fits through one side of the coil ear, and that plug "mates" to a "cavity" on one side of the Deus lower rod "clevis" or "head."  This makes production of a "proper" lower rod piece more difficult than your basic clevis.

3.  THE CONTROL-BOX MOUNT...

The Deus uses that "proprietary" mounting system for the control box, where the back of the control box "mates" to the front of the "mount," and that mount -- again -- is designed to fit in the Deus non-round shaft.  This is another custom component that would have to be "replicated" for use with an aftermarket Deus shaft.

4.  THE DESIGN ITSELF...

The really cool "collapsible" design of the Deus, where there are "cam locks" integrated into the S-handle, and the shaft "slides through" the handle for collapsibility, is not easily replicated.

NOW, some of these hurdles could be overcome, by avoiding use of the non-round tubes, and building a replacement shaft with standard, round carbon-fiber tubes.  On the positive side, this would allow use of my current cam lock (thus no new cam lock injection mold needed), and would also easier-to-produce "round" shaft fittings (the lower rod piece, etc.)  The lower rod "head" or "clevis," as long as it is round, could have the "cavity" for the "coil ear plug" to be machined into it, so that hurdle could be overcome as well.  I have considered the possibility of adapting my new "S-shaft" design, for use with the Deus.

HOWEVER, points 3 and 4 above remain challenges, even given that I now have that S-shaft design.  For point 3 -- a control box mount would have to be custom-designed -- one that would both A.) fit onto my S-handle, and B.) mate properly with the Deus control box.  Then, for point 4 -- customers would have to be willing to forego the "collapsibility" offered by the Deus shaft design, as my S-shaft does not allow the tubes to "slide through the handle" for the easy collapsibility offered by the Deus.

I have been thinking alot about this, and trying to find solutions to these issues, but there's really no way to get around the fact that no matter how I slice it, this would be a very expensive shaft to produce (in terms of purchase price), as production would require substantial up-front investment.   The Deus shaft is a much more "proprietary" shaft than many others, making a proper, high-quality replacement shaft a very high hurdle to overcome.  I will continue pondering it...

Thanks all!

Steve

Suppose you could somehow manufacture a rod just like the OEM rod but with carbon fiber and improved cam locks and no flex. Don’t you think you’d sell a whole lot if them?   Even if your setup cost say $350, I’d bet they’d sell like hotcakes.  Look what the beach guys are spending on scoops. 

Once you have the ws6 puck attached to the clip jack adaptor, what protects the back of it?   I found found something made in England that protects it it from dirt and dust and makes it look like a finished unit.  Is something like this available in the US?

3 hours ago, ☠ Cipher said:

Does anyone see or know any reason this WS4 adapter would not also work for the WS6?

Is that for a 1/8” plug or a 1/4” plug?  

I don’t notice much if any flex at all in mine with the 9” coil.  However I’m 5’10” and don’t extend the lower rod much past the #1 mark.  

28 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

Nice hunts NCT! 👍

Great you got silver. That GM key fob is really cool! It would be interesting to know what was there before the park. That might take some work.

I didn’t even notice the GM on it.  I thought it was one of those divot tools used by golfers.  Thanks for noticing that!

14 minutes ago, JCR said:

That looks to be a nice old key there too. I second on spark plug washers if they look crushable.

I think the key is a clock winding key.  That makes sense on the washers.  They do look crushable.  

Those buttons are fantastic!   I can see you pulling an old, old silver out of there.