Erik Oostra

Although this post has absolutely nothing to do with gold prospecting, I am afraid that a down turn in visitors to the island will have a flow on effect in regards to my daily coin and jewellery yield.. Since these stories appeared within 24 hours of each other, they're obviously FAKE NEWS! The Island is under attack from greeny press members from down south.. There are no deadly stingers or snakes on the Island!.. Please come back tourists.. keep dropping your coins and rings.. 😁 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-30/irukandji-jellyfish-woman-stung-magnetic-island/101110610?utm_medium=social&utm_content=sf256836672&utm_campaign=fb_abc_news&utm_source=m.facebook.com&sf256836672=1&fbclid=IwAR0DxhH6yQcVjgO4eY33rBMsNAEAGGsG2eEuKVKicd4GGWiE40OUgB6Bejw https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-30/magnetic-island-death-adder-population-thriving-no-cane-toad/101076110

Thanks Ghostlight, that's a new one for me.. Looks like that'll work, although it says a lot that someone has to come up with a device like this to help XP solve a basic design problem.. 🤨 The video for this locking device is an all time classic..

Yes, it's so far so very good.. even though I do treat the Deus II a bit gentler than the Equinox (mainly because the control box keeps falling off).. But as far as leakage is concerned, the Deus II is a winner! Having said that, both my Equinoxes (600 and 800) are also handling the grind (on the beach, in the bush and underwater).. My only leak so far has been my Equinox 600 with a bit of water getting into the battery compartment after I changed the battery.. Although it didn't flood, enough water got in for me not to trust it again as a scuba detector.. I'm weird like that but it's a rule I've stuck to after some past disasters with scuba instruments: If it leaks once, it'll keep leaking! I hope I haven't just jinxed the Deus II.. As with everything new, it's early days yet.. but so far it's been much deeper than I'd ever dare take the Equinox (it has also already spend much longer underwater).. My only gripe here is having to activate 'Dive Mode' manually underwater (at about 8 meters), I keep forgetting and have to go back up to set it.. In an utopian world it would activate automatically at a predetermined depth/pressure (like scuba instruments do).. But as far as the thing leaking during a dive, a major weight has been lifted from my shoulders.. It really has, the constant background noise of fretting about the detector leaking has completely gone.. Put simply: I trust it! Leaking is the last thing I worry about these days (which gives me more time to ponder what's gonna come at me next from out of the gloom)..

No kidding, as I'm finding out.. 😀 After 4 months of daily use, the Deus 2 still hasn't outperformed the Equinox: neither in finding anything the Equinox has missed, or being value for money because of its latest and greatest technology.. Call me old school but I like coils with cables and without flashing lights, fiddly antennas and recharging points.. It seems like there's always some Deus part being recharged.. For me, this sort of wireless technology doesn't add any value at all.. Also the long promised large coil (13x15'') remains a catalogue show-pony.. I hate to think how much they'd want for that baby once it's released - probably enough to buy two detectors.. So yeah, more fool me.. Its only saving grace is that it's a good scuba detector, not just because of its 20 metre waterproof rating but also its target ID.. this additional info is a great advantage over 'dig it all' PI scuba detectors..

This is not about which detector is better or worse (we've been down that path before).. I can tell the difference in audio and TID for both detectors on what is likely to be foil, that's not the point.. I'm saying it's too tempting not to dig a target which could be a gold ring, even when it's probably not.. Also the rings I'm finding are never the same size or thickness, they can be large and heavy or tiny and thin.. This makes for a huge range of audio and target IDs.. This is why I don't pay too much attention to the guides, in the real world it varies wildly.. when in doubt just dig it.. 😁

This also happens when digging embankments.. on a few occasions there's been a piece of foil higher up from where I was digging.. very frustrating until you work it out.. foil is evil.. 😬

An Easter egg hunt for the kiddies along a tropical beach might sound like great family fun, but it's my worst nightmare come true.. Not that I begrudge the kiddies their fun, just go have it somewhere else (or don't unwrap your eggs and eat them the moment you find them).. For weeks now I've been digging foil.. Every time I get my hopes up it's a gold ring.. It sounds good and the target ID doesn't jump about too much.. It's deep enough for a ring to have worked its way down into the sand over the weekend.. Even when I start digging I don't give up hope.. Maybe it's a small ring a lot shallower than I thought.. Oh, it's out of the hole already, the thing really is tiny.. Every time I go through this process only to find another bit of foil.. It's beyond heart breaking.. Even underwater you'd think that wave action, tides and currents would carry light foil pieces far away.. They don't.. There's a never ending supply of foil on land.. Maybe metal detector manufactures should concentrate less on iron filters and more on aluminium filters (if that's even possible without filtering out gold signals).. I'm sure that even in the bush or the desert, small pieces of foil can be a nightmare..

I wouldn't take it much deeper than 3 metres.. If you're after a vlf scuba detector that can go deeper, it's worth checking out the Deus II which stays waterproof to 20 metres.. although I've only taken mine to 16 metres, it does have a lot of submerged hours on it already (in seawater).. having said that, both my Equinoxes (600 and 800) also work hard and have never leaked even at 4-5 metres when I stray a bit deeper than intended.. As a scuba detector (as opposed to a wading detector), I'd go for the Deus II as I'm pretty sure the thing won't leak even when working it hard.. For a wading detector the Equinox is your best bet, it's bullet proof.. The Deus II is a flimsy thing and you're likely to loose your control box in heavy surf (it's easy to knock it off its perch underwater too).. The Deus II bone-phones are also rated to -20 metres..

The owner tried from another phone and it didn't ring through.. but the tracker was still working.. She's since contacted me again and it now seems the phone is on the mainland somewhere.. I'm as sure as can be that it's not where it's supposed to be on the island.. I've recovered phones using info from their trackers before and it's always worked, including a phone left on a bench at a bus stop.. The usual scenario is people telling me they've lost their ring 'somewhere on the island' or 'it must be in one of the four bays we visited'.. After narrowing it down together with her hubby, one lady came to the conclusion that she'd lost her ring in a hotel swimming pool.. she asked if I could check the filters.. but that's not the tragic part of this tale: she'd lost the ring thee months before! Needless to say a fair few recovery jobs don't turn out too great.. I find a lot of rings and jewellery that are never claimed.. I also check with the island police station to see if any of them turn up on their lost and found list.. It rarely does.. I'm always tempted to start melting them down into gold and silver nuggets.. and separating the stones for a jewel collection..

That's one of the many reasons I mourn its sad loss.. also for silver coins on beaches, no matter what program I'm running the Deus II, it's not finding anything the GPX or Equinox (or PulseDive) have missed.. I keep dreaming about the prospector I sold it to, hoping that he'll swap me back the GPX for the Deus II.. 😁

During the school holidays and Easter long weekend I've had a few recovery jobs.. Last night a lady on holiday from the UK contacted me on my Facebook page to ask if I could recover her phone.. She was back on the mainland but the phone tracker showed the exact location on the island.. I told her to send me a map and went to have a looksee early this morning.. The description couldn't be clearer: along the path next to the big water tank for Horseshoe Bay.. The gps coordinates pinpointed the exact spot.. You couldn't wish for an easier job.. especially as there was a vague promise of a $100 cash donation for my free services.. Anyway, I got to the spot where the phone was supposed to be and ended up using my detector as a rake.. After an hour of raking the slope where the phone was supposed to be and all around it, I still didn't find the thing.. I've let her know..

After only two months of use (using sound only) my dodgy non-vibrating bone-phones have packed it in.. They never vibrated and last week they stopped making any sound.. I've sent them off for a replacement and should have them back next week as it turns out the XP service centre for Australia is here in Queensland.. Hopefully the replacement vibrates like it's supposed to.. The people at Detect-Ed and XP were very helpful..

Thank you for these tests Cal_Cobra.. I'll be keen too see the salt sensitivity settings in action.. just as a quick guide to how they compare to those on the Deus II.. Compared to the Equinox as a scuba-detector I've found the addition of salt settings mighty useful in stabilising the detector underwater..

I couldn't find any other information on the frequencies used in these programs, yet alone the ratios.. So PimentoUK's post caught my interest.. But I'm not too worried about frequencies, I'm all about stability.. and the Deus II with its salt sensitivity settings and processing ability to filter out salt signals keeps it running pretty smooth.. Sure, it's just as 'crackly' underwater as the Equinox (I think of it as squelch) but the target signal stands out much better from the background.. It's not necessary to hunt the 'subtle whispers'.. For me, the Deus II already preforms its magic as a scuba-detector without having to find an even 'better' sweet-spot..

I just read this on another thread (Deus 2 May Be First Multi Freq Multi Freq Detector....) where PimentoUK talks about the frequencies at play in programs 10 (Diving), 11 (Beach) and 12 (Beach Sensitive).. Thanks PimentoUK.. P12 : Beach; all run at 8.08 kHz & 40.4 kHz, a 1:5 ratio. P11 : Beach; all run 8.08 kHz & 24.24 kHz, a 1:3 ratio. P10 : Dive; both run 4.76 kHz & 14.3 Khz, a 1:3 ratio ( not unlike the Fisher CZ range, but a different waveform shape ) It looks like P6 / P10 run a three-level waveform to reduce power consumption, obviously important for a coil with a small internal battery. How they process the freqs is of course the important bit.

I guess target ID would be too much to hope for? 😁 but if Nokta Makro made the PI detector as waterproof as their PulseDive, I'd definitely be interested.. and they should also hang onto the vibrating handle idea from the Legend..

Spotted this feel good story on ABC News this morning.. About a beach and scuba detectorist in the NSW Great Lakes region who reunites people with lost rings.. A great bloke! 😃 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-23/passionate-metal-detectorist-reunites-hundreds-of/13767142

This is Geoffrey Bay in 1926.. The line of trees along the beach are not there yet..

This is the location of the Silver Mine.. To be honest it's more of a Copper Mine if I include all the pennies, half-pennies and 1 and 2 cents in the total coin count.. It's only in this spot that I'm finding old silver coins and sometimes gold jewellery.. walk 20 metres left or right from this spot and there's no old coins to be found.. Where the Island's first guest once house stood is now a row of houses.. I've got all silver ware found here soaking in vinegar at the moment.. It's nothing like Phrunt's Cointopia but these coins give a great insight into the history of this place..

On the beach I'm sticking with the equinox for now, until XP bring out a larger coil.. but underwater the Deus II is working out just great..

Here's some old footage of Magnetic Island in 1926.. I spend a lot of time researching the island's history and rely on old films like these to work out the best places to hunt.. https://d2bx93w6kas18u.cloudfront.net/titles/roundtow/roundtow2_pr.mp4

These are some other bits of gold jewellery found at my Silver Mine.. They were found a couple of months apart.. The island's first guest house stood at this spot over a hundred years ago, which makes me think the gold jewellery I'm finding here is quite old (for Australia).. I usually find many silver coins here dating back to the first settlement of the region from the early 1870s onward..