Erik Oostra

I'm comparing them to hearing aids applying the same principle, with these bone-phones there's no vibration at all, at least that I can feel.. 😁 I also can't hear them on the cheek bone, I need to wear them nearly in the ear.. In wild and woolly beach conditions I'll probably wear them on the ears, and underwater half-on.. I'm trying them out on full volume and the lowest possible tones.. So far they work as normal cheap headphones, although for the price (AU$ 150 + $9 postage) I expected the singing and dancing, bells and whistles variety (like XP promised in the brochure).. 😬

Like anything XP, they're like a toy.. they reminded me of a kid's stethoscope to play doctors and nurses.. and for all XP's bragging about being the first to introduce bone conduction headphones for metal detecting, so far the new technology isn't working for me.. if they are supposed to vibrate I can't feel a thing.. maybe I'm unlucky and have received a pair of non-vibrating bone-phones.. so far all I've got is a pair of cheap and nasty looking headphones.. Nonetheless, cheap looking or not, they do work! and I should be able to hear them underwater.. 😁

The bone-phones are here! Not looking good for the Wireless detector, the Deus II has just sprouted a whole tangle of them..

That's what I've been wondering about.. how much black sand qualifies as a 'black sand' beach? my beaches are all like this, and in some bays there's a thick black sand layer.. I'm always digging into it on deeper targets.. you could be right about the same results for both detectors, it's what I'm used to.. 😁

Here's a pic of the little ring.. although it hasn't got a any mark, both detectors tell me it's silver.. 😁

Thanks Stalker, I normally don't have that much trouble finding the target.. I know a scoop would've helped but it's just another thing to drag around the beach.. my hands were already full with two detectors and the camera to film these tests.. 😁

For any frequency-junkies out there, I'm running the Equinox on Beach 1 (sensitivity 22).. and the Deus II is on the Beach Sensitive program, tuned into whatever sensitivity/salt settings etc. are at play in this program.. 😬 As you can see, the Beach Sensitive program on the Deus II is very busy taking into account my local beach and sea conditions / today's tides / EMI variables / saltwater 'static' / probability of shark or crock attack / space alien interference / ever-moving targets / a very inexperienced user / etc.. and deserves to be given a fair go in your own beach tests.. but IMHO the Nox-Lite sucks.. Equinox you rock my beach.. 😮

on the beach they're not too much of a worry.. hopefully I'll see them coming before they get to me.. underwater is a different story.. 😬

now you've got me worried about them too.. 😬

The only clue the manual gives on it needing a cable adapter for the bone-phones is tucked away on the bottom of page 35.. And you're spot on about them not being included, not only the hassle of multiple orders but the costs of it all..

I'm using the 11" coil.. It's also becoming a bit of a bugbear, along with the target ID display (but I won't rehash that one again, see previous posts).. But I haven't chanced my mind one inch on the coil: the Deus II needs a bigger coil.. I've seen them in the brochures but not on the market.. XP stop teasing us! You're only hurting yourself and will never compete with Minelab if you keep this up! On the Equinox I use both the ML 13x15" and the Coiltek 15'' coils underwater.. Bigger coils underwater might not be everyone's cup of tea (and I do use a 11''), but I don't have much trouble using them.. Sure, they are harder to drag around and weigh a tonne.. But for me, the advantage of greater coverage and depth outweigh those factors.. IMHO there's really no great difference to dragging a 11" coil through the water compared to a 15" - both are hard work.. I also like the larger coils for underwater use because they weigh down the detector just where you need it, on the nose.. The Deus II is very 'floaty' when you put it down to fan or dig, it wanders away from you.. the Equinox's heavier coils stay where you've put them, right at hand to scan the hole again if needed.. This might all be small fry complaints or just another rant, but when I think I've got a good target it sucks not having your tool right there where you left it.. 😬

they should be here early next week.. 😁

Great story on illegal gold mining.. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-latin-america-60236777

or equal.. that's what I've found so far.. maybe one day I'll get as attuned to the Deus II as I am with the Equinox and I'll find out that its multi-frequency ranges and processing really make a difference on my beaches.. I use both detectors on the beach everyday, so I'm continually comparing them.. When I find a likely target with one I compare what the target ID says and what it sounds like with the other.. this is how I've been getting to know the Deus II.. Both detectors can find the same targets no matter how small or deep, neither one of them can find something the other one can't.. Again, this is on my beaches and yours will be different.. 😁

Can anyone hear the Deus II in the last video? or any of the others?.. It's on full volume in 3 tones.. The camera's sound recorder can't hear it either (or maybe I can't hear it when playing back the video).. 😬 I can hear myself breathing..

I thought I'd post this vid from today's dive with the Deus II while the internet is back on.. I'm sorry I'm not getting back to some of you as fast as I'd like.. a patchy internet is always a bit of a nightmare during the wet season..

I'm ashamed to say I don't.. 😬

Thanks Joe.. That's why the Deus II is my scuba detector, for the beach my Foxy Noxy will always reign supreme.. 😁 or until I fall madly in love with the Deus's target display..

This is what NASA-Tom found during his Equinox testing: If you were to run Beach Mode-2 at the Sensitivity settings of Beach Mode-1...... there would be a very marked performance loss. Beach Mode-1 is quite a bit more sensitive than Beach Mode-2. You always 'drive' Beach Mode-1 to its highest allowable 'stable' level.... to maximize performance (which is usually around 20/21). When you switch over to Beach Mode-2..... it is much more 'tame' (lame)......and less reactive to the wet salt. SOOOOoooooooo....... in order to 'gain back' what you have lost.,.,.,.,.,.,., the added stability of Beach Mode-2 then requires you to drive the Sens setting up TO the level of (just-shy-of) 'slightly chatty' peak performance. . . . . . which is a Sens setting of 23/24. He also says that Beach 1 is more unstable when you are fully submerged.. This differs from what I've found but I've always compared the two Beach modes on the same sensitivity settings as an indicator of the detector's stability.. It somehow seemed like an unfair comparison otherwise if you were to change the sensitivity settings.. 😬 It's been a steep learning curve..

Sorry Jeff, just saw you mentioned this before..

Didn't know that.. but how low is low? Is there much difference? In my experience Beach 1 runs stabler than Beach 2 underwater.. I can't explain why, it's just what I've noticed with my detector.. maybe the higher frequencies in Beach 1 are still low enough for it to run stable in seawater (unlike those of the Deus II Beach programs)?

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..

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.. 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..