RickUK

The main market for the TDI sl these days must be the beach and also deep hoard/relic hunting,as a nugget hunter for some reason its not that very popular.I use a TDI solely for deep hoard hunting here in the UK,infact i only use it with a large coil and in straight PI mode,for my needs the high/low target conductivity facility is just not used. If only Whites could have sorted out a battery setup that could be shipped world wide without any problems that are allied with the current Pro machines and also give some greater depth then that is the machine that most folks would buy rather than keeping a much 'tamer' version that folks dont really want. If folks are on a tight budget for a PI machine for nugget hunting and they have a choice between say a brand new TDI 'sl' or a 2nd hand Minelab then the latter option will win hands down,folks are buying the new super duper 7000 and then off loading a slightly lesser spec GPX but although it may be 2nd hand its performance will be far more superior than the 'sl' and even a wider coil selection as well. The trouble is that you basically stop production of the only model that may have competed against the other big players because of the battery problems that are allied with transportation but still kept in production the model that no one really wants. I have a TDI Pro machine and as mentioned above i use it solely for hoard hunting,would i have bought a 'sl' version the reply would be no way,the horrible 'S' shaped shaft and because of the limited battery life i would almost certainly go and buy a competitors machines,price does not really come int the equation but usability does and the 'sl' for the most part is neither a top pro nugget machine or infact it also lacks on beach use as well because its not waterproof,so folks do tend to go more for the added bonus of being waterproof in a wet enviroment just incase they drop the machine in the surf.

Its very nice seeing all the latest top machines from the top players in the detecting arena and of course the very clever 'slick' marketing,but for me i will be sitting on the sideline as usual,for me i use a tried and tested 12 month time duration before i even think about buying a new machine,this i feel gives me enough time to see if any design faults or glitches start appearing,and of course in recent years we have seen a few. Of course this is only how i make a buying decision on any new product and thus far its worked well for me,good luck for all those folks who are in the market for a new machine and may 2017 be the year you strike it lucky,if you dont strike it lucky just carry on enjoying detecting like we all do

Not sure if you have used or heard of 'Gary's Sifter' programme but its a slightly lower powered of his most popular 'Hot settings' which is based around the full tones audio,this lower powered version is much suited for trashy sites that i detect on,say like roman or saxon sites which i find using 'full ones' will drive me basically mental. What i find is when using version 2 i use a similar lower powered settings without loosing much depth but it copes with the trash better and uses 2 tones rather than full tones,by setting the 2nd iron tone at the right level,one can basically achieve a single tone machine that basically when you get a signal you dig all of them and trash/small iron all you get is a very low iron grunt that you leave.This suits my style of detecting much better than than having a massive amount of audio noise that i find drains me after a few hours. Hence this is the reason i use version 2,i am not knocking version 3.2 or anything like that,but i can adapt the Deus more too my detecting requirments but still basically keeping the same features that we are all familiar with the Deus.

I will stick with my preferred option version 2,have that installed in both of my machines,just personally like it over 3.2

Thanks for your reply,but i did mention that i ended up with the TDI Pro which does not have the 'S' shaped shaft,you are correct that it can be adapted by either using Whites components or aftermarket shafts too make it into a straight shaft. Even with a 20'' Jimmy Sierra coil on i can still swing the TDI for long periods of time,my preferred coils at the moment are the 7.5DF,Coiltek 14x9 Mono and the above mentioned 20'' coil,that basically does everything that i want from the machine,as my ground conditions for the most part are low mineralized then i run it in straight PI mode for the extra depth.

That is pretty amazing,looks like it will be the NEL coil and with the Tesoro/Laser great discrimination as well,will make a nice combination for trashy sites,i do use 4'' coil on a Laser B3 which i must admit is razor sharp on small targets but of course you dont get much ground coverage,so hence the reason for looking at a 5'' or the original option of the 5.75'' Tesoro coil.

Must admit i do like using my TDI Pro,i am not saying its perfect or its any better than any other brand,it does exactly what i want from a PI detector,had looked at getting the 'sl' version as i could have used my spare RNB batteries that i use for my DFX and IDX Pro,but it was that horrible and antiquated 'S' shaped shaft that made me go for the Pro version instead. For deep relic/hoard hunting the TDI certainly ticks all my boxes.

Thats very interesting,my main small 5'' coil that i use when the crops come off is the superb one made for my T2 in between the stubble rows,but this NEL 5'' coil could work very well also on my Trident 11 Extreme for trashy roman sites. Will give Regtons a ring tomorrow and see what they say, Thanks for starting the thread.

That is a stunning display of gold for sure,still never fathomed how they/you get the gold out of the rock to refine it,the nuggets are easy but its the gold in the quartz rock still baffles me,not sure if its just left for show purposes or they crush the rock or some other method. I had 'been' on both FaceAche and Twitter for a short time duration using a 'nom de plume' as they say,but security of personal information gave me no choice but delete my accounts,feel much happier about it as well.Another app that also concerned me was 'WhatsApp' as although they state its encrypted messages the concern for me was FaceAche selling or providing our details for advertising purposes,that fact alone made me delete my account within days of opening a account.

Steve,for the purposes that i use the TDI Pro and the 'non' specifically made Coiltek coil combination running in straight PI mode which i will add are for hoard hunting deep containers and not gold nuggets,then i will 'disagree' with you.As the combination is ideally suited for my needs.The Commander coil may not be the best coil but once again it does for the occasions that i require it. But i wont labour my conclusion on the 'non' specifically made Coiltek,i shall continue using this combination,we dont all need GPZ machines with large 19'' super hernia coils on for hoard hunting here in the UK,infact i can only recall one of these machines being bought but was sold on straight away,the TDI Pro or these days the 'sl' version are superb machines for UK beach and hoard hunting,these are the right tools and coil combinations 'for' our enviroment. If i was a dedicated nugget hunter in Aussieland or Nevada then i would get the best tool for the job,i also use Nexus deep seeking machine which being a VLF machine does have full discrimination and totally compliments the TDI. So what i am saying is you use the machines for your detecting enviroment and targets which is gold in it raw state,i use a totally different machine/s for my quest which is also gold but ideally Celtic gold coins its just gold in a different format and different enviroment,so i use the best machines that i see fit for the job and my skill set (which is far from novice skill set i may add) in this case the TDI Pro with and one of the coils that i use is the Coiltek.

@GB_Amateur,you are correct you could use that option and pack the coil out,but as luck would have it i had a couple of new spare bottom rods from when i use to use my old Minelab Musketeer,and they worked a treat without buying any additional Whites rods.

Its nothing really new,have been using a brand new Coiltek 14x9 Mono coil on my TDI Pro for most of this year,it was of course designed for the GPX range of detector but works exceptionally well on the TDI. Only thing that one has too do is use a Minelab bottom rod on the TDI as the lags are slightly wider,i also use the 15x12 Commander coil and a 18'' Detech both are Mono coils and once again they all work well. Also use Miner John made coils but with the Jimmy Sierra labels on them,10x6 folded Mono and the big fella the 20'' Grande Sierra Mono,all of these work well,the MJ made ones of course are specifically made for the TDI range,but the coils including Minelab branded coils and aftermarket coils that are made for the GPX/GP range also work very well,i will add that they dont work the other way around ie coils made for the TDI wont work on the GPX machines. When Jimmy Sierra closed shop earlier in the year most of his branded coils for the TDI came up for sale on Ebay,all brand new but at crazy low prices,so hence this is why i snagged a few of them,even with shipping costs from the US over to the UK,the brand new 20'' coil which was specifically made for the TDI,which cost about $500 without shipping i bought mine for $160 including shipping the smaller coil was even much cheaper. Thats good news about Coiltek becoming official suppliers,what i love about my 14x9 is that its foam filled which makes it as light as a much smaller coil,only down side being foam filled you cannot use it in the surf as it wants too float lol

If money is not a issue then i guess getting the best would be seen as a wise move,'but' on its own a detector does nothing,even if you switch it on it still nothing,it wont find any more gold because you have the best machine on the planet,its the skill and knowledge of the operator that makes it works its magic and not the detector.A skilled operator would be able to operate and find gold with even a very cheap detector. What i would say is that if you are at the pinnacle of gold nugget hunting then i would totally agree that the best tools for the job would be the GPX,GPZ and SDC,but just by buying the best tool for the job does not take you too the pinnacle of nugget hunting. I dont mind holding my hand up and saying that i dont have a clue about hunting for gold in its original form,and i really admire the folks on this forum 'who' are at the pinnacle of the game,but its not instant success for them,its been learnt over many years in some cases decades for them,my forte is more towards pasture and farm land and i of course use the best machines and tactics for here in the UK,which once again has taken me a long time to lern. What ever machine option you choose i wish you all the best in this superb pastime of ours.

Garrett Pro Pointer and Whites BullsEye11,also the SunRay inline probe on the DFX,but that is a unique probe for that machine.

Its a very unusual find,probably a 'Chinese' copy

Wow,thats a rare find for sure,never found one here in the UK, apart from gold coins,but had been looking at getting one of the 6'' coils for my TDI Pro as well,i do have the 7.25 DF coil but if a 6'' MJ one came along at the right price i may seriously look at buying one.I did buy a few coils made by MJ earlier in the year when he had a massive sale on,but the 6'' coil was not in the sale. What type of ground did you find the nugget ?? near a river or on say normal farm land,would be interesting to find out the locations that one could find these possible nuggets. Well done on a rare find

RR,is it just deeper or better all round ??

No not tried the DD coil,am wondering if i have ordered the wrong coil and should have gone for the WS rather than the Concentric one,think i may cancel it and go for the WS option. Thanks for your input on that one.

RR,have a Trident11 Extreme from Dave at Pentecnics,just ordered a 5.75 Concentric coil for it for trash sites,its a nice light weight machine.

Welcome 'Regis the Thames Mudlarker' and a fine chef as i understand as well,did you go too the XP weekend ?? What is the main machine that you use on the Thames foreshore these days,the Tesoro with the 4'' coil was mainly the weapon of choice then a few tried the Deeptech Vista Gold with the 5'' coil.

I bought the TDI Pro predominately for deep hoard/relic hunting here in the UK,so i also geared up with a selection of larger than stock size coils,and this does work very well and of course the occasional use on the beach and a couple of highly mineralized inland sites that a normal VLF machines just wont work on. The TDI does exactly as i wanted it for deep work,but when using it with smaller coils ie 7.5DF,MJ 9x5 folded mono and stock coils when i tried coin shooting and after say 6 months of trying,i came too the conclusion that although its possible it was not the best machine for the job,it was not a enjoyable experiance altering the setting to run smoothly and then decided that after making headway i would just carry on using it for hoard hunting and beach work,this excels at. So basically for everyday use or coin shooting the VLF option was so much easier and also less stressful,the TDI does have uses and these days i just use the raw power and run it in straight PI mode,this then does everything that i want and basically what it is best suited for. If i want real depth on say single coins or large deep items with real discrimination then i bring out the Nexus SE too play,that not only gives me the same depth as the TDI and possibly even deeper when using the dual 9'' coil but with real discrimination then its a no brainer which machine to use. As Steve often quotes 'Use a VLF when you can and a PI when you must' i have come to the exact same conclusion,but only after using the TDI for detecting scenarios it was not designed for,it is a very adaptable machine but does have some limitations like any detector,so once you find out its limits or what it was not designed for then use it accordingly.But when you do use it for what it was designed for then its a pleasure to use. Of course we all use a machine differently and i dont nugget hunt as i live in the UK,but it is the right tool for the job when hoard hunting in pasture land,then all it takes is one decent find which could pay for its keep many times over.

It makes no odds in my mind how good it looks spec wise on paper,the single thing that makes this a no go project and a faller at the 1st hurdle is its just front wheel drive,the vehicle was designed not only for simplicity but roughed terrain being a 4 wheel mule if you like,but without that all important 4 wheel drive it will not sell many if at all. The project 1st came to folks attention in 2013 but 3 years down the line its still not sold any,it will just fade away and be forgotten about.

I also have a copy of the book 'Inside the Metal Detector' a very indepth read and for the most part all the information goes over my head,but can understand the logic behind most of what is written.Both the writers of the book are in the top league in detecting design and knowledge. On a different note,i own one of the original Crossbow classic PI machines built by George Overton,only 13 original machines have ever been built,he is the co writer of the above book.So these detectors are very rare machines.

That is about as agricultural as you can get,it may be in theory cheap,but as it only has front wheel drive would be about as much use for detecting as a inflatable dartboard,you can pick up say a cheap 4x4 like a Suzuki and have reliable transport.

The Deus is my everyday use machine,it did take a little while and many hours to master,but once the penny drops then its a very adaptable and light machine,i have mine mounted on a Golden Mask 5 shaft and it just finishes the setup off completely !! Regarding having additional detectors,i currently have 18 of them and 45 coils these cover most of my various site scenarios here in the UK,some are old time classic's that have served me well and i just like using them. I am out all day tomorrow on a roman villa site and will take about 3 detectors and a few coils just incase,nothing worst than driving some distance and then finding that the only detector that you bought with you has decided too play up,so i always have a few backups. Is it a addiction ?? they dont have pockets in shrouds and you cannot take it with you,so i enjoy myself to the full while i am alive.