F350Platinum

@palzynski, I hope I'm not misunderstanding your question for Jeff above and hope he will answer. I've had the 13x11 coil since it first came to the USA, I was literally one of the first to use it. I bought the 11" while waiting, didn't like it much then, and honestly save for it being a blessing while recovering from a shoulder dislocation, I still don't like the 11". It allowed me to stay out there longer and stays a bit more rigid on the SteveG shaft coil yoke, but that's where it ends. Who knows, I may have bought a defective 11", it finds stuff just fine and is slightly more accurate locating a target, but it is characteristically not as good as the 13x11". I can say with almost complete certainty that the 11" gives false high tones on iron far more than the 13x11. I will also assert that the 13x11 separates targets much better than the 11". I'm not a scientist so I can't tell you why. Again it could be that I have a defective 11" coil, but I'm seeing this posted more lately now that others have invested in the 13x11. Depending upon how I have audio response adjusted, I've hit US dimes (17.91mm) at depths that seem ridiculous for a VLF, 5 scoops or more on the beach which is about as deep as I want to dig. In the field my 11" long Ranger digger takes a big plug out, and I've found them in the bottom of the hole. If I recall posts from engineers regarding coil size and shape with respect to depth, I believe there is a "sweet spot" in coil size and shape where depth is at maximum and my results in the field and beach tell me that other than the Xtrem Hunter, XP isn't going to give us another coil. 🤣 Were I to do it all over, I'd have just the 9" and the 13x11", I'm keeping the 11" as a backup if I forget to charge the larger coil and often bring it with me on another lower to use if I get tired. At US $400 each no matter the size, the 13x11 is the best value for the money if you already have the 9".

Thanks, I appreciate the nod. 🙂 I've dug 2 gold rings now over a year in massive expanse of farm, the first on V0.71 and the second small one on V2. I've also found a couple in brackish water with some black sand and other minerals when I decided to get serious and put the waders on. Each one caused an unquestionable and solid response. I wish I could describe it. It's no accident I found them because they were there. 😏 If I get a faint 89/90 while on the beach, I am 90% certain I am going to dig a US clad dime at anywhere from 6" to 12" deep. 91 to 93 and it's going to be a US clad Quarter. I have found probably 30 or more this past year. 94 and up is a toy 🤣, but I've seen this response for larger silver coins too. The best and probably sometimes frustrating setting on the Deus 2 is Audio Response, they widened this parameter for V2. As a low setting it will indicate depth, and as a high setting it will increase the volume of a deep target. It can also increase EMI sensitivity, it's a value that commands attention from time to time. From my perspective having a detector that is reliably waterproof is a bonus, and I have used the WS6 in water as well. Some of the best "rural engineering" is well documented here on DP Forum. 🙂 I do not mind switching the detector from "relic mode" in the fall to "water mode" in the summer. That's how my year is. A couple zip ties and off I go, they get clipped off in the fall. Since I purchased the machine I have knocked the remote off maybe twice, and since I bought custom remote locking devices and a custom shaft from SteveG, I have little to no problem with the detector falling over or rolling down a beach slope even with the 13" elliptical on it, or remote issues if I'm careful to attach it properly and leave it on when charging. When an attachment knob or shaft lock wears out, I'm ready with spares. They are cheap and plentiful. I'm aware you are in New Zealand so some aftermarket items and replacement parts may be hard or costly for you to get. I don't do any prospecting nor generally care about tiny stuff, but Colonel Dan has reinforced my claims about that. 😀 I'm hoping my test will influence a depth investigation, personally I prefer to be out looking for real stuff in real places, and mostly finding as much as I can is a bit more fun than disciplined documentation. 🙄

Thanks, Okara. 🙂 Yep only 3 years, but I've found more than I ever thought I would, and it seems to get better all the time probably because I'm getting better at it. 😅 I'm also getting great places to look. I mentioned in my original post I thought I'd never top a 1607 hammered silver, but I did. 🤯 Wish I could show the detail but out of respect for the family and caution, I can't. It is really unbelievable. If you look at 18th and 17th century cast mourning rings you will get an idea anyway. There is a band of land through the state that has gold, but I'm not anywhere near it. I'm on the Eastern side near the Chesapeake Bay, one of the first areas in the country that was settled by the English. This peninsula has many endowments to prevent development, so it's still mostly farms. This is the second gold ring I've found in a farm, the first was over 150 years old and looks like it was made yesterday. Gold jewelry does very well in the ground here but some silver and lesser metals like bronze and copper do not. Almost 400 years of farming will do that. 🙂

Thanks UKD2, I am only slightly aware of Mr. Dankowski, and that's only seeing mentions on this forum. 🤔 I've long followed my "own nose" so to speak. 😀 My goal here is simply to help dispel myths and give those who are on the fence about updating some firm ground to land on the other side 😅 There is no substitute for accurate documentation, but in the absence of that, speculation abounds, either good or bad. Putting some hard data behind speculation has put my mind at ease, since I've been doing a lot of speculating 😏 I'm not out to shame others into updating, there have been valid reasons not to, and I wish those users well. Comparing my new custom programs to the old ones was really informative. XP went out of the way to make a good detector much better, but I haven't seen much to support it. I think that is primarily the reason others have not updated as it serves them well as is. My thought is fear that earlier versions may be dropped, but so far you can roll back to anything you want.

Apparently it is a Federal Marine Corps button from the 1830s. Chase got me in the ballpark of the 1850s, and additional searching got me the name and the era in more than one place, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it. 😎 Chase had dug a larger one a few miles down the road. 😀 As to the Reaper, I'm pretty close to a new version on V2, far more conservative and accurate, but it's all out mayhem with no disc or notch. Geologyhound posted something that jogged my memory regarding iron grunts with good coins, and I recall that behavior as well both on the beach and in the field. It's still a work in progress. 🙂

Thanks Rattlehead, your caution is justified. 🙂 Looking forward to your input! 👍 It was quite odd to hear the old program sounding exactly the same under the new operating system. Since none of the ID's and tones were too far off, I almost forgot which version I was using 🤪 For fun and extra laughs I also compared my newer V2 version of the Reaper to the old one, and there I really got the difference. I now know for a fact that I prefer the tones in High Square over Square, it sounds like a mashup of PWM and Square, giving you a lot more tonal expression. The old Reaper sounds like an Equinox save for an up/ down tone on some junk. I don't use Offset Full tones, but crank audio filter to 5 to get even more distortion in the sound when not over a "pure" target, it helps a bit. I'm also wide open at disc -6.4 because iron is my friend during endless walking through huge fields. If there's nothing to bump, there's... Nothing, and I want to find the iron patches. All my latest tweaks have come simply from finding an iffy target and fiddling with settings to get the truth out of it. I save that stuff. 🙂

Wow, how did I miss the Uptah Camp Updah? 🤔 Looks like a great and fun year to me. 👍 My whole summer was digging junk, toys, and not much silver, then I got serious and got in the water. Stuff happens, dislocated my shoulder before the last planned gold trip. No matter, got some anyway. 😎 Streamlight flashlights are great, I have a few, and gave some out as Christmas presents to the folks that put up with me as boss. Entertaining story as usual man, my condolences for your loss. I hope 2024 is a great one for ya Matey 🏴‍☠️

Thanks Colonel, I really don't like testing. It was a chore to do this in 40 degree weather with a wind. 😀 But you're right, there are so many new parameters you can change that only make the experience better. My new custom stuff does a much better job overall.

Nice hunt Ghound! First of all, what version are you on? As to the coins, on V2 I've been noticing that a bit, I've heard a low tone with a great coin now and again, but if I get over 50% positive signals, I'll dig it anyway. Your pistol appears to have some markings on it, at best it's a toy, and at worst it may still have ammunition in it, so don't go banging it around. 😬 🤣 You got a brass ring, silver, and old coins, a great bit of detecting by any standard. 👍 I'd like to see some better photos of the pistol, mostly likely it's in the 22-25 caliber range.

Here we go! 🥳 We had a big rain yesterday while the rest of the Northeast got a big snowstorm. The last few years we have had mild winters here, I'm hoping the trend continues. Yesterday I rolled my brand new remote and one pair of WSA II headphones back to V0.71 to prepare for this test, I ended up using my old Relic Reaper program that was very successful on V0.71. I put it on the older remote that is on V2, it was difficult because I had to turn off any parameter that didn't exist previously like Audio Filter and Offset Full tones, I set them to 0, so the program was as close to the same as it could be. My methodology was fairly simple, I grid searched a portion of the field out in front of my house. My first pass was with V2, I flagged every target that produced a tone other than mostly iron and recorded the IDs. I then went back with the other remote and a second pair of headphones on V0.71, digging each target and noting its ID and depth. The soil in this field, like nearly every other permission I have, has no mineralization. There is little sense in telling anyone what my settings were, it was my old successful relic program based on General, today I needed moisture subtraction especially because it rained yesterday and the field was muddy. I will give up a couple settings however, Sensitivity was at 98 and Reactivity was 0. Maybe extremes for some places but here the machine runs quiet, both remotes ground balanced to 78. There is no EMI. I flagged 9 targets, and got tired of it. I figure that was a pretty decent sample and it wasn't getting any earlier in the day, rain storms passed by frequently. Ok, here's the spreadsheet of results, and then I'll give my impressions. Here's the stuff I dug: All junk at least to me. Tack studs are everywhere, as are percussion primers, shotgun shells, lead and can slaw. I know how old this area is. 🤣 My post in another thread mentioned that Id be looking for ID changes, increased sensitivity overall, and bump sensitivity. Previously I tested my new unit and my old unit with the same V2 program, so I'm confident that no hardware was changed perceptibly, and I used the 13" coil both times on the same shaft made by SteveG, just swapped the remote. ID CHANGES ID changes can be seen above, IDs are definitely tighter on V2. The scale is different, observations of myself and others here are that some coin IDs changed, but for this I noticed/noted a difference overall. It's right there in the table. 🙂 ID is a hard thing to nail down, with V0.71 there were way more unstable spreads, I took the spread that was repeatable - what any detectorist would use to decide whether to dig or not. INCREASED SENSITIVITY I'm very sure sensitivity was increased across all programs, again the table reflects weak and unstable ID's. Sometimes the target at the same sensitivity (98) was strong with V2 and not with V0.71. the next observation takes this a step further: BUMP SENSITIVITY The last thing I noticed between the two versions is a definite increase in bump sensitivity. I'm detecting in corn stalks. Under V0.71 it was barely perceptible, I found today I could hit the ground and stalks, and barely/rarely hear bump tones, either high or low. Under V2 bump sensitivity is much greater. At Sensitivity 98 which is what I used to use all the time here, you'd be like "well, duh", but it's there all the way down to 87 which is about as low as I'll go. CONCLUSION I am really glad I have borne the slings and arrows of upgrading to V2. With the addition of High Square Audio, Audio Filter and Offset Full tones, Frequency limiting, expanded range on Audio Response and other improvements, there is no reason for me to hold onto the past or my old programs for that matter. The bump sensitivity may be a concern to others, but with increased overall sensitivity and tighter ID's I'm sure it can be worked around. I don't bury coins in my yard, so someone else will have to bear the depth mantle. The D2 has always hit stuff as deep as a VLF will go. These are live objective results in a live environment - my environment. Take this report for what it's worth to you. 🙂 What did I get for all this work? When setting up my grid flags I dug this snappy button: Cleaned up: HTH, GL, HH 🍀

Thanks Cap, Looks like we both did well on our first hunts of the year! I sure wasn't expecting it.

You really "nailed" that one. 🤣 Great report, I find the same thing going on so I bump bottle caps setting to 3, makes most but for the hardest forged and curved nails go full iron on a turn. I still get a few, the fields are loaded with shoe nails from animals and old houses. If I'm really in the thick of it I'll go to 5, at that point what do I have to lose? Big nor'easter coming today, going to get the new remote rolled back and programmed. I'll probably have to wait until the high winds dry up the surface, probably by Monday. Edit: Gotta add for those unfamiliar with the Deus 2, the shortcut buttons are well documented in the literature, but not as prominently as one would hope. I run into noise often especially with underground power lines, so I caught the hotkeys early on. They call it "Automatic Frequency Scan".

Nice find! Looked for it with the conventional methods, got nothing. Looks almost like a custom challenge coin from a prospecting group? 🤔 Got some dimensions? BTW I have some something similar. I'm not particularly superstitious but put 4 leaf clovers on my gear. Started with a cast pin sent to everyone in my "group".

Thank you Gerry! I've only got 3 years into this hobby. I'm in a place that has great potential, many hundreds of acres to search in many very old farms. Purely random spectacular finds seem to be my specialty 😅 but they reinforce my suspicion I'm doing well often enough to keep me out there looking. I'm beginning to feel much less than a novice now that I'm used to the Deus 2. I appreciate your assessment and encouragement. 🙂

Thanks strick, You might have missed the part above where I wrote that the inscriptions tie the ring to the original settlers that established the farm. 🤔 There's a lot of genealogy to wade through, 300 years of it! 😅 I'm pretty sure it was commissioned by a family member who then lost it while out on the farm. Sad all around, really. 😢

I think you will be very happy with V2. I'll try to get this test done very soon, doing Christmas cleanup right now 😅 Not going to hide the opinion that some programs might require a little re-tweaking, but over time I've got a program for General that I'm very satisfied with now, and also a reliable beach program. As the good Colonel wrote you will also find a lot more small stuff. 🙂 Really small stuff.

Thanks NC, I do have a test kit, but I'll leave this one to the experts. 😅 It commands proper and responsible conservation, and it will get it. 🙂 Got a buddy who used to grace this forum that I've found is a reliable source of info and has the uncanny ability to tell gold quality among other things from a mere photo. He speculates that it may be 24k+. It's tiny but weighs almost 2 grams.

Thanks VL, Rest assured all measures are underway to see that an object of such significance is properly conserved, and legacy well considered. 🙂

The ring was a shock many times, first I thought I'd found a gold coin, then I thought it might be a wedding band, then I found it was a lost mourning ring. 🤯 as old as it could be for the most part. I'm sure there are more things to find, this was pretty much in the middle of the field, a completely random find. I'm sure it was lost while horse riding or through some other activity. 🙂 The Zincoln was found very close to the road that passes by the farm, it was probably thrown from a vehicle.

Nice coin kac! 👍 I too like the fancy button, you sure have some nice places to hunt. I do remember the terrain up there though, it must be difficult sometimes. 🤔

Thanks Compass, Each ring like that is one of a kind, with specific information. In the 1700s it had to be made by a craftsman at probably great cost, as SoHn wrote. Luckily there are many "bucket listers" I have yet to find 😅 This was pretty unexpected.

Thanks! They are one of a kind, I'd like to know the gold content. It looks cast. It weighs 1.7g and is a woman's size, research says they were worn on the smallest finger. Mourning rings fell out of fashion after WW1.

It certainly is. Considering you have 10+ or more times the metallic history than exists in the USA (with the exception of native creations using copper), it must be difficult at times to identify finds. Congratulations go to you for saving history! 👏 More good luck to you.

Thanks TBB, It's one of those great things about gold that make our day when we find stuff made of it. Any details are still as they were, even gold coins that have been in the sea for 500 years look great for the most part. 🙂 It is quite the casting! It clearly identifies the remembered individuals. I've only been relic detecting for 3 or so years, and this is the second gold ring I've found in the middle of a big field. First one was a 14k gold band at least over 150 years old. With minimal cleaning it looks brand new. The hike yesterday was a little under 4 miles in 5.5 hours. I guess that is similar to some of my beach hunts. 🤔

Thanks kac, I did search the dirt I dug out, looks like the stone separated from the ring long ago, the clasp is mangled. Could be anywhere.