F350Platinum

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.

Heh, a little over 3 years. 😀 Started with a Garrett Ace 400 after a roof replacement to find nails, checked the yard and started finding colonial relics. In the summer we travel to beach locations on the East Coast, so I'm a beach hunter then. It's been quite a wild ride.

I just got through posting here recently that I'd never top some of my finds of 2023, but I guess I did. 🤯 I dug something so unique and interesting, and got such a rush from its discovery I feel I have to share it. I waited until today to see how I felt about it. Please forgive the lack of specific detail and understand I'm detecting in a place I have permission to and have the current landowner's permission to appropriately preserve the relics I find taking into consideration their significance and potential ties to the original landowners or local area history. It was supposed to be a fairly warm and windless day yesterday, so I decided to go to one of my permissions and detect parts of it that I have not been over. Deer Hunting season is almost over, and it was really quiet, I didn't see a single hunter anywhere. Ground conditions are perfect, enough moisture to keep the ground loose and easy to dig. I first hunted the "beer zone" and "turn zone" of the field, and in almost 4 hours I got some small bits of aluminum, a Zincoln, and a very nice button with a shank as you'll see. Then I decided to go a little further into the field, got another button, what I think is a lead weight, and some odd piece of metal with a loop in it. Upon finding that odd piece of metal, it occurred to me to circle around it, and I'm glad I did. I want to preface this find with some advice, don't ever think you're cool bypassing buck balls, on the Deus 2 the ID is about 55-62 depending upon composition. Just like pull tabs at the beach, you will miss some incredible stuff if you're not digging buck balls from any century. Most of the balls in my area come up white indicating they are really old. So are some other things, like the ~300 year old gold ring I found. It was a 58 on the Deus 2 with the 13" coil, about 4-6" deep. It came out as a ball of dirt with a shiny gold strip in the center, at first I thought I had found a gold coin because the edge looked reeded but it was much more than that. I carefully picked the dirt away, and when the dirt fell out I was shocked. Upon closer inspection and help from friends, the ring is likely a Lost Wax cast with names and dates, the stone is missing but from researching history (and listening to my wife 😀) it was quite possibly a black stone called "Jet". I looked through the dirt and could not find it. The setting is mangled so it could be anywhere, sadly lost forever. Turns out it is a "Mourning ring", a classic way to memorialize relatives dating back hundreds if not thousands of years. The dates on the ring put it at about 300 years old and the inscription ties the find directly to some of the original Colonial landowners of the permission. Here's the total haul, 3 buttons, a lead weight, a few tack studs, and the metal thing with the loop that prompted me to look more next to the weight. The coin next to the Zincoln is a wheat, too crusty bother with finding a date. Here's the trash, not even a handful. Even got a Revolutionary war Pull Tab! 🤣 This is truly saving history and I am taking the appropriate steps to preserve it for the benefit of future generations so the local history of these properties won't be lost or forgotten. Good start to the year!

Meh, that one is on you 😀, I did notice some small instability, but you have a lot more experience there, and I don't think I have a as much of it here as you do. 👍 I call attention to my last paragraph particularly, but hey it'll probably be 4 more years until there's a D3 so we have to have something to talk about 🤣

Welcome! Gotta say you wrote a unique intro. 👏 I'm not going to recommend a detector to you (yet), first some questions: You write that you want the detector to be simple to operate, easy enough to handle by someone that is not one of "you kids" (I'm 64 BTW), and you want the whole "find of a lifetime" experience from just turning on the machine. 🤔 I've got a solid 3+years into this hobby (read "rabbit hole"), and have dug quite a few finds of a lifetime, but that's a long tale which incidentally is all here. 🙂 What sort of detecting do you wish to do? Relic detecting in farms or on old properties, Jewelry/coin detecting in parks, salt beach detecting, water detecting, even gold prospecting? I see you're in Kentucky, that is a pretty good relic and freshwater region of the USA, lots of old stuff and lakes, streams and such. Where do you plan to spend the most time Detecting? Do understand that you will need to be familiar with detecting laws, and a great place to start is here: https://www.mdhtalk.org/articles/legal-to-detect/law.htm It's a brilliant website that covers it all. Another bit of advice I can give you before you get going is to consider that if you do make incredible discoveries, this hobby can become time consuming and obsessive to the point that it causes dissent in your family. If your spouse is a saint like mine, it won't be as bad. 😀 There are many possibilities available, but you're not going to be immediately successful the minute you go out the door. You will quickly find that there is no detector out there that is 100% successful, you will have to learn it first and also have to learn to laugh at your foibles instead of throwing it as far as you can. Good luck, and Happy hunting. 🍀

I'll give it a go. Specifically what I'll be looking for: ID changes Increase in overall sensitivity Bump sensitivity And of course anything else that appears 😀 Here's what I have perceived in this transition: Coin IDs, particularly US 1 cent coins with their different compositions changed, and a slight shift in Dime ID. Overall IDs seem to have become "tighter", and more consistent. When I changed versions overall depth seems to have increased, and locating very small items was much more frequent, as Colonel Dan mentioned above. When I got out Relic hunting in the fall, I noticed increased bump sensitivity on stalks and stubble, and also noticed contour or maybe black sand sensitivity in the water before that. Enough to mention it. I'm not looking to bash the D2, or expose any sort of subterfuge, heck I think no other detector will do for me at present after a long time studying others' remarks about other new machines here. I just want to be able to clearly identify anything I've speculated on in as controlled a manner as possible, and have the resources for live trial a few steps from my door. I also have 2 WS6 units now, no better time to try that as well. 🙂 In a way the whole thing is moot, simply moving forward and dealing with perceived undocumented changes is the path we all have to tread these days with program updates (think cell phones, computers, watches etc.), but hey I'm retired and have the time to fool with it. 🤪 I don't think there will be a Deus 3 soon, but I do expect older versions to become unavailable.

Thanks for the report Colonel, I'm pleased to see that others are observing differences that may not be documented. The timeline of releases was such for me that certain nuances weren't perceptible until where I was hunting changed. I've followed the versions as they came out, and only having one RC unit and one WS6 until this past November made some transitions difficult at best. Not from an updating experience, but experience in the field. All updates were relatively smooth. As it stands now, after many sessions where I tweaked parameters during live hunts, I'm extremely pleased with V2 over the older versions. When I think about it the environments I hunted in did not change, but the way the detector worked did, and did so to sometimes an uncomfortable degree. I've already compared my two V2 RC's in the same environment with the same program and found there to be no additional fear of hardware differences, so that concern is out of the way. Maybe some took that for granted but I didn't. Now I'm thinking of rolling back one of the RCs to V0.71, creating identical programs on both - this may be of interest as well if some parameters are not the same - and trying both in the same live conditions. Would anyone interested in that? I have never used any of the Gold programs, for the most part it has been Beach Sensitive, Relic, and General. I want to help anyone who might be reluctant to update to V2. I was not reluctant and am pleased with the final outcome, but it took some effort to reach that outcome. 🙂 There are still some things that bother me, and I want to see if they were there all along.

Mostly I do, but it's not for you to be the self-appointed critic if I don't. You'll see over time that these observations will be shared by others, and maybe someone who you also implied is "chuckling" about what I've observed will weigh in. Time will tell. Don't act the victim here, you sent the first inflammatory salvo. The OP and I are good. GL, HH. 🍀

Yikes how did I miss this? Thanks Cap, the saga continues. 😀 Of course you've seen this wasn't the last one. 😎

That's not bad at all! My first whole old coin was an 1805 Half cent, but I did find cut 1721 Spanish silver 1 Reale coin pieces (pistareen) just before that. That really got me going. I've got quite a few really old ones now. 🙂 Hope you'll join in the fun here!

Thanks VL. I've seen your finds posts and for where you are you do just fine. 🙂 Right now you are working hard and in the prime of your career from what I glean. That should be your priority. 👍 Be the best at what you do, the reward is the repeating pattern. Advice as old as time. I happen to live in a very old part of the country, as Steve H always reminds us it's all about location. The fact that this place is still largely undeveloped doesn't hurt either. 🤔 🤣 I've chronicled my entire detecting history here thus far, for many reasons, in order of least to most important: Bragging rights 🙄 ain't gonna lie 😀 I'm amazed at the things I'm lucky enough to find, learn about them and show them. Sometimes show them and learn about them 😏 Showing the development of a Detectorist from scratch, I joined the forum soon after I got my first detector but knew I needed a better one. No problem there, this forum has the best of the best on it. I could tell that the first time I read posts. It also weeds out the unscrupulous and inconsiderate. I like to help/inspire others, about 25/75 percent. In my career I managed to return the same gift of opportunity I was given, I picked people who had a certain character and taught them the IT trade. It was rewarding for the most part. Here I see a few people take my suggestions and now advice and tips become better themselves, and that is a priceless satisfaction and reinforcement to do even better myself. 😎 I thought that would end at retirement, it didn't. If I can inspire the experienced and the novice alike to get out there, that makes my day. Apparently I'm a bit late to the game, the finds curve is on the down swing, and even here I have missed out on a lot. 😅 That's about it. 🤔 There are many who would like to hunt where I do, and I have to be very careful about who/how many I invite to hunt with me. It is a very close and visible community, with a code of ethics and suspicion of outsiders that is many hundreds of years old. One mistake and I'm done. 😬 Chase understands this and it is a blast for me when he makes a great find, that's what it's all about. I have the luxury of proximity. I don't do anything for nothing, I'll admit that.

Great Recap my friend. 👍 While I may have come along fast, it's due to your example (#copycat 🤣), your knowledge of detectors in general, and the members of this forum that have inspired me all along. I would not be half as prolific without y'all. 2023 was a banner year for me, and frankly I doubt I will top it. 🤔 Doesn't matter. I'm going to stand with @Bill (S. CA), and truly hope he scrapes together the $$ to get the Deus 2 and as many accessories as he can muster. My suggestion to him is to get the 9" full kit, a pair of WSA II or WSA II XL headphones, and the 11x13". I feel that the 11" is redundant, but it did come in handy after I fell out of my attic 😏 I only have 3 other detectors to compare it to but after using it and learning its incredible "Set It Your Way" expressiveness, the Deus 2 is truly a force to be reckoned with on the beach and relic hunting, I've heard that all over VA. I've run into other folks at the beach and always find myself cleaning up after them, no matter what they are using. 🙄 I hear "not much out there today" and only chuckle inwardly about my pouch full of finds. 😈 I wanted to go right to the top with a detector after my beloved Equinox, and haven't looked back. I'm hoping I'll be able to get more permissions, I have a few in my back pocket, I just want to be sure that what we have covered is covered. Seems if we hit a place hard however, it does become kind of a desert. 😁 Maybe after they turn them deep if ever... Anyway thanks for the companionship, exchange of ideas and fun, and here's to 2024 🥂 🍀 You really capped off 2023! 🙂

Well there ya go, Cap. 🏆 Congratulations on a great find. Opportunity and hunches often produce the best results. So what are your initial impressions on the 13"?

Absolutely not. 🙂

Hope you get well soon. 🙂

Couldn't agree more, I hope all the people who got one from Santa or otherwise recently are as happy. 😅 I think they will be. 🙂 But you are skilled, there's no doubt about that. 👍 When you get 90s on anything you should dig it. 😀

And when you first start, you dig a lot of junk. 😀 Virginia is a history laden state with a lot of restrictions. In one case I got permission to a big tract, and then found out most of it was an easement for a national wildlife sanctuary. Research is very important. Even the waterways have rules. Welcome to the forum. 🙂

Hey Compass, Appears to be an Arabic passage: The few days And Rakhah Meh and Noum Amel the Forces and said the Earth Who and who intercedes for Joanna Arend Aslam Ra Channa Aid Hastam and no human being has betrayed him in knowledge except Ra Shad and Sunn Karma of his nation Al-Mishbat and Al-Ummi, and he is scholars, he is the world of knowledge Not a very good translation 🤔 Probably from the Quran

Hey George, Are you asking about the internal pinpointer (button on the WS-6), or connecting the MI-4 or MI-6 pinpointer to the WS-6? 🤪 Lots of numbers there 😅

Thanks Colonel, Nothing earth-shattering and in some cases, who cares, right? 🤷‍♂️ But for some of us with two remotes this is kind of a big dill 🥒 and might keep us out of a pickle. 🤣 I for one am relieved to know that remotes manufactured some time apart have no differences, while it would be "sensational" if they did, I was hoping this would be the result. 😅 On the other hand, that screen protector is a great afterthought, in typical XP fashion they cover ya if you've already used the remote which I have also scratched on the beach 😎 I've found a few of my best coins in this field, I'm trying to save some of it for the future. 🙂

Hey y'all, There wasn't much going on today, my wife said "why don't you go detecting?" I'm not the kind of guy that says "are you sure?" 😀 I had something in mind and went and did it. If you've been reading my insane diatribes 🙄, you know I had a problem with my first remote (RC), sent it off to XP service, and it came back 11 days later. I had bought a second remote so there wouldn't be any downtime (yet another post), updated both of them to V2, and shipped the old one off. I've been wondering whether there have been any hidden changes in hardware, and was eager to find out. I bought my first remote in February 2022, and the second this past November. I sat down with both remotes and made sure the program I was using was exactly the same on both, kind of a painful process. 😀 What I'm using is a new program based on General, similar to my old Relic Reaper that V1 trashed. I built this program on the fly recently using some parameters from my summer beach program that was very successful. Heck it even works great on the farms here because there are salts everywhere, but I wanted manual ground balance which Beach Sensitive doesn't do well, and moisture subtraction. My ground balances from 67-80, usually around 76 when it's wet. Really no minerals at all. I never see any mineralization bars on the main screen, so I use XY for other info and audio response tells me size/depth. I used both remotes in the field right in front of my house, just gridded the farm about 10 feet past the underground power line and far enough away from my RV with WiFi, a spot with no EMI at all. I have to say from making many passes with both that there was no variance in the tones, bump sensitivity was exactly the same, and found there were no differences at all. 👍 That mission was accomplished. Now for an observation: The coolest thing was that because I had my WSA II headphones, the same pinpointer, and the same coil (11x13") connected to both RCs, all I had to do was throw the remote on and go. I guess the peripheral devices don't maintain the pairing records, only the RC does, so all other devices will work passively without re-pairing them if they have been connected before. Change out something and you will have to redo the first one, as you have deleted its pairing record with the RC. I really like that. 🙂 I didn't find any relics or coins in this spot, just some small trash: Headstamps, buck balls, the usual junk. The field in this area is pretty clean because it used to be the middle of the field, the turn zone was way behind my house. It has a lot of different conditions from clean to ridiculous, however. There was a farmhouse out there long ago. While I was out there an Amazon driver came and delivered the new glass screen protector kit from XP: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0C486BLPC It costs about 8 bucks but it is great. The screen on my old remote was scratched big time, but putting the glass protector over it covered everything with no bubbles. It looks relatively new now, and the screen has tempered glass over it. I don't know why they put the notch in the glass, maybe it's so you can get it out. I'm very pleased. 👍 Just for giggles I might roll back one of the remotes to V0.71 to see what differences there are, and post some more observations. It's easy enough to do. 🙂 While I was out doing all this, a guy came flying over the field in some sort of para-plane. 😀 Pretty cool. Here's a bonus sunset from last night: Happy new year! 🥳

Nah, you're implying that I'm misinforming people. 😏 I'm not going to preface everything I write now and in the future with "IMO" because the high and mighty Iron Buzz called me out. 😠 This is the second time you have gainsaid me from an armchair. I would not have answered this person if I didn't see the same results myself and discussed it with others. I offered a solution, twice. Might have been a little hard on him but he's a nice person. No one else attempted to help him. Show me the results then. "Source". Let's see some hard documented proof that you're so experienced with the D2 you can make an opposite claim and cause conflict. I'm waiting. Perhaps I'm so prolific I annoy you, but I'm not going to stop offering observations. Fact.

Well the woman that shaves my head also uses the clipper in my ears, so you may have nailed it 🤣

Thanks! It was nice to use it again. I much prefer to use the 11x13". I've been using it for over a year now and insist it "falses" less on iron than the 11". I bought the 11" while on the waiting list for the 13" and immediately noticed it over the 9". 🤪 Still waiting for the 10x5 🙄 My equalizer settings are probably not for everyone, I think they stem from playing heavy metal guitar in bands most of my life. For some reason I still pass hearing tests with flying colors, despite my penchant for loud music. I must have been blessed with titanium ear drums, 🤔 I like high dynamic range. First bar up one click from top, second up a couple. Third flat, fourth up one. Currently in running disc at -6.4 with a modified General program similar to my old Relic Reaper. V2 seems to have helped its return, the explanation is lengthy and speculative. 🙄 "Iron-ically", I turn iron volume down. 😀 Today may be a nice day, there will be speed traps and hunters everywhere, but if I get on my wife's nerves she may throw me out. 🤣

... And yet another year end great find! 🏆 Outstanding that you found one with enough details. Testament yet again to the 13". 👍 And your skill of course. Nice one LS. 🙂 Can't believe the stuff turning up. 🤯