F350Platinum

I'm out in the fields right now with the 13" on SteveG's CF shaft. I'd say it's a "touch" heavier than the original rig, but I've been swinging it for a few hours and it's same same. It'll be a lot easier to clean! 😀 I really think you will like that coil, and the WS6 rig will be field tested soon. 🙂 The 13" does have some of the characteristics of the venerable Nox 10x5, stay tuned. 😎

Yikes, how did I miss this post? Oh yeah... It has "Manticore" in the title. 🤣 Glad to see ya taking one for the team, where I hunt one button (even trashed) means not skunked. Great real analysis, and proof that the detector works well in the hands of someone experienced.

Camo would have been a longer wait, we did of course discuss it. 😀 opted for the stock finish and the holes for passing the waveguide. Even if I don't use the passthrough, the holes are large enough to fill the shaft with water and allow it to escape quickly. Good for submersion. In my opinion the counterweight addition wasn't necessary, with the 13" and centering device you can set the cuff to make it sort of "float", it's hard to describe but you know it when you get it set right, it feels like you don't need to grip the handle too hard. One thing I will mention here is that the rear cuff shaft is much longer than the XP version, if you have long arms like me it helps. I took the WS6 Master setup out in the yard for a test drive, it's comfortable and different from the large remote but when you learn the buttons it's fine. Almost all the power of the RC is there, I noticed I had "Ground Stabilizer" in the main menu with disc and reactivity instead of it being buried somewhere else in the RC. 🤔

Haha, come on down. 😀 The motels are cheap this time o' year. It's only 60 acres in front of my house , 300 or more around the corner. I've hit most of it here, but there's still random stuff to be found.

Well anyone who knows literary history will know where the title came from, no bears or canoes were harmed in the development of this story. 😁 Got my CF Deus 2 shaft from SteveG today, I'll post my thoughts on that in another topic. 🙂 While waiting for it I ordered a second WSA II backphone. The intention was to create a WS6 Master rig using the original shaft and the 9" coil, and use the RC unit on the CF shaft with the 13" coil. So, ~$400 later I have a second Deus 2! I've set up the General program with my mods on it, paired the headphones, and now I truly have the lightest detector in the world. 🥳 I also have a spare MI-6. Of course it's not without one issue, however. 😵 The combination of WS6 module, the coil, and the WSA II backphones presents a trifling charging problem. You'd think, oh hey, I'll just use the D1 cable, that's great! Nope. 😡 Attach the butterfly clamp to the coil, and the D1 3 USB-mini-B cable will not reach the WS6 module on the shaft. 😵 I guess the D1 had a shorter upper? At least you can remove the coil and lower shaft every time to get everything charging, and you don't have that cheesy PITA 5 pin DIN connector, just still have to deal with the butterfly clamp being backwards. 🙄 It's that or remove the module, I'd rather wear out the camlock instead of the remote mount. Damaging the remote is pricey. I know I'm gonna love this rig, especially for marathon hunts, I can stuff it in the 280 backpack and look like those cool guys in the original D2 videos. 🤣 It seriously weighs next to nothing, I don't have a proper scale to measure it but it's light. Just fire it up in that big ol' iron patch... I could have done this by buying a new D2 shaft and I'd be in the same boat, but Steve's CF rig is so cool it deserves a post of it's own. 👍 You've already read ColonelDan's excellent post, I'm gonna use it in the field with the 13" coil. 🙂

Thanks, out of likes today, lots of funny and poignant commentary 🤣 I was wondering if anyone would comment on the pull tab or correct me. 😁 It is an old one tho. Here's the big scoop today: The farmers are picking up the beans in front of my house!! Today is 2 years since I joined the forum. 🥳 It's also almost 2 years since I was last able to get out in those fields. 😵 This is gonna be a busy winter...

Well Rick, I'm out of likes already this morning. 😀 Thanks, they would but I didn't need them yesterday. There was enough sun to warm up the insulated nitrile gloves I wear. Some days when it's clear I can get away with it. I'm just grateful that the Deus 2 can tune out the EMI from them. Now I have a new small problem, the 13" picks up the rivets and shanks in my boots. 🤣

This will also be useful for identifying who was in your spot, maybe you can publish a manual for tracking detectorists like wildlife 🤔

That will be nice for letting someone else hear what you're hearing. Still kinda concerns me that Aptx-LL devices aren't working despite the claims of support. Did you "initialize" the device before pairing it to the Equinox? Some APTX-LL stuff has to be "unpaired" before pairing it to another device. 🤔

I'm glad I joined the forum well after the Equinox was introduced, but did live through the Deus 2 debacle. 🤣 Seems to me it reaches a pinnacle and then crashes. One constant is and will be the folks who actually get out there and use these machines. 😉 Thanks for your service 😎 Glad you were able to get one, and hope you're not disappointed in the long run. It doesn't look like they considered fluid dynamics either! 😵

Yikes, it may show things down a bit that they use more proprietary process for attaching the control unit, but I gotta say that we have at least one clever individual who will find a workaround. 😉 That mount may even turn out to be an Achilles' Heel. Thanks again for interesting detailed photos. 👍 I agree with Badger, that tape looks cool. 😎

Thanks VL. I'll be getting out a lot from now until April. I'm putting these up because while not particularly spectacular, I think they are cathartic for those who can't get out, and those who would rather read about finds and history than speculation. This is the busy season for me, by today even the field in front of my house will be clear. The farmers are here albeit late. I've got a lot to do! 😀 The Equinox will be coming out soon as well. 🙂 This is a "good" year because of the particular crop rotation.

I considered a "stork" shaft for my 600, but then bought a CF rig from SteveG because camo 😀 that stork rig looked pretty cool, and definitely would have been an advantage in water. 👍

Great photos and comments Dan! 👍 Kinda odd that Aptx-LL stuff doesn't work, that's going to disappoint a lot of people. At least you have a workaround for your earbuds. 🙂 Perhaps that thinner lower would be good in shallow water.

Thanks, I have quite a few unique ones, this was new for sure. 🙂

Had a few things to do this morning so I didn't get out until afternoon. It was about 26 degrees when I got up this morning, but quickly warmed up to 40. That's the way it goes here, we don't really get extended cold that freezes the ground. It might get the first 2", but the sun defrosts it. I'm glad because as long as I can stand the cold, I can hunt all winter. I heard the farmers out today so I knew it wouldn't be too muddy, we've had a lot of wind the last few days. Today I went back to the last place I was, a relatively nearby farm that has a really well maintained and upgraded house on it. The owner works across the street in his wedding/catering business. I'm taking a bit of a risk here, but this house is magnificent. It was built in the early 1800s I believe, the owner inherited it and expanded it a bit. There is a 63 acre farm surrounding it. I've dug a lot of great stuff here, a small amount of silver, and probably over 100 buttons spanning from the 1700s to the 1900s. I was only here for 4 hours today but managed to get all this: Yet another unique rein guide, two large dandy buttons, sadly plain but one still has the shank, a spun Tombac with the shank intact (rare), another collar stud and two small buttons. A small buckle with some fused iron in it, and possibly a gold plated cufflink: Got 3 coins today, 2 1930s wheats and a 1905 IHP. Love finding them. Got quite a bit of trash today, the ground was a little more wet than usual. I've been digging low IDs especially because I don't want to miss Tombacs, the spun one was a shaky 47, and about 8" deep. All the aluminum was dug to get rid of it or because it was 85 or greater. Even got a civil war pull tab! 🤣 Great day to be out. Figured y'all might want to see stuff being found.

I had a buddy who became a regional service manager for Volvo, they finally gave him one to stop him from driving his Firebird to work every day. 😀 He went to another car company soon after. 🤔

That's the trick to opening up full tones on the D2 🙂 I'm liking it.

Thanks Geof. I live in a part of the US that has early history, so I have the location. To my surprise, the first time I went into my backyard over two years ago to try out my new Garrett Ace, I dug a brass service button. Then I dug a few very old buttons, and a musket ball. It took quite a while to cover the acre and a half! 😀 After I was pretty satisfied I found everything I was going to find in my yard (many hours over many days), I ran into the farmer that owns the field out front (he had just purchased all the land ending a potential community), and he said "Sure! Keep everything you find!" I went a few hundred feet from my house and dug my first Spanish Pistareen from 1721... I joined this forum two years ago tomorrow(🥳), and have been annoying y'all with posts since 😀 My wife got me an Equinox 600 for Christmas (well we split the cost), Chase came down to help, and it's been quite a ride for me since. I'm not so much in love with the technology, having been in that industry for 40 years and retired. 😀 I set up computer systems from punch cards to mainframes to Windows networks. 😵 Early in the industry when a product came to the market it was fully proven and tested, later the users became the R&D, so new tech is more of a pain than a promise now. 😁 I'm sure there are some who make a living at this, but I don't ever expect to. My detectors have paid me back in fun, good health, and appreciation of history so far. I haven't been sick in years, but do get poison ivy and tick bites 🤣 If I get lucky and hit something valuable someday, great, but low expectations=greater satisfaction in my life. 🙂 I can't thank the members of this forum more than trying to give back what I've learned from y'all, and I'm in a sense practicing my writing skills and photography for a purpose. 🤔 I get out anywhere from 2-5 days a week, my wife is happy with some jewelry here and there. We love RV camping, so we travel to some beaches, and of course I get experience there. I've had days where I spent hours looking and didn't find much of anything, but over time I've learned that if you do some research, look at some maps and other resources like the new lidar mapping, you can turn what seems a barren wasteland into a treasure trove. It might just be history, but that's worth as much to me. 👍

Welcome back Redneck, I'm new but been here for a bit now. Sorry about your loss, I've lost friends and family myself, you just have to carry on and live out your life. Cool that you're on a fresh go of it, that's hard to do. 👍 Best of luck with the M-core, no matter what you choose getting out there is the best part of it. 🙂 I hope you have many years of enjoyment.

Thanks ColonelDan! Nice detailed first impression. It's kinda fun to be first... 🤔 Mine is on the way, I requested the drilling to hide the cable. May not use it much because I don't do a lot of beach hunting but I'm glad it will be there if I want it. I've got the 13" coil, and with a centering device it doesn't feel any different than the 11", so I think I can do without the counterweight. I think SteveG busted his butt to get these out, he deserves a commendation on that alone. 👍

The camlocks are $12 each, I bought two of them. 😀 Better to have spares and not need them than not being able to find any when you do 🤣 When my D2 shaft comes in a couple of days I'll be setting up a second D2 that only cost me about $300. Even got a second WSA II.

We're gonna have to start calling you "The Wolf". You're a "cleaner" 🤣 that's a lot of digging, but rewards await, don't they? Great stuff. Total disciplined approach to metal detecting. We're not worthy. 😎

Nor do I, my wife gets all the good stuff. Sure helps when you want to get more gear... 😀 I'm getting pretty good at finding out who made some of these things, that why I asked. 🙂

Thanks! I miss the simplicity of my 600 sometimes, but I'm out 2-3 times a week using the D2 to see what I can get out of it. I'm pretty comfortable with the 600. An update to the D2 at this point could probably put us all back to square 1 😀 That's a scary thought, and enough drama for me at this point 😁