Johnny Phoenix

I have a couple of these: Soil knife They’ve held up well and don’t draw too much attention when in public spaces. They are good for making surgical cuts in turf. Had a Fiskars version, but it snapped at the hilt.

I was diving on a site they called “The Wall” which is basically where the Caribbean ends and the Atlantic begins. I was down around 120’ where I found several 6’ barracuda in canyons pointing out towards a steep 4,000 foot drop. It was about then that I realized anything could rise from the depths and lunch me in an instant. I completed the dive without incident, but have never forgotten that feeling of being the prey vs the predator.

I’ve been using FAST almost exclusively with a variation of the GENERAL program being my “check” program. I guess I’ll have to try general more often. Looks like you’ve made a case!

Let me add one thing to this discussion, if you have a cat, permethrin is highly toxic to them. It’s said to be safe(ish?) once it has dried and bonded to clothing, but in its liquid form it’s a hazard. Dogs seem unaffected. I know birds are unaffected too, as treating feathers of young birds is how they can be protected from avian black flies when working with imperiled species. I spray the inside of my birdhouses prior to nesting season and it significantly cuts dow on parasites in the nest.

I work in and around one of the Lyme Disease epicenters in the US. Having had Lyme perhaps half a dozen times, I’ve done some experiments. My current system is full coverall’s treated with Sawyer permethrin. I also treat my socks. This setup is highly effective. Since adopting it, I have not contracted Lyme. I also use Sawyer picaridin as a spray on when mosquitoes are bad (La Crosse encephalitis, West Nile, Zika…). We also have a recent emergence of Lone Star ticks, which I have personally collected a few. Lastly, in the rare event I find a tick on myself, carefully remove it (duh!) and take two doxycycline as a prophylactic. The system I use has prevented any tick-borne diseases since I fully implemented it.

I did some work for the sheriffs department a number of years ago and it was the worst. Since I was searching for larger items, the amount of junk I dug up was nuts! Did find one item of evidence, but the whole experience was unfulfilling. Thankfully I lived in a low-crime county, and the need for my skills didn’t happen again before I moved. Nowadays I keep my mouth shut when I learn there’s a potential metal object law enforcement is searching for.

Yeah, that FAST program in trash is something else. I'm sure it's not perfect, but I'm left feeling like it hit (and ID'd) every detectable target in a given area. I can't say the same for the Nox. The Nox always left me feeling I need to try again with a different mode or a different coil. With the D2, it tells you there's something there and you need to make the final decision whether to dig it or not. I imagine it will only get better as I gain experience and the firmware is further refined.

My concern there is an insurance company seeing the item and try to recover their loss. I've never found a high value jewelry item, but I'd be inclined to keep it to myself...that is until my wife or daughters discover it, and they choose to keep it for themselves.

I ordered one and it arrived yesterday. It seems well constructed and the XPD2 fits nicely. More of a minimalist design as opposed the the 280, but it will work perfect for my intended use: riding my Yamaha TW200 motorcycle to access remote detecting sites.

Waiting patiently for the group consensus before implementing this update. Feeling more like an immigrant than a pioneer this evening...

Similar observations as well. For me the first hour of use was a bit vague while trying all the different programs. Once I learned what it was telling me, I was on board! I'm coming from the Nox as well, and the D2 is far easier to use now that I have some hours and set up some custom programs. Yeah, the headphones are "different" but I've gotten used to them. I have the Gray Ghost for Deus headphones that I've used once, but I'm okay with the WS6. I can only see my proficiency improving and the software refinements making this a great platform moving forward. Once the additional coils come out, this will be a real beast!!! Now if they ever get that XP Go Terrain app out there, that would be icing on the cake!

Plan on updating this evening when the wind dies down. I'm half worried were going to lose power: sustained 30's gusting into the 50's

I preface by saying I'm in the learning phase like nearly everyone else. I have a program I set up that notches out everything from 8-58 and 66-78. I based it off of a suggestion of another member here, but not the life of me can't remember his user name. Anyway, I call the program PIGBANK and it's based on FAST with the above notches, 6.8 discrimination, 3 Recovery, bottle cap reject of 4(?) That range covers everything from IHP up to large silver. Iron still sounds off, so it's an indicator how contaminated the ground is. If I have any complaint on the D2, its how compressed the 'good" coin area is, 89-95 and more narrowly 91-93, where I've found pennies, dimes, and quarters in. 85 or so for zinc. Has an early wheat come in at a 79, but was using 40kHz due to electric cattle fence interference. Putting it into practice, I look for a small, clean, consistent tone and use the ID do make the final decision to dig. If you slowly pass the coil over a target, you will hear an uneven audio response on junk targets. Since the machine doesn't overload on cans, size and ID in relation to proximity are some clues. A near-surface quarter will not change ID much as you raise the coil several inches. A can, on the other hand will change 3-4 ID points depending on how close you are to it, as well as still sound off with the coil 10" or more above it. Also, a slow sweep will indicate how large it is. Deeper cans are a little harder, and I've dug a 15" hoping for a reward. Nickels are the hard one for me, as they ring up 63-4 but sometime sound broken like aluminum scrap, beaver tails, and some pull tabs. The third part is amplitude. The deeper coins have all been notably quieter, but still gave a usable ID. This is for coin shooting in busy/very busy ground: heavy discrimination; listen for a clear, clean sound; small target footprint; check ID as final step. I only have a dozen hours on this machine due to inclement weather, but I can already tell the D2 is going to be a great addition to my detector collection. I'm not at all concerned if it's the deepest: it's light and super easy to swing, portable, really fast in trash, and highly adaptable. I'm not going to get rid of my other detectors, as they all have their strong points, but the Nox may have just become the new loaner, which was the F75's job until a couple of weeks ago... JP

I've settled into FAST, which is just SENSITIVE with Pitch mode square tones and Reactivity of 3. I'm mostly coin-shooting in modern parks just to learn the D2's nature right now. I've used DEEP HC and RELIC and found a couple of silvers at my roadside carnival, but those modes are only practical on a less polluted site. Get into aluminum trash and you're in for mental overload. I can't tell silver from clad since they seem to ID in the same area. Perhaps with experience there will be some kind of audio tell. JP

I was a windy day; it was a blah day... $1.93 in clad and a tiny buckle. 😐