SwiftSword

Was this in their regular newsletter? I subscribed to that a while back, but haven't gotten a single one. 

So much depends on ground conditions, coin position, etc. I had a 99 from all sides yesterday, and it turned out to be a '64 penny. 
 

+1 on the relic program, though. It hits coins really hard. 

These folks claim that spoons made from two parts generally date to the 17th century, even! 

All, 

I'm looking for some ideas on what to do with my remote. I very much rely on VID and the XY graph and typically hold the remote in my right hand as I swing with the left. This works fine as long as my only other tools are hand digger and pinpointer. Things go south as soon as I add a shovel since I don't have three hands. 
- I don't like mounting the RC on the stem. Distance and angle aren't right, and I don't like following it around as I swing.

- I can hold it in my right hand if I sling the shovel over my shoulder, but that's also cumbersome, and yet another thing to keep track off.

- on a lanyard around my neck it dangles all over the place and gets banged up. 
 

- belt holster is too cumbersome to look at frequently. 
 

I know the short answer is to just learn to hunt by tone only, but I'm not comfortable with that (yet). Can anyone think of any other options? I was thinking of a wristband, perhaps, but that doesn't seem to exist. 
 

Thanks in advance!

Customer service at metaldetector.com told me today that the 11x13 for the Deus II will be out in the fall. From what I read here, Im not sure I'll partake, though. 

Excellent, thank you!! Now I just need the other one! 
 

The how-to makes it look like buckles are a pretty convenient and ingenious way to secure shoes. I wonder why they went out of style? 

31 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

Got magnet

Thanks! I don't know how I suggest this to people on a regular basis and then not think of it myself 🙄. In any case, it's not magnetic, so that answers that question.

Last night I had an unexpectedly fruitful hunt at a farm here in eastern Massachusetts. I hope the shoe buckle, mangled, but complete, will admit me to the 1700s club. I know nothing besides what it is and hope we have an expert on these things here. It's on the small side, and the frame is pretty thin, so perhaps it's for a lady or a child? 
I expect the material is brass, but surely the pin is steel? If so, I'm surprised it survived. Any info is appreciated!

I went on a brief hunt this morning, and while I found nothing interesting, some of it was fairly deep. 

I heard from someone today that the .71 update destroyed his depth. Couldn't hit a penny at six inches. I did an air test on mine (9" coil, .71, various stock programs, default values) and didn't think I got worse numbers than with .6, but I'm also not entirely certain. Trouble with these tests is always that it's not really a comparison unless you also have a second, identical machine with the older software version. 

I updated from .7 to .71 this morning, just before heading to a new permission. Update went smoothly, permission was a complete bust. 

Good point, I didn't think of that. However, I don't seem to be experiencing a lot of weak shallow signals now 🤔 I don't know, but then again I'm no signal processing engineer 😄

Oh boy. I believe this is where we send you "thoughts and prayers"

I have zero suggestions, other than contacting your dealer or XP for support. Someone else had his remote stuck in a weird state. They opened it up and disconnected the battery, but I personally would not risk that. 

Where does XP announce updates? Is there a customer registration I've overlooked? Or is it grapevine only?

Have you tried running the update again?

I hope this makes its way to someone at XP. 

I detect mostly with the Deep HC program with Square Full Tones. I find myself straining to hear deep targets, while surface trash is incredibly loud. I understand this functions is a depth indicator, but I would love to have the option to reverse its direction, so that deep targets are loud, and shallow ones soft. I understand I can increase Audio Response to make the deeper targets louder, but that doesn't help with the shallow targets, and just makes everything sound the same. 

Thank you! 

Oliver

9 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

They would have been mounted towards the back of the wagon so that they could tie down a load from top to bottom or to keep items from falling out the back.

Thanks! That sounds very likely, and would explain why the thing reminded me of a ratchet strap right at the beginning. I'm trying to find a picture online with this info. No luck so far!

5 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

Looks to be 1/2 of a leather strap holder, the other side would have the hook at the end of the leather.

Hope this helps as it is a nice find.

Valens, I think you might be right! It would explain the countersunk hole, and the flared shape of the "channel" to guide the hook. I also now realize that the "bridge" is thicker than other parts of the rim, which would also make sense. Strange only that something this massive would be secured by a single pin.

Where would this have been used? Is it horse tack? 

Then again... why is the hole for the pin countersunk? And why would the pin move at all, or be made from a different material? I'm open to suggestions.

The pin is steel or iron. The item itself is brass, as evidenced by a small spot where I kissed it with my shovel. Taking the whole shape and the wear pattern into account, this would fit a circular leather collar well. What did the collars look like that cow bells hung from?

Better view of the peg/pin

Side view, showing curved back:

Underside of broad edge shows wear:

 

Not really the right shape or wear pattern for a bottle opener:

I had a similar thought. However, the pin is not a screw. It's a peg with thickened ends. I used to have a belt with a peg like that. The back is also curved. It would be very awkward to fix it to anything. 

Found today in an old pasture in eastern Massachusetts. It looks oddly familiar, but I can't place it at all. 
 

I appreciate any help!

Front: 

Back:

Regarding the many "test" videos, I didn't put too much stock into any of them, especially the head-to-head comparisons.

I took a chance, and for me personally it paid off. There is no telling if I would have been as delighted with the Equinox 800. 
 

As far as more/better/deeper finds are concerned: Yes, I do find more and deeper targets. But I'm conscious that there may be factors that have more to do with me: was I swinging my old detector too fast, and it just so happens that the Deus II can keep up better? Was I skipping too many good targets, because the Vanquish 540 uses a compressed VID scale, and made everything look like a penny? Am I just digging more doubtful signals because I'm "learning the numbers" again? 

What I have realized is that my tendency to cherry-pick is starting to take over again. I'm severely limited in my detecting time and tend to focus on the high conductors. I need to put some effort into the mid-tones as well. No detector is going to do that for me. 

I've recently come from an entry level machine (Vanquish 540) to the Deus 2. I fully expected there to be a very steep learning curve, and didn't expect to have every optimization served up on a platter. I sought out relevant tutorials and write-ups, and I feel the concepts you're talking about were adequately covered.

I do agree with you on EMI being a major issue. I detect in a suburban setting, so I'm never very far away from a powerline or a wifi router. At times the EMI makes the machine unusable. Even using the mono frequency modes doesn't help much. Curiously, the Park mode isn't affected at all. But I feel that mode is so heavily filtered, I might be walking over good finds. It would be great if XP could provide strategies to mitigate EMI that don't reduce performance too much. 

Right. I might have to go back with my Vanquish 540. But even so - what does the Park program do that eliminates the EMI? I'll want to do the same thing in my other/custom programs.