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  1. I took the XP Deus, with new HF round coil, out for another go. I had detected this bedrock desert wash a few years ago with the Gold Bug II and did pretty well. Last year I went over it with the SDC 2300, but it was overkill. The ground is not hot enough, nor deep enough, to justify "pulse induction" and there was a lot of iron trash. To reach this wash takes a pretty good hike over rough terrain. Carrying the Deus strapped to my pack was a breeze and I deliberately left my 7000 at home. The temps reached a little over 100 here in Sunny Yuma, so pack weight starts to matter. As you can see in the photo this is old conglomerate type false bedrock wash. There are sections of deeper gravels, but the amount of old iron trash really makes it unattractive for the Z 7000. I started out in the Deus standard V4 Gold Program. It worked fine, but I really needed some discrimination to handle the nails and fragments of old rusted out cans. I switched to the V4 standard "Fast" program only because I had used it to hunt a few parks. With the "Fast", I took the discrimination down to 4, and lowered to Reactivity to 2, Sens to 85, running in the 54 KHZ mode. The machine ran like a dream. Iron trash basically grunted and clicked in the discrimination. Larger iron trash busted through the discrimination, but was still recognizable with decent coil control. The little pickers I found barely registered on the "horseshoe" screen and never gave a VID signature. They were however, unmistakable audio target signals. I should have tried the XY screen, but forgot all about it. None of these nuggets was any deeper than a couple inches, so in essence any competent prospecting detector would have found them. I did check one target in the 22 KHZ mode and while recognizable, it was nowhere near as definite as the 54 KHZ. The 9" round coil at 54KHZ is plenty hot enough for small gold, my smallest was .12 gram. In retrospect I should have waited for the elliptical to make pinpointing and recovery a little less cumbersome. I detected for about 2 hrs before the heat became unbearable. I have a couple short videos on my smartphone, but I'm too computer illiterate to edit and post. I'll try to get my son to fix them and put them up. I am very happy with the XP Deus, shout out thanks to Rob's Detectors. As the other Steve has observed, the Deus in theory replaces 2 detectors with just one. For me, it is now a very competent shallow gold prospecting detector in addition to its superb coin and relic hunting origin. It more than meets my expectations and certainly has a place in my detecting arsenal.
  2. Just wondering how well this new coil actually is for nugget shooting. I haven't got into nugget hunting yet. If I do would I be better off spending the money on something else? I already have the Xp but haven't heard anything much for nugget shooting with this new coil. Be nugget shooting in Nv areas where I live. Thx for any help.
  3. Unfortunately this bloke is not an experienced prospector. However, it is the first report I have seen by anyone using the new V4 high frequency coil to look for gold nuggets. That alone made it of interest to me. http://aussiedetectorist.com.au/2017/04/05/xp-deus-version-4-in-the-australian-goldfields-can-the-deus-find-gold/
  4. click picture for closeup view We have been told that the new XP Deus V4 elliptical high frequency coil is coming in May. The 9" round version is now in dealer hands and shipping to customers for US$425.00 I have been following early reports on the 9" round and it along with the new V4 update sounds like it really does have many improvements over the version 3.2 coils when it comes to gold prospecting. Specifically, more ability to extract small non-ferrous targets from bad ground. The Deus was not half bad as it was but this update may make it a real contender due to the much higher frequency options. I am skipping the 9" round and waiting for the elliptical. Here are the specifics on it as gleaned from the V4 Update Summary All specifications are preliminary and subject to change! The coil comes with the lower rod, and unlike the existing coils the battery is in the lower stem and connected to the coil via a cable (see illustration below). The exact dimensions of the coil are 24 cm x 13 cm or 9.45" x 5.12" The coil operates at three primary frequencies, each adjustable via offsets (three up or down). The offsets are mostly intended for alleviating interference issues and the primaries should be used when possible for best performance. The ranges are as follows (primaries in bold): 13 kHz < 14 kHz > 15.7 kHz 26 kHz < 30 kHz > 31 kHz 68 kHz < 80 kHz > 81 kHz For reference White's MXT @ 14 kHz, White's GMT @ 48 kHz, Makro Gold Racer @ 56 kHz, Fisher Gold Bug 2 @ 71 kHz The operating frequency has a direct effect on the battery life. In general, the higher the frequency, the longer the operating time. At 14 kHz you can expect up to 20 hours, at 30 kHz up to 27 hours, and at 80 kHz up to 28 hours of operating time. I have to say I am pretty excited to get my hands on this coil and see how it compares to other detectors in its class. I always wanted a detector that could flip from a solid mid-frequency to a solid higher frequency. What seems like ages ago I proposed a "Gold Bug 3" that could run at either 17.8 kHz like a Tesoro Lobo or 71 kHz like a Gold Bug 2 and that had both ground tracking and manual ground balance. This coil actually goes a bit better by flipping from the solid 14 kHz frequency of the MXT all the way up to 80 kHz, topping the Gold Bug 2. The 30 kHz selection is a rare frequency only ever seen in a few machines, like the Fisher Gold Strike. And yes, there will be both manual ground balance plus automatic ground tracking, improved ferrous discrimination, and full visual target id while in all metal mode. The main thing I am seeing here however is the first detector that might truly eliminate my need until now to own both a mid frequency VLF for general purpose use plus a high frequency unit for the hots on tiny gold. Whether those two things can be truly and well integrated into one machine remains to be seen but I have to say I am hopeful. For more details on the Deus V4 update see the XP DEUS V4 Users Manual
  5. I took the Deus out for a test run with the brand new 9" round HF coil. I've been a dedicated GPZ user so naturally anything less is bound to seem anemic. I ran the Deus over some fairly mild ground here in Sunny Yuma for about 3 hrs this morning. I started with the standard V4 Goldfield program in the 58 khz and the unit ran really smooth. I went over some ground where the Z had found some shallow tiny bits of gold a few months ago. No Joy, but I can't rule out operator error. I took along a .3 gram test nugget that tested well in air tests at home. Of course we all know how reliable air testing can be. My limited testing left me slightly underwhelmed. At 1.5 inches in the ground, the coil will not pick up the test piece on either lateral edges of the coil. That was not unexpected with the Double D coil, but a little disappointing. The coil will pick up the test piece as soon as it crosses the center line of the coil windings, with the loudest signal practically dead center. The front edge of the coil didn't give a noticeable tone until about 1" into the centerline. I detected all manner of typical goldfield trash and it accurately ID'd most of it. Naturally, lead bullet shards were indistinguishable from gold. Just for grins I switched to the V4 "Hot" program in the same ground at 58 khz. I actually preferred the "Hot" program for a little better tone ID. I moved the Discrimination levels around and tried the -6.4 that's available in the V4. The machine got pretty noisy in the negative Discrim. I played around with the Reactivity levels, but didn't find anything earthshaking. My only real experience with VLF machines was the Gold Bug II which I ran maxed out. The Bug just seemed to have more tone "punch" over tiny gold, but that is just my recollection without any current means to compare. I should have waited for the elliptical coil with the higher frequency like the Bug II. I have one good place with shallow bedrock and a lot of trash that I mean to try next. That should be a better trial for this machine. I really want to like this machine for use in trashy areas that make the Z tiresome. As I was working along a rut in a washed out road I put the coil right over a young rattlesnake apparently out for a little sun. He never buzzed until he got safely under a bush. Just a reminder that springtime is snake season.
  6. Hi Steve & All Im UK based and detect for coins, relics, well just about anything really, I may even have found some info of a river that may produce gold, Im not sure how many of you guys can help, Im in the market for a new detector and I have been pondering the XP Deus for some time but have held fire on my purchase because of the release of the Nokta Impact, I am always on this site looking at the reviews etc and wanted to hear any experiences of the Nokta Impact, I know its early days yet and reviews are thin on the ground, but experts like yourselves will have an initial feeling about new gear and instantly know if you like it or not, in the UK the Deus will be around £300-£350 more expencive than the Impact, so my question is to those who may have both, Which do you prefer, why, which would be your go to machine, does the Impact compare to the Deus, which do you think maybe the best all rounder, is the Deus worth the extra $ Any help is greatfully received, Thanks in Advance, Shanan
  7. Since the V4 update came out, it has been real quiet on here. Anyone using the update with any success? Anyone figuring out the programs and making any custom ones? I got a custom program from a friend. For iron infested areas. He was explaining to me the Deus was made for European hunting. Of course I knew that. But he further explained that they have wrought-iron in Europe and we don't we don't have so much in the states. So he has figured out a program that is better suited for the iron and steel in the united states. So I am going to go test run it. So if you have any success stories or issues, please share. That is my goal with the Deus this year, is to learn it, and become more proficient with it.
  8. Some of us has been waiting on the version 4 for our XP Deus but it's been slow in coming. I've been doing a search if it's any info out there. Well if you do a search for a video on this subject matter you find one after another. One guy shows downloading the V 4. but nothing is said where you can. It shows guys coin hunting and lots of show & tell on the V 4. Chuck
  9. Simple bench test. Full screen version of video allows you to activate English subtitles.
  10. https://www.prospectingaustralia.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?id=20743 Appears to be nothing on XPs site about this but maybe the wait is near over.
  11. http://www.xpmetaldetectors.com/blog-detection/en/update-deus/deus-product-information-and-news/ There you go lads, interesting ideas. I like the idea of the battery in the stem, something I wondered the never done in the first place. Should make buying new coils a bit cheaper. The pointer looks good but cant see how it would work wirelessly 20 feet under water though?
  12. Has anyone heard a word on the new coils XP Deus said was coming out soon? I'm wondering if what is going on between them and Minelab may put the coils on the back burner. I've looked all over for any word but I couldn't find nothing. Chuck
  13. Scott sent me this Google translate link on what appears to be a credible source discussing a detector show in France. https://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=2&hl=en&ie=UTF8&nv=1&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.tousapoele.fr/xp-deus-v4-et-nouveaux-accessoires/ Big news includes a two box coil setup to take the DEUS to the cache hunting world, a pinpointer, phone app, but most of all, that new mystery coil. Version 4 of the DEUS operating system brings with it a new coil that allows for 10, 20, 30, and 40 khz operation. (2/10/17 update - the new frequencies will be 14, 30, and 59 kHz plus 14, 30, and 81 kHz. Go here for latest info) The old coils will not run at these frequencies so this new elliptical will take the DEUS to a whole new level, one with obvious implications for nugget hunters. It is also in this leaked dealer video starting around 19 minute mark....
  14. I've been wanting to ask this question for awhile now & I realize the answer is somewhat conjecture (at least to a point & at this time)-----but-----what is your feelings on the (hopefully) soon to be released version 4 & new coils for the Deus? (particularly the elliptical coil)-------Do you think the Deus could then well fill relic, coin/jewelry---AND---gold nugget hunting needs/requirements in an improved fashion?---What with being able to use both the old coils and the two new coils and the "enhancements" version 4 provides.-----I have my thoughts/hopes on this subject (I must, I ended up getting another 3.2 version Deus with 9" coil & WS5 h.p.'s) & in anticipation of the version 4 & new coils.------But-----I wanted to see what other peoples feelings are on this.--------Thanks---------Del
  15. Liking the Xp the more I hear about it. Won't get one until the new coil and update are released but meanwhile was wondering if you can get sound in any way without headphones? Areas where I will be hunting have grizzly, cougar, wolf and the occasional sasquatch! So needless to say it's wise to keep at least 1 ear open but would prefer to set up something like what the minelab guys are using with the external speakers. Anyone using a set up similar to that? If so what are your thoughts on the subject. Thanks
  16. I've been looking at the XP Deus off and on but more on as time goes by. I really need another detector like I need another hole in my head. I keep looking at video's on the XP and at first it didn't peak my interest but over time I'm at a point I think I can't live without it. I got the money up for it and it's burning a hole in my pocket. I'm going with the 11 inch coil and with the smaller wireless headphones plus the control unit. The price is better than some other so it's a done deal when we meet this weekend. I've got the best insurance one can get because I may have enough detectors to hold up all the walls up in my home.. Chuck
  17. Are the 9" & 11" DD coils on the version 3.2 Deus going to work on (be compatible with) the new version 4 upgrade?-----Also---Is that new coil that's coming with the upgrade going to be a DD or concentric?---------Thanks
  18. Just thinking about the possibilities, some assumptions are necessary to further the thought. Let's assume the Deus introduces the 5X9 coil as expected. We know the Deus is unique in that the coil is the detector, no control box mounted on the shaft. We know the audio and control functions are wireless and transmitted to a very small pocket sized controller or wireless headphones. The Deus seems to be very accurate on Ferrous, at what depth I can't be sure. So, other than something to function as a handle, the coil could be carried in a pouch or belt holster, brought out and switched on as needed to check the dig hole for ferrous targets and pinpoint non-ferrous. The existing 8" round coil might be a little too cumbersome for this concept, but the 5X9 would be a reasonable fit. I know there have been a few people who have fashioned the same concept with the Fisher Gold Bug machines with varying degrees of success. They still have to deal with a wired control box. I ran the Deus side by side with the GPZ the other day. All I needed was about 10 ft of separation to avoid interference between them. The Z reacted if you pointed the Deus coil at it, but otherwise they played well together, both machines switched on at the same time. Your thoughts?
  19. I've been detecting for gold for over 20 yrs and never had much interest in the coin and relic side of detecting, but I was getting bored in sunny/hot Yuma. I got interested in the XP Deus because of its potential for gold prospecting in heavy trash and started my online research. Naturally, I experienced a good deal of confirmation bias, finding all good reasons to get a new Deus and ignoring all the downsides. I'm really betting on the come with the alleged new coil with higher gold frequencies. Nevertheless, I decided to buy one and get started learning a different side of detecting. Many thanks to Rob Allison at Rob's Detectors for helpful advice and putting together a nice package deal with the Garret Carrot pinpointer. It's only 87 degrees here at sunup so gold prospecting was going to have to be short and sweet. Yesterday I took the Deus out to the PotHoles area where I met Fred this past winter. We had detected near his camping spot and found way too much trash, but a few small nuggets. I brought along a .5 gram and a 1gram nugget for testing. I detected for less than an hr before it got too hot and found no gold. I practiced with my test nuggets in some of the hotter ground and in with the trash. The Deus detected both nuggets with relative ease, the .5 gram at about 4 inches in hot ground. I would not say that it was any better on the .5 gram than the $499.00 Gold Bug, but there are some nifty things you can do by adding different tones to ferrous targets without adding depth killing discrimination. I'm still learning this process, but I'm pretty sure it will have its place in some gold areas littered with iron trash. This morning I decided to try coin/jewelry hunting in the park. Yikes, I was not prepared for cacophony of noises from the trash in parks. After a dozen flip tabs and bottle caps I decided I better learn this detector elsewhere without making a mess of the grass. I understand the whole "plug" thing and the pinpointer helps, but I was not too confident that someone might not bitch about my excavations. So then I noticed that there were 5 new volleyball courts with nice washed river sand footing. I started thinking about Steve's micro-jewelry concept and decided that was the place to learn this new detector. I could dig every target and not make a big mess. I detected the first court and found a few zinc pennies then played around with the detector settings. Since the ground was relatively clean, I ran the stock "Fast" program, but took the discrimination down to 0 and switched the tones to "Full Tones". You won't miss much in clean ground with that program. The photo shows my success in less than 2 hrs of hunting. A couple pieces of micro-jewelry. The one piece has 2 sparkly stones, doubtful they are diamonds, but I'm on the right track. Now, normally I doubt you would see me bend down to collect a zinc penny in plain sight, but with detecting it becomes part of the chase. So I collected a bunch of zinc pennies, shouldn't take me more than 3 yrs to pay off the detector as this rate.
  20. I remember a thread where Steve H. was reconsidering the Deus in light of a yet to be released new coil option that raised the possibility of its use as a VLF gold detector for high trash areas. I searched the web and everything pointed to a summer '16 release, all silent since then. Just wondering if there are any new hot rumors out there, maybe Nevada Chris can give some insight.
  21. XP had the original model Deus in 2009, followed by four updates and another coming this year. 2.0 added features 3.0 added features 3.1 fixed 3.0 3.2 fixed 3.1 4.0 pending Details and links: XP DEUS (2009) V 2.0 (2011) http://www.xpmetaldetectors.com/xpforum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=72 The behavior of your DEUS remains identical but new functions are added: 4 Non-Motion modes: - PINPOINT - NON MOTION DISC with ACCEPT/REJECT meter - NON MOTION AUDIO DISC with ACCEPT/REJECT meter and audio discrimination - NON MOTION ALL METAL These Non motion modes are useful for example to locate cache inside houses, cellars. For conventional searching on fields Motion programmes are better. On the main menu: - Ground mineralization meter added - Signal strength meter featuring Accept/Reject indicator added Audio Response > Expert - Audio overload menu, to choose an overload sound when a target is close to the coil Program 7 WET BEACH > Deeper on wet areas Program 8 becomes DRY BEACH > Suitable for dry sand. V 3.0 (2013) http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/deus/360409-xp-deus-version-3-now-ready-downloding.html The highlights of the new version include: 01 – New Program N°10 – Gold Field – Gold Prospecting/Nugget Shooting 02 – Better Target Separation And Depth 03 – Finest Adjustment Of Ground Effect 04 – Now 10 Factory Programs + 8 User Programs That You Can Save 05 – Silencer More Efficient 06 – Stronger Audio Response 07 – Two New Audio Modes – 5 Tones and Full Tones 08 – Pitch Mode Adjustable 09 – Id Norm 10 – Non Motion Improved and Easier V 3.1 (2013) http://www.xpmetaldetectors.com/blog-detection/en/update-deus/update-deus-3-1/ – The ground balance adjustment in non-motion mode is faster (the increment or decrement of the setting was a little slow). – The display of the mineralization strength from the main menu has been adjusted. The scale is now more representative of the mineralization level. – The display of the frequencies (4/8/12/18 kHz) on the headphone has been fixed (Previously, in some cases the headphone could display a different frequency while the real frequency was 4 kHz). – The audio volume of the headphone is now saved when you turn the unit off. – The beach mode (GB > BEACH YES) had a malfunction when changing the GB value, it is now fixed. – The SILENCER (REACTIVITY > EXPERT) is adjusted so as to follow the value of the version 2.0 in the factory programs using REACTIVITY 0, 1 or 2. V 3.2 (2013) http://www.xpmetaldetectors.com/blog-detection/en/update-deus/update-deus-3-2/ V3.2 will correct slow mineralization strength reading and also battery charge lever issues that were seen on some V3.1 units, also the Notch Ground function is now off by default. V 4.0 (2017) http://www.xpmetaldetectors.com/metal-detector/deus-update/ The new software version V4 will add include the following: A major reason for V4.0 will be to allow for use of a new 9" round plus 9.5" x 5" elliptical coil running at one of four new frequencies 14, 30, 55, or 80 khz. There is also a new wireless pinpointer for use with the system. • Reactivity 2.5, this new reactivity level is fast and deep, offering a good compromise especially when searching new terrain. • Program No10 GOLD FIELD : Improved Audio Response and reactivity. Goldfield will give excellent results especially when combined with the new HF coils…Now difficult targets can easily be detected in mineralized ground. The Tone menu has been removed. • Lower discrimination range : For those who want more control over ferrous targets. Negative discrimination of 0 to -6.4 makes it possible to locate previously rejected ferrous items, the lower discrimination range can also enhance the signature from deep targets which may have in the past been ignored. These new options also offer a big advantage when searching for specific targets such as ceramics or even meteorites. • Ground Effects: Improved Tracking. • Improved display and signal processing compatible with the new HF 21 frequencies. The display now has the ability to handle detection frequencies up to 81 kHz (18 kHz before), now with 7 frequency offsets (compared to 3 previously). • DEUS is now compatible with a smartphone: Target information and other data can be sent by radio link to a smartphone. An app will soon be available to unlock these features. • New program No 9 "HOT" : "Pro setting" this is a find everything program, based on the Full Tone audio mode with a very low discrimination. Hot is a very interactive program offering excellent feedback and target information. • New program No 6 "DEEP": "Pro setting" for locating deep targets, with moderate discrimination and specific signal processing. • Improved Non motion / static mode: Non motion modes are now more advanced offering better overall performance, with an improved sensitivity to small targets. • New processing : Dual processing power improves navigation and a range of other parameters. remote and headset battery life has slightly decreased to 18 and 20 hours respectively. • Normalization display is now a menu feature on the WS4 and WS5 headphones. • The headset volume is now stored when switched off. • The coil name in the coil menu have gone, the serial number is now used as the coil reference. • Erasing a coil from the list is done by replacing all characters with 0. • Audio tone can now be raised up to 993 hertz • Target Normalization mode is on by default (Normalization is not active with HF coils) • When turning OFF the remote control to use only the wireless headphone, the coil restart
  22. When I got into metal detecting in 1972 it was pretty simple. No discrimination, everything went beep, just dig it all up and see what you find. Advances came rapidly however, and manufacturers focused on making detectors that could eliminate trash to the highest degree possible while find coins. Coin detecting was the big market by far, as silver coins were still relatively common in parks and other locations. So the goal was to find a silver coin while ignoring everything else. Anything smaller than a dime was generally considered a trash target, so sensitivity to small items was actually not a good thing. Low frequency detectors that handled the ground well and ignored tiny trash items ruled the day. Most detectors ran around 6 - 8 khz. Then we got multi frequency, the first and most popular being the Fisher CZ detectors running at 5 khz and 15 khz. The desire there is not what most people think. Single frequency machines do not handle a combination of conductive and magnetic properties well at the same time, the classic place being a salt water beach with a little black sand in the beach sand. Two frequencies can be used to compare signals and reduce both the salt signal and the magnetic signal simultaneously more efficiently than single frequency machines. Multi frequency machines, in particular the Minelab BBS and FBS models, excel at accurate target identification. Again, sensitivity to tiny objects has not been the goal but instead accurate discrimination and ground elimination. The culmination came with notch discrimination and the ability to pick and choose specific target ranges to accept or reject. Always, when designing the detectors, when it came to borderline targets, the engineers focused on the idea that people hate digging trash. There is an ability on borderline targets to bias the detector response. You can find more good items if you let the machine do so but in return there will be more false positives and more trash dug. or you can really try and suppress trash signals, but some good targets get rejected with them. What I am talking about is the classic "iffy" targets. Ones that are extra deep, or next to a trash item, on edge, or which for various other reasons give mixed or broken signals. The machines got real efficient at cherry picking out the easy targets, and those started to disappear. All the online discussions and books started to focus on the need to dig those iffy targets to get results in places considered "hunted out". A detector running in all metal mode reports everything going on under the coil. Detectors running in discrimination modes do not but instead eliminate signals based on various criteria. The detector "sees" what it thinks is a trash target, and instead of a signal could be set to give no signal at all. The trash items just become invisible. A problem exists when a good item is directly under or next to a trash item that has been rejected. The detector, if set to ignore the trash item, also ignores the good item directly under the trash item. This is called target masking. But it gets a lot worse than that. The detector must ignore the trash target, then the circuit must reset, and then report the next item that comes along under the coil. This actually takes time, and that time frame is called the recovery time or recovery speed. The simple test for this is to put a nail next to a dime, and sweep the coil first over the nail and then the dime. If the dime is too close to the nail, it gets ignored along with the nail. If the detector has a very slow recovery speed, the nail and the dime can be inches apart and the dime is still eliminated! The faster the recovery time, the closer the dime can be to the nail and still have the dime signal. Many things can be learned doing this. First, sweep speed matters. Going slower gives the detector time to reset so if you sweep too fast, you miss the dime. Go slower, it can sound off. Second, direction matters. Dime next to nail, if coil is swept 90 degree across the nail, the dime gets missed. Turn and sweep along the length of the nail, and now the dime appears. This is why classic coin detecting skills recommends hunting a location from multiple directions. Coil size and type matters tremendously. Big coils have more chance of both the nail and dime being under the coil at once, and both being ignored. Small coils have a better chance of separating the targets. DD coils do better yet by narrowing the detection pattern. Tuning matters. If you set the detector to aggressively ignore all nails it is more likely to ignore the dime. If you set the discrimination to just barely reject the nail, even so far as letting it produce a pip or broken response, and now the dime may very well sound off also. In general you should only set to reject medium to small ferrous trash. Tuning out bolts will really mask about everything. Then people realized setting the nail to be silent and the coin to beep caused more masking than using two tones. A low tone for nails, and a high tone for dimes. Totally suppressing the nail is more likely to kill the signal from the dime. Letting tones flow from low to high keeps the audio circuit open and more likely to report the nail. All these tricks get combined, and so running with multiple tones, small coils, going slow, etc. all add up to more good finds being made. Now, certain machines have always excelled at this, in particular the Tesoro detectors and some older White's models. These were/are detectors with analog style single knob discrimination controls that could set a very fine point on where the discrimination point was between ferrous and non-ferrous. But as the new digital machines came online, we actually lost some of this capability because digital signals get broken down into small pieces for processing. Think old LP record versus early digital file recordings of music like MP3. An analog signal is continuous whereas a digital signal is a zillion little bits glued end to end, and just fast enough to sound continuous. It is like the frame rate on a movie file. It looks continuous to our eye but is actually distinct separate frames strung together. This digital type audio has been described as "gated audio", like a gate opening and closing, letting signals through. Analog type signals are described as "blended audio" or "bleedy signals" because the audio flows, blends, and bleeds together. With digital style audio the detector looks at a signal, decides if it is good or bad, assigns a tone (or no sound), then opens the gate and lets you hear it. Then it stops and looks at the next chunk, decides again, and opens the gate again before slamming it shut. Still with me? This is the biggie. It is this gated audio response and recovery times determined by processor speed that combine to mask targets. It gets worse. A dime right under a nail can be masked. The fun part is the deeper the dime is under the nail, the larger the area of masking is that occurs. If I sit where I am right now and hold my thumb up in front of my coffee cup, I can see the cup with my thumb in front of it. Now if I pull my thumb towards my eye and away from the cup, I can completely hide my coffee cup from view behind my thumb. Detectors actually have a similar "field of vision" effect going on, and recent surface trash can block out a lot or nearly all coins buried deeper down. Get the picture? You have a park where the surface inch or two is full of trash dropped the last thirty years. Under that are all those old silver coins you are looking for. But you have your detector set to reject all that surface trash and the coins get eliminated right along with it. There is far more silver lurking to be found than people realize. Still, all the way up to now, Fisher, Garrett, Minelab, and White's in particular have been cranking out detectors with the old "I do not want to dig trash" mindset at work, and the machines all have suffered from relatively slow recovery times and a bias against calling borderline targets good but instead calling them bad. And as a rule that has worked well enough for the U.S. market, especially because there were no alternatives and more importantly, people really had no idea what they were missing. VLF nugget detectors early on dealt with this, and the Gold Bug 2 and GMT both have ferrous id systems. However, their extreme sensitivity to tiny items and edge sensitivity to certain ferrous trash items like flat steel sections of rotted and disintegrated cans makes them impractical for most detecting outside of serious nugget hunting or perhaps micro jewelry detecting. Newer nugget machines like the Gold Bug Pro with a small coil up to now have been about as good as it gets for pulling non-ferrous targets out of ferrous trash and they are pretty darn good at it. That is why Gold Bug Pro variants like the Teknetics G2 and now the F19 and G2+ have been popular with and marketed to coin and relic hunters. The Garrett AT Gold is more popular with coin and relic hunters than nugget hunters for the same reasons. However, a detector renaissance of sorts has been taking place in Europe. They have thousands of years of ferrous trash in the ground and non-ferrous targets of all sorts scattered around in it. The very first thing that became obvious to them was that U.S. style discrimination schemes were pretty useless. The target types are too varied, so job one in Europe is to just dig all non-ferrous targets. The vast amount of trash in the ground also means recovery time is a large factor. The fields are huge and the hours long so light weight detectors are also favored. When I went to the UK for my hunt years ago I took a Fisher F75. At the time is was about the fastest swinging, fast recovery rate hot on small non-ferrous targets machine you could get in the U.S. The F75 and Tek T2 made a lot of their reputation in their ability to pull non-ferrous items out of ferrous trash. The reality is however that they still had some recovery time issues and a definite bias on borderline targets that cause non-ferrous items to be mis-identified as ferrous. The Europeans wanted something better. Some companies though simply ignored the market or figured what they had was good enough. Minelab in particular comes to mind. Where is their light weight, fast swinging, fast recovery detector? The X-Terra 705? Sorry, no. Tesoro has some good detectors but people really do want to see new detectors now and then, and they are content to just crank out twenty year old models. An opening was created, a vacuum that companies we never heard of decided to fill. Now, it just so happens all of this, everything I have described above, applies to looking for gold nuggets in trashy camp and other mining locations littered with ferrous targets. I have always kept an eye on what goes on in the relic hunting and European worlds because the needs and desires almost perfectly overlap with what nugget hunters need in trashy locations. And so a funny thing happened. Machines that work very well for nugget detecting started to appear in Europe. Names like the XP DEUS and Vista Gold entered my radar zone. One company, Nokta, suddenly appeared and targeted U.S. nugget hunters directly along with their sister company Makro. XP decided to get in on the game and added a Gold program to the DEUS. Most of this was actually driven more by the Africa market more than the U.S. market, as these days Africa is where the big bucks have been in nugget detector sales. The difference is that the DEUS in particular vastly improved the recovery time and it is now regarded as perhaps the best machine made for pulling non-ferrous targets out of ferrous trash. They did it using gated audio but with very fast and sophisticated audio processing. Nokta and Makro are doing something a bit different because their machines rely more on a circuit that almost perfectly duplicates the blended audio responses of old style analog machines but combined with digital discrimination. They also have the ability to sport much smaller coils than currently exist for the DEUS and so Nokta/Makro also have made inroads. Similar results can be obtained with either but with vastly different stylistic differences. The DEUS is the epitome of high tech wizardry, the Nokta/Makro units so far much more basic machines. DEUS is what White's could have done had they not been asleep at the wheel. All the pieces existed long ago with the XLT. And when I look at the Nokta/Makro detectors I see what could have been with Tesoro if they had not just stopped making new detectors. It is what it is however, and Euro style detectors are making waves and inroads into the U.S. markets, but almost as an afterthought as these companies target Europe and Africa. This long post all came about because I was out comparing a truck load of detectors again in the field, and the simple basic fact once again was right there before my very eyes. It all kind of boils down to two very broad classes of machines aimed at two very different end users. End user type one is common in the United States. The park or turf hunter. Park hunting requires sensitivity to outside factors, number one being that you just can't go crazy and dig holes everywhere. People like machines with high levels of accurate discrimination that deliver few false positives. In other words machines that focus on not digging a hole just to recover a trash item. The Minelab BBS and FBS machines like the Explorers and CTX 3030 are famous in this regard. They really are not the deepest detecting machines around by a long shot, but what they deliver is accurate discrimination results to depths beyond what most if any other machines deliver. I have a White's V3i that never really sees any use outside of parks because I like its incredible visual and audio discrimination customization features. The Euro machines do get criticism because while they are extremely good at telling ferrous from non-ferrous, they by design do allow for more false positives. A deep borderline coin in bad ground that my F75 will identify as ferrous a Euro machine will call good and have me dig it. What they really do not tell you is that the Euro machines do not tend to separate out different categories of non-ferrous targets very well, and so you find yourself digging all sorts of things like pull tabs because they end up sounding like a coin. And even a nail now and then. What I am trying to say with all this is that Euro style machines are really, really great for relic hunters and nugget hunters, or anyone who simply wants to recover all possible non-ferrous targets out of the middle of ferrous trash, or are willing to dig all non-ferrous targets in parks and other locations. What they really are not so great at is cherry picking certain types and categories of targets, and in general you will just dig more trash with the Euro machines than what I am calling the U.S. style machines even though that includes Minelab, an Australian company. Now you will get people who say they can cherry pick with a DEUS or FORS CoRe, and people who will say they can pull goodies out of thick ferrous trash with their Minelab Explorer, and of course that is true. I just think you are fighting the true underlying nature of the machines. This article is for the newer people out there who are confused by it all and looking for a little honest guidance. My advice boils down to this. If you simply want to dig all non-ferrous targets, machines made by Nokta, Makro, Tesoro, and XP excel at this task. If you really hate digging any trash at all and want to focus on certain targets only, like U.S. coins, then machines made by First Texas, Garrett, Minelab, and White's tend to focus more on what I would call "turf hunting" or hunting parks, schoolyards, etc where a high degree of discrimination is paramount to reduce needless digging. There are of course other companies but I have to keep things limited to the larger and more visible ones because things are already too complicated as it is. No matter which detector you use however, even the best cannot change the basic facts of target masking. There is stuff out there hidden under trash targets, and the only way to find those items is to remove the trash item first. The trashier the site, the more likely there are good items hidden away waiting to be found. There is no such thing as recovery time or target masking in all metal mode. In places where high value items are very likely to exist, nothing can be done but to dig it all if you want to be sure and not miss that once in a lifetime find. Beneath The Mask by Thomas Dankowski
  23. I've been on the hunt lately for a reasonably priced New VLF Detector that I can use primarily for the beach and prospecting trashy areas but any other additional modes I would consider a bonus such as coin and relic modes as I know I would use those modes at times also if available. I have tried to include all the positive and negative features I could find or think of but I invite any of you, especially those of you who have used one or more of these 3 machines for your opinion positive or negative. If you know of a better machine you feel I should look at please feel free to advise me. I highly regard your input. In short I've narrowed down the selection to the following 3 detectors as they all 3 seem to have the features I'm looking for, at least in the mid-priced range. I have also considered the CTX-3030 and the Garrett Pro as the Garret seems pretty solidly based but there is some uncertainty about it's salt water ability. The CTX- 3030 looks awesome just not sure I can go the steep price and a single freq machine I'm thinking would do as well or better in mineralized ground for my prospecting needs. XP Deus Plus Features: Selectable (4 Frequency 4, 8, 12, & 18 Khz), Very Fast Recovery speed, Ultra Light weight, breaks down easily, No wires to deal with. Has beach and goldfield modes notch Disc, Iron level, Multi-tone, motion and 4 non - motion modes, 10 pre-configured factory programs, 8 user programs that can be saved, ground tracking and grab ground balance, 5 yr Warranty, wireless digital, Rainproof, Backlight, low power consumption, lithium batteries, 20 hr life, 2 hr charge time, offset Freq. Negative Features: Coils very expensive, very small selection of coils, 1. Each component has it's own battery that needs recharge, Battery in coil is only factory replaceable. Makro Racer 2 Fast Recovery speed, handles mineralized ground well (ISAT), Has beach and deep mode. great price per feature economy, great selection of coils, notch filter, Auto or manual ground balance, remembers settings, threshhold, Iron audio, Volume control, uses common batteries (4AA), screen backlight, vibration, frequency offset Negative Features: Single Freq (14Khz), not waterproof, Good target ID's bunched together in the 80's, Whites MX Sport Pluses: Waterproof, 6 modes, Beach, prospecting, Relic, coin, all metal etc, Volume and threshold control, Ground grab, V/SAT, 20 hours on a charge,screen backlight, adjustable notch disc, Tone ID, frequency offset, Negatives: 4lbs, 8 AA batteries, 1/4 headphone via adapter, only 2 optional available coils so far, Single Frequency (13.8 Khz), New model, not fully tested by a large group, Terry
  24. I have put up info pages on the White's V3i at White's V3i Details & Review Page and XP DEUS V4 at XP DEUS V4 Details & Review Page
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