Hit The Dirt For The First Time Today, Still Idiot Proof

[Skate]

I finally got the chance to hit an old permission and get my D2 in the dirt for the first time after only hunting the wet sand. For reference it's a "company park" for a farm labor rancho about 2 acres in size. I've hunted here for years with an MXT, ATpro, D1, V3, and Nox 800. I wasn't expecting much but that wasn't the point, I wanted to get 2-3 hours on grass and learn a new mode. I chose Park, switched to 4 tones instead of 3, lowered my reactivity to 1.5 (from 2.5) did a frequency scan and ground balanced and off I went. It took all of about 3 minutes for my ears to adjust and I started digging nearly everything that was solid, sweet sounding and repeatable. The D2 is like a hot knife through butter. It was so easy to isolate targets and zero in on them even though there were other targets all over. This place has seen a ton of beer related parties over the past 60 years so there is a ton of beaver tails, pop tops and can slaw in the ground amongst the coins and you could still separate easily.

I can't get over how solid the TID is at depth. I got a deeper (fainter) signal that was a solid 90. By the time I finally got the penny out of the hole the depth was an inch beyond my MI6 resting in the hole. The other thing is the tonal nuance. I get it now. You can hear the target and tell if you want to dig it or not. An example is the nickel. I dug my first one today that rang up as a 62. The tone was just so sweet sounding. It never deviated from 62. I then hit a 62 that moved to a 63 and back to a 62. Dug it and it was a pop top. Hit a 61 that bumped to a 62 and back and it was a 1927 buffalo nickel. I hunt for nickels because I hunt for gold and I dig all nickel signals. I ended up digging 8 more nickels today and all were 62. Every 62 was a nickel. Every time I got a 62-63 I dug those too just to see. Every 62-63 was a crap aluminum pop top. 

I'm convinced that if you take the time to learn each program that is specific to what you do hunt and want to hunt you will clean up. I only used Park today because I want to know it thoroughly before I move to Deep HC. The 27 Buff shows me that a site is never hunted out and you just need to slow down and take your time. The D2 is not a complex detector to use. Your job is take the time to understand what each option is and what it does and if you get lost just turn it off, take a deep breath and turn it back on. 

The other thing I would caution folks against is testing it against your other detectors or spending hours in your test garden. Get out there and dig every signal for a couple of hours and see what everything is in it's natural state, make mental notes (or keep a little notebook in your pocket and record the finds) and enjoy detecting. Stop worrying about whether or not its better than the other detector you had and get out there. You don't go around comparing your wife to your old girlfriends so it should be the same with your new detector. Read the forums to learn something and remember if you don't dig it you won't find it. Stop looking for perfection and EMI problems.

I found no gold today but that only means I have a better chance of finding it tomorrow. The D2 puts a smile on my face. I hope you have as much fun using yours as I am mine. 

[raziel900]

you have caught the spirit of this hobby👍

[F350Platinum]

Funny, gold is the first thing I found, still haven't got a coin with the D2. 😀 You're right though, it's all about the tones and digging a lot to train yourself. Great post! 👍 (Would be better with pics 😁)

[GB_Amateur]

17 hours ago, Skate said:

This place has seen a ton of beer related parties over the past 60 years so there is a ton of beaver tails, pop tops and can slaw in the ground amongst the coins and you could still separate easily.

The Deus 1 and now the Deus 2 have the reputation of good unmasking in iron littered sites.  I don't think the Deus 1 was known for particularly (compared to competition) standout separation in aluminum trash.  This could be an unexpected bonus....

[Skate]

I found that if I got a tone in amongst others I could slowly begin to rotate around it and there was a sweet spot where all that came through the headphones was the desired tone. I dug several coins that had foil/aluminum and iron(rusty nail) in the hole. You just have to be patient and investigate the target just a little longer rather than dismiss it as junk and move on. 

In 4 tones the mid tone on a nickel is about the sweetest sound I've ever heard out of a detector, my ears just seem to attach to it like your kids voice does when they are in a crowd. It was uncanny. 

I say it's idiot proof because to me it's everything I could want in a detector. I like my Nox but this is better but how much better is up to me which is why I like it so much. It has no limits for what and how I detect except for holding my beer. 

[BeachHunter]

Good solid feedback on the D2. Thanks!

[GB_Amateur]

@Skate Didn't see which size coil you've been using....  Please remind us.  Tks.

[Skate]

46 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

@Skate Didn't see which size coil you've been using....  Please remind us.  Tks.

9" coil

[Flatsix]

Glad that you are enjoying the D2, I feel the same way and fell in love with the D 2 right away. I've never had a machine that I could run so hot, sensitivity up and reactivity down, my silver count is way up. I still have the D1 that you sold me a few years ago. Good luck and happy hunting.

[Skate]

These are two winners from yesterdays hunt. The 1927 Buffalo nickel and what I believe to be an old chinese coin. The chinese coin is in rough shape but I have found others like it here as the chinese used to work on the oil fields in the area. It is unique though to find one on a Spanish rancho. If I was on Oak Island I would get a bobby dazzler for it.