XP Deus HF 2nd Outing

[Condor]

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. 

[fredmason]

Good detecting, Condor...the weight of the DEUS makes it very attractive.

You said you left your 700 home so I presume you got another...

fred

[Rob Allison]

Hey Condor,

   Great to hear you got some gold with the new HF 9" inch round.  I haven't found any time to escape with it, so was hoping a few guys like yourself would report back.  The HF coils from XP are selling well and have increased sales on the XP Deus. The Deus is pretty slick, extremely light, wireless and now very sensitive to small gold. 

I have a few very trashy areas I'm excited to give it a whirl at.  

Thanks for the "Shout out," and a bit Shout Out for Steve and the great forum! 

[jasong]

Thanks for the report, good to see some actual field prospecting use with this machine.

Have you ever taken it over hard rock tailings piles?

I'm giving some serious thought to pulling the trigger on the ellitical HF and getting rid of my GB2 and Fors CORE finally. The hard rock stuff is about the only thing I use the GB2 for anymore though so I'm kinda curious how it does on the real disseminated type gold?

[Condor]

Hey Fred,

I wheeled and dealed using some of my gold to find a replacement 7000.  I had actually found almost 9 oz of gold with the original 7000, so it in essence paid for itself.  Now I'm starting over, sad face, but glad face that I'm back in the saddle.  I'll looking to head up North when the heat runs me out of Yuma.

Rob is spot on, in a trashy area the Deus will excel on shallow gold. 

Jasong,

This is my 2nd time out with the Deus and I purposely left the 7000 behind so that I would stick to the Deus and give it a decent workout.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the Deus.  I sold my GB II, my GBPro and now have a buyer for my 2300, the Deus is filling the niche as a backup to my 7000 and go to for shallow bedrock.  It's feather light, collapses down for packing and wireless to boot.  I would really like to give it a go in the old hydraulic pits up north.  It's not going to help on bullets and lead fragments, but on square nails it should really give me an advantage.  I just don't have the fortitude to dig the trash that Steve H and others are willing to endure. 

[Steve Herschbach]

Nice report Steve, thanks! Just so you know and others also, the 9" round HF coil is going to get better depth on larger gold nuggets than the 5" x 9.5" elliptical. The elliptical will be hotter on smaller gold and have better target separation but it is a smaller coil, no getting around that, and maximum depth will therefore suffer a little. No free lunch. And hey, you are finding gold while we are waiting!

Condor's First Report on Deus 9" HF Coil

[beatup]

good read Steve and congrats on the gold you got me thinking now.

[strick]

Looks like its a go then... Thanks for the report. 

strick

[mn90403]

Good report from a reliable source.

Thanks Steve.

Mitchel