Big help needed Eric Foster Deepstar 3

[Peapod]

Hi All, I need big help on setting up DeepStar 3 PI machine. I am complete novice re PI , though old hand with Explorer 2 and Etrac,
I have a site that Me and my buddy found a scattered roman 1st - 2nd Century hoard on last year. Problem is that the field is so mineralised that both Etrac and CTX 3030 realy struggle to get any depth.
Ive been given on approval to buy a Deepstar 3 pi machine but no instructions with it. Its come via a deceased previous owners family and I dont want to hassle them at this point in time to search for the manual.
Can anybody suggest a good inland setup to get me started or even better a manual or somewhere to get one.
The knobs on the long side of the control box are from left to right:- P Delay. Tx Freq, Sat Speed, Tx Pulse, Range, Tone, Volume and on end next to phone and charge jack, Threshold knob.
I beleive this to be a mighty machine but realy would appreciate a few pointers to making it so.
Many thanks
The Peapod

 

[Sven]

They are basic controls, try these for silver

Pulse Delay ---- MIn

Frequency ---- control to help with EMI, set to getting a steady threshold, very small adjustments at a time.

SAT ----- at 75% controls retune speed of the detector (slow retunes like a VLF non-motion machine, fast retunes like a motion machine)

Pulse width --- at 50us, 50us is better for small gold and silver, 100us provides better depth--not on small gold, but on larger targets.

Range ---- Gain or sensitivity try 50%

Tone----- Threshold? Adjust to a low smooth threshold sound, if the PI is a tick-tick-tick machine adjust for the slowest tick, maybe 1 per second.

Volume ---- to your liking

If you Download the White's TDI manual, it has some good tuning info and can explain the controls in better detail that will help in setting up the Deepstar.

 

[Peapod]

Many thanks Sven.
Ive tried these settings and variables on them. I have a feeling machine is not working as it should.
I cant get steady a threshold, the volume knob works in reverse - max is min on box and the connecter from coil into unit looks very tired and stray wires all over the place when I took plug apart (looks like its been soldered by an ape !!)
This wont help,
Ive done some air tests as best I can with this cable tided up as much as I can get it without resoldering and the results are not good :-
George 3 Cartwheel TUPPENCE @ 9", George 3 1799 halfpenny @7", 10p @ 6" and 5p @ 3"
Tested on clear ground away from interference. My 1st radio shack machine could have done better.
I have made extensive inquires but cannot find anybody in UK to look at machine let alone service it.
Any ideas for servicing would be great

 

[Mega]

You could try Dave at Pentechnic but not sure if he has any Pulse knowledge but he is the main man for VLF machines,only other suggestion is ask on the Geotech forum,that is often seen as the No1 place for detecting gurus and you will almost certainly get a reply on your specific machine.

Svens,a good guy as well

 

[Peapod]

I tried Dave, he cant help. I left message with MSR but he hasnt got back to me though he could be hols.
I will also check out Geotech
Many thanks

 

[Sven]

n/t

 

[Peapod]

I had a session out yesterday and apart from locating a couple of shallow bits if wire, I realy struggled to get any stability out of the machine and certainly couldnt maintain a steady threshold tone. I tried all these settings and lower powered variants.
I also couldnt decifer fainter targets and falsing. it was then I noticed the coil has 3 cracks across it, which certainly wont help.
I have a feeling until I get the coil either sorted or replaced I will not get any success with the machine. It does make me wonder if it hasnt generally been abused and is actually not worth the expense or time in getting it working OK.
Is there a stock coil that may be compatable with the unit or is it a special through and through.
Many thanks again for all the info and advice.

 

[Reg]

The problem is the Deepstar was not designed to use over regular ground. Instead, it was built to be used on an ocean beach where the mineralization is minimum. Unfortunately, this model has no ground balance feature and that is what would help your problem.

You might try advancing the delay to the point where the ground signal is minimal or at least useable and then using the detector. Advancing the SAT will cause the autotune to be faster and that will help also. So, there may be a combination SAT and delay that helps. Adjust the gain for the best stable signal. The gain is called the Range control.

For the best depth on all objects, use the 100 usec pulse width. The 50 usec is for small gold. However, you might try both and see which works best when combined with the delay to give you the most stable signal.

Practice by adjusting all the controls to see how they affect the operations. This will help in better understanding what can be done.

Reg

 

[Peapod]

Thank you Reg,
The coil has some serious cracks in it (something I overlooked while I was concentrating on the control box features). Could you suggest either a stock replacement coil or a basic test to check the if the coil has actually failed or if I can repair damage with a good epoxy resin.
I can then begin experimenting with settings when I'm confident coil is working.

 

[UK Brian]

The last Deepstar 3 coil that came up for sale sold for £270 + postage and had slight hairline cracks on the bottom surface. I should consider what Reg has said....its a beach machine first and foremost. I love my Deepstar 2 but for land use, if I really did need pulse, I would use my TDI. At times you can pick them up really cheap for what your getting and Whites is there in Scotland to tackle any issues that might arise in the future.

 

[Peapod]

The last Deepstar 3 coil that came up for sale sold for £270 + postage and had slight hairline cracks on the bottom surface. I should consider what Reg has said....its a beach machine first and foremost. I love my Deepstar 2 but for land use, if I really did need pulse, I would use my TDI. At times you can pick them up really cheap for what your getting and Whites is there in Scotland to tackle any issues that might arise in the future.

Many thanks for that, I agree the more I try to find out about support for this machine the less inspiring it gets.
It may be the dogs doo dahs , but not working correctly its no more than a brick.
Many thanks for all the members that have posted suggestions on this thread

 

[allmetal]

I think you might be struggling on your contaminated site with the Deepstar especially if it is that bad that the Minelabs are having a hard time have you tried using it on the beach yet to see if it is working ok.
Wish I had bought a Deepstar 3 when they where around remember talking to Eric at the time and asking if there was much difference in depth than my Deepstar 1 think he said that there might have been a bit of difference.

Have used my Deepstar inland only on a few occasions and in sandy fields one area was pretty clean of iron and another quite badly contaminated the only thing that helped for me was to turn down the Sens but after having to turn it back a lot it reduced the depth so much to be of not much better than my inland machine, Minelab Explorer at the time.

The Deepstar is amazing on the Beach 18" on a ring with the 15" coil and I'm pretty sure I've dug them at around 24"+ on the faintest of signals.

Good Luck with your machine hope you can getting it working ok