Deus in Salt Water

[Richard in N.O.]

Andy,
Can you give us an assessment of the performance of the Deus in salt water with the new antenna kit? Particularly along the Gulf Cast.

Thanks,
Richard

 

[Andy Sabisch]

I could tell you the Deus is the best thing since sliced bread for salt water hunting but while it excels in most applications, on salt water beaches with black sand, it is affected due to the two factors requiring different ends of the spectrum to compensate for similar to other VLF units - not as significantly as most but there will be a loss in performance in that region; i.e., you will lose depth and it will chatter.

Dry sand is definitely no problem, wet sand gets iffy but there are some tricks you can use when you get into the wet sand. I have used it on the Carolina and Georgia coasts and gotten 10"+ coins in the wet sand region but a change in search patterns and tweaking the settings is a must-do. Going out into the salt water is not where I would be using a Deus . . . in my book that is. The Water Kit from XP will allow you to get out in the water but the performance may not be what you have come to expect on land or in fresh water.

The beaches in the lower part of Florida, the Gulf Coast and some parts of Texas are not as plagued by black sand as other ocean beaches; i.e., east and west coasts. In these areas you are able to compensate for the salt and noty have to deal with the black sand which improves performance. Also, when you fully submerge the coil and the waves are not swirling over the coil as they do in the surf line, you will be less affected and be able to bump up the sensitivity to gain depth.

The areas along the Gulf towards Biloxi are not mineralized and you should do well with the Deus in the water. Not sure how conditions have changed following the hurricane but when I lived there and hunted the coast (back in the early 80's), we used converted VLF units and did really well.

So in terms of your question, your area should be manageable and with the right settings, you should be punching out the gold if your coil goes over it. If someone is hunting beaches with concentrations of black sand, realize that there are hurdles that tweaking may not be able to fully eliminate.

Let me know if you want some water hunting settings that should serve you well in the Biloxi area.

Andy

 

[chacuff]

Andy I'd love to hear more of your beach hunting experiences on the MS Gulf Coast. It's where I live and I've been trying to unlock this beach. The water is so shallow for so far out. The beach is man made and so different than beaches elsewhere.

Cecil
Gulfport MS

 

[Richard in N.O.]

Andy,
Any settings you could give for the Biloxi to Destin area would be appreciated.

Richard