Digging the Deus

[Topdecker]

I got out today after tweaking the Deus up with my first custom program. I took the Deus to an old church yard that I have hunted over and over, and I go here because it is really unlikely that even conductive trash items can be found.

After about 25 minutes, I eyeballed a new locking-blade pocket knife on the ground - Browning brand. It has been a while since I've had that kind of luck

After 90 minutes the sun was hot and I started shuffling back to the van - and I remembered a spot where I'd dug 4 indian head pennies all fairly close to one another. So stopped at the little strip of soil and in a few seconds the Deus barked out an 83 - it was going to be either a zincoln or an IH, After a few minutes of ground prying (we are no longer digging in Mid-Mo, we're chisling and hammering), up comes an 1887 IH - 126 years old and looking good! I went to more of an all metal mode and check - that little indian had been surrounded by iron that was laying in almost a perfect circle around it. The fast response speed made it completely unmissable - it was so easy to hit that I figured that I would be digging a recently dropped zincoln penny.

I was leaving to go to a modern park. I was just tired of not finding anything and contending with modern trash while scrapping for coinage sounded good. I've only had the Deus since Saturday and experience is what I wanted to gain.

So I traveled a fairly well used park that has never really given me anything old. I got out of the van, geared up, walked over to the corner of shelter house - walked down to the edge of the fill earth, powered on the Deus and was greeted with a zincoln hit - an 84. I dug down 4" to find an 1897 IH. It took me less than 5 minutes here! I never saw another older coin, but I did have an abundance of newer clad to recover.

A good detecting day, all and all. Hoping to break the silver barrier soon!

Top

 

[dougj7]

It looks like you're off to a good start with the Deus.

 

[samandnoah]

Congrats Topdecker! So what was your program that you used? Would love to know since you said the program helped you pick out the coin from the middle of a ring of iron. I'm guessing you were using 18 kHz since you said the 83 made you think it would be a zincoln. To this point I've been using 12 kHz the most, and I'm used to thinking zincoln when I see 77-79.
Take care,
Rich

 

[Andy Sabisch]

Activating the ID NORM function will move all TID values to the 18 kHz values regardless of the frequency in use . . . . . 18 kHz would not be my frequency of choice for US coins in ferrous trash . . . . 8kHz woudl tend to hit them harder and with some other adjustments, picking them out of heavy iron is fairly easy.

This weekend I hit the site of a house that had burned down and had been bulldozed and the ferrous trash was everywhere. Running a custom program at 8 kHz, I pulled nearly 20 coins from the front yard area dating from the late 1800's to the 1940's which is when the house had been vacated. The most ntable aspect was that with a few isolated exceptions, no ferrous trash was unearthed.

Andy

 

[samandnoah]

Good point Andy. Since I never use ID Norm = Yes, I assumed he was actually using the 18 kHz freq.

So you willing to enlighten us on the 8 kHz program you were using? Or what page in your book? Was it simply your Deep Coin program @ 8 kHz? Speaking of which, do you adjust the tone break points when you use 8 kHz instead of 12 kHz? I'm assuming so, but just checking.

Thx!
Rich

 

[Topdecker]

Yeah, as Andy suspected, I am using the ID NORM profile setting but was running at 12khz. After the first day, I got tired of trying to keep track of the target ID shifts and was so very happy when I found this setting. I am not sure why this is not on as a default setting.

I actually made my own program. I put it in the 18th slot, shows up as 18-GOLDEN. Yeah

Disc 10
5 tones
202 1-10 (iron range)
455 11-57 (foil range)
800 58-66 (nickel range)
644 67-79 (zinc / indian / aluminum)
800 80+ (high coin)
Sens 85 (higher if you like, but I prefer a more stable start)
Freq 12khz
Iron Volume: 2
Reactivity: 2
Silencer: 2
Audio Response: 03 (hoping it helps me get a better sense of depth)
Notch: 11-17 (I am less interested in super-low conductors, at least until the ground softens)

All that I was trying to do was to make the Deus feel sort of like a Tesoro Golden umax (which I also own and enjoy). It runs fairly quietly, but you can hear it pop and crackle on iffy targets - it is an opportunity to switch to a noisier, perhap more aggressive program to investigate those sort of targets. You can also hear the low hum of iron targets, something that I find very helpful as it lets me know when to slow it down and start looking harder.

I am probably going to keep tweaking the tone ranges. The idea of the nickel zone is that a lot of gold jewelry appears in that region and I want it to stand out loud and clear, but I am not sure if it too wide, too narrow, or close to right.

I want to widen the "zinc / indian / aluminum" zone, but I noticed that a dime or quarter in iron can get summed downwards and I wanted my coin range to force me to look at targets that are probably aluminum but might be a coin in very tight iron.

Anyhow, I only got a few hours in with this, but it was very good for cherry picking without leaving your ears bleeding. I normally dig almost everything, and really want to since I am still very much learning the Deus, but ground conditions here are horrible and I would normally not even be hunting except that I own a new Deus, I have a week off before I start a new job, and I want to get some experience built up while I can do it.

Top

 

[samandnoah]

Top --

Thanks for that excellent and detailed explanation of your settings and style of MDing. That was very helpful, and I greatly appreciate it.

Not sure where you live, but I feel your pain about the hard & dry ground. Here in central TX we've hardly had any rain since early July. I find myself hunting trashy parks for new drops and items in the top 2" or so of ground. I can hardly wait for a good soaking rain to be able to get out there and REALLY hunt again!

Please keep posting your findings and your settings as you develop your Deus technique!

Good luck & happy hunting,
Rich

 

[Topdecker]

Rich -

We've got similar ground conditions and for about the same time range. I don't have to dig plugs - I chisel down and just pry upwards and end up with a solid, hard chunk of earth. When I dig out the hole, the soil comes out in hard clods and that, when I go to refill the hole, I have to chop down to smaller bits so the plug will have some hope of going back in. I'd normally not even go, but like I said, I want to learn the Deus and time is slipping away.

Hope you get some rain!

Tim

 

[rks1040]

I got out today after tweaking the Deus up with my first custom program. I took the Deus to an old church yard that I have hunted over and over, and I go here because it is really unlikely that even conductive trash items can be found.

After about 25 minutes, I eyeballed a new locking-blade pocket knife on the ground - Browning brand. It has been a while since I've had that kind of luck

After 90 minutes the sun was hot and I started shuffling back to the van - and I remembered a spot where I'd dug 4 indian head pennies all fairly close to one another. So stopped at the little strip of soil and in a few seconds the Deus barked out an 83 - it was going to be either a zincoln or an IH, After a few minutes of ground prying (we are no longer digging in Mid-Mo, we're chisling and hammering), up comes an 1887 IH - 126 years old and looking good! I went to more of an all metal mode and check - that little indian had been surrounded by iron that was laying in almost a perfect circle around it. The fast response speed made it completely unmissable - it was so easy to hit that I figured that I would be digging a recently dropped zincoln penny.

I was leaving to go to a modern park. I was just tired of not finding anything and contending with modern trash while scrapping for coinage sounded good. I've only had the Deus since Saturday and experience is what I wanted to gain.

So I traveled a fairly well used park that has never really given me anything old. I got out of the van, geared up, walked over to the corner of shelter house - walked down to the edge of the fill earth, powered on the Deus and was greeted with a zincoln hit - an 84. I dug down 4" to find an 1897 IH. It took me less than 5 minutes here! I never saw another older coin, but I did have an abundance of newer clad to recover.

A good detecting day, all and all. Hoping to break the silver barrier soon!

Top

If you like 12 kHz,you ought to try 8 kHz! The TID,seperation is much wider,making it easy to set up for Tones,and Notches. Plus the 8 kHz is a "hammer" on coins! Ron

 

[Topdecker]

If you like 12 kHz,you ought to try 8 kHz! The TID,seperation is much wider,making it easy to set up for Tones,and Notches. Plus the 8 kHz is a "hammer" on coins! Ron

Good advice is always welcome! I was out today and dropped to 8khz because 12khz seemed to be liking aluminum trash way too much for my liking. I've not been at it enough to feel the difference in having a wider range, but I will watch for it now.

Top

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

I always love the Indians! Congrats!