Sadly...not that impressed!!

[Arthur-Canada]

Took my new Deus out to my test garden for the first time and not that impressed. Actually pretty disappointed really. I tried all the factory programs and even a couple I did myself after playing around with it in my basement for about 4 hours. Although some programs do better on some of the six targets I have, none of the programs do as well and consistent as my trusty old 1991 Wilson Relic & Coin ll. I've cleaned the pants off users of Deus and CTX machines in parks with my Wilson more than once, but I've dismissed my luck and chalked it up to more experience than the other guys. Now I'm not so sure. Other than depth, I have yet to see a target my buddy has been on with his Deus that I could not get soundly with my Wilson.

 

[cometguy]

Part of what you just said was experience. You are very experienced on the Wilson and learning the Deus. Hoping you have Andy's book because that is where a lot of the learning begins. I know that the Deus isn't the best at everything under the sun, but it is darn good at most and it weighs less than 2 lbs. Maybe a test garden would spoil it for me but I honestly believe if I get the coil close to it, I will find it with the Deus. Sometimes it is a whisper that turns into a repeatable. Usually it is a clear screamer on some fairly deep targets. I think Canadian coins are an entirely different thing that what I am chasing. I would say, study Andy's book, go slow on your own changes until you are 100 percent sure you aren't shooting yourself in the foot. It would be a wonderful thing to open your test garden to a Deus user in your area that seems to be doing well. Good luck, please keep us posted. Give yourself and the Deus sometime. Maybe carry it behind the Wilson for a while and break it out when you feel like experimenting.

Don

 

[brianfloyd]

Same thing when I got the deus. I just really wasn't impressed as it.was not getting stuff in my test garden. UNTIL I got the ground balance thing figured out. Seemed like the book says leave the gb at 90 but once I changed it to suit my ground targets hit pretty dang good. It's not perfect but what is and it sure is light. I do hope for some nice improvements with V 4. Any new rumors??????

 

[Arthur-Canada]

Same thing when I got the deus. I just really wasn't impressed as it.was not getting stuff in my test garden. UNTIL I got the ground balance thing figured out. Seemed like the book says leave the gb at 90 but once I changed it to suit my ground targets hit pretty dang good. It's not perfect but what is and it sure is light. I do hope for some nice improvements with V 4. Any new rumors??????

I did a ground balance on all six programs before trying my test garden. Not one program did consistently like my Wilson, but I'm hoping in a real head to head (Wilson strapped to my back) test I'll get the real answer I need.

 

[Arthur-Canada]

Part of what you just said was experience. You are very experienced on the Wilson and learning the Deus. Hoping you have Andy's book because that is where a lot of the learning begins. I know that the Deus isn't the best at everything under the sun, but it is darn good at most and it weighs less than 2 lbs. Maybe a test garden would spoil it for me but I honestly believe if I get the coil close to it, I will find it with the Deus. Sometimes it is a whisper that turns into a repeatable. Usually it is a clear screamer on some fairly deep targets. I think Canadian coins are an entirely different thing that what I am chasing. I would say, study Andy's book, go slow on your own changes until you are 100 percent sure you aren't shooting yourself in the foot. It would be a wonderful thing to open your test garden to a Deus user in your area that seems to be doing well. Good luck, please keep us posted. Give yourself and the Deus sometime. Maybe carry it behind the Wilson for a while and break it out when you feel like experimenting.

Don

My friend John from TN is coming up this spring to detect with me. He uses the Deus now for almost 4 years and has won competitions with it more than once I think. But he would be the first to defend my Wilson because he has seen what it can do and it freaks him out too. Other than really deep targets there is no targets he has gotten that I could not get with my Wilson. In some cases I have actually ID it as iron by the sound of the Wilson and he digs it up to find out I was right and the Deus was wrong. I'm hoping he turns me into a real Deus believer because he says that is the only machine for him now.

 

[Potomac run]

Im not sold on mine!!

 

[Southwind]

The Deus is not for everyone it does take a little understanding. Unless you just load up the Basic 1 or Deus Fast then it is a deep coin killer.

Sounds to me like you do a lot of relic hunting. Although the Deus, at least for me, did fine as a relic detector there I'm sure are better. Personally, as a park/school/tot lot hunter I would only use a Wilson to prop my door open.

Not dizzing the Wilson just saying I would have little use unless I was a relic hunter.

 

[trojdor]

The Deus is not for everyone it does take a little understanding. Unless you just load up the Basic 1 or Deus Fast then it is a deep coin killer.
Sounds to me like you do a lot of relic hunting. Although the Deus, at least for me, did fine as a relic detector there I'm sure are better. Personally, as a park/school/tot lot hunter I would only use a Wilson to prop my door open.
Not dizzing the Wilson just saying I would have little use unless I was a relic hunter.

No, I believe that Arthur is an experienced coin/park hunter. Pretty sure his initial post was clear about that.

I think what it shows, is that experience trumps detector...most of the time.
For those of us who have hunted for over 40 years, that does not come as any surprise.

 

[Southwind]

I think what it shows, is that experience trumps detector...most of the time.

Key words here.

For those of us who have hunted for over 40 years, that does not come as any surprise.

No, I think you're mistaken. I have been hunting for 40+ years and I am surprised. As a relic hunter I'm sure the Wilson does a fine job, but there is probably a very good reason why it isn't the choice of the vast majority of coin shooters. Common sense here. Again, not putting down the Wilson, just stating some facts. Cream tends to rise to the top. I've heard the fairytales about those detectors that no one seems to use or know about (deep dark secret known only to a few) that are better than all those the majority uses. Sorry, I'm just not buying it because I seen it too many times, and it has NEVER proven to be true.

Don't get me wrong I'm sure you could point me to hundreds of videos of the Wilson doing outstanding air tests, field hunting and such, but I doubt you'd find many of coin shooting the local trashy park. Again I say there is probably a very good reason it is not the choice of coin shooters.

 

[trojdor]

I think what it shows, is that experience trumps detector...most of the time.

Key words here.

Indeed. And that we can certainly agree 100% on.

For those of us who have hunted for over 40 years, that does not come as any surprise.

No, I think you're mistaken. I have been hunting for 40+ years and I am surprised. As a relic hunter I'm sure the Wilson does a fine job, but there is probably a very good reason why it isn't the choice of the vast majority of coin shooters. Common sense here. Again, not putting down the Wilson, just stating some facts. Cream tends to rise to the top. I've heard the fairytales about those detectors that no one seems to use or know about (deep dark secret known only to a few) that are better than all those the majority uses. Sorry, I'm just not buying it because I seen it too many times, and it has NEVER proven to be true.

Don't get me wrong I'm sure you could point me to hundreds of videos of the Wilson doing outstanding air tests, field hunting and such, but I doubt you'd find many of coin shooting the local trashy park. Again I say there is probably a very good reason it is not the choice of coin shooters.

Well, I'll just respectfully agree to disagree on that 'experience' comment...I've just seen it too many times.

I'm not a real relic hunter, so I can't attest to that usage.
The reason more Wilsons aren't seen more is sadly simple. There aren't many. They were primarily hand made in small batches and very poorly marketed / advertised.
You just can't find them anymore. I saw one (of the good/later models) on eBay last year...none so far, this year.

And I won't point to ANY videos, because like you I don't trust 99% of them.

I've got a couple of Wilsons, and I can only speak from personal experience and observation.
My Wilson ATD recently found big coins the Deus totally missed in a very small area (in a trashy park) I pound regularly.

If it make you feel any better, my CTX and all my Fishers missed them, too.


And lastly, if you've truly been hunting for 40+ years(in my case right at 45 years), then I salute you as a peer, will respect your hard won experience, and hope your health holds up to hunt for another 40!
HH,

mike

 

[Arthur-Canada]

I think what it shows, is that experience trumps detector...most of the time.

Key words here.

For those of us who have hunted for over 40 years, that does not come as any surprise.

No, I think you're mistaken. I have been hunting for 40+ years and I am surprised. As a relic hunter I'm sure the Wilson does a fine job, but there is probably a very good reason why it isn't the choice of the vast majority of coin shooters. Common sense here. Again, not putting down the Wilson, just stating some facts. Cream tends to rise to the top. I've heard the fairytales about those detectors that no one seems to use or know about (deep dark secret known only to a few) that are better than all those the majority uses. Sorry, I'm just not buying it because I seen it too many times, and it has NEVER proven to be true.

Don't get me wrong I'm sure you could point me to hundreds of videos of the Wilson doing outstanding air tests, field hunting and such, but I doubt you'd find many of coin shooting the local trashy park. Again I say there is probably a very good reason it is not the choice of coin shooters.

You know what....I use to think the exact same thing about the Wilson...sadly for years...all the years I lost out on using my Wilson in a park! I bought the machine back in 2008 and used it exclusively for farm fields in Canada and civil war sites in TN with my buddy John. I set the disc just above "Iron" in the "Salt" range and went to town across the fields. I don't remember a single time where any one with any machine from Etrac to Deus who called me over to test a signal that I did not get as well. Almost never did I dig any nails...only large iron the size of a jar lid would fool me. On average I did every bit as well as everyone else in those fields...quite often better. I think because I never wasted a lot of time digging up signals that turned out to be crap fooling the detector.

Fast forward 7 years to the fall of 2015. I decide one day after hunting for several hours in a forest and finding a nice 1854 US LC and a couple of musket balls, to follow my buddies to a park area. Instead of going to my van to grab my Minelab Sovereign, the machine that I have used almost exclusively for old coins in parks for the past 15 years, I stuck with the Wilson. I started digging up a lot of pull tabs so I started turning up the disc. I got to the point where they were not a problem any more. In the half our or so we detected in the park before it got too dark I pulled out three or four shotgun shells that were over 100 years old down about 6 or 7 inches! I knew then and there that if these were 100 year old coins I would find them no problem.

My next test in a park with my Wilson was a very old park in Toronto that I have found many old silver and coppers over the years, but today you are lucky if you find anything at all. I left the Wilson in the same disc setting and went to work. I ended up that night with three silver coins and an IH. The two guys I was there with had CTX and the Deus and they found nothing but modern stuff. I walk over all the modern coins. If I swing 6 inches above the ground with the Wilson and still get a hit then I move on. All my good finds disappeared an inch or two above the ground. I detect with the coil always barely touching the ground, or right against the grass in summer.

 

[Arthur-Canada]

I think what it shows, is that experience trumps detector...most of the time.

Key words here.

Indeed. And that we can certainly agree 100% on.

For those of us who have hunted for over 40 years, that does not come as any surprise.

No, I think you're mistaken. I have been hunting for 40+ years and I am surprised. As a relic hunter I'm sure the Wilson does a fine job, but there is probably a very good reason why it isn't the choice of the vast majority of coin shooters. Common sense here. Again, not putting down the Wilson, just stating some facts. Cream tends to rise to the top. I've heard the fairytales about those detectors that no one seems to use or know about (deep dark secret known only to a few) that are better than all those the majority uses. Sorry, I'm just not buying it because I seen it too many times, and it has NEVER proven to be true.

Don't get me wrong I'm sure you could point me to hundreds of videos of the Wilson doing outstanding air tests, field hunting and such, but I doubt you'd find many of coin shooting the local trashy park. Again I say there is probably a very good reason it is not the choice of coin shooters.

Well, I'll just respectfully agree to disagree on that 'experience' comment...I've just seen it too many times.

I'm not a real relic hunter, so I can't attest to that usage.
The reason more Wilsons aren't seen more is sadly simple. There aren't many. They were primarily hand made in small batches and very poorly marketed / advertised.
You just can't find them anymore. I saw one (of the good/later models) on eBay last year...none so far, this year.

And I won't point to ANY videos, because like you I don't trust 99% of them.

I've got a couple of Wilsons, and I can only speak from personal experience and observation.
My Wilson ATD recently found big coins the Deus totally missed in a very small area (in a trashy park) I pound regularly.

If it make you feel any better, my CTX and all my Fishers missed them, too.


And lastly, if you've truly been hunting for 40+ years(in my case right at 45 years), then I salute you as a peer, will respect your hard won experience, and hope your health holds up to hunt for another 40!
HH,

mike

My wife already knows that if the house catches fire to run straight for where my Wilson is because that is where I will be going first. If she's not there I'll just have to come back and get her after the Wilson is out on the sidewalk safe!

 

[CO_T\Huntr]

Scott Clark has spent some time putting together his Relic program
and you might give it a go.... http://www.detecting.us/referencelibrary/xp-relic-2/
None of the stock programs are good for depth and were designed for
the UK crowd... the new update addresses this and should improve things
for users in the US
I use a variation of Scott's program and hit those dimes at around 12"
which is my test protocol when I get on new sites...
I prefer the lower frequencies and stay away from 18k and I've had
great success all over CO and now in FL I even spent a month in AZ prospecting
and the Deus performed very well.
My passion is relic hunting and at the Battle of Carthage Site in MO
I hit a pounded site and still came away with my first CW finds...

 

[Southwind]

Well then I say you Wilson owners are a lucky few. I've seen a fair number of videos with Wilson detectors on Youtube and just didn't see anything special. I guess we will just have to agree to disagree.

if you've truly been hunting for 40+ years(in my case right at 45 years), then I salute you as a peer, will respect your hard won experience, and hope your health holds up to hunt for another 40!

Thanks! And the same to you. Here is a picture of myself back in the 80's and as you can see I had quite a collection back then. Enough that I made a few Treasure mags back then.

Your reasoning for why we don't see many Wilson detectors is a sound one and one I can except.

 

[trojdor]

My wife already knows that if the house catches fire to run straight for where my Wilson is because that is where I will be going first. If she's not there I'll just have to come back and get her after the Wilson is out on the sidewalk safe!

If my place ever burns, I'll probably just go catatonic.

I've got far too many irreplaceable detectors, including one-of-a kinds, and prototypes.
It gives me hives just thinking about it.


mike

 

[trojdor]

Scott Clark has spent some time putting together his Relic program
and you might give it a go.... http://www.detecting.us/referencelibrary/xp-relic-2/
None of the stock programs are good for depth and were designed for
the UK crowd... the new update addresses this and should improve things
for users in the US.
I've had great success all over CO and now in FL I even spent a month in AZ prospecting
and the Deus performed very well.

Thanks CO_T\Huntr!

I've been looking for some better settings for CO soil.
Certainly worth a try.

mike

 

[Arthur-Canada]

Scott Clark has spent some time putting together his Relic program
and you might give it a go.... http://www.detecting.us/referencelibrary/xp-relic-2/
None of the stock programs are good for depth and were designed for
the UK crowd... the new update addresses this and should improve things
for users in the US
I use a variation of Scott's program and hit those dimes at around 12"
which is my test protocol when I get on new sites...
I prefer the lower frequencies and stay away from 18k and I've had
great success all over CO and now in FL I even spent a month in AZ prospecting
and the Deus performed very well.
My passion is relic hunting and at the Battle of Carthage Site in MO
I hit a pounded site and still came away with my first CW finds...

I'm certainly going to try this program. At this point I don't know enough about the Deus to do any justice trying to write one myself.

Cheers

 

[Kronos]

The preset settings are for European hunting. One miss setting and the machine will not perform to its max. Attend the boot camp. It's fun and informative. Sell it. Keep your Wilson. Stop wasting your time. There are no cure all fix alls. The deus is a very advanced machine.

 

[CO_T\Huntr]

There is one area where the Deus is a step or 2 above anything available.....
target separation... it's recovery speed is unmatched and the test
of coin below iron is very telling and in the trashy sites it definitely shines.
Hope he can build you a program that shows the abilities it has to offer...GLHH

 

[Prep1957]

I not sure what Wilson you guys are talking about.I bought one many years ago with a funny bump on the coil and narrow silver control box that was suppose to see through junk.The only junk was the detector itself would not even go 5 inches I used it about a week sent it back to Kellyco got something better.