CZconnoisseur
Active member
Had time for a short hunt today - I decided to try out an old park not far from home - the same park that I found so many deep coins late last year.
Upon getting there I saw another detectorist using a White's V3i, and casually made my way over to him. Introduced myself and asked how the "hunt" was going - he had found a single Wheat in another corner of the park, but nothing in an hour or so. Showed him the Deus, and a few of the controls, but he was like me - his time was valuable and was most interested in finding coins rather than talking! I of course respected that and began hunting.
Used my goto 4kHz setup - one thing I've noticed with air testing is that the maximum depth difference between Reactivity 1 and 2 is less than an inch on penny/dime sized coins. With the 11" coil there was more of a difference, but I decided to leave it in Reactivity 2 for the faster processing. It was a very open program:
4kHz
Sens 85
Disc 2.0
Reactivity 2
Silencer 0
Audio Response 4
Full Tones
Notch 00-10, 97-99
Manual GB 85 (Pumping in three different places = 86)
Notch ground 86-89
Some people have stated, "Why don't you run Disc at 0 if you're notching 00-10 anyway?" I haven't tried Disc = 0 but I've found that for picking out the smooth, deep signals it seems best to run SLIGHT signal filtering to help with small surface foil (and some deeper foil too), as well as deep iron ID. I have nothing scientific to back this up, but it seems that running Silencer 0 vs -1 helps just a tad with deep iron, and running GB close to neutral (plus or minus 1 in either direction) also helps with tiny foil and iron targets. I never run Sensitivity beyond 85 - always stays between 80-85 not matter what - since too much transmit power can cause falsing.
I still end up digging plenty of foil and iron, but when I get over a deep coin (beyond 8") there's something a little extra in the audio that puts a smile on my face! Cross-checking 90 degrees usually confirms a coin (not always LOL), and these deep ones almost never give VDI.
The first coin dug was a 9" Wheat dated 1918 D - back in the groove for sure! I actually got VDI from this one, 89-91; and there wasn't any crackling whatsoever - just a smooth faint hit. Went on to get a 40-51 indication, not quite as faint but deep enough to NOT lock on...was happy to pull a Buffalo nickel but MUCH HAPPIER when I noticed it was a Type 1 WITH a mintmark! Looks like a 1913 D T1 Buffalo which is a semi-key date - the park doesn't fail to impress - I've never hunted an area that gives up so many mintmarked 1910-1920 era coins!
Found some shallow iron targets - it's always good to get those out of the way since oftentimes there are deeper coins underneath (not today though!) Last coin was a confident non-VDI hit and from about 8" down comes a nice 1911 Wheat - I've absolutely trampled this tiny 50-foot square corner of the park and still pull coins - with the 9" coil able to reach that deep I'm sure there are some bigger and better goodies just waiting to be found!
Upon getting there I saw another detectorist using a White's V3i, and casually made my way over to him. Introduced myself and asked how the "hunt" was going - he had found a single Wheat in another corner of the park, but nothing in an hour or so. Showed him the Deus, and a few of the controls, but he was like me - his time was valuable and was most interested in finding coins rather than talking! I of course respected that and began hunting.
Used my goto 4kHz setup - one thing I've noticed with air testing is that the maximum depth difference between Reactivity 1 and 2 is less than an inch on penny/dime sized coins. With the 11" coil there was more of a difference, but I decided to leave it in Reactivity 2 for the faster processing. It was a very open program:
4kHz
Sens 85
Disc 2.0
Reactivity 2
Silencer 0
Audio Response 4
Full Tones
Notch 00-10, 97-99
Manual GB 85 (Pumping in three different places = 86)
Notch ground 86-89
Some people have stated, "Why don't you run Disc at 0 if you're notching 00-10 anyway?" I haven't tried Disc = 0 but I've found that for picking out the smooth, deep signals it seems best to run SLIGHT signal filtering to help with small surface foil (and some deeper foil too), as well as deep iron ID. I have nothing scientific to back this up, but it seems that running Silencer 0 vs -1 helps just a tad with deep iron, and running GB close to neutral (plus or minus 1 in either direction) also helps with tiny foil and iron targets. I never run Sensitivity beyond 85 - always stays between 80-85 not matter what - since too much transmit power can cause falsing.
I still end up digging plenty of foil and iron, but when I get over a deep coin (beyond 8") there's something a little extra in the audio that puts a smile on my face! Cross-checking 90 degrees usually confirms a coin (not always LOL), and these deep ones almost never give VDI.
The first coin dug was a 9" Wheat dated 1918 D - back in the groove for sure! I actually got VDI from this one, 89-91; and there wasn't any crackling whatsoever - just a smooth faint hit. Went on to get a 40-51 indication, not quite as faint but deep enough to NOT lock on...was happy to pull a Buffalo nickel but MUCH HAPPIER when I noticed it was a Type 1 WITH a mintmark! Looks like a 1913 D T1 Buffalo which is a semi-key date - the park doesn't fail to impress - I've never hunted an area that gives up so many mintmarked 1910-1920 era coins!
Found some shallow iron targets - it's always good to get those out of the way since oftentimes there are deeper coins underneath (not today though!) Last coin was a confident non-VDI hit and from about 8" down comes a nice 1911 Wheat - I've absolutely trampled this tiny 50-foot square corner of the park and still pull coins - with the 9" coil able to reach that deep I'm sure there are some bigger and better goodies just waiting to be found!
Nice digs for sure.
