I got a full day of hunting in with the new Deus

[Larry (IL)]

What a lightweight the Deus is and it was built to fill a niche in the marketplace. For those of you who have had shoulder surgery or shoulder problems, this might be your salvation. I am used to swinging a fully loaded SE Pro with X-1 and the SEF 10X12 as well as the V3i set up the same way so it was almost like swinging a Tesoro, but not quite.

I spent the last two days reading the manual and going through the adjustments that can be made so today was a day off work and away I went with a fully charged Deus, or so I thought. I had everything on the charger for at least three hours like the manual said but just three hours into the hunt the audio went silent and a message on the screen said "no coil". It was time to move to a new location anyway so I put the emergency charger on the coil which gave me another 45 minutes more hunting and another charge again finally got me through the day. I hope it was just an initial bad first charge, I will know more the next time I go out hunting again.

The display was very easy to read in the bright sun and the menu was easy to figure out after going through everything in the manual once. The Deus was really a pleasure to use and yes, it is very fast. But that is not always good.

The Hunt:

Two hours into a hunt in a park that I have hunted many dozens of times I got a sharp dime signal with the Deus. When I pinpointed in All Metal. I could clearly hear iron with the dime. I marked the spot and got my V3i and when I tried it, I got a null, no silver signal at all. (One for the Deus) I usually run the V3i with a recovery delay of 100 which I consider Minelab slow. When I set the recovery delay to 30 which is close to the Deus's speed, I could clearly hear the dime. It was a 1935 Merc. (One for the V3i). I didn't bother to go back and get the SE but since it was only 5 inches deep, I'm sure the SE would have heard it. If not with the 10X12 a smaller DD coil for sure. An hour later while the coil was charging on the Deus, I started hunting with the SE Pro and located a deep target that I thought was an Indian and the depth gauge was bottomed out. By now the Deus coil had a charge and I brought it out to see how it would do on the Indian. I was using 7.7 kHz and then 4Khz with sensitivity at 90 in the Basic 1 program, no such luck hearing it in my ground. I should have tried the relic program I guess. It turned out to be a 1936 wheat cent at 10 inches. I might add that I could hear the wheatie in All Metal, just not in discrimination mode.

I have much more to learn and experiment with the Deus and try to get some better depth and play with the audio some. My overall opinion is the Deus has it's place in the market but here in Central Illinois, I don't think it is strong competition in depth for the Explorers and E-Trac or nearly as versatile as the V3i. Much more hunting to do to be sure. I have a relic hunt coming up next week against a V3i where I know the Civil War bullets are 10 to 12 inches deep. I will be trying out the Relic mode for that hunt and I think I will have to invest in the larger coil as well to get the depth I would want.

 

[D&P-OR]

Thanks for the report Larry, much appreciated.---Please keep us informed on the upcoming relic hunt.--------Del

 

[Elton]

I'm interested for sure..but will wait for more of these unbiased Reports......Again thank you Larry !

 

[jmaryt]

even though you are a deus dealer,your report sounds very un-biased.
thanks for the "neutral",and very sincere field report.

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[Finder82]

Good report and i am sure that you will just love the Deus, when you have gained enough field time with this detector.

 

[Larry (IL)]

Nope, I don't have a horse in this race JT, I got out of the business a couple of years ago.

 

[Larry (IL)]

Rumor is that XP is working on much needed full cup wireless headphones. I was disappointed in the quality of the ones that came with the unit although they worked fine.The outside noise was very distracting, road traffic, kids playing, even the birds singing took my attention away from the hunt. I am used to a comfortable full cup like the White's wireless and the SunRay Golds. I have a temporary fix in the works, a headphone extension cord adaptor with a 1/8 inch plug, right angle for the remote leading to a 1/4 jack that will be mounted under the arm cuff. That will allow me to use the SunRay Golds when the need arises to reduce ambient noise. I can see the use for the lightweights though, especially when it gets hot outside or field hunting.

I was also disappointed in the 4 kHz frequency, I got better deeper coin readings in the 7.7 frequency. XP states that 4kHz is reserved for the large coil for possibly cache hunting but I would think for the U.S. market anyway, they might want to refine 4 kHz to better serve us for the deeper silver and copper coinage. The V3i's strong frequency is 2.5 kHz for deep silver and copper, Minelab is believed to be in the same ballpark. Again rumor is Deus version 3 is coming out, let's see what that might add to the Deus.

My biggest concern at this point is by the time I get the larger coil and full cup headphones, we are pushing close to $3000 for the average consumer. Way out of reach for many.

 

[Finder82]

My biggest concern at this point is by the time I get the larger coil and full cup headphones, we are pushing close to $3000 for the average consumer. Way out of reach for many.

Then you dont buy the Deus, its that simple. It was not intended to the mass market, its for the rich and to the guys who want the latest toy, regardless of price.

 

[Larry (IL)]

You are right on that.

 

[Denar1]

You should use GMP 18 or 12 kHz, krank Sensivity near maximum as I do, increase TX to 3, start using GB on Tracking, dig uncertain signals, than you will have a good results. Using Pinpoint is unnecessary, 9" coil is very precise and spot on. Do not think about closed headphones as Spring is coming and in summer Deus headphones are a blessing, you can also forget about a large coil, standard one has plenty of depth. Try to learn Deus better, because you are just beginning.

 

[leroy1937]

thanks Larry 4 the report

 

[Larry (IL)]

I am new to the Deus but not new to the technology, been doing this for 30 years. 7.7 is the best of the 4 frequencies here in the U.S. for our deep silver and coppers and Sensitivity of 90 is as high as I could go or I got too much falsing in my ground, the same with TX 3. You are right that the 9 inch coil is spot on and not needed to dig the target, I just wanted to listen to the iron in All Metal before digging to help me understand the separation capabilities better. Even if the larger coil is not much deeper, I think I will like the coverage that it gets......... at least that is what I hoping, I have one ordered and should be here next week. Thanks for the tips though.... always looking for ways to make it better.

 

[Finder82]

Hey Larry, do you remember what was the ground balance number in your soil?

 

[Denar1]

There is no much point to go to 34/28 cm coil, if you do not know your detector with 9" coil. I do not doubt that you are a sklilled detectorist, but I also have 22 years of experience and am using Deus a lot for some 20 months and can assure that the best success you will have with higher frequencies, much higher sensivity, TX at 3, and, if GB on Tracking is rather for a very experienced user, try to lower GB manually to some 87 - 88 and depth and rate of good finds will improve. Keep Discrimination low and dig all doubtfull signals, which show on the right side of a horseshoe. 8 and perhaps also 4 kHz is the best to use with a big coil.

 

[Larry (IL)]

It was 87 and I had it in tracking GB but it tracked out the deep target signals (the whispers) that I was listening to so I ended up putting it in Manual, it worked good there. I think I will try pumping next time out.

 

[Larry (IL)]

I think there is a big difference in our grounds but I will try the higher frequencies, over here it seems the lower the frequency, the better high conductors respond. That is true with my V3i, the 2.5 kHz channel will get several inches deeper than the 22.5 kHz channel.

 

[Finder82]

It was 87 and I had it in tracking GB but it tracked out the deep target signals (the whispers) that I was listening to so I ended up putting it in Manual, it worked good there. I think I will try pumping next time out.

87 is not mineralized ground, its a mild ground, so you should get good depth out of the Deus with correct settings. You really shouldn't use the tracking in a trashy modern places. I mostly use the pumping method to achieve quick ground balance in a clean spot and it works great, just be sure to check the ground balance number once in a while.

 

[Larry (IL)]

The ground balance point (87) has nothing to do with the level of mineralization.

The GB phase index number tells you composition (between purely ferrous and purely salt), while the vertical signal strength bar on the right side tells you the concentration (more or less mineralized).

You just have to trust me on this....... I have mineralized ground rich in maghemite and magnetite, pretty common here in central USA.

 

[Finder82]

You just have to trust me on this....... I have mineralized ground rich in magnemite and magnetite, pretty common here in central USA.

Ok.

 

[Hombre]

My biggest concern at this point is by the time I get the larger coil and full cup headphones, we are pushing close to $3000 for the average consumer. Way out of reach for many.

Then you dont buy the Deus, its that simple. It was not intended to the mass market, its for the rich and to the guys who want the latest toy, regardless of price.

Finder82

What an elitist snob remark Richy Rich gets his hands dirty, or I suppose you hire somebody to do the digging for you. I bet that 99 people out 100 cannot relate to people like you.
So