Deus Comes Through with Relics

[vferrari]

Went on a short hunt in Central Virginia. Highly mineralized red clay farmland with plenty of iron junk, can slaw, and "hot" rocks. VLF machines are highly challenged here and "go blind" pretty shallow. Deus still managed to pull these three lead projectiles (all different types) out of the ground probably max 6 inches (actually I did the pulling). The 3-ringer on the bottom must have been pretty shallow, was close enough to almost overload such that I thought I was going to pull another can, but was pleasantly surprised. The Sharps carbine on top is a first for me. I use two custom relic programs one st 8 khz and one st 12 khz. Disc is set at 8, Rx at 1 or 2, Silencer at 0, with some Iron Volume and a single notch at 97-99 for iron wraparound. I also use a customized version of the Deus Gold Field program (I vary the frequency as needed for the conditions) to compliment my custom Relic programs. I typically use GB tracking for all these programs and position them in the preset slots so I can quickly shift between them using the +/- on the fly. Of course, my hunting partner with a Minelab GPX 4800 PI machine was killing it with 30 bullets, a buckle, brass chain, and a silver plated dome button, but hey, my machine is a cheapy compared to that puppy plus he is a way more competent detectorist than me if almost 40 years younger. Oh and if anyone lost a large steel nut and bolt, pry bar or half a horseshoe, I found them. Just PM me.

 

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[CoilToTheSoil]

Great finds, central va here too!

 

[CoilToTheSoil]

And a deus user lol

 

[laidback4sho]

Way to go, bro! Maybe one day the weather will let me get out there and dig. Central NH here, and last week it was snowing, was freezing cold, and now today, it's raining cats and dogs. Got my Deus locked into a pretty nice coinshooting program, if only I could get out to give it a shot.

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[vferrari]

Thanks all. Plus you can appreciate this, it was raining so I got to use my Wave waterproof enclosure with the glued on pole mount mod. Worked great. Plan to just keep the remote in the Wave full time regardless.

 

[laidback4sho]

Thanks all. Plus you can appreciate this, it was raining so I got to use my Wave waterproof enclosure with the glued on pole mount mod. Worked great. Plan to just keep the remote in the Wave full time regardless.

Right on! Got mine protected too, but the way I've been sick lately, I didn't have anything to protect me, lol.

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[TheRingFinder]

Any of you DEUS guys want to tell why I was hitting nails at an 80 - 90 conductivity with solid signals? I switched through all frequency's and used the basic-1, DEUS fast, Pitch and Relic programs. I got home and air tested the nails and they were totally discriminated out.

 

[laidback4sho]

Any of you DEUS guys want to tell why I was hitting nails at an 80 - 90 conductivity with solid signals? I switched through all frequency's and used the basic-1, DEUS fast, Pitch and Relic programs. I got home and air tested the nails and they were totally discriminated out.

Not sure, but I notch from 1 to 35 and then again from 97 to 99 with iron volume of 0 and I can't remember the last time I've heard a nail. Strange, for sure. I'd have to see your settings to be able to even guess at that one.

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[laidback4sho]

Maybe something else in the hole with those nails? I dunno...

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[CoilToTheSoil]

I don't notch anything out and run 6 or lower discrim. When running wider open it allows you to hear the nails and targets between rather than having the machine blanking out. It helps mostly on the deeper mixed signals as generally even with notching a relatively clean shallow target will still sound off through nearby notched iron.

Open up the detector and slow down. Hit it from different angles and listen carefully. Small rusted nails and bits of rust will give erratic high tones as will large iron. The key is repeatability in tone or vdi over a small small sweep, ideally in multiple directions.

 

[CoilToTheSoil]

Also watch the ferrous horseshoe on the left of the vdi. That's a good indicator as if it bounces back and forth it can often be junk or small bits of rusted iron. I've pulled many a target from beds of nails. Most recent were my 1861 dime and buttons. Don't be afraid to dig dig dig. Keep in mind what the results are and learn the subtle nuances in tones the deus provides.

 

[TheRingFinder]

Thanks for the advice - Just frustrating when I know my E-Trac so well. I totally cleaned out a wooded area with my E-Trac, got Barbers, Buffalo's, V-Nickels and other relics. Made sure I totally cleaned it by going back 3 times. My DEUS arrives and thought I'm going back to that same area and see if I can get deeper targets out. I spent 2 hours going over the exact same area and all I got were nails. I know if stuff isn't there, you can't find it. It tells me that the E-Trac did a great job though............

 

[Captain Caveman]

Congratz on the old lead!

 

[HuntinDog]

Vferrari,
Great job on those bullets in that VA soil.
The Deus struggles in it.
And congrats on that First.. Sharps carbine.

TheRingFinder,
Could be the Halo effect of the nails.. don't know
I find Nails that are standing on end will give a good high signal, but like CoilToTheSoil said the signal will bounce back and forth.
I still dig them, like a field full of shotshells you just have to dig them to get the good stuff...

 

[vferrari]

HuntinDog and Caveman - Thanks for the congrats and yes, the Deus is definitely challenged in Cent Va soil, but I am starting to get the hang of how the Deus behaves. Even in the red clay, the mineralization bounces all over the place in the same field. So even though the Deus generally won't hit the depth of a PI machine like a GPX or ATX under the same conditions, a deep target that just happens to be hiding in those lower mineralization spots on the field can be found by the Deus probably just about as deep as a PI machine and it certainly will hit on the shallower targets even under high mineralization. I have an ATX, can't swing it for very long because of the weight and a harness is a PIA especially if you are digging all signals, so I find I can cover more ground than the ATX. I have found more small brass targets with the ATX than the Deus, but the Deus has definitely found more lead than the ATX in these fields, so I think I will predominately swing the Deus over the ATX for most situations.

RingFinder,

I believe the halo effect definitely applies with those nails. One of the tricks of the trade with the Deus when trying to ferret out rusted junk that rings up solid in the high numbers is to change frequencies (without changing within the program you are using). If its a rusty bottlecap or other similar rusty target, the VDI will likely go down if you raise the frequency (and vice versa). A keeper target's VDI number will go up slightly as you increase detector frequency (and vice versa). Other things you will notice, and this comes with experience, is whether the VDI is bouncing around a lot or stays solid within a few points and as advised previously, check the horseshoe to see if the left side is lighting up (ferrous) in addition to the right (no ferrous). But really, once you have trained your ear to how the machine responds to targets regardless of the VDI number shown (or especially when the target is deep enough such that a vdi number does not display or just the horseshoe displays) you can identify those subtle distortions in the sound that tell you, hey this is high probability junk. I also set iron volume to something other than 0 so I can hear that low frequency grunt. All those pieces are then processed by your brain, to set the expectation/probability of what that target may be in your mind, so you can decide whether or not to dig. Problem is, for me, I just dig the target anyway because I can never be 100% sure (until you pull that target out of the ground and can positively id it), besides, the junk may be hiding a keeper target. So I really use what the detector is telling me to set my expectations when I dig, I don't generally rely on it to make my dig decision for me unless I am really pressed for time and make a conscious decision to not dig "probable" trash. There are rarely any absolutes or 100 percents in detecting, and that what makes it fun for me. On that three ringer, I was convinced it was likely shallow can slaw, but was going to dig it anyway to be 100% sure and was rewarded.

 

[TheRingFinder]

Thanks all - for the advice. I know what you mean by "learning" the sounds. I know my E-Trac so well, I don't even look at the display anymore - it's all sound. I just have to take my bumps and put in my time on the DEUS to learn it properly.

 

[Garrett424]

Hey I just tried to check out your father's day gold but the link isn't working.
Just thought you should know...

 

[vferrari]

Hey I just tried to check out your father's day gold but the link isn't working.
Just thought you should know...

Yeah, apparently apostrophes in thread titles are now giving the server fits, go figure. I also posted pics in my "VDI quiz" thread which I ca still pull up.

 

[Calabash Digger]

nice finds!