Anyone have a good program for semi-hot Va. soil?

[snaps]

Hey All,
Going to a buddies site sunday, and have been warned that the soil is kinda hot. He said he was only getting 5-6inches on button size stuff with his CTX. Dont know a thing about that machine, and Im new to the Deus-coming from a goldmaxx did help- Whats your settings in the hot stuff? running the 3.2 version with the LF coil 11 incher.
Thanks a bunch
Snaps

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[vferrari]

If you have the infinium, you would be better off using that if the soil is really hot, as a PI it will punch through mineralization better though you will be in dig it all mode, you will hear targets that won't even register on the Deus or any other VLF under those conditions. Right tool for the job.

There are no magic settings for hot soil. Hot soil limits the depth of all vlf dectectors.

If you are primarily hunting for CW relics, your best bet is to run Gold Field at 18 khz. You will have a fighting chance of hearing all targets and might even register a Target ID. Gold Field uses a ground grab method to fix ground balance to the conditions, a threshold tone, and pitch-like audio. You won't have tone ID as a result but will sill have target ID. Bring some test targets (minie ball, button) and bury them about 5 to 6 inches and "tune" the machine reactivity setting to get the strongest target signal for both, usually around reactivity 2 or 3. Do not use iron reject as that will react to the iron magnetite in the sole and make all target signals break up. You are going to want to listen to whisper signals that barely rise against the background threshold hum even if you don't register a Target ID. Those are going to be the deepest targets you can find, but you will be typically guessing as to whether they are ferrous or non-ferrous without the ID. I would normally recommend using tracking GB but the now ancient 3.1 software GB tracking algorithm is really flawed and over-reacts badly to ground mineralization. So unless you are going to upgrade to version 4 or version 5 software, definitely do not use it.

If Gold Field is not your cup of tea, I would recommend trying pitch tone in Deus Fast, also at 18 khz, and turn iron volume on and set discrimination between 7 and 10. With iron volume you can hear the ferrous grunts and then the non-ferrous squeals for targets above the discrimination threshold. Dig anything that consistently zips/zips whether or not you get a target ID, especially if it registering as a non-ferrous target on the horseshoe display. Why use discrimination if you keep the iron volume on? The discrimination helps keep the iron from down averaging the target ID of adjacent non-ferrous targets. Also, it is a myth that running the Deus with discrimination reduces depth. Simply not true. I assist Andy Sabisch at Deus bootcamps and we demonstrate to the class how this is simply not the case. Running with disc also makes the horseshoe depth and ferrous/non-ferrous indicator run more stable and reliable. If iron is thick, use a higher reactivity of 3 (I personally like the 2.5 setting of the version 4 and 5 software, but you don't have that choice with version 3) otherwise use 2. Using reactivity 2 to 3 improves separation and helps cut down on the ground noise chatter associated with high mineralization but only set it as high as you need to so you don't limit depth. Also, make sure your silencer setting which adjusts automatically with reactivity setting changes does not go too high otherwise you will lose separation and depth. Deus Fast silencer setting is -1 by default (i.e., off) that is why I recommend starting with Deus Fast. Once you change reactivity the silencer might also change to a higher number, so make sure you check it if you change reactivity and set it back to -1 or 0 at the most.

Other tips. Look at the ground mineralization bar graph on the right side of the display. If it rises to above 1/2 scale, then that ground is indeed very hot. If that is the case, you should also consider lowering TX power to 1 and bumping up sensitivity (if you can without causing chattiness) to compensate. Running with TX power too high will actually cause your detector to lose depth. Note that if you run at 4 khz TX power is locked at 3, so avoid using it in high mineralization. Also, if you shift operating frequency from the base frequency, you will also lock Tx power at 3, so avoid that in mineralized soil. No need to crank up sensitivity to max in any case run it somewhere between 87 and 93 if you can without chatter.

Set up identical custom programs adjacent to each other but with different frequencies or reactivity settings so that you can quickly shift between them to interrogate a target with different frequencies or reactivity settings. Mid conductors like lead, brass, gold react stronger with higher frequencies (18 khz and higher), while high conductors like silver and copper tend to respond to lower frequencies (4 khz, 8 khz) better and as a result can be detected at greater depths because lower frequency signals penetrate better into the ground.

Be sure to GB frequently as the ground phase can change a lot over even short distances in hot dirt.

Summary Hot Dirt Programs:

Gold Field Settings: 0 for Iron Audio Rejection. Sensitivity 87-93, Tx power 2 or 1 if mineralization high, Frequency 18 khz for relics, 8 or 12 khz for coins, silver. Threshold tone set as desired. Reactivity 2 or 3.

Deus Fast Settings: Disc 7 to 10, Pitch Audio or 3 tones, Sensitivity 87-93, Tx power 2 or 1 if mineralization high, Frequency 18 khz for relics, 8 or 12 khz for coins, silver. Reactivity 2 or 3, Silencer -1 or 0, Iron Audio 3, Audio Response 4 or higher (so you can hear those deep signals, you don't want them to be faint).

My favorite coil for relic hunting is the 9" HF round because I can run it at what I consider the sweet spot frequency of 25 to 28 khz for relic hunting, especially in hot soil.

Some Deus/Orx finds from a mineralized farm field over the past few months primarily using the Gold Field program.

 

[snaps]

Great Info!

Vferrari, wow ask and thee shall receive! Have to update my info, unfortunately I no longer have the infinum. I will try all this, and Ive been avoiding gold fields and pitch tones for too long, taking the familiar goldmaxx route, this will build a fire under my bottom and make me a better deus user. Nice saves BTW, Ive only found 2 rebel buttons ever, ones an "I'' block. Thanks so very much

 

[vferrari]

Good luck on that hunt and don't get flustered because pitch is going to sound weird, but stick with it and you should be rewarded. That block I was my first CSA button. Finally broke through after all these years. Lol.

 

[signal_line]

Maybe I am missing something but why don't you update to a newer version? According to Gary Blackwell the lf coils work just fine with the v5.21

 

[vferrari]

Maybe I am missing something but why don't you update to a newer version? According to Gary Blackwell the lf coils work just fine with the v5.21

I was dropping subtle hints along those lines but not sure I would personally take the chance of doing that for the first time ever right before a scheduled hunt a couple days out and then be learning how the machine now responds especially if I have some custom "comfort" programs installed that I would have to reinstall and that might behave differently after the update. I would personally recommend updating, but also understand the potential drawbacks as I described.

 

[snaps]

Yea that sounds about rite. Im already confused as it is! But yea thought I would get used to the machine as it came. I understand you have to update if you wanna use the HF coils, so i figured id wait till i got one to do it.

 

[snaps]

I will give the pitch tone a cub scout effort! And the Block I was my first too!