XP 4.0 update

[Boilermaker27]

I'm really tired of hearing about the upcoming update for these detectors, been hearing about it for six months and still no release date. What is going on, if it's ready release it, if not then stop talking about it. I am unsure about my XP Deus and hopefully the update will enhance the detector so I better like it. My biggest gripe with this detector is the fact that when you change frequencies, all the target ID numbers also change. No way am I going to even try to memorize all the numbers for each frequency. Surely it can all be better organized so the same number, for the same target, does not change with a change in freuency. Unfortunately the XP website email address is non-clickable so can't contact them.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[OutdoorAdv]

It sounds like you need to enable "ID Norm." to get the same TID numbers. From the main screen go to option->configuration->profile->ID Norm. and set it to "Yes" In v3.2 its set to NO by default, however I believe I read in v4 it will be set to "Yes" by default. But no need to wait until v4 to use it.

You're lucky you've only been waiting for v4 for 6 months! Its been over a year and a half for me with about 5 pushed back "release" dates in that time. But a year and a half ago is when I got my Deus... for the guys who have had it longer, they've been hearing about v4 for at least a couple years. v3.2 was released in 2013! I'm a software developer so I wont even go into my opinion on this software release, but they've done everything wrong that a company could do... and I know this from experience! ha Hopefully they will adapt some software release best practices from v4 and things will be much smoother in the future.

 

[b3y0nd3r]

I'm really tired of hearing about the upcoming update for these detectors, been hearing about it for six months and still no release date. What is going on, if it's ready release it, if not then stop talking about it. I am unsure about my XP Deus and hopefully the update will enhance the detector so I better like it. My biggest gripe with this detector is the fact that when you change frequencies, all the target ID numbers also change. No way am I going to even try to memorize all the numbers for each frequency. Surely it can all be better organized so the same number, for the same target, does not change with a change in freuency. Unfortunately the XP website email address is non-clickable so can't contact them.

Be careful, you will be considered to be "complaining" by certain members on this form and will be attacked by them for voicing your opinion.

 

[HuntinDog]

The Deus does have what is called "Normalize".
I have never used it and don't remember how to access it.
What it does is make all the TIDs the same in all frequencies.
The draw back to that is they are all compressed in the higher numbers the same as the 18kHz and makes it harder to see the difference between good and bad targets.
I hunt in the lower frequencies and just use a mental ballpark of TIDs and dig the good tones.

 

[vferrari]

Be careful, you will be considered to be "complaining" by certain members on this form and will be attacked by them for voicing your opinion.

Uh, ok. Does someone need a hug?

 

[vferrari]

I'm really tired of hearing about the upcoming update for these detectors, been hearing about it for six months and still no release date. What is going on, if it's ready release it, if not then stop talking about it. I am unsure about my XP Deus and hopefully the update will enhance the detector so I better like it. My biggest gripe with this detector is the fact that when you change frequencies, all the target ID numbers also change. No way am I going to even try to memorize all the numbers for each frequency. Surely it can all be better organized so the same number, for the same target, does not change with a change in freuency. Unfortunately the XP website email address is non-clickable so can't contact them.

A few folks have posted the feature known as ID Norm and how you can use it in the manner you desire including the drawbacks of using such feature (the variation in target ID's with frequency is actually a useful phenomenon that can be used to your advantage to differentiate between a keeper and a junk target). But the main issue I see is that you may be overly reliant on the TID display when the sounds are what really make this machine shine. Broken audio, distorted audio and tonality are all huge clues on the nature of the target beneath your coil. A TID of 53 at 8khz could be a pull tab, a nickel, or even a gold ring. The tones are what can clue you in as to whether to dig that potential ring or leave behind a bent pull tab. Furthermore, some deep keeper targets will not even register a TID but will ring out clear as a bell. Once you master the full tones of the Deus, you can really do some damage whether it is cherry picking keepers amongst the trash or pulling deep keepers out from under those nails. Key is getting as many hours in as possible so you can build the "muscle memory" between your ears. Good luck and your wait on the new V 4 software should soon be over.

 

[Jeff H]

Be careful, you will be considered to be "complaining" by certain members on this form and will be attacked by them for voicing your opinion.

I'm am pretty sure that having a different opinion is not considered "complaining" and I don't think that some one expressing an opinion contrary to yours is considered an attack. Let's keep the opinions and ideas flowing.....in a civilized manner. How *^&%$ dull, boring and useless would this forum be if we all thought alike ?

 

[Boilermaker27]

thanks for the replies. Had no idea that the update had been in the works for so long, makes me wonder what the heck is going on with this company. They are probably waiting for their new pinpointer and coils to be available before releasing, I'm tired of waiting. I will use the "norm" feature, hopefully that will help.

 

[vferrari]

thanks for the replies. Had no idea that the update had been in the works for so long, makes me wonder what the heck is going on with this company. They are probably waiting for their new pinpointer and coils to be available before releasing, I'm tired of waiting. I will use the "norm" feature, hopefully that will help.

You are absolutely right about wondering what's up with them. Great tech but kind of a marketing and rollout fiasco IMO. Still rolling with them though regardless.

Use the ID norm feature if you feel more comfortable with it. But don't be afraid to experiment with the full tones. It will really unlock the machine for you. I would be lying if I told you that I don't glance at the TID when I get a hit, but I am trying to be more reliant on the tones. The new version 4 will also have an X-Y screen as more of a primary feature rather than a behind the scenes curiosity. I like what info the horse shoe display is telling me. I think they are improving the ID norm functionality on the new 4.0 SW so it doesn't compress the at the high end for high frequencies, but who knows.

HH

 

[smokeythecat]

I still haven't figured out how to use mine correctly since I bought it, but it has paid for itself twice over (if I would have sold some the stuff, that is), in the approx. 80 days since I bought it. I don't pay attention to the numbers, just dig anything that does not read as pure iron. And I dig some of the iron. Was pulling tiny buttons under 1/2" in size out of iron infested house sites the other day, and small .31 buckshot down 5" or more. Where's the silver and gold coins?

 

[gsxraddict]

4.0 isn't going to change much for you, you need to read Andy Sabich's book on this detector because if you didn't know about the ID Normalization then you haven't studied it enough.

I doubt most people will even realize the difference between 4.0 and 3.2 other than the new preset programs hot and deep.

thanks for the replies. Had no idea that the update had been in the works for so long, makes me wonder what the heck is going on with this company. They are probably waiting for their new pinpointer and coils to be available before releasing, I'm tired of waiting. I will use the "norm" feature, hopefully that will help.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

thanks for the replies. Had no idea that the update had been in the works for so long, makes me wonder what the heck is going on with this company. They are probably waiting for their new pinpointer and coils to be available before releasing, I'm tired of waiting. I will use the "norm" feature, hopefully that will help.

I think they're a very solid company, but they are a small company and relatively new. I agree with vferrari that it's a marketing and roll out fiasco. What's happening with this release is very common in the software industry, however its fixed with proper management and marketing. As a growing company I think the issue was scope creep and requirement changes, multiple times, that created a moving target for v4. What they needed was a better strategy for handling that and managing it. For instance, as a software developer if you put me on a project like this I could indefinitely work on the product, until I was told it needed to contain X, Y and Z and be code complete on MM/DD/YY. What I think is that it's a group of smart engineers worried about making the best product they can, without management and marketing direction telling them "we've been promising customers this for years. we can't keep pushing this back. We have to deliver this set of requirements by this date". The reality of active software development is they'll always be a new version, so you set a cutt off on requirements, deliver the product and work on the next set of requirements. My current company is international and we deliver new releases to our customers every 6 months... Hard deadlines. Those releases contain as much as we can put in them in a 6 month period. If a feature can't be completed, then it's put in the following release. This way our customers are getting product updates in a reasonable time.

Anyway, that's my take on it. I don't think anything is going on with the company and it's totally normal for a smaller, but growing fast tech company. (Normal, but not the right thing to do!) Hopefully they learn a few things from this release, manage their next release better, get a good marketing and PR person, and don't say a peep about the version until it's ready... Then deliver on the date they say.

 

[smokeythecat]

I have the book, seems the mind will take part of it in at a time, not the whole thing.

 

[vferrari]

I have the book, seems the mind will take part of it in at a time, not the whole thing.

Smokey - you are exactly right. You cannot digest the info in that book just by reading it and you can only digest it in small chunks by reading and putting it into practice with experimentation in the field or in a test garden. It has taken me close to 2 years to start really understanding what that machine can do. The great thing about it is that you can turn it on and go out of the box with very little tweaking and have fun at the beach or a local park but it takes hours of swinging it to start to really unlock its potential. Need to put it into practice by using the machine and eventually tweaking the settings and programs yourself on the fly (I think you mentioned before you had a "pro" program it for you). You are already killing it out there as it is. I hesitate to make you more lethal with that thing as I would like you to leave some relics in the ground in Virginia for the rest of us. Lol.

 

[vferrari]

You pretty much hit the nail on the head with this post. That is exactly how I see it went down at XP. I know some folks and XP surrogates aggressively defend how XP is doing it. They ask users if they want MS style software, releasing updates every week or for it to be like the botched updates by the phone companies. I think this is a little over the top. Apparently they don't understand how SW development works and how the designers/engineers need to be shielded from the end users by a savvy marketing dept. Also, anyone who believes that by waiting and tweaking they are going to release the perfect software is delusional (there are two choices here - one is the software will be released with minor issues or the other is the software will never be released. There is no "perfect software release" scenario no matter how long you wait. I guess if you think about it, there is a third choice - really bad released software - lol). While I am not up for constant XP Deus updates and applaud XP's desire not to do that to their customers, I don't really have a problem with them rolling this out in stages and with a few bug fix releases. The risk of a bug or unintended "feature" to the end user is relatively small because XP did the right thing up front and enabled users to roll back to any software version. In fact, their update process is the most robust I have ever seen in a consumer grade hardware/software product as I have not heard of anyone bricking their hardware as a result of applying a software update. XP needs to realize that they are doing more marketing damage by holding the release for every fix, tweak, and feature addition (and aggressively marketing its imminent release) than by simply releasing the 95% software and fixing the minor issues after the fact. IMO.

I think they're a very solid company, but they are a small company and relatively new. I agree with vferrari that it's a marketing and roll out fiasco. What's happening with this release is very common in the software industry, however its fixed with proper management and marketing. As a growing company I think the issue was scope creep and requirement changes, multiple times, that created a moving target for v4. What they needed was a better strategy for handling that and managing it. For instance, as a software developer if you put me on a project like this I could indefinitely work on the product, until I was told it needed to contain X, Y and Z and be code complete on MM/DD/YY. What I think is that it's a group of smart engineers worried about making the best product they can, without management and marketing direction telling them "we've been promising customers this for years. we can't keep pushing this back. We have to deliver this set of requirements by this date". The reality of active software development is they'll always be a new version, so you set a cutt off on requirements, deliver the product and work on the next set of requirements. My current company is international and we deliver new releases to our customers every 6 months... Hard deadlines. Those releases contain as much as we can put in them in a 6 month period. If a feature can't be completed, then it's put in the following release. This way our customers are getting product updates in a reasonable time.

Anyway, that's my take on it. I don't think anything is going on with the company and it's totally normal for a smaller, but growing fast tech company. (Normal, but not the right thing to do!) Hopefully they learn a few things from this release, manage their next release better, get a good marketing and PR person, and don't say a peep about the version until it's ready... Then deliver on the date they say.

 

[Calabash Digger]

Like vferrari said if relying on the tdi numbers that much your really missing what the machines all about . My friend just bought one he came from a ctx and watching the screen on that thing. We took some good targets yesterday and I let him listen to them silver coins,buttons etc on his new deus. Then I took a piece of can slaw and let him here it and the sound it makes,some will fool you but others pieces will give that dull sound. The round objects coins,buttons etc give a very smooth tone as I call it. Ok what I'm saying is the MOST info is in the tones ,I use full tones which is very nuanced imo and have used it from the begginng. My thinking is this I use one audio in all my programs that way I don't have to learn the nuance of 2 tone ,3tones,4,tones etc too. As far as number watching goes ive been looking high end machines number ids for awhile now (ctx) and in the stuff we hunt in it doesn't id correctly either all the time. The vdi is a nice feature but put nails,pull tabs, can slaw close to good targets and it changes it, and the tones are WAY more reliable on the deus than any vdi on any brand machine imo.

 

[smokeythecat]

Actually since the pro has already put in three programs for the hot soil and US mineralized soils, the upgrade probably won't do much here. Let's see: two gold rings, 1 with a diamond, Rev War belt plate, cannon balls, CW buttons and bullets and everything else. Colonial coppers some with dates, hammered silver coin from an ancient site, part of an 18th century cannon from eastern shore of MD, CW plate, yes, another one, Rev War buttons, mercs, rosies, and on and on and on. Don't forget the two bottles of Tylenol needed to do all this.

 

[jadocs]

For me...I will also find the new x/y screen and negative discrimination helpful (at my sites). When that HF elliptical is available I submit that it will also be great operating in 14khz when not after minuscule conductors/tiny gold. Grant it, you will loose the ability to check things at a lower frequency but I bet it will be great at separating at 14 kHz.

 

[Jason in Enid]

There is a current lawsuit against XP from Minelab and I think this is a big part of what is holding up the latest release. IIRC they are being sued for a patent infringement with the V4.

 

[jadocs]

If that was the case they must have come to a conclusion since they are shipping at the end of the month.