Since using the 11" coil on my Deus v3.2 & really getting some great deep results, including tiny silver. Is it even worth me considering the 9" HF options & upgrading to V4.0?? If so, why?
Here is a very brief rundown...
Regarding V 4.1 (now) and LF coils:
GB tracking has been significantly improved over V 3.2. If that is a GB mode you use often, then the upgrade itself is very worthwhile, especially, the latest update which adds a "ground sensitivity" setting that further improves tracking (and mitigates "over" tracking in highly mineralized ground and "loss of tracking" in low mineralized conditions such as pure white sand beaches. Apparently, the Deus GB tracking feature (the ground parameter that the Deus keys off of to automatically track ground phase) is ground mineralization index. Too frequent changes or wild swings in index which occurs in mineralized ground causes the Deus to "over track", too little mineralization changes such as what might occur on a white sand beach causes Deus to "undertrack" due to no changes in index. Since ground phase varies due to more than just changes in mineralization index this situation could cause the Deus to not track an actual ground phase reading. This new setting has seemed to breath new life into LF coils as folks running ver 4.0 and who have upgraded to 4.1 say their LF coils seem more responsive, especially when GB tracking.
Version 4.1 also improves the comms link with the MI6 pinpointer which with 4.0 has had glitchy comms and a tendency to cause coils to become disconnected from the controller requiring a the controller to be power cycled.
There are changes to the built-in detecting programs including one (Deep) that uses a different processing filter. It hasn't really caught on as a groundbreaking (pun intended) program.
Discrimination settings changed with 4.0/4.1 to open up the low end of discrimination with an even lower "negative" discrimination setting range (0 to -6.4). This lower range basically opens up finer discrimination control at the low end which makes it sensitive to even ceramic building materials that might be a tell tale sign of an old dwelling site.
Of course you need ver 4.0/4.1 to link up to the new hardware (HF 9" round coil, HF 9.5" elliptical coil (I call that one the laser pointer), and the wireless MI6 pinpointer.
Regarding the HF Coils:
If you are primarily after deep, high conductors, I wouldn't necessarily go to the HF coil. Both HF coils do great on deep silver (the 9" HF perhaps about as good as the 9" LF, since the HF coils can operate as low as 13 khz) but their forte is quiet operation (tend to be less EMI susceptible than the LF coils), great separation at the higher frequencies, and they hit REALLY hard on mid-conductors such as brass, small lead, hammered silver, and, of course, gold. They have been a boon to Deus detectorists that primarily are relic hunters because of these properties. That is because a lot of desirable relics, as you know, are mid-conductive buttons and small brass items. They also very good in thick iron due to their ability to separate small targets from iron at the higher frequencies. The sweet spot seems to be the 28.8 khz setting, but folks have had success at the higher 56 khz setting of the HF round coil and the 74+ khz setting of the elliptical coil.
Re: the MI6 pinpointer: An acquired taste for most. If you like it you really like it (like me). If you don't like it you hate it (opinion of many). It is probably a 50-50 proposition. The comms glitches have really turned people off. That issue seemed to be variable from user to user. I experienced it, but it did not happen as frequently to me and now I am used to it occasionally happening and just move on with life, primarily because I like the sensitivity and pitch mode of the pinpointer which works like a threshold detector and provides a lot more target recovery accuracy for me in the hole. It drives other people nuts and they have abandoned it. YMMV.
Note that I have not upgraded to 4.1 yet (I am running 4.0) but intend to do so soon.
HTH with making your decision.
