What are the most outstanding strengths and weaknesses of the Deus for coin shooting?

I used one last year for a few weeks but never did feel like I was getting the depth or the target ID that I could get from my etrac. I spoke to a gentleman the other night on the phone and he said he was getting extreme depths from his where he hunts. I'm contemplating whether or not I should give it a try again or just stick to my etrac.

Dan
I sold my Deus but like you at first not real impresseed. Until I started playing with the GB. Until gb changes it was mediocre but once I changed it from the factory recommendation saw some nice increase in depth.

They are incredible machines when it comes to Depth but you really have to know how the get the depth out of them, They did a Demo over here and it was seeing buried coins at 17", But the real talent of the Deus is finding thin sectioned Hammered Coins in severely Iron infested ground, There is no serious challengers to the Deus in such places although many come close.

I use mine with the 9'' coil,although i do own a controller most of the time its in my pocket and just used for some occasional fine tuning as i tend too use it as a audio only machine as below say 8'' the screen is totally useless but the audio is still sweet,i use zero discrimination and full tones which will basically give you the best depth,of course using the 2 larger coils will give you slightly more depth,but for me the 9'' is very sharp on small silver cut 1/2 and 1/4 which the Deus wont miss,as mentioned above the Deus really shines on trashy sites.

The biggest factor and the reason i use it as my every day machine is the weight,in recent times i cannot swing a heavy rig all day long but i can with the Deus,if i use a detector with big coils then i have too use a full GPX harness.

Is emi an issue with this machine? I hunt in town most of the time, and was told that might give me some trouble .

Dan(NM) Wrote:
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> Is emi an issue with this machine? I hunt in town
> most of the time, and was told that might give me
> some trouble .
Like any machine it might suffer from EMI, It just depends on the location. In the UK about 65% of Detectorists use them so they can't be that bad, they sell more of them than all the others combined and many trade in the CTX's for them, So they must have something good going on.

John.

65% ? Where does that come from? New detector sales data, or just a general idea from what's seen used at rallies, etc.?
"So they must have something good going on", true, they do, but the original poster questioned about their suitability for finding modern milled coinage, presumably high-conductor silver / copper / bronze types.

Pimento Wrote:
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> 65% ? Where does that come from? New detector
> sales data, or just a general idea from what's
> seen used at rallies, etc.?
> "So they must have something good going on", true,
> they do, but the original poster questioned about
> their suitability for finding modern milled
> coinage, presumably high-conductor silver / copper
> / bronze types.

the 65% comes from dealer feed back,

The Deus will work fine on modern coinage, set up right they hit hard on most things, and in ground with over 4500 years of metal workings they are the go to machine, I know that a lot of folks have traded their CTX's in for the Deus and vice versa, Some use the T2 or the F75's but XP has the biggest following, Nokta / Makro are not that common,

about 2005 onwards the GMP was equal to the Explorers and Etrac's but that all changed when the Deus came out.

Dan(NM) Wrote:
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> I used one last year for a few weeks but never did
> feel like I was getting the depth or the target ID
> that I could get from my etrac. I spoke to a
> gentleman the other night on the phone and he said
> he was getting extreme depths from his where he
> hunts. I'm contemplating whether or not I should
> give it a try again or just stick to my etrac.


Dan,
I have a bunch of hours on a Deus,,,have done numerous test also.

I will try and share some info and some of my opinions,,,of how Deus compares with etrac and CTX.

For up weight,,,advantage BIG time With Deus.
Operator can manhandle or (woman handle) a lot easier for extended periods of time vs Minelabs.

More coil time over the ground can add to overall finds.

Next speed,,,Deus user can cover more square inches/ft can minelabs,,,,with pretty good efficiency.
Does this mean Deus user might miss a target even shallower a Minelab user might get?? Yep
But overall,,,say the first 8" of depth Deus can be move quite rapidly in cleaner ground and hit targets.

Target ID
Minelabs will generally provide better ID at depths,,,but remember a target must be detected to be able to get ID.
Deus may indeed alert on a nonferrous target,,,yet ID may or may not be good,,,yet detected vs Minelab can't or won't (depending on coil size used.

Deus ID at depth is dependent on its settings,,,mainly reactivity setting.

Deus in milder soil,,,deeper than Minelabs with equivalent sized coil--- meaning produces tone,,especially on deeper nickels or other lower conductors.

User of Deus should also when looking for deeper coins, etc,,,run with an audio report of at least 5 or higher (no modulation),,, Deus tonal info not exactly like many other detectors,,,not beep and dig.

Separation and unmasking,,,,,for its coil sizes,,matched up against the competition,,,as far as detectors commercially sold in USA,,,I think it is the top dog.

This separation and unmasking capability,,,will also lead to ability to cover more ground ( in polluted sites) vs many other detectors.

And to add,,,to squeak all of the possible nonferrous out of a polluted site,,,hunting slower is a requirement.

Signals obtained on nonferrous targets,,,,can vary over a wide range,,,just yesterday,,,I dug a total of 6 nonferrous targets,,,all produced high static signal,,,was using 11" coil btw in a site I have pounded for around 5 years.
All targets were indeed nonferrous,,some as shallow as 3" and a couple as deep as 7".

I even did a few settings changes while over some of the targets,,,,disc setting was key,,,,running near 0 disc or at 0 disc was allowing detector to give audible for nonferrous targets.

A Deus operator also when day coin hunting,,,,horseshoe shading and TID provided can immensely aid operator in making some good decisions for digging.

EMI,,,it can pose problems depending onsite,,,but one thing about Deus,,,due to the way it normally runs,,hard to pick up on the EMI,,,and saying this some users don't like the chirpiness of the Deus.
But with experience,,I find it not a problem.

As far as aftermarket headsets that will accept the wireless headphone module,,,for noisy environments or windy conditions,,I like the Vance headphones and stock WS4s-- not the WS 5 stock ones,,,or the grey ghosts,,,,the high tone Deus provides using the Ws4s and Vance is higher and this makes working head iron more efficient for me.

Now saying all of the above,,,can other detectors using smaller coils actually alert on some targets Deus with 9" or 11" is incapable of doing?? Yes
But for coil size(s) Deus detecting envelop seems to due to engineering imitates many other detectors wearing both smaller and larger coils--- so this in sense gets more targets using a one coil setup (in sites loaded with trash and iron).

For areas with restrictive digging,,,Deus especially for beginner Deus user not the best choice,,,Etrac and CTX better choices.
But an experienced Deus user,,can use one in areas with restrictive digging-- juat pick your targets wisely user all available info and realizing the Deus' detector tendencies.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2016 07:21PM by tnsharpshooter.

I hadn't bought a new detector in 6 years until I picked up a new Deus recently. The detectors that I've been using for years covered any type of hunting I usually do. I used the Minelab Sovereigns when I needed depth in bad ground and on the beaches. The Minelab Musky's covered my iron infested lumber camps and ghost town sites also with good depth and the Whites 5900/6000 (still my favorite detectors) covered the areas where I wanted to be selective in my digging. I pretty much spent weeks watching videos and reading the forums before I decided to buy the Deus. I actually watched so many videos listening to the different tones in iron and clean ground on targets good and bad shallow and deep and studying how each adjustment affected the depth and discrimination in different conditions that my first time out with the Deus was like hunting with an old friend. I still have a lot to learn but so far working in iron I have been pretty impressed with the speed and separation and I'm not easily impressed. Gary's sifter program is great in thick iron if you can get used to the full tones setting. I'll get used to full tones as it's similar to the Sovereign sliding scale tones but more like Alvin and the Chipmunks on steroids. I haven't used it yet in areas where the coins are deep but so far coins down in the 6 inch range have given good solid signals and and good target ID when not mixed with trash and that's not bad in my ground. I know it will go deep with the right settings.

Good write up TNSS, that covers it pretty well.

John.

I don't rely on the numbers on the etrac much anymore, listening more for a repeatable tone and using that as a determination whether to dig or not. I'm more interested in the ability of a machine to be able to tone ID at depth. Are the tones discernible at depth on the XP?

Coinshooting

strengths - customizable tones, disc, notch, frequency selection, and recovery
weakness - 18khz calls can slaw coins, ID after 8" not the greatest(tones generally good though), poor nickel ID


You'll get EMI on 4khz and 8khz. All machines do. You can run tx3 and less sensitivty to combat if frequency shift doesn't help. Higher silencer of 1 or 2 will give you a quiet hunt with clear crisp coin tones at a sacrifice of a little fringe depth, noise, and audio info. If I'm coin hunting I'm not too worried about those things though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2016 07:41PM by detectingMO.

I regularly use an Etrac. I owned a Deus for about one month, earlier this year.

The Deus routinely gave good signals on crown caps and steel washers. The depth meter was a joke compared to the Etrac. It was a good separator though. If I found a nickel and dime together, the Deus would give me two distinct signals instead of a blended signal.

Agree that TNSS said it all. You might also look at some of Calabash Digger's videos on YouTube. He's got some in his test garden that will show you what he's hitting deep and with junk around with the settings and GB he uses.

Dan we hunt similar Western soils.
I have etrac , CTX and Deus.
The Deus' strength is separation and ergonomics.
The FBS machines have better ID and deal with the mineralized , alkaline soil better , ergo , better depth. They also deal with modern nonferrous U.S. type trash much better.

shoveler Wrote:
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> Dan we hunt similar Western soils.
> I have etrac , CTX and Deus.
> The Deus' strength is separation and ergonomics.
> The FBS machines have better ID and deal with the
> mineralized , alkaline soil better , ergo ,
> better depth. They also deal with modern
> nonferrous U.S. type trash much better.

That could be why I didn't obtain the same depth as the Etrac when I had the Deus. Thanks for all the input guys!!

Well,
I have seen with my own eyes,,,comparing signals discovered with etrac,,,and Deus in sites with modern trash.

Which one was the best overall,,,,meaning which detector would alert on a supposed high conductor coins ( which was verified after being dug) in trashy sites and the other detector was used to compare????

Actually I saw it switch on different targets,,,sometimes the Deus would tell the truth,,,and lie,,,and some times the etrac would tell the truth or lie.

Etrac was equipped with 6x8" SEF coil,,,,any and all logical settings used.

Deus was equipped with both 11" and 9" coils at different times.

Both can get the job done,,,,and both can leave targets behind---- basing dig decisions solely on ID and or tone provided.

I have both CTX and Deus,,,have used etrac ( had 2).

I haven't done very many comparisons in modern trash sites using CTX vs Deus,,,but only had stock coil for CTX until just recently.

I can't make a statement just yet comparing CTX to Deus is modern trash environment like I have above concerning etrac.

I can say,,,would a person on average dig more trash with Deus vs Etrac??? Probably
But this doesn't tell the tell all,,,,,etrac will miss some targets,,,,due to slower recovery,,,and can average ID between good targets and junk targets.

I happen to like all,,,use them all.

I do think,,,if I were going into any site where a very experienced etrac and or CTX user has hunted extensively,,,,my choice going in behind would be Deus.

You talk a lot of sense TNSS and that is a very fair conclusion, I once took my Etrac and my other machine and Beeped and marked targets and my other machine whooped my Etrac by about 85% of the targets, I know the Etrac and the CTX are awesome on the because but on inland trash site they are murder, so spending 3000 bucks for a machine just for the beach is not smart thinking, when you can buy a PI machine for that and have more depth than a person needs,

There are a few things that I don't like about both machines but for me it boils down to being able to use them in bad Iron infested sites, I really hated the fact that the Etrac would give multiple ID numbers for one target even in Air tests it would give 7 or 8 different sets of ID's with both the ferrous and the conductivity numbers, so I don't consider it to be an accurate VDI machine far from it, I asked the dealer about it and he said ignore the numbers and go by the tone, Well if ML had meant for people to ignore it then why did they work so had to fit it with one in the first place. Why buy a machine with features that you can use ? Getting an answer like that from a dealer is one of the most stupid things I have ever been told and does not help one bit.

John.

I am not about to say the Deus is the do all,,,end all detector.

But think about this.

The Xp honchos,,,,I think it is a pretty good guess to say,,,they knew what they had with Xp Goldmaxx power.

They new it was doing things few or no other detectors could do.

What did they do??

They even went further,,,added internet update capability,,,some additional freqs,,,and put it in a more higher tech looking package,,,making it extremely light even for children and women and men to use.

Just imagine if Minelab would have went this route with either etrac or CTX???
Would have been a game changer!!!

An etrac lite version priced similarly to Deus would have been killer.

Too bad the Minelab folks can pull their heads out.

It is just not about how good your detector performs as a manfacturer,,it is how it is package from an ergonomic standpoint that counts--- can make it more appealing to a wider audience.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2016 03:55PM by tnsharpshooter.

It seems like XP took all the best features from that time period from all the best machines and shrunk them down in to one tiny package, So it is no wonder it does so many thing very well. Add the internet hook up and it is a sure fire winner.

I may regret it, but, I'm going to give the Deus a very serious go again. If I suck with with it, well....back to the Etrac I go lol.

Dan(NM) Wrote:
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> I may regret it, but, I'm going to give the Deus a
> very serious go again. If I suck with with it,
> well....back to the Etrac I go lol.

Dan, don't give up on it they are a killer machine once mastered, as that video shows in the other thread that is posted here, The Deus is the one machine that comes close to what I use, So I take the Deus very seriously indeed.

good luck.

John.

Dan(NM) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I may regret it, but, I'm going to give the Deus a
> very serious go again. If I suck with with it,
> well....back to the Etrac I go lol.

Dan,
If you still have/use that Periscope Probe, it might help offset the extra trash signals you'll be getting, and the ID at depth issues.
(I'm guessing you got that bent probe replaced by now?)

The Deus will undoubtedly see more nonferrous in the conditions you specified: "for me it boils down to being able to use them in bad Iron infested sites"

If you end up getting one, PM me and I'll put you in contact with one of the best Deus users I've ever met.
He's been tweaking his settings for years to work in our mineralized southwestern ground, and pretty much finds silver every hunt.
(And that's in seriously 'pounded' parks.)

Good luck,

mike

For coin hunting the DEUS advantage is looking for dime size coins and smaller in iron ..

The DEUS is one of the best at seeing Small ROUND items in IRON....

That's the machines forté...PLAIN AND SIMPLE....it lie sot see small round objects in iron at at great depths and by no accident..

the machines is tuned to the smaller the round the better ..Its the best cuff button machine I've ever used...Its the best Flying Eagle and fatty machine I've ever used..

Non of this is by accident...the machine is designed off the GMP DNA and those units are designed to find hammered and roman coins in iron riddled sites and also decomposed iron creating oxide soil...

the filters of the unit is set up to allow alot of Bleed of soil NOISE..and Alain has designed the unit to be very excitable to the lowest of conductors that are ROUND..sort of like tons of noise coming in through the headphones then there's some ROUND noise intermingled in the regular background din of noise.....very telling ROUND NOISE...

Now the DEUS for larger coins seems to struggle in iron or out...maybe not really struggle but not really SHOW off either...I've actually seen large buckles like U.S in iron take on the behavior of large iron...yet this is not uncommon to high freq high gain units..

The Visual I.D. system of the DEUS is archaic in terms of modern standards like a F75..

There's better BIG silver Bigger Brass machines..big being quarter on up..An Omega will see quarters and things of that size better in iron than a DEUS when DEUS is on 8khz...Something to PONDER

Another thing to PONDER is take a Fors Relic and use it in iron...Notice what targets you find ...the Relic on 19khz will see Weird shapes better and also buttons and coins but not really cuff size round at an advantage.Yet a DTVG on 25Khz will also see cuff size round on CLOSE par with a DEUS and also the Warrior will too..What's different..the relic is not really Ground offset reactive in disc mode..the DTVG and Warrior very much is...

well I could go on for hours on all that but what I'm getting at is a good Silver hunter unit will pretty much have gotten whats gettable in the dime up size silver in iron...the DEUS will get the dime down..to include dollar gold coins and 3 centers..and of course the roman and such..

To me the DEUS is a artifact coins unit..in other words the more smaller coins and lower reading coins like fattys and such and thin on edge silver..


I like a DEUS for a Smaller scale clean up unit...it leaves stuff I assure you and it leaves big stuff I assure you but for its intended purpose its a scorcher..looking for small civil war relics in iron especially buttons of cuff sizes...

I only wish I could let it be known at how important tool selection is for your job..

the forum and this forum especially and I'm largely to blame especially to the newer hunters trying to learn...When I talk about units that do the best in iron it does not necessarily mean it's the best tool for certain jobs like big silver...

Till this day even in iron my best big silver has come from below 10 Khz..and my big pennys Too!! or from a BBS unit that seems to behave like its on 7khz...Hmmm?And also FBS..Now hears a real kicker and its no coincidence...the Shadow x5...is the only high freq units I've ever dug deep pre artifact type silver quarters out of iron...Troy knew how to make that machine dissect like 19Khz can do but also slam big objects with his closely guarded Freq Amp design...

Yes your leaving big coins behind in iron but it's just not the DEUS that does it once a site is properly hunted with good units the technology is not really available to decipher big stuff deep out of iron....I like to dig anything non ferrous and ferrous at times in iron loaded sites for sure But I'm relic hunting and then I use machines as tools for specific target's..

these new high gain high freq units can sniff out small coins in iron but they struggle on other items no secret...

Sometimes It actually works best to pound out a site with a High Freq unit making sure to remove alot of iron...You Know get it to sound dead..then work back through with a lower freq unit to get some of the bigger deeper silver and brass ..

No site is dead they can seem dead but there far from it...but without multi tools and years and years of working a site down then trying new techniques and ideas its not a simple this machine works better than that machine scenario...they all word together..

The HF rigs like a DEUS are great for dissecting and chasing...That's one of the secrets to success with a HF rig ..A sharp hovel a good back and a keen ear and alot of sweat but if your in a park that's not doable..

Choose wisely ..Hunt wisely..

And remember if applicable to really see some finds the trash and or iron should be 25 to 1 ratio or that what I notice on my hunting..or at least on average...if you dig a lot of small brass and lead shot and such in iron with a DEUS or other HF rigs or any rigs for that matter but dig little to iron then your leaving better targets..

I usually gauge a RELIC hunter by his tossers not his keepers..

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

I had way more time on the CTX than the Deus but the CTX performed much much better on coins out of the box (for me). I really disliked the Deus on coins beyond 7" or so. I generally got zero ID but a decent hit.
That is all fine but compared to the CTX (or E-Trac for that matter), it was overkill and too sensitive to be a coin machine. I mean if you really like to go through an area for hours to find a coin you missed, yeah, you have the settings (but not on deep ones imo.)
The sensitivity of the Deus (higher freqs) was not enjoyable on coins for me, was a bit too much in the way of audio. Guess I just like, in general, the dual or lower frequency machines on coins. e.g. Omega 8000, FBS, AKA Signum.

The weight was a blast, especially when riding around on a bike, great pack er up unit. Never liked the tones much though, but that can be preference. Most effective machine I've used on coins is either the Omega or one of the FBS machines.
For the money the Omega was right behind them, for joy - those 2D screens and sounds of the FBS were tops; for depth, the Signum.