XP Program for pesky 3 pence

[Lucky Pete]

By pesky I mean the post 46 threepences that never seem to give you a reliable VDI reading. I love the Deus for its ability to detect those small coins and the Deus V4 Deep program 6 is most reliable at detecting these 3 p. However, I still rely on the VDI numbers for deciding when to dig and when not to dig.
Problem is the V4 deep program is the two tone audio with 5.5 as the cut out. In areas where I hunt non ferrous targets are everywhere so I need to have a tone break of about 70.
This easily done of course with the change of program but then when the change has been made those 3 p coins sound like junk rather than the nice tone you would normally get with the deep program 6.
Any suggestions please ??

 

[Goldpick]

Can't say that I have used the Deep program as yet, as I get satisfactory performance from the HOT program on deeper targets. Though seems a bit strange that the detail of the tone would change that much simply by altering the tone break, unless the threshold of your tone break setting (70) is set a little too high for the 50/50 threepence.

Personally I would forego using TID's on such deep targets considering those figures can drop off significantly when at depth. I can say with confidence that if you do rely soley on the TID's on whether to dig or not, that you will be leaving coins in the ground. I've had plenty of threepences that do not register an expected TID, and many more that will draw a complete blank on the numbers when at depth, though still register a good tone. Same for threepences sitting on an angle or on edge in the ground.

If it were me I'd stick to a fulltones program that offers the most tonal information, and change the settings to a more favourable combination for deeper targets, and also use the VCO/audio modulation in fulltones to give you a better idea if you are looking at a deep coin vs shallower non-ferrous junk.

If your threepences do occur more predominantly in shallow ground, then you can make use of notching to narrow down the field of targets to search for. Though do keep in mind that some junk targets will still fall into the 50/50 threepence range, plus you should leave some leeway in the notch to cater for variations on the TID. The risk here is if any coins do occur deeper in the ground, then they may not be picked up on at all, or only receive a broken tone if on the cusp of the notch setting.

Once again, just my personal preferences on what I am used to and what works for me. I'm sure some others will have a completely different way of setting up their Deus up.

 

[Lucky Pete]

Thank you for your reply Goldpick.
I have tried going as low as 50 on the break but in the V4 deep program those 3 p still sound terrible. I generally only hunt the pre dec and it does seem this is the only coin to react in this way. The 925 3 p sound beautiful even when I alter the tone break right up into the higher numbers.
I certainly agree that you need to listen to the machine and not get carried away with the VDI numbers but, I need to have a cut off somewhere. Digging numbers of 45 or 50 would be madness in some of the areas I hunt. These timber cutters didn't have any notion of bins !! When they were finished with what ever they had they dropped it on the ground for me to detect 60 years later. Then there was the town plumbers who spread nice little lumps of lead everywhere ! The lead sounds more like a coin than a coin does sometimes, so numbers are important to me in some of these instances.
Because I am finding the 50/50 3 P the hardest coin to detect the others seem easy, so by trying to get maximum depth on that 3 p I have a good success rate on the other Pre Dec.
Just a week ago I was experimenting with different settings on the deus trying to target the 3ps. This is a spot I have hammered over the years with several different detectors. A nice tone rings out with a VDI of around 75. I dig and to my amazement out comes a 1916 Farthing not a 3p as I had expected !!
I will have a go at using the fulltones on my next outing thanks.

 

[Ramjet]

Try Rockets settings. I have been switching between his and the deep program. Rocket's gives better signals.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=347975#p347975

 

[rocketaroo]

those post 45 thrips are solid signals, around 73...but at depth your looking at 60ish to 70ish. Use full tones, and tune your ears into them. You have to educate your ears with the deus, which is why fulltones gives you the best feedback.

 

[Lucky Pete]

Thanks to all above for the replies.
I have been using the deep program for the past few hunts and have made some fantastic finds. Just a few little changes (reactivity, GB, sensitivity) to the program to suit site conditions. I will give rockets program a run in the next few days so fingers crossed.
Still though in the trashy sites I find it hard to master the use full tones. I know the theory behind it but after a while I find I lose my concentration and become tone deaf.
Running on 14k, looks like 60 might be a good cut of point for coin shooting pre dec. Has anyone out there detected a pre dec coin in the ground with a reading lower than 60 ??

 

[Goldpick]

Thanks to all above for the replies.
I have been using the deep program for the past few hunts and have made some fantastic finds. Just a few little changes (reactivity, GB, sensitivity) to the program to suit site conditions. I will give rockets program a run in the next few days so fingers crossed.
Still though in the trashy sites I find it hard to master the use full tones. I know the theory behind it but after a while I find I lose my concentration and become tone deaf.
Running on 14k, looks like 60 might be a good cut of point for coin shooting pre dec. Has anyone out there detected a pre dec coin in the ground with a reading lower than 60 ??

The only time I really come across predecimals running stupidly low ID's, and sometime very non-characteristic tones is when searching through extremely contaminated sites full of iron. As mentioned previously, some "on edge" predecimals, especially the smaller 50% silver coins may read lower again. Also the same case if immediately adjacent to iron, which has the effect of dragging down the TID numbers.

Another scenario involves extremely deep coins, sometimes these may actually fall into the iron range and offer nothing more than a faint grunt. Essentially the coin is beyond effective range of the detector, though will still register a repeatable signal, albeit just an iron like grunt. Had this occur on a Victorian era site where I excavated those iffy though repeatable targets, and found they were very deep .925 silver 1800's threepences.

The issue with some of the beep & dig programs is that there seems to be a threshold on how fainter targets it can pick up, whereas using fulltones you can literally hear a target until the signal completely diminishes, simliar to what you may hear using all-metal. These sorts of targets would be ones that I would chase once all of the good targets have been cleaned out of the site.

 

[rocketaroo]

2 tone programs, sorta trick you into thinking that your hitting harder. You also want your detector to "struggle" at depth, as this gives you more feedback about the target. Its what I believe anyway.