field test advice please

[HolzHammer]

Hi All,
I have owned my XP Deus for a very happy and pleasant few months now - I've even found a thing or two!
I want to do a field test this weekend by burying a few finds in my very overgrown garden and having a little listen - I'll clean the ground first obviously but don't care much for a "lawn" if thats what my mess is called so happy to dig it up a bit.
Anyway any advice gratefully accepted as to not waste too much time or energy.
All the Best and a fruitful weekend be had.
Alexander

[Junior]

I didn't even bother to overly clean ground out just run detector over it.... done varing coins at diff depths and put bits of iron near them etc done a small roman hoard I think at 10 inches... it does supp take stuff time to settle in to get a true indication...but least it's a guide... I marked mine with a tape off a fixed point so know ruffly where they ort to be then marked them with builders marker paint on the grass.... happy digging

[sweepstick47]

hello 'HolzHammer' It's some time since I made a test bed in the garden but for what it's worth, my advice would be to keep the following in mind:-

1. Object of producing a 'test bed' is twofold, to establish an approximation of depth but more
importantly to listen for the sounds (tones) they produce in the headphones ................
and remembering them!

1. Depending on the coil size used, leave sufficient space between each buried object about
50 cm would ensure neighbouring targets are not inter-reacting.

2. Mark the boundaries of the 'bed' with plastic tent pegs or similarly easily seen items.
(It's surprising how quickly the exact location of items can be forgotten)!

3. For 'test targets', use a selection of Ferrous metals (rusty and not rusty, Non-Ferrous metals
(including aluminium, balled' silver paper (foil) copper, silver and cupro- nickel coins.
Add a 25mm sized piece of coke, and also a 'hot rock' (a stone with a capacitive mineral
content).

Note: Placing a cut-down section of plastic tent peg directly over each of the buried items
will provide not only visual confirmation of exactly where the target is but will also allow you
to practice your pin-pointing skills using your detector. An important ability if finds are not
to be damaged during retrieval.

To add another dimension to the mix, you could experiment further to see how the
signal sounds are influenced by the placing of a rusty nail (for example) at varying distances
from the non-ferrous buried objects. The resulting variation in sounds will also be noticeable
by changed TID meter readings.

All the best and have fun Regards ss47

[Mud Max]

I would clean the ground first, personally I want to know exactly what scenario I have when I am testing tones, shapes, numbers etc, at least as best as possible. Dig the plugs to the depth you want them as best you can, or in other words try to disturb as little earth as possible, so make the plugs a good generous size.

Put all sorts in the plugs, targets next to iron, small targets on their own, big ones etc, a lot depends on what you have.

Good luck, I am sure you will enjoy experimenting !

But remember, it's still only a guide, the real scenarios throw up so many diverse variants.

[HolzHammer]

hello 'HolzHammer' It's some time since I made a test bed in the garden but for what it's worth, my advice would be to keep the following in mind:-

1. Object of producing a 'test bed' is twofold, to establish an approximation of depth but more
importantly to listen for the sounds (tones) they produce in the headphones ................
and remembering them!

1. Depending on the coil size used, leave sufficient space between each buried object about
50 cm would ensure neighbouring targets are not inter-reacting.

2. Mark the boundaries of the 'bed' with plastic tent pegs or similarly easily seen items.
(It's surprising how quickly the exact location of items can be forgotten)!

3. For 'test targets', use a selection of Ferrous metals (rusty and not rusty, Non-Ferrous metals
(including aluminium, balled' silver paper (foil) copper, silver and cupro- nickel coins.
Add a 25mm sized piece of coke, and also a 'hot rock' (a stone with a capacitive mineral
content).

Note: Placing a cut-down section of plastic tent peg directly over each of the buried items
will provide not only visual confirmation of exactly where the target is but will also allow you
to practice your pin-pointing skills using your detector. An important ability if finds are not
to be damaged during retrieval.

To add another dimension to the mix, you could experiment further to see how the
signal sounds are influenced by the placing of a rusty nail (for example) at varying distances
from the non-ferrous buried objects. The resulting variation in sounds will also be noticeable
by changed TID meter readings.

All the best and have fun Regards ss47

Thanks ss47 much appreciated.

[HolzHammer]

I didn't even bother to overly clean ground out just run detector over it.... done varing coins at diff depths and put bits of iron near them etc done a small roman hoard I think at 10 inches... it does supp take stuff time to settle in to get a true indication...but least it's a guide... I marked mine with a tape off a fixed point so know ruffly where they ort to be then marked them with builders marker paint on the grass.... happy digging

Thank you Junior - much appreciated and try good advice - have a good weekend!

[Easylife]

Hi HH, I'd say just don't bother. I would only do a test bed if I wanted to compare detectors in equal conditions, which would of course be interesting. But as a single detector I just don't see much point. In the field when you get a feint target just have a play with the settings to see what shines if that's what you're looking for, frequency and reactivity mostly. I also use the Deus and find that depending on ground that 12khz and 2.5 reactivity generally works well and should not miss many targets. The smaller 9” HF coil at 28khz seems to go as deep as the 11” coil, if not deeper in my experience and I reckon it picks out the coins on edge much better. So why would you want a test bed for a single detector?

[Junior]

Hi All,
I have owned my XP Deus for a very happy and pleasant few months now - I've even found a thing or two!
I want to do a field test this weekend by burying a few finds in my very overgrown garden and having a little listen - I'll clean the ground first obviously but don't care much for a "lawn" if thats what my mess is called so happy to dig it up a bit.
Anyway any advice gratefully accepted as to not waste too much time or energy.
All the Best and a fruitful weekend be had.
Alexander

Beings you be only had it a few months have u had on the controller 2 dashs( no number indication) but still a dig me audio ??? Always dig these....also . on mine I've upped the audio volume so you get a better response arnt too fussed about telling depth by it just hearing it better ..Even with a dues go low and slow I've had a very small beeps turn into a dig me target when gone back on ..you'll b able to play with this when you've done your test bed ...