Hi Mate I'll try and help.
I only recently found this out about the same time most other people did too, the rest is from experience across 3 states and about 18 months on the machine.
DEEP, HOT and the rest of V4 programs all have different ground filtering software, DEEP is V2, HOT is V3 and the rest are the new filters. Having said that goldfield is an entire different program again.
The settings that affect depth the most are
1. Reactivity
2. Frequency
In That order.
You notice in the programs that reactivity and frequency are different on the baseline, the DEEP program is slower, runs on V2 Filters (well known for being a depth monster) and uses a lower frequency. It is designed to punch down in areas where trash is not that big a problem and if your getting less than a target per swing then winding down speed is good practice.
If you run DEEP Take the discrim out to -6.4 you're effectively running all metal as there are no discrim settings at all.
You can also build a program off HOT that has the same settings as DEEP but will run different filters, you could do the same with say BASIC 1 and again you would have a new set of filters. what this does is give you 3 programs that all run the same settings but have different ways of handling the ground. Then you need to work out which one works best in which areas.
Confused yet?
Lets talk frequency then.........
The higher you go on the frequency scale the less depth you will get, its just how it works. So again in line with winding back reactivity we can also wind down frequency to gain additional depth. Downside we lose some sensitivity to very small shallow targets like Nuggets.
Want more?
The last thing we can do is wind up the TX power if the ground can handle it. This is pure power to the ground so TX 3 punches harder than TX 1.
So the "theoretical" best settings for depth would be TX 3, Freq 4Khz, Reactivity 0 and a slow swing speed. But sometimes the ground, the trash, the EMI etc etc will not allow you to run these settings. Then you need to find the OPTIMAL settings for that area.
Is it a bit trashy then make it faster and take some TX power out as you can't get massive depth in trash anyway, until you remove the trash first.
Are the targets a bit smaller than planned? then raise the frequency a bit.
Goldfield is not so much designed for depth as it is for handling crappy ground, finding tiny targets and being able to re-tune fast via the pinpoint button. As mentioned DEEP with NO discrim is basically all metal mode.
Goldfield is very different from the other programs but still suffers the same effects from frequency and reactivity. There is No TX power.
I found the only place goldfield gives me a distinct DEPTH advantage is wet sand in a lower frequency.
So like everything Deus you can change some minor things and get major benefits, but you need to kind of experiment and see what gives results in that area. Often what worked here won't work as well up the road and some fine tuning can be done.
I still believe the best way to attack an area is go through on a program Like HOT to get a feel for the area and perhaps clean out some crud. Then go to a program like deep and hit the area again with as slow a reactivity and as low a frequency as possible to clean out the deeper stuff.
A final run on a high power, high frequency program will finish the area off by cleaning out the small stuff.
There is no One program that will allow you to effectively do an area and be able to walk off thinking you got it all. Its a combination of programs and settings that allow you to target different areas of the ground and systematically clean that joint out.
How many times have we heard "I was in Flogged ground and found tons of targets". This is often a case of just stumbling on the perfect storm of settings for that area on that day. It happens but not often enough in my opinion LOL.
Lastly Depth is such a loaded word when it comes to detecting. so many factors affect it and to be honest how do you really know how deep your punching? we can only judge by the deepest target we dug for that day. We probably missed deeper through poor swing style, wrong angle, target on edge, soil too wet, soil too dry etc etc. Do the same area tomorrow and I can almost guarantee you'll find stuff you missed.
Find the settings that put the biggest smile on your dial and run with them. Make changes as you go but not unless the conditions allow it. After a while with your Deus it will talk to you and you'll soon know what setting to change in what situation.
I still experiment nearly every hunt and my local skate park that I have literally hunted 50+ times, as its 2 minutes from home, still turns up targets on a very regular basis that I have missed with other machines, other settings, crappy technique, getting distracted by the morning joggers or by approaching from different angles.
Deus keeps surprising me as I never feel like I have learnt everything about the machine. It just grows with you and like I said once you speak Deus You'll know what to do in what situation. Most of the time.
Holy Crap that got outta hand sorry.
Hope it helps though.
Clegy
P.S give me a buzz if you want a yarn about settings etc.
P.S.S Just to really make it hard have you checked out the 4 NON Motion modes under the pinpoint button? Including a discriminating NON Motion pin point mode? These can be depth monsters but can be really hard to tune. Just a few more toys to play with as well as the 10 factory programs
