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XP Backpack 280 review

XP backpack 280

We have all used backpacks or rucksacks to transport our detectors in the past and we all have our favourites, when it comes down to practicality I have found they all fall slightly short of the mark. They may be to big, to small, the wrong colour, uncomfortable…the list goes on.

XP backpack with digging tool attachment

What XP metal detectors have done is to identify the shortfalls when using a generic backpack and try to design a rucksack specifically for transporting your XP Deus or XP ORX.

Introducing the XP Backpack 280

XP backpack comfortable to wear while metal detecting

As you will see it has several compartments and is even big enough to accomodate the large XP 13″ coil, along with the XP HF coils, in fact the XP backpack can easily fit 2 XP detectors, each compartment has a graphic tag, so you know exactly what goes where.

XP backpack with MOLLE attachment system

At the base of the backpack is another small pocket, this houses a throw over waterproof cover, just in case your metal detecting trip gets really bad weather.

XP Backpack with built in rain cover

You will also see several elastic loops, these are called the MOLLE system and widely used by the military for attaching extra compartments and items.

XP Backpack fits all your XP coils and detectors

The XP pouch is small and neat, this can fit onto your belt or on the XP backpack 280, it consists of 1 large open pouch and 1 secure safe zip pocket and a holder for your MI-6 pin pointer, once again made from the same tough material as the rucksack.

XP finds pouch with MI-6 attachment

When wearing the XP Backpack 280 you can feel the quality and attention to detail, the padded straps evenly distribute the balance, and this is where many backpacks fail.

XP ORX digging deep targets

You very often hear people say that their metal detector is not very deep, sometimes this is true, but in most cases it is operator error, either the incorrect settings or the user is not fully understanding what a deep coin sounds like.
This video is a perfect example of how deep targets sound in the field using the XP ORX metal detector on factory settings, as you will see in the video, coin fast was a better choice over coin deep because of the ground conditions, no other changes were required, simply switch on and go.

ORX search coils

The new ORX can be used with the HF search coils or the X35 search coils, and has it’s own wireless headphones called the WSA, it may be worth noting that the WS Audio headphones will not work with the XP Deus and the WS4/WS5 headphones will not work on the ORX.
The ORX also uses a new lighter stem called the S Lite, it is still fully retractable, this will also be the standard stem on the Deus Lite in 2019.
Join Gary B in the field as he has a short detecting session with the ORX.

XP HF Elliptical coil user feedback

As a metal detectorist we always like to get back to a spot where you have had good results, right?
That was also my thinking, so I decided to re visit the forest which was the theatre of my first XP Deus discovery when I found 9 silver coins. Once again, when my job allowed time I called my friend and arranged another metal detecting trip.

I must admit, after finding the original coins, being also my very first experience with the XP Deus, my confidence was considerably pumped. With this renewed confidence in XP products, I decided that a second coil would be wise choice, so I bought the HF elliptical.
I guess like most Deus users I was curious about how this search coil would perform at 80kHz. I had already consulted with some online friends, who were already using HF Coils and after reading some reviews and video demonstrations, it became the new weapon in Deus my setup.

To be honest, when I first saw it in the shop, I thought that the price was just a bit spicy

But I knew that coil was coming home with me.
I went back to the forest with the following setup: MI-6 pin pointer, Deus with RC and elliptical HF coil, with general settings of Freq 30kHz, Sens. 94, Silencer -1, Discrim. 0, React 2, Audio Response 5, Iron vol 2, 5 Tones.
My friend was also using a Deus with RC and 28 standard coil and the MI-4 pin pointer.

XP Deus High Frequency Elliptical coil finds the lost treasure

The Hunt

I started to search the area of the previous discovery, which is not a big spot, let’s say a maximum of 60sqm. Everything was silent, only a few rusty fragments but nothing more. I decided to move on and ”go with the flow”, having another 5 hours of spare time to spend in the forest.
I must say, it was a very clean forest, I tagged a signal every 10-15 minutes, mostly bottle caps and a few modern coins, but the weather was nice and I was enjoying the lightness and usability of the HF coil.  After entering an older part of the forest, with bigger trees, the audio information increased, mostly garbage related to pic-Nic spots, but I decided to dig most of the signals, in order to understand the coil and how it responds.
Not having much MD experience, I wouldn’t be able to compare it with other coils or situations, but I can say that it is very stable and quiet at around 30kHz and the discrimination very precise. In fact, the discrimination was the first aspect that caught my attention: the iron was iron, foil was foil and so on, everything precise every time, even in the case of some ”mixed signals” jumping from the iron to the foil range, and after inspecting the target, I discovered 2 big nails wrapped in cigarette foil.

At some point I changed direction, and ended up on what looked like an older path. I started to pick up several iron signals, rusted scrap, nails and all sorts of fragments, I would say that the area was almost infested, but I was happy to deal many targets as it appeared to be older garbage and concentrated in a small perimeter.

I decided it was time to see what this coil could do, so I pumped it up to 80kHz, increasing also the discrimination to a moderate value in order to clearly cut out the non-ferrous.
With reactivity at 3, everything was incredibly fast and clear, the iron was immediately skipped and I was digging only Bronze and Brass fragments. The Deus sang with a clear 73 signal, very stable, I thought to myself this was the first signal of that kind, with that sound, so maybe it could be something interesting, and so it was. After a short dig I was looking at a little ball of soil with some grey metal in it, I was sure that the grey metal was silver. It appeared to be some sort of jewellery, it was so tightly packed with mud I decided to put it safe and clean it later. There were more signals in the hole, and even a few more around it, so I started to dig them. From a 50x50cm perimeter, I recovered 26 silver coins, of different sizes, and even a second piece of jewellery, apparently similar to the first one. It was very hard to recover all the coins, being very thin and in very difficult positions, but the HF Elliptical coil delivered great results and clearly made the difference.

Ancient silver coins found with the XP Deus

After recovering the first 10 Silver coins, I asked my friend to check the spot with his XP Deus with the standard 28 coil, both at 11 and 17 kHz, and he had no readings. At 17kHz it was scratching a faint sound, but the elliptical HF at 80hKz was receiving very clear signals, it was stunning to see such a difference in “real time”.

All the pieces were most probably buried in a small wooden box, because mixed with them I found rusted nails and something looking like a lock. After carefully inspecting the spot, we left the place with this new incredible experience to tell.
After gently cleaning everything in water, I discovered some incredible pieces of jewellery, apparently earrings or pendants, possibly pieces from a bigger necklace, which would have been very fragile and detailed. We concluded that they could be medieval.

Metal detecting treasure with the XP Deus high frequency coil
Once again, we contacted the authorities, and now we’re waiting to know how the finds will be listed.

If I weren’t there also with my friend and the 28-standard coil, I would have not believed such thing, I swear. I counted 7 targets that the 28 coil could not locate, that’s crazy! I am sure the 28 standard coil would be better than the HF in another situation, but it gave me and my friend a much better understanding of what the HF was capable of, and when we should be using it.

Ancient silver jewellery found with an XP Deus metal detector using the HF elliptical coil
I’m am so happy I decided to get the HF coil, no better confirmation than a live field test with great results, THANKS XP!!
Sasha ”Red” Ciozky

Deus discovers WWII enigma

I would like to ask you, what would you consider the difference between garbage and something extraordinary?
When out metal detecting with your XP Deus, how many finds have you thrown finds away, having not considered them to be something interesting, all sorts of apparently random and common fragments of ”stuff coming from other stuff”, could hide some incredible secrets.
Over the last 2 months, we have been focusing on a place that has given us many interesting finds. From that area, we previously managed to recover some important WW2 relics, including an incredible hoard of 180 German iron crosses.


Since our team gained a second HF coil ( the 9” round one) we regularly deploy them in the field, on the less explored spots of this productive area, such as places close to the road, and pretty much covered with modern garbage, but on this perticular day, under that mixture of bottle caps, foil and scrap, something more interesting was hiding.

The fast recovery speed of the Deus plus the extraordinary separation of the HF coils, helped us to locate a perimeter around a small hotspot. Some German uniform buttons popped up, and a very nice lighter, having a hand-made engraving saying ”Jassi 1944”, standing for the Romanian city of Iasi, where during 1944 very heavy clashes took place between the German / Romanian and the Soviet armies. Some other items were also located mostly German tubes of medical creams, and even tubed cheese.


We recovered few more German coins, scattered on what looked like a 10m line, facing the road; eventually, we came to believe that a small group of soldiers were possibly hidden exactly near the main road border. We concentrated our Deus on that spot, and recovered a German badge first class, made out of a brass sheet.


Encouraged by the results, we decided to cross the street and enter the other side of the road and forest, hoping that maybe even some other soldiers were stationed on the border, but the spot was empty.

We continued to explore the area, and not far away we spotted a big crater with a lot of vegetation surrounding it, more vegetation than normal. Very often this is the sign of a structure or habitation.

Upon further investigation we found the thick vegetation was covering the remains of a German WW2 bunker, the two entrances were visible but packed with mud and garbage, the rest of it collapsed in what could have been a detonation intended to destroy the bunker before a German retreat.

We made a path around the vegetation and the mosquito’s, in order to understand if something happened there. One of the very first finds was the one which changed everything. Our colleague Adrian, found an aluminium disc, a piece ”from something”, apparently garbage, but to be honest….. I knew exactly what it was, and I was frozen to the spot. What at first sight could have been a metal detecting target to throw in the junk pile, what the XP Deus had found was in fact a part of a a German ENIGMA machine, the iconic cipher device featured in so many movies and books. Enigma_machine

No need to say how rare this item is, and how important and incredible it was to find something like that. Most probably, the Germans destroyed the bunker with a powerful explosion, and the Enigma machine was included in the blast program.

We had just enough gsm signal, in order to google some references and confirm without doubt what we had there. After 3 more hours, we managed to recover a second rotor part, some fragments of the numerical strip/band, the shaft dedicated to the rotors and to some other components, a few Bakelite connectors, a frame coming from its original box and other small fragments.

The HF coils helped a lot, considering the soil was scattered with thousands of mixed metal scrap parts, all in considerably mineralised – Heavy soil.

What a discovery, we will now wait for the fall/winter to come, and the vegetation to rot down. We are sure that somewhere in that perimeter, more surprises will be waiting for us.

Once more a big THANKS to XP, your products are always an incredible support on the field!

The Romanian Military Archaeology Team, Romania

XP Deus training day

The latest XP Deus Skill School day was held in Oxfordshire and arranged once again by the team at Leisure Promotions metal detecting shop.
For me this is one of the best parts of my job, the chance to meet Deus users in person, this really gives you the chance to explain settings, get feedback and just chill with like-minded people. I think people used to call it socialising in the good old days, long before we were cursed with emotionless communication via social media groups.


The conference rooms were set in the grounds of the beautiful Middle Aston House hotel which dates back to the early 17th century.


The theme for this seminar was a little different to others, as it was to run over 2 days. Day 1 in the classroom and Day 2 in the field at a local Metal Detectives dig.

The Skill School got underway at 10.00am sharp and everyone settled into the training session. We covered many subjects about the XP Deus with plenty of refreshment breaks and time to discuss the videos which is a massive part of the Sill School theme.
At lunch time everyone went onto the hotel’s dining rooms for a buffet lunch, the food served was to a very high standard, and my colleague Gary Cook took full advantage of what was on offer.
The afternoon session started with a lengthy talk about the dreaded subject “Ground Balance” and I think everyone left the seminar now has a much better understanding.

Evening entertainment

The day ended at around 4.00pm and many went into the hotel lounge to relax and watch the football with a well-earned drink.
Later that evening the hotel did us all proud again with another high standard meal, more drinks and more football.
Many of the attendees took full advantage of the hotel and booked an overnight stay, on Saturday evening we all enjoyed a good meal together.

Day 2 In the field at the Metal Detectives dig


Everyone arrived early on Sunday morning eager to test out their new-found skills, sadly the ground conditions were probably the worst for detecting, dry clumps of soil and uneven to walk on, instantly we knew finds would be far and few between, but land is hard to obtain this time of year and we just had to make the most of what we were given.


It was good to see everyone from the seminar had a new confidence in their machines and with high spirits.
Alan one of our team members found his very first hammered coin using the factory GMP program, he said the Skill School proved to him he was doing nothing wrong but just needed the confidence boost..


The video from the weekend can be seen on the XP Deus Team USA show number 3, soon to be released.
We will post a link here when it is live.

So from all at XP metal detectors we would like to say a massive thanks to Leisure Promotions for their time and hard work.
Gary Cook for being my wing man during the weekend
All the team at the Metal Detectives Group
And for you guys who attended the Skill Schools, we really appreciate your support.

XP-Mi-4 probe the real deal

The MI-4 just another metal detecting probe

Let’s look a little deeper.

Like myself many of you were probably surprised at seeing a second XP pin pointer on the market, released so soon after the MI-6.
But if you look at the bigger picture in terms of marketing everything becomes clear and it is a very wise move.

Introduction

If you’re already familiar with the MI-6, you’ll know that it was designed and built to operate wirelessly with the Deus radio link system, having the unique feature of being able to pair with the Deus main unit was a considerable advantage. The new MI-4 comes without this feature and a cheaper price tag, making it more appealing to those who use other XP machines and indeed those who do not yet own the Deus.


Mi-4 Features

All the MI-6’s features are identical in the MI-4: you’ll have the same hi-end quality materials for the body (the rubber grip is VERY useful) and the same intuitive menu; the only difference is one less program Number 7 (so you now have a total of 6) and of course, the impossibility of pairing with the Deus and using the on board menu.
Summing Up
If you do not own a Deus, you won’t pay for that pairing feature, but you’ll still have the same top quality product.

Testing

Some of the members from our team, are already equipped with MI-6s, so we deployed the MI-4 beside the MI-6 in the field, both units at maximum sensitivity level: The results were equal, they were virtually the same. Very sensitive and ”precise” on every target, the MI-4 is very capable of locating both very small fragments on bigger targets the re-tune feature is something I love to use.

Comparison

I’ve owned & used most of the modern probes, all models from Garrett, a Minelab, a Nokta, and my personal opinion is the MI-4/6 is a notch more sensitive to small/microscopic targets. This kind of control gives the user the ability to pick tiny signals at considerable depth, giving you a better working perimeter before you start digging.
Having used the XP High Frequency coil for some time now, I have begun to rely on this probe more and more because the HF coil has unbelievable sensitivity to small targets, sometimes they are hard to see with the naked eye.

Like the MI-6, the MI-4 is submersible up to 6m, so you’ll be able to perform some underwater searches, which I imagine would be real fun.
Now, we don’t say that with it you’ll find a sunken pirates ship (most probably very few among us are even diving at 3-4m) but it’s an excellent feature to have, I like to use the probe for searching shallow water and streams.

The MI-4 is powered by the same lithium battery used by the MI-6; you’ll be fully covered for an entire day’s work, even weeks depending on how many features such as LED and vibrate are tuned off.

If by any chance your MI-4 runs flat, you will be able to get back on track very quickly, let’s tell you how: by using a good, powerful power bank, you’ll cut the recharging time and you will have everything ready to go in about 30 minutes or less.

At this moment, we are equipped with power banks having 20100mAh, capable to connect and charge both the Deus coil, RC and MI-4 pointer, so if needed, just take a sandwich break and you’ll have everything fully charged and ready to go exploring in no time at all.

Control is king

Everything is controlled and operated by the XP MI-4’s main button, every part of the MI-4 pin point probe is totally replaceable another great idea from XP metal detectors in France.
The MI-4 comes with a few, essential accessories in the box: a charging lead, a lanyard and a very useful holster, which can rotate 360, very handy.
Plus an unbelievable manufacturer’s warranty.

We must say that once you have used an MI-4 and seen the quality I am pretty sure this would inspire you and give you enough confidence in XP products, it won’t be long before you own a Deus, because by using the MI-4 you’ll immediately notice that something is different, like when you drive a very nice car that isn’t yours….:)
Article submitted by Michele from the RMA group

XP want to hear from you.

Be a member of the XP world-wide team – If you have a story with good quality pictures or a nice XP find please send it in we would like to hear from you.
Please send your correspondence to: gary@xpmetaldetectors.com

XP Deus – Pitch perfect

As we all know the XP Deus metal detector has a wide range of user adjustments allowing the operator to reach the far corners of the machines capabilities. Many people like to keep their metal detecting simple and just use a factory pre-set program which is a very safe and capable choice.


If you are a detectorist keen to learn sometimes it’s worth thinking out of the box and looking a little deeper into the different options available, you don’t have to be a whiz kid or a computer programmer to adjust the Deus, I would say XP has the most user-friendly menu out of all the top end metal detectors on the market.

How many of you have experimented with the Pitch program factory pre-set #4 ?
My favourite go to Deus programs are HOT and the ULTIMATE, but on the odd occasion when things are not going so well the Pitch program very often saves the day.

My XP Deus version 4.x Pitch 101 program

My settings are slightly different to the factory pre-sets.
Before making any adjustments I start by selecting program #6 Deep from the Deus factory menu, as this uses a slightly different filtering to other programs, it is a little more “punchy” sacrificing just a touch of reliable Iron rejection.

Once in the Deep program I make some changes.
Discrimination leave at 5.5, go to  – Expert – Change from 2 tones to Pitch, you will also see the option to change the pitch audio range, but I tend to leave this at the pre-set.
Sensitivity – As you wish but start with 90
Frequency – Using the HF coil – 28Khz
Iron vol – Leave it at 3
Reactivity – Adjust from 2 to 3
Silencer -1
Audio Response 4And that’s Gary’s Pitch 101 program logged into your XP Deus, just save it into a free memory slot and your good to go.


The XY Screen

I like to use the XY screen because it gives me a reliable reading on Coke, the line reads straight top to bottom, the only other information I need from the target is big or odd shaped Iron, small or deep targets can fall into many ranges so it’s probably worth understanding what readings you should rely on. To make this job easier I adjust the Zoom feature from factory 6 to 3, because I don’t want a deep or small target to activate the line, zoom adjustments are basically an XY line sensitivity.
If there is no line I am forced to rely on my ears and this is what the Deus, or any other metal detector was designed around
To activate the Zoom just press and hold the pin point button down and the zoom will appear, once you have made your adjustments leave it for 5 seconds and the adjustment panel will disappear, no need to save.

How does the Pitch audio work

There is no range of tones, the target sound varies based on signal intensity, for example big targets scream and small targets give a soft yearning sound.
Iron can easily be identified by a broken or stuttering sound, very often accompanied by a disrupted XY reading.
What you are looking for is a smooth un broken repeatable sound. The Pitch program can be a great choice when looking to “cherry pick” only the deep targets as they are easily identified by a faint soft sound. Lowering the Audio Response to 3 can be a help in this situation.

The pitch mode may take a little getting used to and with a discrimination of 5.5 you may dig a little interesting Iron, but it is certainly worth spending some time on, especially if conditions are dry and you are using an HF coil.
Once you have successfully mastered your XP Deus using the Pitch Program and understand how it works, we can then move up a notch and talk about the Goldfield program, which uses the same principles but with some really neat features.
Here is a short video demonstrating the Pitch mode and showing how you can load it into your XP Deus.

XP Deus true versatility

XP DEUS – Our chosen machine.

The keyword is VERSATILITY. We are aware that most of the time, the Deus is deployed and recognized for locating ancient coins or artefacts, but there is a lot more to the world-wide detecting picture.
We are a team of metal detector users specializing in the recovery of WW1 & WW2 relics, we work alongside the local community and indeed the museums.
I would like to give you an insight about what the Deus is capable of based on 2 recent metal detecting sessions.

We explore remote mountain areas so having a light compact setup is vital for our work.

Very often our week involves long hikes, so everything needs to be packed in a single compact backpack, food, drink, Deus, recovery tools, and so on.

Our desired targets

Targets such as bayonets or helmets, are very big ”chunks of iron”, we love to find them but it is fair to say you will find them with most metal detectors, so we aren’t talking about them, small non-ferrous targets can be a real challenge, especially in an environment filled with ferrous and non-ferrous contamination.

The real ”trick’‘, and the one that has made it possible to find many of our discoveries, is the speed.
We believe detectorists make a common mistake and put everything on the depth factor, when very often it’s speed and recovery between targets plus good discrimination that make the difference between success and failure.

We are not talking about clear fields, forests or pastures, but about areas infested by all sorts of metal fragments: splinters, shrapnel, pieces left over from all kinds of destroyed equipment, and many, many thousands of empty ammunition shells.

Keep in mind that almost all of the above targets, produce very high and stable signals with good readings, so you have to dig most of them, because you will never know what it could be or indeed underneath ”another of those signals” A military decoration could give a signal very similar to an empty shell, while an empty shell sounds like a silver coin, and the silver coin sounds like an identification tag and so on.
Many manufacturers claim speed, depth and target clarity but from our experiences these points appear to be only visible on static tests with a known buried target, you know the ones on YouTube comparing other machines against the Deus, but as some of our team have recently discovered, these are static tests and certainly do not come close to the Deus in the field – I mean real detecting.

Suffice to say now our 8-member team, are all fully equipped with the XP Deus, along with MI-6/MI-4’s probe.
Simply because we want what works, we also like the fact that XP offer a product to the customer without bucket loads of hype, to me that says one thing……confidence in your product.


Here is a brief summary of our last two sessions.

The firsts hunt relates to our ”spring offensive”, meaning that we are finally able to go digging, after a long winter spent at home cleaning and restoring previous discoveries.

The first spot is in the Carpathian Mountains, a spot very familiar to us, having a rich WW1 background. We’ve explored the area many times, but after following some new info, we’ve managed to locate a new German defence position. We concentrated our search around a sector built around two lines of trenches, facing a valley.

We used a custom Deus Fast program and a low/moderate discrimination. After few hours spent digging splinters and empty shells, we located a small area, where ”everything happened”.

Finding the right sound

Among tons of empty rifle shells, the Deus picked up some slightly different signals, and they were slightly different for a reason; they were not empty shells. The machine’s recovery speed made it possible to locate and extract several good targets from an infested spot. We had found a ”garbage pit”, a spot used to dump damaged and unwanted equipment. From this small area we recovered a German belt buckle and several parts of pickelhaube helmets, including the frontal imperial eagle crests, a silver coin, a small bronze cross and two other coins.

The second session relates to a WW2 context. A more urban situation, a forest located not far from a small city, where during the Second World War a German base was situated. Unless you were there and experienced it for yourself, words cannot describe how badly infested that place was. Being near to a city, the forest was full of a variety of modern garbage; the 2 former German bunkers located there became cesspools, and filled with metallic junk, such as foil, bottlecaps, condoms, nails, cell phone parts, modern coins…you name it.

The same trick applied: The combination of Deus’s recovery speed + our solid nerves, did the magic. While exploring an area located near the border of a roadway, we picked up few German uniform buttons, and in a short time discovered several other little ”signs of presence”.

Once again, we managed to extract from a totally compromised context. A German helmet and bayonet, a medal, the ”Crusade against Communism”, (awarded to both German and Romanian soldiers) a silver/medal pendant and a silver brooch representing an edelweiss flower (both of them most probably civil, but among a soldier’s belongings) and a few more other interesting artefacts.

Most of the discoveries, were made with the elliptical HF coil; which has (beside the speed) a superb separation between targets it has given the XP Deus, truly a sniper and a real asset to the XP accessory range.

We are sure that the area isn’t fully explored, so we intend to get the round 9” HF coil in order to have 2 machines with HF’s on that spot (and others also).

Using the correct headphones

We search as a team in remote places, most of the time it is not necessary to wear headphones.  However this search area was a little different, not just the contaminated soil but we were very close to passing cars and this is when we found the WS4 headphones to be an essential piece of kit, they allowed us to totally focus on the targets, separating them from the background noise of the nearby roadway.

If you bought your setup without the WS4/WS5 headphones, do a very little step further and get a pair, you won’t regret it. You’ll be astonished to find how the signal clarity can make the difference, especially when compared to “non-XP” after market headphones.

The XP headphone system is a truly amazing piece of engineering, give it a try and you’ll understand what I am talking about.

We thank XP once more:
For the great machines (we love the new MI-4, we will write about it soon) and not to forget the great customer service.

We wish to all of you out there in the fields, the best of luck and hope you follow your dreams!

Cheers from the Romanian Military Archaeology Team & Asociatia ”Pro Detectie” – Romania

XP want to hear from you.

Be a member of the XP world-wide team – If you have a story with good quality pictures or a nice XP find please send it in we would like to hear from you.
Please send your correspondence to: gary@xpmetaldetectors.com

Searching the Thames foreshore with the HF Elliptical coil

I first got my XP Deus in 2011, I was particularly interested the wide range of user adjustments it had to offer, especially the fast recovery speed because working and living in London the Thames foreshore was my main playground.

When put to the test he recovery speed and sensitivity to tiny artefacts despite the 9″ coil never failed to impressed me. Another massive advantage was the clever “close down” design as I ride to all my detecting spots on a motorcycle.
The folded down machine fits snugly into my backpack which is perfect for riding through the London traffic.

In 2012 I recovered my best find ever a Spiritia also known as a Roman brothel token, this find is now at the London Museum being the 1st ever recorded in the UK.

Over the years I spent lots of time playing with the XP Deus settings, and frequencies, eventually making my own custom program.

When I was told about the new HF elliptical coil release I was really thrilled as I knew this addition would push the machine further, Having purchased the coil, my very first session brought me a silver ring on an easy to access spot (the easier a spot is to access, the more detectorists it has seen ). The size of the coil is really good allowing you to work between large pebbles, stones, bricks and other building rubble.

I spent several sessions with the elliptical coil, every time always trying to refine my settings I realised that 14khz was the best frequency for me working on the River. Reactivity 5 and GB set to suit the day, I am pretty sure I have found my best personal XP Deus set up for the iron littered foreshore environment.

On iron littered patches another technique I developed was to adapt a narrow sweep of a maximum of a 1.5 feet wide moving slowly, while overlapping the coil by 50% all the time paying attention to double medium and high tones, this technique is quite tedious but you will pick up tiny bits close to large encrusted iron which I am convinced other machines will ignore.

On “Cleaner” patches you can widen your sweeps, increase your sensitivity and lower the reactivity to 4 or 3.
I highly recommend the HF Elliptical coil for difficult ground, it will allow you to unmask targets under the most extreme conditions, taking the Deus capabilities to the extreme.

Article kindly submitted by
Regis Curson

XP want to hear from you.


Be a member of the XP world-wide team – If you have a story with good quality pictures or a nice XP find please send it in we would like to hear from you.
Please send your correspondence to: gary@xpmetaldetectors.com

XP Deus trio unearth Celtic treasure

My fascination with metal detecting began in the early 1970’s when I purchased my very first detector, back in the day Victorian and Georgian coins were plentiful, but that appeared to be my limit. By the middle of the 1980’s, I had become a family man and my detecting days had become less frequent; eventually the detector went to the loft.

Just a few years ago, however, another detecting friend of mine from those earlier days suddenly began making more frequent visits to show me some of his amazing recent finds. Amongst his booty of usual debris were bronze Roman coins, brooches, crotal bells and silver hammered coins. ‘You’ve got to get yourself a Deus mate, they’re amazing’ were his exact words; so I did and he was spot on, they are!!!!

Gary and Alvin the XP Deus Duo

Having introduced my business partner Alvin Robinson to metal detecting several years ago, he too had caught the bug. The Team Deus Duo, who were not renowned for overworking, made a concerted effort to operate boat trips from Easter through to October, giving us both ample time through late autumn, winter and early spring to either maintain our two vessels or go detecting……. no contest! There’s always a mad dash to get a fresh lick of paint on the boats just before the Easter holidays!!!

A couple of years ago while discussing some of my detecting stories with a good friend of mine, Kit Layman, I offered Kit an invitation to join us for a spot of detecting. Being a very keen angler, detecting was the perfect hobby during the fishing off-season and Kit was very enthusiastic. I gave him a magazine and highlighted the appropriate Deus machine that he should purchase, the Team Deus Duo had become a trio!!!

The Deus trio’s first outing

Although Alvin and I already had access to enough land to last a lifetime, Kit also had the potential to access quite a few acres. Initially we took Kit to a nice easy winter wheat field, good signals and easy digging, the perfect place to get in tune with his new Deus. By the second year, the Team Deus Trio were also visiting the occasional field through Kit’s connections, although many of these fields were quite small, their locations were interesting.

Using Google Earth I had been researching the various fields in this area. On one particular image, I discovered a more than interesting circular area of shaded grass, the location and diameter of this circle conjured those detecting thoughts of a potential Celtic dwelling????

The next day that the trio were heading out detecting, I produced my Google Earth print off, along with the declaration, “There’s a remote possibility that I may have identified the location of a Celtic dwelling’. My findings were met with the usual scepticism, with Alvin dubbing the field “The Celtic Field”.

The hard stony soil in “The Celtic Field” did not retain moisture and drained extremely well. Although the weather had been damp, we had not seen any serious rain fall for several weeks and locating a half decent signal was proving more difficult with each visit.

Alvin and Kit were suggesting another field with lighter soil based on the easy digging option, whereas I, on the other hand, was desperately keen to start the day on “The Celtic Field”. The serious amount of rain that had fallen the previous day would have given the ground a good soaking and fresh wet soil would potentially produce better signals!!!

Within five minutes of entering “The Celtic Field”, Alvin’s first dig of the day produced a badly worn Roman Sestertius, his second signal proved to be an extremely nice Celtic silver stater of the Durotriges tribe. Concentration levels were at a high and with the atmosphere buzzing.  Was Garry’s Celtic dwelling theory remotely possible!!!!

The scratchy signal

Alvin’s third signal was weak and scratchy with an iron buzz and after removing the turf and digging a further six inches, the signal appeared to have vanished completely, probably a plough end! Alvin filled the hole and carefully replaced the turf.

We had only been detecting for approximately twenty minutes when Alvin had another weak and scratchy signal, however, this time with the turf removed the target was still there loud and clear; bang in the middle of his twelve inch diameter excavated hole, now at a depth of approximately eight to ten inches, Alvin’s pinpointer was squealing like a goodun. Was this going to prove to be one of those annoying twelve inch deep beer cans, or had the “Celts” really been here, we were getting close!!!

Alvin very carefully continued excavating slightly deeper. The soil amongst the mass of varying sized stones was light brown in colour but, suddenly at this depth, there was a conspicuous change in colour and a four to five inch diameter circular patch of black stained soil became apparent. With a little imagination, there was also the potential edge of a grubby looking coin!!!!

Alvin was now using extreme caution and very carefully continued scraping away the brown coloured soil from around the blackened circular patch. A small egg-sized clod loosened and, in that swift moment, imagination became reality, BINGO!  Although the silver coins were heavily tarnished with verdigris and char-stained black soil, it was blatantly clear that some of these “blobs” of coins were definitely staters, half staters and quarter staters, we had achieved every detectorist’s goal, we had found a hoard!!!!

Job done

The Trio stopped digging. Unbeknown to the other members of Team Deus, Alvin had stored the area FLO number on his phone just in case this moment should ever occur!!! We made contact and were advised that a team could be at the location the next day…… we filled the hole, replaced the turf and felt extremely anxious about leaving it!!!!

Having re-buried our hoard with its unknown quantity of coins, Alvin began to re-dig the location where the signal had previously “gone quiet on him”, it was less than three metres from the now re-buried hoard. The pre-dug soil was easy to remove and at a depth of approximately eight inches, again there was still no signal; however, digging just a little deeper – “voila” the pinpointer went berserk……a heavily alloyed blob of Celtic silver weighing in at just over half a kilo. OMG … could things possibly get any better? The rest of our detecting day was rather insignificant, to say the least!!!!!

Call the in the Archaeologists

The next day Kit had arranged to meet the FLO team at a designated location and direct them to “The Celtic Field” while Alvin and I went to the hoard site to re-excavate the hole in preparation for the arrival of Richard Henry and his entourage. As the team began to congregate at our hole in the ground, I said to Alvin and two of the archaeologists who were now present “I’m just going to check a signal that I hadn’t bothered digging yesterday”.  This signal was approximately seven to eight metres from Alvin’s hoard and, not surprisingly, the weak and scratchy signal had not changed and was exactly the same as the previous day.  Can I be bothered???  For no other reason than its proximity to the first hoard, I decided to dig it anyway and the rest is now history; at between ten to twelve inches deep there was the hallmark, a four to five inch diameter circular patch of black stained soil and BINGO, the Deus Double had been achieved in twenty four hours!!!!!!

Alvin’s XP Deus hoard contained approximately one hundred and eighty silver Celtic staters, half staters, quarter staters and one solitary Celtic Gold stater, many of the coins were encrusted with verdigris and charcoal stained soil.

Garry’s hoard consisted of between eighty five to ninety encrusted silver staters along with a stunningly beautiful shard of flint blade.

Garry’s theory

The presence of the solitary gold stater and the shard of flint blade may suggest that these were not Celtic savings accounts to be dug up at a later date by fellow tribal members, the individual hoards could have potentially been gifts
to their gods.

Also, with the ground being hard, stony and incredibly difficult to dig, these four to five inch diameter holes would have been virtually impossible to create. They were probably not dug by hand but could have been made by driving burnt, pointed, wooden stakes in to the hard stony ground, changing the stakes frequently for a freshly charred, pointed implement that could relatively easily penetrate to the desired depth…….? Hence the black charcoal staining in the soil….???  Watch this space for more XP Deus adventures.

Article kindly submitted by
Garry Eveleigh

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