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XP Deus HF Elliptical coil – Early thoughts

The XP Deus Elliptical high frequency search coil early thoughts.

Having being completely overwhelmed with the capabilities of the 9” round High Frequency coil it was hard to image just what advantages and even higher frequency Elliptical coil could offer.

When testing the DPR 600 made by XP on some highly magnetic soil overseas, the advantages of using 80Khz very quickly became clear, especially when testing on small Gold Nuggets.
I must point out that my Gold prospecting experience is very limited, however the practical side of metal detecting still remain the same, no matter what you hunt for.

Searching highly mineralised or “difficult” soil has always been a challenge to the detector and indeed the detectorist, somehow one needs to separate the desired target from the ground signal. This is particularly difficult when prospecting as the ground signal is almost as strong as some desired targets… Small Gold.
And this is where a higher frequency coil will be an advantage, converting small low conductive targets that are easily consumed by the ground signal, back into the audio “non rejected” range.

Q : If the Elliptical coil is designed for hunting out small Gold, why has it got other frequencies such as 14 and 28Khz?
A : The key word is small Gold, sure 80Khz will be perfect for small Gold, however if you are searching for bigger Gold you may require a lower frequency for optimum performance.

So XP have pretty much covered the whole range of prospecting with frequency choices.
Based on those thoughts, it helps if you have a desired target size in mind before you start your hunt, but some people may want to hunt small area’s several times with different frequencies just for peace of mind.

Q: OK,  XP have put a High Frequency coil on to the Deus, other manufacturers have done this, so what has changed.
A : This was not simply a case of putting a High Frequency coil onto the machine and it’s job done. There have been changes under the bonnet to make sure the coils work in harmony with the Deus, this is why Deus HF coils are very special and unbelievably stable to work with.
While I am on the point of software, it is worth mentioning that to use an HF coil with your Deus you will need to download version 4x software, don’t worry the original Black coils are fully compatible with v4x.

Q : That’s prospecting, what is your experience with the new HF Elliptical coil in the UK, searching ancient sites for example.
A : I can best describe this coil as “Specialised” it is not for everyday inland searching, however based on my experiences so far, I can honestly say if you get it on the right site – The Elliptical coil operating at 80Khz is pure genius.


When I say right site I mean perhaps a Roman site covered in Iron with small non-ferrous targets nestling in between.
It is really “snappy” and deals with these conditions unbelievably well, it is a real confidence booster, you start to feel the targets simply have nowhere to hide.
I searched underneath power lines with no problems as you will see in the video below.

Q : So will you be using this coil all the time now ?
A : No not at all, sadly am not lucky to search sites of ancient habitation all the time, in fact in my area these, what I call  “technical sites” are far and few between, so you really need to have fantastic land to warrant using this type of coil all the time…. If you have I would love an invite to search.

The Elliptical coil feels very much lighter than the 9″ round HF coil….could the XP Deus be any lighter ?
It has the newly designed battery in the lower stem, which is a fantastic idea, I did notice as I was detecting you must be more aware of your search technique. It is very easy to have the nose of the coil pointing up or down without even being aware of it.
I am a practical guy and work on conversion rates, rather than how many nice finds a coil makes, if it can convert more non-ferrous targets into my finds pouch then I am confident I have made the right choice. It’s the numbers game I guess, nice finds are never solely down to a machine or coil, there is much more to take into consideration such a LUCK and the site you are searching.
Every piece of foil could have been a piece of Gold an Ancient coin or artefact…You just never know until you dig it !

Summary
The Elliptical HF coil is designed to be a part of the Deus armoury and not necessarily a replacement for any other coil in the Deus range, The HF 9″ round coil is certainly more of an all rounder for most of my current permissions.
For some crazy reason, no mater what coil or detector it is, the depth question will always be asked, so here are my thoughts.
Due to its size and shape the HF Elliptical may sacrifice some depth on certain targets, however the size, frequency and shape will offer many advantages, especially when you are looking for precise target separation and more control over specific sites.
So, to sum it up I would describe the HF Elliptical coil as a technical coil for a technical site.

As you will see by the video below – It really is a killer on the loose !

XP Deus High Frequency Elliptical coil video

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