What XP Deus program am I using this summer? Sometime between June and August, I almost always head to the beach and I always take a detector with me. However, over the last couple of years I’ve been reluctant to use my XP Deus because of all of the negativity surrounding its “so called” performance on wet sand. Well I’m hear to tell you that its all false and XP isn’t paying me to say that. My XP Deus beach settings worked for me.
Over the course of 5 days, I found the same amount of beach treasure as I normally would have with the other metal detectors I’ve used in the past. In fact, I probably found more using my XP Deus in 2019 than in previous years but why?
In this article, I’m going to share my secrets and provide my XP Deus beach settings that work for me on wet sand. For many Deus owners this won’t be shocking because you already know these secrets.
XP Deus and The Default Beach Programs.
If you are new and just starting out with the XP Deus on the beach, the two programs installed in the machine (7-Wet Beach and 8-Dry Beach) will work fine. But they are not tapping the full potential of the machine. You won’t get a lot of depth but the machine will run stable. Many opinions out there require a machine to be 100% quiet. If you own a Deus you don’t want the machine to be quiet. I’ll go into more detail on that later.
The Best XP Deus Beach Programs to Use.
If you are an experienced XP Deus owner than you probably want to avoid the two programs mentioned above. Instead, the two programs I found that worked the best on the beach specifically in wet sand are programs (6-Deep and 10-Gold Field). I made my own test garden on the beach in wet sand and buried a bottle cap, dime, and a penny (that’s all I had on me). Both the bottle cap and penny were buried at approximately 12 inches deep. I buried the dime at about 7 inches. Not one of the default beach programs already loaded in the Deus hit on the targets strong enough that would tell me to dig them.
However, the programs (6-Deep and 10-Gold Field) did hit all three targets with enough clarity that would have stopped me dead in my tracks walking along the beach. In fact, program 10 (10-Gold Field) was by far the clear winner of that test which gave me the confidence to use it during my vacation.
XP Deus Gold Field Beach Settings.
Before I go further, I want to provide my Gold Field settings that worked for me. There will be opinion or speculation about this article but this was my set up and it worked for me. Your beach could have extreme mineralization issues that I didn’t encounter but the beach that I was on was very quiet and clean. I predict the settings I am providing below will work on just about any beach on the east coast of the United States.
Beach Conditions and Location
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The beaches at HH are vast and very clean. Targets are far and few in between. You have to work for anything you dig.
Which XP Deus Coils were used? I have both the stock 11 inch and the 9 inch High Frequency Coils. I used both of them but I found that the HF coil hit stronger on the targets I was hearing than the stock coil. Plus, I think the HF coil runs more stable in the wet sand. My specific settings are below.
XP Deus Beach Settings Using Gold Field:
- Ground Balance – Beach = Yes, and pumping to balance the machine. My machine balanced between 25-27 almost every time. This is probably the most important thing to do first.
- Sensitivity – Default 95. I used 95 and at times tuned it down to 87 but kept it at 95 most of the time.
- Reactivity – 2. I never changed it. Didn’t feel it was necessary.
- Frequency – 31.3KHZ. I have the 9 inch round High Frequency (HF) Coil and I found that worked the best for me.
- DISC IAR – I left it off or at 0. I didn’t have too many hot rocks and could usually tell when I did come across one. I did run it at 2 a couple times but determined I didn’t need to.
- Threshold – I ran mine at 3. Each person has their own preference and I don’t think it makes much of a difference either way.
- Audio Response – I ran mine at 4 just to hear the lift of the signal better with the waves crashing in the background.
Screenshots of The Ground Balancing Process.
XP Deus Using Gold Field – What About Depth?
I have a pretty big sand scoop and numerous times I took 3-5 full scoops of sand out of the hole to find a coin or pair of sunglasses that were buried deep. The Gold Field Program will go deep and it really impressed me on just how deep I could find a target. However, you really have to listen for those deep targets which is why I like using Audio response at 4. Otherwise, I probably would have walked over some of those deep signals. The images below are (left to right): Bottle cap ~12 inches deep, dime at 7 inches, and a penny at 12 inches. All of them were clearly heard by the Gold Field Program.
XP Deus Using Gold Field and The X and Y Display.
In my opinion, don’t use it. Its useless in my opinion. I didn’t pay any attention to any of what the X and Y display was telling me because if I did, I wouldn’t have dug anything. This is only true for the wet sand. However, most of my hunting was done at night and I know that machine so well now that I hardly ever pay attention to what the VDI is telling me anymore.
Gold Field Program – Is it a Chatty Program to Use?
The answer is yes but that’s also a good thing. You want the Deus to be reasonably chatty. If you can condition your hearing to react to the chatter as white noise, the good targets will come through and easily be heard. Plus, running the Deus this way gives you the most potential because you are tapping into the very best the machine has to offer. Once you start trying to get rid of the chatter, you end up reducing depth which is something you want to avoid at the beach.
My Opinion About The Gold Field Program.
To sum up the XP Deus beach settings, I have used pulse induction machines on the beach and those type of machines have very little discrimination and you are mostly digging in all metal mode. The same holds true for the XP Deus Gold Field Program. You are basically in an all metal mode and its either a dig or don’t dig scenario. There are no tone breaks to adjust but you do have the DISC IAR to adjust in heavy iron. For the average beginner, this program is mind numbing and it will drive you crazy if you don’t set it up correctly.
Truth be told, its been several years since I’ve owned the Deus and I’m finally appreciating this type of program and I feel that it did just as well as or better than some of my previous trips to Hilton Head using different machines. The Gold Field Program is the best program to use in my opinion.
Despite The Rumors The XP Deus Works Well on The Beach.
I find that to demystify a machine you have to get out there and use it for yourself despite everyone else’s opinion. In the past, I have used pulse induction machines on the beach, I have used a Garrett AT Pro on the beach and I have been using the XP Deus on the beach. All of them have been used in wet sand. Guess what? All of them found stuff! Are there better machines than others? The answer is absolutely but all of them will find something on the beach so if you already have a metal detector and don’t want to waste thousands of dollars on a beach detector that you will only use once or twice a year, then take your own metal detector and enjoy yourself. Just have fun with it. If you don’t have a metal detector but want to do more than hunt beaches then consider the XP Deus. It works well on the beach but it is also an outstanding machine for both relics and coins too. If you want learn more the XP Deus I have a few additional articles I’ll reference below:
XP Deus and “Notching” Do You Notch Out 97-99?
XP Deus Vs. The Minelab Equinox
Underwater Metal Detecting With The XP Deus
Here are a couple more articles related to the XP Deus that I wrote.
