I’ve never dug with a deep metal detector before, and I’ve never seen anything like this with friends/hobbies either. Therefore, before acquiring a depth engineer, there was little knowledge, and even then it was all purely theoretical. The choice was short-lived, in principle, because I wanted to take a new model that would be interesting and review it on the blog, and it was also interesting to look at the latest achievements of engineering. So, after re-reading the forums and understanding what was roughly needed, we settled on a new model of a depth detector from the Golden Mask company – Deep Hunter PRO 3. Fortunately, at the digging rally that took place in September 2017, we watched a demonstration and played a little with the prototype of this metal detector, saw it in action and were amazed by the simplicity and ease of the device. So, here's our review of this deep dive!
Metal detector design
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The design is very simple, which is what attracted me to the purchase of this particular model, and not the usual deep-dive ones, where you have to carry a receiver and a signal transmitter on one beam. Everything is simple here – a regular telescopic rod from a ground metal detector, a separate detector block and the ability to install a coil or connect the block to the frame without a rod. Depends on the kit you choose.
In our case, a set of block + rod + frame 180×180 + 58 cm reel was purchased to cover all the necessary tasks of our search team.
Using the depth finder along with the rod and coil is very simple because the rod is a common accessory for the latest Golden Mask metal detectors. It is very convenient to use – compact, folds down to a small size and fits into a regular backpack, the armrest is large and comfortable, made of metal, and the handle is plastic, allowing you to hold a barbell with a large coil at the end.
The detector block looks massive and hangs on the operator’s neck, but the block is not heavy, it is only needed to set the settings for the cop and for sound indication of found objects.
The block does not pull on the neck and does not interfere with walking in the forest or field while searching.
The 58 cm reel, despite its large size, is also lightweight.
Everything is made as light as possible so as not to burden the structure. The average weight of a reel+rod+block set is most often +/- two kilograms, which, believe me, is very little! A typical ground metal detector weighs around 1.3-1.4 kg. But we should not forget that the block hangs on the neck, and not on a barbell, the main weight does not fall on the hand, and therefore you can operate the deep dive all day long without problems – this was one of the key factors why we chose this particular model.
Charging is carried out through the unit and the power cord, because the detector unit contains a built-in battery, which is completely enough for a cop’s daylight hours. The charger is connected to a special connector labeled CHARGE. We constantly charged it after the dig, so I didn’t check how long it lasted, but according to the manufacturer, it should reliably last 8 hours of continuous operation.
Deeper settings and characteristics
In operation and configuration, the depth maker turned out to be very simple and understandable: no hidden settings, no incomprehensible or unnecessary parameters, everything is simple and to the point. You don’t even need to adjust from the ground, because the device adjusts automatically! This is definitely a bonus!
The control consists of 4 potentiometers and three buttons of different sizes.
Basic settings:
Potentiometer settings:
VOLUME ON/OFF —turns the metal detector on/off and adjusts the sound volume in the speaker. Let me remind you that you can connect your own headphones to the metal detector; it requires a large connector, and not a standard one, like a smartphone.
SENSITIVITY – in other words, the well-known “sense”. We increase and decrease the depth detector's sensitivity to deep or small targets.
CRACKLE ON/OFF – setting responsible for the frequency of crackling and knocking sounds when the device is operating. If you set a high value, then the knocking will be constant – “knock-knock-knock” in the literal sense! If you set the value to low, there will be one knock every few seconds. What is this for? It's simple. This kind of knocking indicates the presence of a deep target or a weak signal from the target. If you have one and constant knock value and during a cop the knock suddenly increases, it means there is a target very close. That is, this parameter functionally does not affect the depth of the device or its functionality; with its help you can simply catch and hear a deep and weak target.
If this parameter is disabled, the device will operate in “quiet” mode and the detector will respond to the signal with sound – a low tone for ferrous metal and a high tone for non-ferrous metal.
TRASH is a very useful setting, perhaps the second after “feeling”. By setting the trash level to the minimum value, the metal detector will receive a signal from all, even the smallest metal objects. If you set the trash level to the maximum value, the deep-dealer will only react to large metal targets. Sensitivity to large and small targets is also regulated by the position of the coil above the ground – if you place it very close to the ground, it will collect all metal signals, so the coil must be kept at a height of at least 5 cm, or even better – 10 cm, to search for large targets under earth!
And now for the buttons:
RETUNE – button for tuning out interference and reconfiguring the metal detector. Each time you change the settings, you must press this button! And it is useful to do this periodically while digging, the ground/conditions change from place to place, and pressing this button allows you to tune the metal detector for better performance.
BOOST is a small control; when turned on, approximately +20% depth is added. Not recommended in areas contaminated with metal – the device will operate unstably.
BATTERY CHECK – when you press this small button on the screen, an arrow will show you the remaining battery level. If it is on the number 7, then the battery is 70% full, if it is 3, then it is 30%. If the battery in the device is weak, the “BATTERY!” light on the unit will light up.
My Preferred Settings
Now let's talk about the settings and how I configure the device. I mainly use it to check positions on World War II. It is interesting to ring a dugout, for example, before its pit, this makes it easier to choose which dugout to dig if there are several of them. It is also useful to run around and between positions, especially in places where troops have been stationed for a long time – from a month or more. In this case, with the help of this depth finder it is very easy to find a trash heap – a place where soldiers threw all unnecessary metal. The trash can rings continuously in a small area (approximately 10 m2), because it is filled with garbage – here you will find parts of equipment, spare parts for equipment, various tin cans and other metal. You also come across interesting things in trash heaps – from mugs and bottles, to machine gun discs and helmets, and bayonet knives. Therefore, digging through German garbage dumps is a useful activity that allows you to get a bunch of artifacts in a fairly short time. We even have a useful post about this – Dugout dumpsters (where to look?) .
Now let's talk about how to use the device. Everything is simple here – we turn on the device while holding the coil/frame above ground level, about 30 cm. Then we lower it to a height of at least 10 cm and begin tuning. I usually set the TRASH level above average – you set this regulator according to the level of debris in the area. The volume is less than average – the speaker is loud there. I don’t set the sensitivity to maximum, and even set it below average. I set the crackle/knock (CRACKLE) according to the situation, but usually below average and at a low value – 2 or 3, but no more. What does this combination give? Very simple. Quite a lot of things related to war in positions lie shallow, at a level of 30 cm, which means we don’t need great sensitivity and depth, the main thing is to cut off small things from large signals. This combination of settings allows you to do this.
If we are checking a dugout, then in this case it makes sense to walk through one area at different sensitivity levels, but at the same TRASH setting level. This way you can reach deep metal in a dugout, for example, if a dugout furnace is still lying there. I don’t turn on BOOST, because there is a lot of small metal debris at troop camp sites and the device begins to work a little unstable – reacting to different shots and so on.
My experience as a cop with Golden Mask DEEP Hunter PRO 3
And now I’ll tell you about a short trip with a deep explorer that we made to the Wehrmacht site in 1944. There are a lot of positions there, and trash cans too. There are already excavated trash cans, and there are also those that have not yet been found. This was our task, to call the positions and see if we suddenly came across a trash can. It was early spring, the soil was already normal, it was possible to dig.
We set up the deep detector and go. In general, I always recommend working with a depth explorer in pairs. You can change – one on the shovel, the other on the device, and then vice versa. This way it will be much easier to collect large metal and look for various deep objects. We call the positions and the first signal, we dig:
As you can see, the device perfectly cuts off all the little things from large signals according to our settings.
And the first find was a German military horseshoe. It's funny, but not far from this place we once called cavalry spurs with a regular metal detector.
Example of pit and coil. The hole is quite deep for a conventional ground metal detector, but an example is that even without a pinpoint mode using a depth detector coil, it is quite easy to understand the center of the object. The strongest signal comes from the center of the coil, because the coil is mono, and the device is pulsed.
And do not forget that a pulse depth detector does not distinguish between non-ferrous and ferrous metal as well as a conventional VLF metal detector does, but this makes no sense – if the object is large, then it must be dug, no matter whether the device shows non-ferrous or ferrous metal. He will often make mistakes, but the big German helmet rings a colored signal, but in real life you always start digging for a big signal, what if you determined it wrong and the SS helmet turns out not to be dug up?
Then, out of the ground, but rather shallowly, comes out an ordinary cover from a machine gun disk with 50 rounds of ammunition for MG-42 machine guns. It’s a pity, under the intact cover there were broken walls, apparently the disk was greatly flattened. And how well it all started.
The disc cover itself has a carrying handle.
Also, with my settings, the device finds large targets on the surface. For example, you can ring a tent peg well without receiving signals from shooting. Example:
It's a pity that it has a broken nose, but the peg is very good. It was at a depth of 10 cm, on the edge of the position and trench; it was clear that they had put up a tent or canopy there, but the peg had been broken and left behind. Naturally, there is a lot of metal debris around. The rest of the pegs were missing; apparently the Germans had taken them with them.
And this is a small laid out still life from the finds of a depth explorer + a soil tool. We combined the two, it’s interesting what else is in the positions.
conclusions
A cop with a deep-digger is a completely different cop, it’s not the same as with a ground tool. The main goal is large objects, and you can use the depth digger both for wartime digging – to find helmets, weapons, knives, and other large metal objects, and for searching in antiquity – the depth digger will find jars of coins, various other large objects that can be quite good cost both assembled and in parts, for example: samovars, irons and other utensils. There are plenty of lovers of ambience and antiques; the main thing is to bring the find into proper shape or sell it to someone who will put the find in this form and has direct hands.
The new product from Golden Mask is perfect for these tasks, fortunately it also has a coil and a rod – which increases the functionality of the depth finder for searching in the forest and field, because it’s not every day that you get to walk with a frame; walking in the forest with a frame is also difficult. It is possible to buy a small reel, but I haven’t found a need for it yet; our kit is enough for all 100!
It is interesting to search with such a depth finder – a lot of large metal objects turn out to be interesting finds. This gives you machine-gun discs and German gas tanks, and if you are happy with the preservation, then such a find can be quite good and will help pay for the deep-sea tank faster.
Such a depth explorer will also help search teams – often its owner lies next to the found helmet, which means another soldier will return from the “missing” scene.
Read our blog, we will periodically write reports on our digs, so you can find all posts involving this deep hunter using the Golden Mask Deep Hunter PRO 3 tag. No fluff on the cops!
