Opinions on the NAUTILUS DMC II BA

[Treasure_Hunter]

What are some opinions on the NAUTILUS DMC II BA, good or bad? I know there are many out there with a lot of good knowledge earned from years of experience and I respect your opinions. I am wanting to get a second unit as a backup for my Beach Hunter ID and know where there is a used one with 10 inch coil.

I know it's not waterproof, I don't plan on hunting in deep water with it, but would hunt the wet sand and beach, as well as the parks here in central Florida.

Not a lot of relics here in central Florida like there is up north other then the Treasure Coast. I mainly hunt the beaches and parks for jewelry and coins. I believe there are probably a lot of stuff I and others are missing on the beach just because it's deep.

Thinking about either used ML Explorer II or the DMC II BA. I couldn't afford a new ML Excal when I got my Beach Hunter, my budget was already streached buying the Beach Hunter. Maybe one day I can sell it and upgrade to an Excal new or used for the underwater hunting.

Thanks ahead of time.

 

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[bazinga]

Waiting for michigan badger to chime in with his opinion of it

 

[Sandman]

Snatch up the Nautilus while you can at a good price. It is a fine detector without the fancy decals of fangs or lightning bolts. Just a fine deep detector that is well built. However, it won't handle the wet saltwater sand.

 

[Gribnitz]

The Nautilus is a relic machine, not a beach machine. If your hunting wet salt sand, you really want to find yourself a PI machine.

 

[Michigan Badger]

I've never hunted the salt water wet sands but I've chatted with others who have and they all say the IIB and IIBa are great. Both machines were designed with circuitry for salt water conditions. You just flip a switch and you're in salt water mode. As far as I know, Nautilus is the only brand having this feature.

As for depth, I know for a fact it beats by 2 or 3 times any brand I've owned in the past. I used to be 100% for Tesoro and I was one of the members here who really got that brand going here on TreasureNet. But like you, I wondered about all these claims of finds at 10+ inches deep. There was a time I didn't believe it because I never found anything that deep. I figured the guys were just exaggerating or failing to pinpoint accurately.

Finally I got the Nautilus IIB used off ebay. I didn't even buy a new one because I strongly doubted the depth claims. My first time out convinced me I had made the right move. I found the machine pinpoints perfectly dead on. I even widen all my holes way belong that necessary. I now dig brass/copper and silver objects at 14+ inches with no problem. In fact, many times these sound more like beer cans at 5 inches. My IIB will air test a quarter at well over 20 inches (up to about 24 inches) with the stock coil. It can detect a US gold dollar coin buried at 8 inches in medium soil with no problem. In fact, the guy I bought the machine from found a gold dollar with it.

To date something like 10 or 12 people (that I know of) have switched to Nautilus because of my writups and videos. Some of these were using the most expensive top brands. Several have written to personally thank me for letting them know about Nautilus.

Nautilus machines are not for everyone. Some weaker people can't deal with the weight and others can't dig the deep signals due to poor health. There are after market rod modifications offered that make the Nautilus feel great. But, this setup costs about $100 extra.

The Nautilus is ideal for those who like to hear clear distinct signals. I hear almost no chatterings or pops, etc. You can hear both all-metal and discrimination signals at one time (extremely valuable) or you can turn the all-metal sound off and hear only the clear beeps of the discrimination (silent search).

Oh, and one more thing, the Nautilus is hand made by American workers right here in the United States.

Nautilus is more than a metal detector; it's an experience.

Badger

 

[warsawdaddy]

It's the deepest,bar none.
It's the best made,bar none.
It's the heaviest,bar none.
It's the most accurate,bar none.
You need a big shovel and two strong backs to dig what that detector will locate.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I know its not waterproof, but what about the mist blowing in off the ocean. Would it require a unit cover to hunt the beaches and shallow surf?

 

[Michigan Badger]

I know its not waterproof, but what about the mist blowing in off the ocean. Would it require a unit cover to hunt the beaches and shallow surf?

I couldn't honestly say. I've never tried it.

I do know that long term hunting in very wet weather can cause the machine to quit working properly. If this happens I just dry it out with a hairblower and it's good to go in about 10 minutes.

But, so far this has only happened once to me. I had been out all day in very nasty weather and the next day it wouldn't work until I dried it out.

All detectors have their strong and weak points. As for me, the Nautilus superior depth and target ID abilities make it worth it's shortcomings.

Badger

 

[galaxy51]

MB, I too have recently bought a Nautilus II-B on ebay at a great price that looks like a new machine. I have yet to do the mod to address the weight / balance issue so have absolute minimal time on it. I have no salt mode switch on my II-B. There are four switches, six knobs and one push button. Are there different controls on the same model # in different years of manufacture? Maybe labeled differently? Where is the salt mode switch located on your machine?

 

[Michigan Badger]

MB, I too have recently bought a Nautilus II-B on ebay at a great price that looks like a new machine. I have yet to do the mod to address the weight / balance issue so have absolute minimal time on it. I have no salt mode switch on my II-B. There are four switches, six knobs and one push button. Are there different controls on the same model # in different years of manufacture? Maybe labeled differently? Where is the salt mode switch located on your machine?

It's not called a salt mode switch on the box. It's that swithch on the back side of the box above the retune button.

Go to the Nautilus site and the salt water guys can tell you how it works. You can find postings there already if you look back on the older postings.

http://www.thetreasuredepot.com/cgi-bin/nautilus/nautilus_config.pl

 

[galaxy51]

MB, I value your advice and I hope you will accept my opinions as well. After all they are only opinions and I think the Nautilus is a great detector.
It's just that I wouldn't think the Nautilus should be considered as a salt water beach detector. It is a an excellent relic detector that can be very effectively used as a coinhunter. However there are some special tuning procedures that can adapt it to heavily mineralized areas of a salt beach. These same techniques are listed in my 6000 Pro SL manual to allow its use in an area that is too mineralized for its normal intended use. The following link will give some very good info on the Nautilus. The very bottom of the page is where the special tuning procedures for a salt water beach is located.
http://www.relichuntersupply.com/NautilusTips.html
P.S. The Nautilus DMC II-B weighs exactly 4.72 pounds with batteries and the 10 1/2 inch coil installed. That surprised me because its really poor balance made it feel much heavier than that. My 6000 Pro SL weighs 5.12 pounds with batteries and a six inch coil, but is very well balanced.
I think that after I do a mod on my Nauty for better balance and get better acquainted with it that I will be very pleased with its performance.

 

[Michigan Badger]

MB, I value your advice and I hope you will accept my opinions as well. After all they are only opinions and I think the Nautilus is a great detector.
It's just that I wouldn't think the Nautilus should be considered as a salt water beach detector. It is a an excellent relic detector that can be very effectively used as a coinhunter. However there are some special tuning procedures that can adapt it to heavily mineralized areas of a salt beach. These same techniques are listed in my 6000 Pro SL manual to allow its use in an area that is too mineralized for its normal intended use. The following link will give some very good info on the Nautilus. The very bottom of the page is where the special tuning procedures for a salt water beach is located.
http://www.relichuntersupply.com/NautilusTips.html
P.S. The Nautilus DMC II-B weighs exactly 4.72 pounds with batteries and the 10 1/2 inch coil installed. That surprised me because its really poor balance made it feel much heavier than that. My 6000 Pro SL weighs 5.12 pounds with batteries and a six inch coil, but is very well balanced.
I think that after I do a mod on my Nauty for better balance and get better acquainted with it that I will be very pleased with its performance.

Yes, I think the rod mod is what we both need. I purchased the whole mod kit from Southern Treasures but am holding off doing it because I'm thinking about selling my Nautilus IIB and buying a brand new IIB and then do the mod to it. I'll have to give it more thought though. I've got lots of time before spring to make up my mind.

Badger

 

[galaxy51]

MB, Does your II-B pass the coil tuning test? I don't mean to be too nosey but if you are going to modify it anyway why do you want a new one over the old? Are there some model changes that effect performance? The only thing I am aware of is at some point there may have been a change to a thinner and therefore maybe a lighter coil.
I really have to get at making my Nauty mod happen. I was truely amazed when I weighed my 6000 and then the Nauty. The 6000 although fully .4# heavier than the Nauty feels very light and nimble to swing in comparison the the Nauty. I have injured some muscles in my right forearm so weight and balance is quite an issue for me. I have found that at least for me, the balance part is more important than weight. With my 6000 held in the normal position that I detect at, I can lift all my fingers from the grip except for my middle finger and the machine will remain perfectly balanced in that position, the 6" coil neither rising or falling. My shoulder muscles support the weight and provide most of the swing effort. All I really have to do with my lower arm and wrist is minor balancing and maintaining a grip. When I do the Nauty mod I will pay very close attention to having the exact same balance point when the mod. is done, even if the weight has to rise a little. That point reminds me of a post someone made after doing a Nauty mod. where he posted that it was necessary to hold the coil down just a little rather than having to hold it up before the mod. which was a big improvement for him. I have envisioned a slot that would allow moving the control box forward or backward to allow good balance with a larger or smaller coil installed. I'll see how that goes!
Well enough here or I will end up with a record long post. Good luck with your Nauty and its mod.
P.S. Please feel free to send a PM if you want

 

[Michigan Badger]

galaxy51 I just like to keep my detectors on the newer side. The machine I have now works great, no problems. I just like to trade up before something gets too much age on it.

The Nautilus is a really great detector. I know when I write this many think I'm just doing the old "my detector is better than your detector" thing. This is not true. I hold no special allegiance to any brand and I regularly criticize Nautilus on their own forum.

Nautilus strengths are:

1) The greatest depth in discrimination and all-metal (in my opinion)
2) The smoothest running machine "
3) The easiest to learn "
4) The best at target separation in high trash areas "
5) The dual tone system (DMC) is the only way to go "

Cons:

1) The balance is poor with the standard rod (in my opinion)
2) The Nautilus company doesn't listen well enough to their customers "
3) Nautilus machines require a short warm-up period to achieve maximum results (5-15 minutes) "
4) Nautilus' are land machines only and really not suited for even water wading "
5) The warrantee is too skimpy (2yrs.) "

I also think the IIBa was a mistake. I love the idea of an automatic coil balance but they left the sensitivity knobs off! Bad move in my opinion.

Therefore I use the IIB. I've thought about getting the IIBa but recently changed my mind. One needs those sensitivity controls and too it's easy to coil balance once the machine has warmed up. Before the warm-up it can be impossible to coil balance or ground balance.

Just my personal opinions.

Badger

 

[galaxy51]

I was just on a web site that advertised a model DMC 4. It is claimed to have improved depth as well as other improvements over the DMC II B and is based on that machine rather than the IIBA. I have not seen anything else on it anywhere. If you find some in depth info concerning the DMC 4, please advise me as to where I can locate that info.
Also there recently was a DMC II B on e-bay that was apparently an older model of DMC II B because it had no factory installed knob for adjusting transmit power. I just wanted to mention that because apparently having a DMC IIB doesn't necessarily mean that you have exactly the same detector that others might have bearing the same model designation.

 

[Michigan Badger]

I was just on a web site that advertised a model DMC 4. It is claimed to have improved depth as well as other improvements over the DMC II B and is based on that machine rather than the IIBA. I have not seen anything else on it anywhere. If you find some in depth info concerning the DMC 4, please advise me as to where I can locate that info.
Also there recently was a DMC II B on e-bay that was apparently an older model of DMC II B because it had no factory installed knob for adjusting transmit power. I just wanted to mention that because apparently having a DMC IIB doesn't necessarily mean that you have exactly the same detector that others might have bearing the same model designation.

Yes, I saw that old DMC IIB on ebay myself and was surprised. I didn't know they made it that far back. But, Nautilus seems to do upgrades and still keep the same model name.

They're a great company and very nice people but I have to admit I don't really follow their logic sometimes.

The best thing to do whenever you're wanting honest straight answers to Nautilus questions is to call the Nautilus company and talk to Steve or whoever is handling the technical stuff that day. You'll find them very pleasant and glad to chat with you. You can get all sorts of answers from forums as you know. Best get the info from those who really know what they're talking about. This holds true with any brand. The good stuff we get from forums is stuff like "The blasted knobs loosen" or "The battery connectors break easily" or "It gets poor depth" etc. You get what I'm saying? These things aren't true of Nauts but I give them as an example. For the technical stuff talk to those who know.

I know nothing about the DMC 4. If you're really interested in it I'd call Nautilus and let them explain it all to you. Then take that to the Nautilus forums and see what sort of come-back you get.

But I will say this, all the serious Civil War relic hunters and professional treasure hunters I know claim the IIB is the deepest VLF machine made today when using the 15-inch coil. All tell me it's at least 1 inch deeper than the IIBa. As you know, when hunting relics 1 inch can mean a lot.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Badger