Rutus announced their new software update, 2.0 recently and I had to wonder how they could make this detector any better. I’m not going to go into much detail here on the Rutus Alter 71 since I have already done a review but there are a few quick things I want to point out before I discuss the latest version.
Every time I go out with the Alter 71 I like it more and more which is saying a lot because I fell in love with it the very first time. Arek, the owner and engineer of the Rutus has been passionate about metal detecting since he was a child and I believe that is what make this detector so special. From the first time I went out with this detector I knew something was special, I had no clue Arek was an engineer, I didn’t know he has been passionate about detecting all of his life but what I did know something special went into the Rutus detectors. There are some great detectors out there that I personally love but there is something really special about the Rutus and I have no doubt its Arek’s life long obsession with metal detecting.
What’s new with 2.0?
ID 1-120 or -90 to + 90 – The 1.1 software only had the 1-120 range which I love. Most detectors only go to 100 and others even much less. With the 1-120 range you really get great separation of the targets. I have to say I have not yet used the -90 to +90 VDI scale yet. I have heard that an earlier model detector Rutus made had the scale and it was a big hit. Talking with a friend recently we both come to the belief that it should work great when metal detecting in iron especially if you want to dig some of that iron. Of course that is only speculation but I will get some time on the 71 and using the -90 to +90 and let you know what I think.
ID Gain – Some users were reporting that targets at extreme depth were sometimes not giving a VDI number, simply a tone. With ID gain you can now you will also get a VDI number although it might not be as stable. A nice feature to have if you run into that situation or hunting a place where it happens a lot and you’re not satisfied with just a tone.
Speaking of, the Rutus has one of the steadiest VDI’s on targets I’ve seen. When I detect coins they will always come in at the same VDI number and I don’t believe I’ve seen the VDI jump more than two numbers.
Iron Volume – It has been said that these updates came about from users feedback. I can personally tell you this is true because I was one of the people who suggest the Iron Volume function. How it works is whatever you have discriminated out you can set the volume to whatever you like. How I find this especially useful is when I’m detecting old sites where houses or a structure once was you find tons of iron. I don’t want to run discrimination which will start tripping up any detector, giving you false signals, clipped signals and generally slowing down the detector. With the Iron volume feature you can run your detector wide open but turn down the volume for what you would have discriminated out making it much easier on the ears and also still letting you know what’s going on in the ground. Absolutely wonderful feature.
4 personal programs – A very handy new feature to have. In version 1.1 you could only modify the original seven programs. Easy enough to do but if you wanted to start over or say go back to the original, factory program you lost the program you set up. Now you can make four personal programs while still keeping the factory originals.
Ground Balance – One of the most important things to a successful hunt is making sure your ground balance is good. Rutus came up with a great idea to show you what kind of ground balance you achieved. The table below shows how 2.0 now gives you the information on what kind of ground balance was achieved. An absolutely brilliant idea.
The new 2.0 software took one of my favorite metal detectors and they managed to make it even better. Congratulations to Arek and Rutus for bringing us users some great new features!
Interview with Arek from Rutus
Rutus Alter 71 Podcast discussing 2.0 Updates
Rutus Alter 71 Podcast episode
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