Anyone here using a Minelab Excalibur II ??

[FlyingMonkey]

Hi folks, just wondering if any of you are using the MInelab Excalibur II and could tell us of ur exoerience likes and dislikes of using it??
Any feedback would be much appreciated as I am considering buying one.

 

[tomcatpl]

its hard to dislike a machine that bring me so much gold but i could do without the thresh hold changes ....and every one says that the original yellow headphones are bad ..but that is a eazy fix with the peltor mod.

 

[bcoop]

There are a lot of people on here using an Excalibur. The first thing you will probably want to do is order a straight shaft, mounting the controls behind your elbow. Reason, it makes the machine more ergonomically correct to swing and is just simply more comfortable. I prefer a travel model straight shaft that I can take down for traveling purposes rather than a one piece straight shaft. Some folks prefer a hip mount or a chest mount system in the water.

As tomcatpl stated, how can you not like a machine that produces for you.

If your use to using a machine that gives you a visual target response on a screen, moving to an Excalibur may be frustrating for you at first. In a nut shell the Excalibur's response to targets is a high, medium and low tone sound, however there are variances in those tones depending on what type of target has been detected. For instance, you may receive a high pitch tone that starts off high and cuts off fast or you may receive a tone that is medium pitch through out that finishes off smooth and clean. Or one that is medium tone but scratchy with a quick finish. As you use the machine and dig multiple targets of the same nature your ears will become trained with your brain and you will begin to identify what you have detected before you dig it. When you detect your first gold ring, you'll never forget that sound.

3 tips

1. Get it
2. Learn it
3. Use it


It won't disappoint you if you do those 3 things. They work and work well.

BCOOP

 

[rarysgaard]

Great machine in my opinion. I just traded in my original 10" excaliber for the new excaliber 11 8" coil. It is pretty light with the small coil & more sensitive to small gold. I too would agree get a straight shaft. It makes it much easier to swing for long periods of time.I don't see any down side. If you haven't used a machine with a double D coil before, it takes some time to learn the pin pointing. It's deep & accurate. I recommend it. Good luck!

 

[Jack Flynn]

How about I love the Excal II and it's twin land brother the Sovereign GT.................About 9 weeks total in freshwater swimming holes and beaches.

 

[scubapirate]

I am personally on my third Excal. I started with a normal Excal with the yellow headset. Unfortunately sold it and purchased the new and improved Excal II. Now you have to understand I use my Excal daily, I put a lot of hours on it and after of 16 months of constant use, it kind of disintegrated on me where do I start? knob housing cracks, battery connector wire broke within the first month, but the biggest thing was the headphone wire. The cable that connects the headset to the main body started to disintegrate. If I stretched the coily wire you can see the rubber cracking and the colored wires inside. This is how I found my headset problems. I opened the yellow cuff and the rubber wire to the speaker looked like a rat had eaten it (wish I had taken a photo). So off to Minelab it went ( I purchased another new one to hold me over). I expected a death certificate from them but they sent me a list a mile long of replacement parts needed, but only $535 to fix it with a 6 month warranty... hmm yup do it. (waiting for its return). So after all the problems with it I still purchased the third one, that as a testament of how well I have done with my Excals. The new one is producing nicely. But I must say EVERY one sounds different... all three make distinct sounds for different metals, but no way do all the golds, silvers or coppers sound the same on each machine, I have to retrain my ears for different sounds. I find lots of gold with my Excals but honestly I dig up everything so will any discriminating detector do the same for me? For a few $ more why take the chance, go for the Excal. Good luck hope this helps you.

 

[dewcon4414]

Mine paid for its self in 2 weeks so id say its worth it. I thought PI at first but i went with the Xcal because you can use a disc machine in any condition. True there are beaches and times during the year that a PI would be nice to have. But you cover a lot of beach not digging iron and that relates to a better chance of finding gold. You have 3 tones and the controls are very simple. I do wise ML would produce it with the mods many have to do so we dont have to ..... like headphones, ability to change coils, and a straight shaft.... that all adds up. I dont care much for the PITCH HOLD threshold either you find yourself running your scoop across it to change it back to set up tone. Personally i love the pod design... the battery pack is simple to charge and use. I dont like the flimsy coil bolt you just cant keep it tight and of course that means if its moving then sand is slowly gringing away at it. All my what ifs are minor compared to how well this machine produces.

Dew

 

[Tin Fin]

I just got mine Excal not even a week ago - I'm learning it, but so far, I love it. I'm learning the sounds; it's a little confusing for me right now, but with no meter, I have only my ears to rely on, and in the water, that's all there will be for me to rely on. I am getting used to the feel of it, and am more comfortable with it now than i was at first. I am using it every day for at least an hour - went for three hours today, and was able to ID things pretty well before digging (still finding lots of pull tabs - but I have the screw caps down, have been digging those just to verify for my self right now). Without a lot of time on it, I can't tell you about the negatives other than I plan on getting a straight shaft (any recommendations? Travel shaft sounds like a very good idea for me). The Excal I have is an older one - bought it used; don't know what year it was new, but it's in good shape. Chances are good that down the road I will change the headphones as I have hearing problems (things are either not loud enough, or too loud, plus I have tinitus), and I see where being able to change coils would be very useful. I was told by Synthnut - who I bought it from - to be careful turning it off; people tend to crunch down too hard and it's easy to break the knob. Hearing the nulls is new to me, but it also tells me how much iron I'm passing up - but I don't hear it

So, yes, I'm a newb on the Excal - but so far, I love it, and I'm getting a Sovereign GT soon too. I have a meter for that one, so that might make learning a tones quicker, but I'm not sure about that yet. In the meantime, I'm using it every day, guess at the target, then dig it, and compare those to other similar sounds later (sometimes compare sounds right there in the field).

I really don't see how I did without one before,

 

[Finderskeeper]

The Excalibur is probably the most modified machine out today. It is a great machine stock but it is way better when you modify it.

I did the following to my Excalibur II:
Straight Shaft (home made with Plugger shaft lock)
Peltor / Earbud headphone mod
Mel Parker / OldBeechnut remote pin point switch
WOT coil hardwired
1600 MAH NIMH battery pack

It with the modifications makes it one of the best beach / water / dry land detectors around.
Mine has paid for itself several times over.

I also have a White's Surf PI dual field and with this one two combination, there isn't too many beaches I can't hunt successfully.

I prefer the Excalibur for dry sand/land/ and sometimes in wet sand when there is lots of trash around. I use the Excalibur in fresh water also.
I prefer the Dual Field for in the salt water and wet sand when having a clean beach.

The Excalibur is slightly less deep than the Dual Field but it is close. The Excalibur is way better in trashy areas.
If I had to only have one, it would be the Excalibur as long as it was modified.

 

[Goldak]

The Excalibur is probably the most modified machine out today. It is a great machine stock but it is way better when you modify it.

I did the following to my Excalibur II:
Straight Shaft (home made with Plugger shaft lock)
Peltor / Earbud headphone mod
Mel Parker / OldBeechnut remote pin point switch
WOT coil hardwired
1600 MAH NIMH battery pack

It with the modifications makes it one of the best beach / water / dry land detectors around.
Mine has paid for itself several times over.

I also have a White's Surf PI dual field and with this one two combination, there isn't too many beaches I can't hunt successfully.

I prefer the Excalibur for dry sand/land/ and sometimes in wet sand when there is lots of trash around. I use the Excalibur in fresh water also.
I prefer the Dual Field for in the salt water and wet sand when having a clean beach.

The Excalibur is slightly less deep than the Dual Field but it is close. The Excalibur is way better in trashy areas.
If I had to only have one, it would be the Excalibur as long as it was modified.

I haven't done all those mods yet but I also have both detectors and think that you are spot on with these comments! HH!