Digging it all with the Dual Field

[bob.oz]

This is a total of two morning low tide hunts, this morning and Thursday, @ 3 hours each day with the Surf PI. I hunted the wet, waters edge, in the ditch, on the sandbar and just outside the bar where I hardly found anything. Each morning the Gulf looked flat, but was dirty with some menacing waves breaking on the bar and a semi strong current in the ditch making things difficult with the DF 12" coil. I quit both days once the waves could go over the bar. East wind returning this weekend...calm and clean water should be back.
Nothing great...meaning no gold, but some finds just the same. Found were a 925 Pandora ring and a small 925 chain, nice looking stainless bracelet, $2.18 in coin, junk earrings & toe rings, 3/16 socket, sinkers & spoons and a bunch of trash with a garbage truck to haul it away. GL ALL

 

[bootyhoundpa]

that trash truck caught my eye right away lol... actually your keeper to garbage ratio is actually pretty good all things considered...

 

[bob.oz]

BHP>>>That's just today's trash, I had to stop at a trash can on my way out this morning and clean off the scoop magnet from yesterday.

 

[Nauti]

Interesting post as I have been thinking about a pi machine for a while but i'm slightly put off at the thought of digging every piece of scrap iron on the beach.I currently use a BH id in the all metal mode which gives the machine great depth but also still gives a bit of discrim in the form of visual id.I still dig bits of iron but the machine also rejects a lot too so i'm not having to dig every single signal.
The problem is I know that there is probably good targets deeper than my machine can reach so a pi may be worth a go but I don't want to buy one and find that the depth is'nt much better than my current machine as in all metal it goes pretty deep.Are pi's really that much better on depth than a good multi frequency machine?

 

[dewcon4414]

There is a bigger learning curve than most want to deal with when using a PI. They size the target so you have to pay attention......... its not like recent drop screamers, those you can get with any machine. Id say a couple of inches difference here in Fl since we dont have nearly the mineralization. But that couple of inches introduces a LOT of targets a VLF walks over AND just didnt see or nulled on. They also can be very chatty especially near the shore line. When its sanded in ....... its sanded in and lot of small junk targets are about the only thing moving around out there. When it opens up........ then you have TONS of targets better sorted thru with a VLF first. They are good machines to work an area........ on a huge beach with lots of contributors and competition during recent drop time.......... id choose to use a VLF. Many of us are now using our machines in AM for the depth and checking targets we can ID in disc after a little dirt is removed just because targets do tend to react as iron the deeper they are. They can be a very good choice in some locations....... but you just never know until you do some digging...... that could make for a busy and unproductive day. Also, im getting old ..... ya hate to admit it, diggin can come with a physical price.

 

[bob.oz]

I'm in my 4th year with the DF and still enjoy taking it out in place of the Xcal once in a while. I use it in areas that I have previously hit with the Xcal, but in a more concentrated area as compared to hunting the entire beach. It's even ok to use during the summer fresh drop season because you can tell a deep target from a shallow one by the sound/strength of the tone....I can pinpoint and one scoop a fresh drop with ease.These past 2 hunts I used it because things are slow with beach / water goers and the place has been picked over pretty good by many MDers all summer. There is a learning curve that you do learn to keep you from digging everything. Large objects don't just give a short quick tone inside the small circle of the 12" coil.....they signal on the pass of the entire coil, i.e. the spoons, truck, ss bracelet. Small targets like the coins, rings, sinkers, caps, socket have a short tone that is heard/defined inside the center part of the coil. Close to the surface targets like bpins, crab trap pieces, hooks and leader wire have a double tone / elongated signal, but if buried deep you can not tell till you take a scoop or two. I do not dig or am bothered by flakes of iron here. The DF is easy to pinpoint with by sweeping the coil back and forth over the target while narrowing down the strength of the signal to the center of the coil...also the neutral buoyance of the coil that MANY complain about floating is not noticeable at all. The way some hunters complain you'd thimk they were trying to hold down a beach ball. I hip mount the box on a quick connect military type belt and use an Anderson graphite straight shaft.

 

[scott.f]

Good hunt Bob, some nice finds there. Good summary of using a dual field too. Fillng a pouch with trash is all part of using a pi it seems, but I like em.

 

[sonnar28]

Interesting post as I have been thinking about a pi machine for a while but i'm slightly put off at the thought of digging every piece of scrap iron on the beach.I currently use a BH id in the all metal mode which gives the machine great depth but also still gives a bit of discrim in the form of visual id.I still dig bits of iron but the machine also rejects a lot too so i'm not having to dig every single signal.
The problem is I know that there is probably good targets deeper than my machine can reach so a pi may be worth a go but I don't want to buy one and find that the depth is'nt much better than my current machine as in all metal it goes pretty deep.Are pi's really that much better on depth than a good multi frequency machine?

I would say another 4 to 6+ inches in depth to ring size targets. An Excal/ WOT can get close to PI depth in AM, but only if you have everything just right (gain/threshold/perfect coil control/intense concentration to threshold breaks or pitch changes). On many hunts that were basically radio silence with a good VLF (such as Sov GT/Ultimate 13 or Excal/WOT in AM), changing to a good PI "reseeded" the beach for me - now there were plenty of targets. But using a PI is a whole new ballgame from using a VLF; Clive Clynick has 2 excellent books on PI hunting that are a wealth of information.

A good PI would complement your BHID nicely!

HH

 

[Nauti]

Thanks for the replies,I think I will take the plunge and have a go with a pi.I used to own a sovereign and was pretty impressed with the depth so another 4 inches or so with a pi might be a game changer like you say.
I always remember a detectorist on my local beach getting a five ring haul with his pi out of a seemingly dead spot so I know they can give you a good day.He ended up losing all five.....when he got home they had gone......he'd put them in an unfastened pocket and lost them when he bent down to retrieve a target,that was his theory anyway.
Again,thanks to all for the info.
Happy hunting,neil