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Excal II and Infinium bench test

S

spdnj

New member
So I got the opportunity to bench test an Infinium and an Excal II with some targets that I have found over the years. They were all jewelry ranging form rings, bracelets, toe rings and earrings. I was very surprised at the results. There were actually some items that the Excal would give me a signal and the Infinium would give absolutely nothing. These objects tended to be the very small or thin items that register in the very low foil range. I also got to test them under an Etrac and its responses were very close to the Infinium.
I would have expected the opposite of this. I have read that air test are usually not very good for a PI unit, and I could definitely see that on the Infinium but if it will not detect it in the air at all I would expect it would never get it in the ground.
With the items it would not get some would change the threshold ever so slightly and some not at all. The Infinium was set to 0 discrimination, threshold a very slight hum and in lock mode.
Any feedback on this???
 
You're right its a waste of time air testing a PI... neither detector see's small thin chains very well in the real world so I can't understand why you are doing the test ... just my opinion.. but the way you worded it leaves me to believe you think the Excal is going to find something the PI won't... neither will unless there is a large clasp or a ring on the chain or its balled up... I haven't found many chains with my PI and truthfully I'm not after them... I'll take heavy gold rings any day over a thin chain.. You want to find deeper gold... go with a PI... that's what I'm after...
 
Craig I agree with what your saying but with everything I read I would have thought the PI would pick up smaller items better. I have earrings that I dug using another detector that the PI didn't even change the threshold with. That I did not expect. I would have thought it would at least see the item.
Now testing it with rings it really nailed them, even in the air the signals were solid at a respectable distance and I know that will only increase once their in the ground.
 
Whoa! Now thats an eye opener.

How many times have I read an Infinium owner, or other PI owner for that matter bag the Excals and other VLFs claiming that their machines are deadly on chains and small gold etc etc.

I have been seriously considering getting a PI cause I'm sick of finding pendants but not the chains they came off from.
So now it seems that I would be better off saving my pennies and sticking with the Excal.

Lou.
 
spdnj,

Here are some factors you may wish to consider.

To begin with, many detectors do not air test nearly as well as they perform in the field. I don't really know why, something about the soil matrix is what some authors say. This may be a factor, as well as where you air test. Minelabs are known to air test poorly, this is not a thing to be concerned about.

I own both these detectors and know they are sensitive to targets small enough to pass through the holes in my scoop. Even fine toe rings, some chains, and some pretty darn fine earrings.For jewelry hunting at beaches, that is plenty good for how I hunt. Craig makes an excellent point, anything those two detectors are not sensitive enough to pick up is really not worth much. A good gold pendant usually is worth more than the chain is came off, but if you find a pendant hunt around a little in the pinpoint all metal mode on the Excalibur to see if you might catch the chain. Sometimes you can, but keep in mind the chain can be a long way away from the pendant.

To my mind, these two detectors are the best in their respective categories for water hunting and each has a place where they work better than the other. Lots has been written all over this forum about that. This is for in the water, on the beach you have more options.

That is how I hunt. If you wish more sensitivity to smaller targets, you might consider something like a Tesoro Tiger Shark. It has greater sensitivity to very small targets because it operates at a higher frequency. You sacrifice depth with higher frequency, but get more of the smaller targets. It is a good quality waterproof detector and is well liked by many. It really comes down to how you want to hunt.

For a PI, nothing beats the Infinium in the water. Nothing. On shore you have other options, not in the water. The chief advantage of the Infinium is it is more sensitive to gold at depth, and goes deeper than the Excalibur. You pay for this capability by digging more trash, but it can be worth the effort.

My two cents. Hope it is useful.
 
Gentilemen,Ron Lord here I HAVE AN EXCAL 1000 and an Infinium LS both find Gold chains but here is the difference. My Infinium does not have the stock 14" DD coil, I have the14 " mono coil ,Garrett will tell you that 14 " stock coil will not find Gold chains ,I have call Garrett.I also have the 8 " mono coil. I have found targets this size ( o ) at about 6 " with my 14" mono coil . ear ring backs are a pain in the back side to find, they make you want to #@#%# .So if you want find the small Gold with Infinium is what you got to buy MONO Coils HH Ron Lord Naples FL PS. My Infinium out hunts my excal by 6 to 10 inches
 
Very interesting Ron. Which 14" mono coil do you have? Do you have a standard scoop to catch that stuff??
Thanks for the response
 
Hi Ron,

correct me if I'm wrong, double D coils are for highly mineralised environments.
Monos not so good there. Seeing as saltwater is a "highly mineralised environment" how does the mono handle IN the water?
Is it a case of trying to pick the signal through constant falsing or will it run smooth?

Lou.
 
I have never found a chain with my Pi unless there was a big clasp on it or ring attached... I have thick ones but not thin ones... I have run my PI directly over a thin chain and it did not pick it up... I guess I'll have to be happy with rings and staples :) I do pick up easily earring backs though... go figure ;) its my understanding that a PI sees 1 link at a time instead of the entire chain...
 
Lou from downunder said:
Hi Ron,

correct me if I'm wrong, double D coils are for highly mineralised environments.
Monos not so good there. Seeing as saltwater is a "highly mineralised environment" how does the mono handle IN the water?
Is it a case of trying to pick the signal through constant falsing or will it run smooth?

Lou.
Click to expand...

Where I need to turn the disc up to 2 or 2.5 with the dd in salt water, I turn the disc up to 3 with the mono. It seems to get quieter after a while but it could be my imagination. As for which one's deeper, the dd at sens 2 or the mono at sens 3 in salt water, I don't know, I've only used the 14" mono once so far.
 
Oh! well, any detector sees 1 link at a time instead of the entire chain, that we know from the 1 grade, what we don't know.. , about Garrett Infinium, that is a big lie or untrue statement (wanna be politically correct). I bougth Infinium and i was very surprised also at the results. Infinium can't see small or thin items at all (1 gram or less) compare to my Explorer and Excalibur . Forget about chains .. And its not deep ?!! That is my feedback ... Now,.. i'm selling my Infinium for $ 100 anybody wanna buy ? E- mail me.
 
Hi craig i have a whites pi and i met a guy with the same machine one day he tells me that his wont pick up gold chains so i went home and got one of the wifes fine wrist chains and tested my pi and it did detect the chain so i went back to this guy and we tested his pi and guess what his did NOT pick it up so this throws the whole argument out the window.terry in oz
 
Alex,

The Infinium is hit or miss on really fine chain, but it will go very deep on a decent target. If yours is not performing, try sending it in to the Garrett factory. I have found them pleasant and helpful. It sounds as though your Infinium is not working properly.
 
I guess you are one of the lucky ones ;) I pick up silver chains but who wants that lol...
 
I'm going to add to your two cents ;) I used to have an Excal and it was a fine machine but I'm after old gold and for me the Excal just wasn't as deep as my PI PRO.. I'm running the Dual Field now which is a little deeper than my PI PRO and I can hear subtle differences in the tone when I am over bottlecaps and I know what bobbiepins sound like so no problem there... Some hunters just don't want to dig as much which is ok by me because I know if I follow a VLF user he is not going to get that deeper gold that only a PI can reach :) I will say the Excal performed very well in the dry sand but I'm not a dry hunter so I use my DFX which is no where near as deep as the Excalibur was...
 
Craig,

I like your thinking on that. How do you like that Dual Field PI? How do you feel it stacks up against the Infinium? I am considering a couple new detectors this year. I would really like to hear your experience with the dual field, I have never used a White's.
 
I use both coils . The DD coil don't handle the salt water as good as the mono coil does. I call Garrett and talt to the teck And he said the mono coil will work alot better in the salt water than the DD coil does. When I had the dd coil it made a lot of nose in the salt water , the mono coil doesn't. If it works for me that is good. So HH Ron Lord, Naples Fl
 
test it out. do test at threshold 4 all the way to 8.
 
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