Excalibur II settings

[bcoop]

What are you favorite settings for the Excalibur II hunting low mineralization beaches. Why do you hunt in Auto or Pinpoint? Do you feel Pinpoint mode makes the machine more sensitive or allows more depth.
Do you feel Pinpoint operates as All Metal.

I will be purchasing an Excalibur to use while on Vacation in July so this will be a big change from using my E-Trac on the beach. Thanks for any Advice.

BCOOP

 

[goodmore]

First advice is to order that detector now. I hear they are hard to come by. There are two modes discrim and pinpoint or all metal. Hunt in all metal. When you get a target switch to discrim to check for iron. All metal goes deeper. In the water deep holes can be hard to dig. I set discrim all the way down. Anything other than iron I dig. You will need a straight shaft or hip mount. Unless you are built like Superman. The Stock shaft is just horrible.

 

[bcoop]

n/t

 

[Finderskeeper]

You will love the Excalibur on the beach. No more worrying about having the detector get wet plus much of the best finds are in the water anyways. Get yourself a cheap wet suit, a good set of diving booties and a good scoop and you will pay off your machine and equipment fast.

I have both the Excalibur II 1000 and the E-trac. The Excal is by far the best water machine I have ever used and I have had many since my Silver Turtle days back in the 80's. The E-trac is fantastic for the dry sand but don't get it even near the wet. Water seems to wick up the coil cable and causes shorts.

I use pinpoint (all metal) almost always except in really trashy beaches. The freshwater beaches here in Ohio have a lot of trash on them....pulltabs....can slaw......junk. Using all metal will be up to the beach conditions. On the saltwater beaches, trash is usually minimal as the salt eats the aluminum and steel pretty fast.

Good going on the straight shaft as the ergonomics of the factory shaft is terrible. I also recommend getting a can of spray on bed liner and lose the coil cover as sand and dirt will get in and cause erratic behavior. And I also highly recommend getting the higher MAH NIMH batteries instead of using the factory batteries. The after market batteries last a whole lot longer.

I try to set the detectors sensitivity to the point of being unstable and then back off slightly. I usually always run discrimination at 1 except at the most trashy of areas. Then I may bump it up to 4 or 5 or even a bit higher if conditions require it. Volume is set at 2 o'clock and threshold to just barely a buzz.

Don't forget to flip the control housing to get the discriminate / pinpoint knob towards the coil. That will allow you to be able to easily switch between pinpoint and discriminate without having to reach over your arm. That will put your headphone wire near the arm rest. I highly recommend that change as it will make your hunting a whole lot easier.

I also recommend replacing one of the nylon bolts with a bolt eye. I use that to attach the detector to my belt and allows me to drop the detector either on land or the water without losing it. I use a bungee cord to keep it tethered to me. Works like a charm and keeps pressure off the headphone wires. It also allows the detector to drop without hitting the ground.

 

[kered]

Dont forget the long handles scoop for the water, the rest, as already mentioned

 

[hershey1]

Everything seems to have been mentioned. Don't set your threshold too loud and any change in your threshold check it out. If it is trashy and you hunt in Disc. the threshold will change often just swing your scoop close to coil and retune it. Good Luck and congratulations on your Excall. HH

 

[bcoop]

Been beach hunting on vacation for the last three years, brought back 14 rings last year by using my E-Trac. However I like to get in the edge of the water at low tide with my E-Trac and of course have to be very careful to not get zapped.

I have a long handled scoop, and probably going to get another one before I leave. I have pretty much got the settings down from a couple of folks but wanted to get some more opinions, you know everyone hunts a little different.

Want to be on Top of the Game when I get there, will shorten the learning curve in case one particular way does not work.


Thanks
Bill