I just ordered my Excalibur and have a question or two......

[MrPirate]

I just ordered my Excalibur, it should be here in a few days. I was hoping that some of you more experienced water users could point out the what the certain tones are for select items. Is it a low tone for gold or high pitch or what which tones devoted junk and so on. Just would like to know ahead of time what to listen for.
Thanks
Mark

 

[Art (NWOH)]

I don't hunt water, but it's going to be just like a Sov.........

The tones range from low (iron .. in threshold only) to high (silver/copper/clad).

Gold will range from fairly low to fairly high. Experimenting with fairly small foil (like a wadded up gum wrapper) , up through nickels and tabs (mid tones), up to zinc pennies (fairly high), will give you a good idea as to pitch of tone.

Things like rings will have a nicer smoother sound than a lot of the foil and tabs once you get used to it.

HH

 

[MrPirate]

Gold can be at a low or a high tone? or is it a low tone but louder or quieter depending on depth. Or is it a low tone with a higher pitch? I know this can sound confusing. wouldit work if i just lay the detdctor on a table and pass a ring in front of it to get an ear for it. I know the ground conditions will change the field around an object but the tone should be close to same i think. Or I could be wrong.

Mark

 

[Art (NWOH)]

You can air test rings if you like.....

The problem with gold items is that they are not consistent in size, shape, and metal composition as coins are.

Very small pure gold will give low tones. The larger and more conductive the gold item is, the higher the tone. It's a very wide possible range. There just is no consistent pitch, except maybe for gold coins of particular denomination.

Silver is another story. It's very conductive in the first place, and will sound much like copper/clad/silver coins.

Loudness of the tone indicates a stronger hit. Usually more shallow.
Weaker hits will indicate smaller and/or deeper objects.


HH

 

[MrPirate]

n/t

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Here are a few tips. If you follow them you will be successful.


1) Do not run any discrimination...you WILL miss gold rings if you do. They come in anyplace in the range, particularly in the low tone range of aluminum trash.

2) Run your sensitivity in manual. Start at the 12 oclock position. Set your threshold to a slight buzzing that's loud enough to hear well, soft enough to not be annoying. If the machine is stable, try increasing the sensitivity to 11 oclock. If it's a little unstable, back it off the 1 oclock...it will probably do very well at 12 and you'll have about 90% of your depth.

3) Dig everything until you get to know the tones. After that, dig most everything. But you will become able to tell foil and bottlecaps and pass those up with experience.

4) Before you do ANYTHING, lay out a blanket in a clean area of your yard. Spread out (by a couple of feet apart) various objects...rings of different sizes, coins, a watch, trash...practice sweeping them. See how they sound, how they pinpoint...practice pinpointing in disc mode...it's EASY...nobody uses the pinpoint switch. (That I know of)

Pay a visit to the link below...the Sovereign and the Excal are essentially the same machine and these basically are the sounds you will hear.


http://members.tripod.com/~jimyce/sounds.html

 

[alaskaseeker]

Also platinum will give a low tone and thin gold rings or broken rings will give a low tone, with practive you will be able to hear a lot of the tones...The size of the object too will have an affect on the volume of the signal ...Have Fun...Geo

 

[Steve in PR]

Once you learn the pull tab and bottle cap sounds, dig everything else....

 

[davidfedder]

I have been using the Excal. 800 for about 2 months and I have learned what most of my finds will be before I dig them based on their sounds. Yesterday, I thought I had found beer cans, but I dug the signal any way. It turned out I had come accross 4 quarters instead of beer cans.

Most of the time beer cans give such a strong signal that they can be heard when the coil is raised several feet above the ground.

Be careful with skipping individual quarters because they sometimes have broken signal sounds.

Be sure to go back over a target after you remove a trash target. I removed some foil and found a ring under it.

Check all cigarette packs to make sure bills have not been placed in them.

Be sure not only walk too fast, but also not swing your coil too fast and try to keep your coil as level and as low to the ground as possible without touching the ground

Try to concentrate on looking at the coil as much as possible so that when you come across a target you will not miss out on it because you are looking else where.

Try to keep a mental record of how long you have used your battery. The batteries get between 10 and 15 hours when they a fully charged. My battery has been getting closer to 15 hours. You do not want to charge a battery with lots of charge on it too often. I purchased an extra batter pack just in case I run out of rechargable battery power.

Good Luck and have fun.

 

[Waterman]

I have been using my Excaliber 800 for several years in fresh water up here in Canada and find that Silver & Gold will give a more mellow tone with no breaks in the tone. Small thin banded Gold rings on the other hand will "growl". It truly is an amazing detector as is the land version, the Sovereign. Good luck,,H.H.

 

[Gary in Daytona]

within a short time after you start hunting. For example, with my Sov, I almost always know if it's a nickel/pulltab because it's low and steady. Same with the high tones, it's a dime or quarter, and you can tell the difference between the two sometimes by the size of the target. Zincs are a little lower on the scale. For me personally, a gold ring has a distinct warble sounds that just "sounds" like a ring to me. It's hard to explain but you will understand when you have some hours under your belt. As many have said, the best way to get your "tone memory" trained is to lay out the targets on clean ground and memorize what each sounds like. Your brain will commit them to memory. And when you first start hunting with your Excal, don't just dig things up, first memorize what they sound like by approaching from different angles, tone even or varying, trace the size with the coil, see what the threshold does on the sides of the target. Lastly, try to make a guess of what it is. I found that to be good learning practice.
Hope this helps. Keep us posted.

 

[NamVetLesTreasureSeeker]

Mr. Pirate, You have gotten alot of good advice from the responses, that you have received. If you think that you are just gone to go out, and find gold, FORGET IT!! I have been using the Excalibur for over (5) yrs., and I am an avid water hunter. I have found only (3) pieces of gold in (5) yrs., (2) of which last summer in my favorite saltwater bay. You are going to reap very little reward if you take that approach. BEST ADVICE, DIG EVERYTHING, and KEEP DIGGING EVERYTHING!!! And the Gold and Platinum will come to you IF IT IS THERE!! Unless, you find a Virgin Beach or Lake, Pond, or GOLD MINE. You are going to walk away some days with ALOT OF TRASH/ Maybe only less than.50 in change, depending on time of year, and how often you get out to hunt. Water Hunting is a whole DIFFERENT ANIMAL, and I would recommend that you learn your machine language before venturing into the water. You'll find, that you'll need a long handled Stainless Steel Scoop, if you are going to Ocean Hunt! Because of shipwreck IRON, Rocks/Shells, that will eventually wear on Heavy ALUMINUM SCOOPS, and Galvanized Steel Scoops will eventually weaken from Rust/Wear&tear. I'm not trying to discourage you, I'm just bringing you back in touch with REALITY!! If this hobby were very easy, everyone would be making a LIVING AT IT!! So remember, DIG EVERYTHING, CONCENTRATE ON GOOD SEARCH PATTERNS/SWINGING YOUR COIL LEVEL, and KEEPING IT CLOSE TO THE GROUND SURFACE AS POSSIBLE.
Hope this helps, GOOD LUCK!! HH

 

[MrPirate]

n/t