Looking for a new detector

[markupstateny]

I would like to get a few opinions as to what detector is good on the beach and in the salt water. Please let me know what settings you use on yours if your recommending a detector your using.

Thanks

 

[E-TREC-Virginia]

IMHO, the Minelab Excal II is one of the best water machines out there and is hard to beat in both fresh and salt water. When I run mine, I have it set in disc mode, threshold just barely audible, sensitivity as high as it will go without falsing, discrimination set at 1, and the volume all the way up. I will run it in pinpoint mode when the beach is really sanded in to get a little bit more depth.

 

[kaptainkosmic]

n/t

 

[jyt2017]

My advice. Decide first. Expensive or low budget. Dont get me wrong by low budget, I would still suggest spending around 500 or more on the cheaper end. And, on the more expensive end. Scoop up an Excall II or a CZ-21.

Now. Choice is yours between the two. But. Low end. Its more between the 1280 or any other brands. A lot of people love the AT-Pro. The AT-Pro is a little more complicated then the 1280 and I don't own one.

On the 1280 though. Here goes. The discrimination is your worst enemy. Unless your solely hunting silver. Set it as low as it will go. Sensitivity as high as it will run stable. Here is why you set disc so low. I hunted out a lake once with a 1280. And found 20 bucks in clad and a few silver trinkets. Where was the gold? A forum member suggested I set my disc way lower an "go back" [thanks btw if you read this]. I went back and crept the area. I know I gridded this place good. And boom I found a 1963 class ring, 10k. I still have to this day in a case.

I would suggest a 1280 if your just beginning water hunting and in a year, if it does not collect dust in your closet, go high end. CZ-21 or Excal II. Keep in mind, fisher may release a new water machine.

I believe a member has already posted good settings for the excal II so to avoid redundency I will not post mine, as they are pretty much the same.

HH an GL. PM me if your near new england and want a 1280. I may part with mine. I may not. -Joe

 

[scubadetector]

Without knowing your budget its almost impossible to give you an informed choice.

Super high end you have the Minelab CTX3030

High end you have the CZ-21 and the Excal, and the Garret Infinium

Medium end you have the Beach Hunter ID and the Tesoro Tiger Shark and the Fisher 1280X, and the Garett AT Pro

Low end you have Chinese cwap.

If your beaches don't have much iron, you should look into a PI machine. The Infinium is a PI but there are a lot of others with no discrimination. Tesoro Sand Shark, Whites Dual Field, and others.

Whatever you decide, USE tand learn he machine and don't get discouraged. Thats my only advice

 

[EdwardH]

Hello Markupstateny,
This is Ed Huffman the owner of Treasure Mountain Metal Detectors and Findmall Sponsor, Are you wanting a PI machine or VLF? If you like you can give me a call and I can help you out on this decision and I have some great deals going on in my store for all Findmall members. 865-394-5200

 

[arclyt]

I like my Whites BHID. Not mentioned much in this forum and i really don't know why. It is a killer in dry sand with the 12 inch super coil. In the water it holds its own. I will hunt in Disc mode and then go back in All metal mode. Finds are good and if it needs service you can't beat Whites. Siesta key in Oct for 10 days--hoping to post some nice finds. Hunting the water is a different ballgame then sand scooping the beach. Start mid range and if you like it move up to the higher level, can't have just one water unit. I plan on getting an Excal here by next summer.

 

[Smudge]

A good beach detector is going to be expensive. The salt water environment is one of the worst to work in.

So you are going to start by needing a waterproof machine. Some non-waterproof machines work in the wet stuff, but one splash of sea water and your non-waterproof detector is finished.

So now you need to think about pulse induction vs. discrimination.

A PI detector gives great depth, but no discrimination at all, which can be really tough in trashy areas on the beach. The cheapest waterproof pi detector worth owning will run you around $600 new.

A discrimination detector is VLF running at two or more frequencies. They usually do not go a s deep as a PI detector, but you can discriminate out iron trash without ruining your depth which a lot of people see as a real plus. The cheapest waterproof VLF detector of this kind that I've seen is made by White's and runs around $800. A favorite is made by Minelab called the Excalibur II and runs in excess of $1400 new.

Expensive? Yes. But many find not digging deep holes for iron flakes makes the cost worth it.

If you go cheap on a beach detector, you will regret it. If you have to go cheap, get yourself a land detector and stick to the dry sand. Forget the wet sand. It will not work well there.

 

[markupstateny]

Hello Ed, thanks for the email. Where are you located? Also a question if I may. I think I am interested in the Minelab Excaliber and I'm trying to find out how long the battery packs on them last? Are they rechargable too? What can you tell me about the above detector? Thanks for your help and I'll talk to you soon.

Mark

 

[E-TREC-Virginia]

A good beach detector is going to be expensive. The salt water environment is one of the worst to work in.

So you are going to start by needing a waterproof machine. Some non-waterproof machines work in the wet stuff, but one splash of sea water and your non-waterproof detector is finished.

So now you need to think about pulse induction vs. discrimination.

A PI detector gives great depth, but no discrimination at all, which can be really tough in trashy areas on the beach. The cheapest waterproof pi detector worth owning will run you around $600 new.

A discrimination detector is VLF running at two or more frequencies. They usually do not go a s deep as a PI detector, but you can discriminate out iron trash without ruining your depth which a lot of people see as a real plus. The cheapest waterproof VLF detector of this kind that I've seen is made by White's and runs around $800. A favorite is made by Minelab called the Excalibur II and runs in excess of $1400 new.

Expensive? Yes. But many find not digging deep holes for iron flakes makes the cost worth it.

If you go cheap on a beach detector, you will regret it. If you have to go cheap, get yourself a land detector and stick to the dry sand. Forget the wet sand. It will not work well there.

There is one PI machine that I know of that does have discrimination and that's the Garrett Infinium LS. It is a true water machine that is waterproof up to 200 ft. It costs a little over $1,000.00. I've never had one or used one, so I'm not sure if it looses depth as you increase the discrimination or how well the disc works on the machine. I've read good things about it and it's supposed to work extremely well in mineralized soil. A lot of people use it on land for relic hunting. As as matter of fact, it is one of the machines that is a favorite of the folks who go to the DIV hunts in Culpepper Virgina, because of the hot rock and red clay in that area. The LS is the next machine that I am going to purchase.

 

[markupstateny]

I have heard that the Minelab xcaliber is not very easy to get use to using. I heard from a couple guys that it is actually hard and takes a long time to understand it. Is this true?

 

[markupstateny]

Also Ed, can you tell me if the Minelab Excaliber detector is easy or hard to use? I have heard from a few guys that is it vrey hard to get use to?

Thanks again

 

[markupstateny]

All Chevy!! =)

 

[markupstateny]

Which one, the Excaliber or the CZ-21 (Fisher I think) are the easiest to learn to use?

 

[E-TREC-Virginia]

The Excal is a very easy machine to use and setup. There are only 5 settings on the machine, Mode (Discrimination or Pinpoint), Volume, Threshold, Discrimination, and Sensitivity. Once you adjust your settings for your particular conditions, you do not need to play with them much. Normally, the only setting that you would need to change would be the sensitivity when you go from dry to wet sand and when you go into the water. Like any machine, it takes some time to learn the tones and there are a couple tricks you can do to get a little more depth, like detecting in pinpoint mode. Other then that, it's really a plug and play machine.

 

[markupstateny]

So if you have the sensitivity down when your on dry land, you would turn it up to go into the water? Is that the way you use yours or is it the other way around? Doesn't seem like it would be very difficult with only 5 settings. The more I hear about it the more I'm really wanting one. I have never found a ring and I'm thinking it will improve my chances a great deal. Thanks again for your input.

 

[E-TREC-Virginia]

You sometimes have to turn the sensitivity down when you go from dry to wet sand. It all depends on how much mineralization (black sand) you have on the beach you are hunting. The beaches that I hunt on the east coast are not highly mineralized and I normally can hunt dry and wet sand with the sensitivity pretty high. The water is a different situation and you'll have to adjust the sensitivity down until the detector is stable (little or no falsing). If you go deep enough to get past the waves, most of time you can push the sensitivity back up a bit. The wave action will cause some falsing which you just deal with by adjusting the sensitivity accordingly.

 

[Smudge]

A good beach detector is going to be expensive. The salt water environment is one of the worst to work in.

So you are going to start by needing a waterproof machine. Some non-waterproof machines work in the wet stuff, but one splash of sea water and your non-waterproof detector is finished.

So now you need to think about pulse induction vs. discrimination.

A PI detector gives great depth, but no discrimination at all, which can be really tough in trashy areas on the beach. The cheapest waterproof pi detector worth owning will run you around $600 new.

A discrimination detector is VLF running at two or more frequencies. They usually do not go a s deep as a PI detector, but you can discriminate out iron trash without ruining your depth which a lot of people see as a real plus. The cheapest waterproof VLF detector of this kind that I've seen is made by White's and runs around $800. A favorite is made by Minelab called the Excalibur II and runs in excess of $1400 new.

Expensive? Yes. But many find not digging deep holes for iron flakes makes the cost worth it.

If you go cheap on a beach detector, you will regret it. If you have to go cheap, get yourself a land detector and stick to the dry sand. Forget the wet sand. It will not work well there.

There is one PI machine that I know of that does have discrimination and that's the Garrett Infinium LS. It is a true water machine that is waterproof up to 200 ft. It costs a little over $1,000.00. I've never had one or used one, so I'm not sure if it looses depth as you increase the discrimination or how well the disc works on the machine. I've read good things about it and it's supposed to work extremely well in mineralized soil. A lot of people use it on land for relic hunting. As as matter of fact, it is one of the machines that is a favorite of the folks who go to the DIV hunts in Culpepper Virgina, because of the hot rock and red clay in that area. The LS is the next machine that I am going to purchase.

E-Trec, I have to disagree with you a bit on that mark. While both the Infinium and the Sea Hunter have knobs marked "discrimination" I have found they just flat out do not work. I have also found that when they are used, the depth of the machine drops off significantly. Perhaps you have had a different experience. I know lots of folks like the Infinium for land use.

The other problem I have with the Infinium is that when purchased, it is not not set up for salt water hunting. You have to purchase both the waterproof headphones and a mono coil that will run stable in the wet salt sand seperately. Garrett will happily sell to you for a hefty price. So hefty, in fact, that it probably makes more sense to purchase an Excalibur II from Minelab which gives you real discrimination and excellent depth, and is just as heavy.

I wish Garrett would offer the Infinium as a salt water package, but they only offer it as land package. If they offered the salt water package, they might sell more units.

 

[E-TREC-Virginia]

A good beach detector is going to be expensive. The salt water environment is one of the worst to work in.

So you are going to start by needing a waterproof machine. Some non-waterproof machines work in the wet stuff, but one splash of sea water and your non-waterproof detector is finished.

So now you need to think about pulse induction vs. discrimination.

A PI detector gives great depth, but no discrimination at all, which can be really tough in trashy areas on the beach. The cheapest waterproof pi detector worth owning will run you around $600 new.

A discrimination detector is VLF running at two or more frequencies. They usually do not go a s deep as a PI detector, but you can discriminate out iron trash without ruining your depth which a lot of people see as a real plus. The cheapest waterproof VLF detector of this kind that I've seen is made by White's and runs around $800. A favorite is made by Minelab called the Excalibur II and runs in excess of $1400 new.

Expensive? Yes. But many find not digging deep holes for iron flakes makes the cost worth it.

If you go cheap on a beach detector, you will regret it. If you have to go cheap, get yourself a land detector and stick to the dry sand. Forget the wet sand. It will not work well there.

There is one PI machine that I know of that does have discrimination and that's the Garrett Infinium LS. It is a true water machine that is waterproof up to 200 ft. It costs a little over $1,000.00. I've never had one or used one, so I'm not sure if it looses depth as you increase the discrimination or how well the disc works on the machine. I've read good things about it and it's supposed to work extremely well in mineralized soil. A lot of people use it on land for relic hunting. As as matter of fact, it is one of the machines that is a favorite of the folks who go to the DIV hunts in Culpepper Virgina, because of the hot rock and red clay in that area. The LS is the next machine that I am going to purchase.

E-Trec, I have to disagree with you a bit on that mark. While both the Infinium and the Sea Hunter have knobs marked "discrimination" I have found they just flat out do not work. I have also found that when they are used, the depth of the machine drops off significantly. Perhaps you have had a different experience. I know lots of folks like the Infinium for land use.

The other problem I have with the Infinium is that when purchased, it is not not set up for salt water hunting. You have to purchase both the waterproof headphones and a mono coil that will run stable in the wet salt sand separately. Garrett will happily sell to you for a hefty price. So hefty, in fact, that it probably makes more sense to purchase an Excalibur II from Minelab which gives you real discrimination and excellent depth, and is just as heavy.

I wish Garrett would offer the Infinium as a salt water package, but they only offer it as land package. If they offered the salt water package, they might sell more units.

I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with. I said " I've never had one or used one, so I'm not sure if it looses depth as you increase the discrimination or how well the disc works on the machine." I said it was a true water machine only because it's waterproof and I have no idea how well it works on the beach, but now I know. Thanks for that information. I already own an Excal II for my water hunting. I'm more interested in the Infinium for relic hunting is highly mineralized ground, however, since I now know that it requires a separate coil for the wet sand, I may just get one of them to so it could be my water backup machine as well.