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MAIDEN VOYAGE INTO SURF WITH EXCAL 1000 BUT...

JIMBOAK

New member
it sure sounded irregular once the unit was submerged. Ninety per cent of the time you did not have a 'relatively' stable continuous threshhold tone but rather the tone would continuously go all over the range of sounds. I was able to hear a few targets though over these other sounds. Is this normal??? Awfully annoying! and I'm sure you would miss targets.

Was in waist deep surf and it seemed like when a wave rolled over, the unit would act up more. Holding the coil steadily as close to the bottom as possible did not seem to stabilize the threshold tone. Had the sensitivity set to auto, discrimination to accept all. Had the coil cover off so as not to load up with sand cuz I've read that can be an issue. Battery was fully charged. As I moved into shallower water, and the control pod came out of the water, the threshold tone would stabilize. Would appreciate any comments about this. Thanks....
 
Hi Ron

Will do it tomorrow morning. Discriminate already on 1, Disc on, but I thought 'auto' selects the right sensitivity for the current conditions. Obviously I don't have a good understanding of the sensitivity control. Is being bounced aroud the culprit? How much depth do you figure you lose by setting at 12 noon position?? ( I understand you have to take the loss in order for smooth operation.) Thanks for your input....
 
They prefer Auto but you can adjust it when needed. Mine is at 11, 12 and 1 depending on conditions.

Loss of depth would be minimal. Did you see that last hole Max dug?

I still read nickels nearly 2 feet deep in the wet sand.







[attachment 10534 IMG_0096.jpg]
 
These guys are the pros and they know what they are talking about. I have Excalb. 1000 and I keep mine between 11 and 12:00 and hunt wet sand and surf.
 
There is no "loss" of depth at the 12 oclock setting over Auto. Auto is MUCH weaker than 12 oclock. There is also no reason that the machine would be less stable in Auto than 12 oclock. I run mine at 11 oclock, which is MORE sensitive than 12 oclock. Increasing the sensitivity to 10 oclock it usually a bit too much for me on our beaches, so I run at 11 most of the time. As you turn it towards Auto, it steadily INCREASES in sensitivity UNTIL you click into Auto, at which time the sensitivity DROPS drastically. Auto is a "feel good" setting that offer less depth than most of the manual settings but more stable operation. I would expect that you would have to turn the sensitivity in the clockwise direction to somewhere like 2 or 3 oclock to drop it as low as what you have in Auto. So there are some thoughts on sensitivity.

As for why it would be unstable with the control unit underwater and stabilize with it OUT of the water, at the same sensitivity setting, tells me the problem is not with the sensitivity at all. I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned this. At any rate, I would check the connections on the control unit and make sure they are nice and snug. Particularly the battery connector. There could be some "seepage" getting on the contacts in there and causing that. And I would also recommend losing Auto, but for the depth you will GAIN, not the stability.

My two cents...
 
Thanks to all for the advise that will be put into use next low tide.

When I first started using the Excal on wet and dry sand I found myself turning down sensitivity to 11 or 12 o'clock position to stabilize unit. But because I thought I was sacrificing depth I went to auto which stabilized. Little did I know that I would be losing in the long run. Thanks guys for the eye openers...
 
You will get max depth and best stability at about 11 oclock. Normally if you have the 8" coil you an run 10 or 11 and if you have the 10" coil you can run 11 or 12. The bigger the coil, sometimes you need a sensitivity reduction. And Excal and a Sovereign are basically the same machines and with my Sovereign Elite and the 12" coil I had to go to 12 in the wet and 1 oclock in the shallow water. I run my Excal at 11 all the time now and I've dug some very deep targets and plenty of gold with it set that way. And I never use any disc, though that doesn't mean I dig everything. I dig what I like the sound of. For example, I can always tell a bottlecap. And foil is usually a giveaway. Big cans too. Pennies most of the time. It takes time but once you know the tones and get the feel, it's deadly.
 
Jim ;
you are at the feet of the masters with this group of water detectorists.
I have found the same with my 800 that the threshold would vary with the wave action. This stopped as soon as I droped the sensitivity.
If you are worried about loss of depth, Don't.
when in the water the excal will find targets deeper that you can possibly dig in the water.
Best of luck
look forward to seeing some gold from you in the near future.
<center>[attachment 10584 Picture049.jpg]</center>
Rick (TN)
 
Hey guys

Got back in the surf this morning and followed your advice, Excal purred at 11 o'clock. (10" coil) Thanks again, and what a relief.

Now I need to get them tones down. I dig everything now but as you know when digging a target in the surf it sometimes is a losing battle if it's a deeper target and that #@$% sand keeps right on fillin that hole back up. Am using a long handled 6" scoop. Hate to be making that effort for a bottle cap etc. Have buried a bunch of test targets but just not enough repitition yet to burn those sounds into my pea brain. Also these same targets seem to sound a little different at different depths.

Anybody wear a weight belt for stability. Using a mask and snorkel to recover targets? Can you tell I'm new to beach hunting :)
 
Hey Jim, that's great to hear...glad it worked out. And yes, if you want to get the gold, you must dig the "holy grail" signals, which happen to be the same as the trash...pull tabs and foil...that's where the gold is. The differences between them are too close to call. And since aluminum trash and jewelry come in all shapes and sizes, no machine can make that differential with any degree of accuracy. But the Excal WILL do a few things for you that some other won't. For one, it will reject most fish hooks and iron trash. You will also with experience become keenly aware that most bottle caps sound sort of like a broken-signal fart. I ALWAYS know those. And then there is the unmistakable sweet sound of gold. Once you've heard it a time or two, you'll KNOW it. And thus know how hard you need to work for that signal, as opposed to busting your butt for a penny or something. So the sounds ARE a big plus. Here's a link to some of those sounds, which could be for a Sovereign OR an Excal. They are very similar. Note that most of the coins and the silver sound close to the same. Except the nickel...another "holy grail" signal, as medium to large gold rings hit like a nickel. Also note that true foil has a sickly sound to it but dainty ladies gold rings with big honker diamonds have the TONE of foil but a much more solid sound. You'll have to test that yourself because they didn't include that in the link. But it's interesting to listen to...

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

Lastly, I was giving some thought to your earlier problem and it occurred to me that MAYBE you didn't realize that when you thought you had the sensitivity in AUTO, you actually had it MAXED OUT. Because fully counterclockwise is maximum sensitivity until you turn it a little further and it CLICKS INTO AUTO, at which point it drops way down to something between minimum and maximum. That probably isn't the case...you WERE clicking it into AUTO, right? If not, it would make perfect sense...that it was unstable, especially underwater where you just can't run that high. If you WERE truly in AUTO and dropping it to 11 O'Clock stabilized it then I still don't get that, but glad it's behaving for you now anyway. Happy hunting...
 
Hey Mike

Thanks fo the link. I'll be in the surf tomorrow am and will test the auto sensitivity again. I'm pretty sure it was in auto cuz I had been using that setting exclusively on the beach.

I think, for a while, I'll try to 'predict' what a target tone is by trying to match the sound by throwing down items (ie coins, ring, bottle cap, etc.) next to the target and comparing the sound. This learning curve is a challenge which adds to the overall fun of detecting...
 
That's a good idea. And something else I ALWAYS recommend with any new machine: Find a CLEAN area of ground...free of trash signals. Do this in Auto, by the way, to make the machine as stable as possible. Lay out a blanket. Take ALL the jewelry you have, every denomination of coin, some trash items, a watch or two, some sunglasses, a button, some bottlecaps, etc. Spread it out on the blanket...separate the stuff. Now scan over those things (no disc, of course) and see what they sound and act like. Practice pinpointing. Get the feel for the machine. It's easy when you can see the stuff. Spend a good 20 or 30 minutes playing. Then narrow the field a little and practice "blind", trying not to look and see how good you get ID'ing the stuff and getting the pinpointing right. The next time you go out it will be YOU mastering the machine, not the other way around.
 
Just an FYI for you Mike...

You mentioned that I may not have fully clicked into 'auto' before when I had the irratic behavior so I was able to reproduce the same effect, today, in the water. ie I had the unstable condition when
'definately' in auto and stable at 11 oclock. You said " I don't get that", that I stabilize at 11 in the water. Why?? Is this a higher sensitivity than you would have expected in the salt. ( once again, it's a 10" coil)
 
jim, the reason is quite simple. The 11 o'clock position is much higher sensitivity than Auto. So it would be expected to be MORE stable in Auto, particulalry in the water where it would be expected that 11 o'clock would be too high for it to remain stable.

The point is that Auto is supposed to provide maximum stability, although with a little less depth. And when you run the sensitivity up to the higher settings, for example 11 or 10 o'clock, you get more depth with a loss of stability. So it would seem very unlikely to be unstable in Auto yet stable at 11 o'clock. Does that not make sense? I thought I said the same thing before.Generally speaking, you can run the sensitivity highest in the dry sand, have to drop it a little in the wet sand, and have to drop it a tad more in the water. So maybe 10 in the dry, 11 in the wet, and 12 or 1 in the water. And I base those settings on the 10" coil.

Anyway, whatever works for you, do it and forget the rest...that's the bottom line.
 
Mike,

Sorry, but it's the pitbull in me. Yes, I understand all you are saying but...

"jim, the reason is quite simple. The 11 o'clock position is much higher sensitivity than Auto. So it would be expected to be MORE stable in Auto, particulalry in the water where it would be expected that 11 o'clock would be too high for it to remain stable."

The opposite of the above is taking place in reality. Unstable in Auto and stable at 11. (in the water) I agree with what you are saying above as to what you would expect, but my detector does not seem to. Anyway I don't mean to beat this to death and I will move on, never to be hunting in Auto again :) Thanks for all your replies! You've been a 'huge' help.
 
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