Need feed back on whites beach hunter & Sand shark:help:

[C.J.M.]

Would like to know the difference in this detectors whites beach hunter,surfmaster pluse and pluse Sand Shark by Tesoro.Which one is the better working one.would appreciate your feedback ,also the best one for salt water.cjm

 

[Tahts-a-dats-ago]

I own/use the BH 300, but have never used either of the other two machines so I won't comment (on them) beyond saying they're pulse machines with no discrimination (that I'm aware of). I believe the pulse machines are a bit deeper, but I'm not sure about that either.

The BH 300 is a hefty machine: not the choice I'd make for hunting dry land for long periods of time. My understanding is that is can be belt-mounted, but I have not done that (and don't plan to). The BH 300 runs two frequencies at the same time (I don't recall the exact frequencies). It is waterproof to 25 feet and has two modes: discriminate and all metal. All metal is the best way to hunt if you want more depth (which is very good on the BH 300). There are 3 lights (sometimes a bit difficult to see while hunting) that give the user a rough idea of what is in the sand. Green is generally a coin, yellow is generally jewelry or trash, and red is generally iron/trash. It is important to get a good ground balance with the machine. Mine has the larger coil (would have to send it in to change coils) and it covers ground quickly. I've had no issues with the coil floating (a common complaint with the older versions) but I don't go beyond calf-deep when I'm in the water.

I've read reports of people having a really hard time getting the BH 300 to ground balance, with some reports saying the machine isn't usable in certain types of soil (heavy minerals, I believe). I have not has an issue with mine (in NJ) being difficult to ground balance. In my somewhat limited use, the BH 300 seems to be pretty sensitive to smaller items, but I can't say how it would do on small items (such as small gold chains, etc..) compared to the other two machines you asked about.

The BH 300 is no longer manufactured by Whites, but I do believe quite a few dealers still have some in stock. Those machines, if new, would come with Whites' 2 year warranty. The BH 300 is made for salt water use - although it would work fine in fresh water too.

I bought mine strictly for those few times I do hunt the shore area (I live in NJ - about 45 minutes from the ocean, and 15 minutes from the bay) and because I'm really hesitant to use one of my other machines in an environment where it will get sprayed with salt water/mist. I don't hunt the shore/bay all that often though, as I much prefer hunting private property (permission) with some history behind it. I do like the BH 300 though, and am glad that I purchased it.

I'm sure someone (with more experience than I have) will tell you more about the BH 300. There are a number of people who use the Tesoro, so I'm sure someone will be able to tell you about that machine.

 

[vlad]

I've used the Whites Pulse-its very sensitive and will pick up things very deep, including small foil and hairpins.
I love CZ's & Sovereigns (and multis); wet salt or inland they work fine.
You night ask some specific questions on them without doing so in a comparison back at Beach & Water Forum.
Try to get the good/bad on each individual unit and then you make a judgement.
Also check youtube because there are comparisons there.
(And, personal message OldBeechnut who is a dedicated water/beach hunter with a good knowlege base.)

 

[Fishers Ghost]

I used a BH for a while .
It is a good metal detector and works well on salt beaches. The sensitivity is fine but the machine is not ideal in trashy areas and does not perform well over high concentrations of black sand.
It is very easy to use and rarely requires resetting once tuned to your beach. Sort of set and forget. The discrimination is basic but efficient. Some iron will give a good target signal. (as is the case with any vlf discriminator).
This tecta can be used in the parks and gardens and tot lots but not my weapon of choice due to poor pinpointing and target separating ability.

The Sand Shark is a great PI and handles most beaches very well, including black sand. Detects very deep, is not real flash on small gold chain below 6g and is a tad noisy in areas of EMI (has no EMI cancel)
Set the vol to max and threshold to just audible and Pulse width to preferred setting or higher ( it will be a bit jittery) and listen for quiet tone changes. These will generally be deep targets. This detector will find everything including very small bits of iron and steel items. Choose this detector if you are a dig it all detectorist.

The Dual Field is a very powerful and sensitive PI. It is more sensitive than the sand Shark and will find coins deeper than the SS or the BH. This detector has Pulse Delay which is very useful in helping to set the machine to differing ground conditions.
The SS and the BH are primarily salt beach metal detectors but can be of some use in the not so iron mineralised gold fields.

Just an opinion. Not Gospel

 

[dewcon4414]

there is a reason most of us dont use a PI....... time vs pay off. Here in Fl ive used a SS and tested it against an Xcal..... just no advantage in depth. If you just want to dig..... get an Xcal and use PP mode..... then at least when you get tired you can switch to disc. That would be a learning experience for many people. Most of the time when people ask about water machines...... its the CTX, Xcal and CZ.....there is a reason for that. Just a little more capable machines as it comes to adjustments and depth. Yes you cant get a SS and a used whites cheaper....... they work fine for an occasional beach hunter. The biggest difference between the SS and Surf....... is 15Us vs 22Us and pulse adjustment. The higher the Us the less receptive to smaller gold targets..... but no difference to the iron you may get.

 

[Fishers Ghost]

I think the Xcal is probably the best general purpose discriminating multi frequency machine for beach work.
I used a Sov XS fitted with a WOT for many years as my main beach tecta but changed to PIs when I started deep searching for older long lost items. Also I learnt that by using discrimination that I was ignoring some targets that were small gold items that gave iron tones and very low TID numbers.

I am now a dig it all type detectorist which has resulted in lot more good finds....Plus also a hell of a lot more trash items. It is my choice and I am sticking to it for the time being but if I do want to cherry pick my targets at the beach then I us a Fisher Gold Bug pro DP with an eleven inch DD coil over the dry sand to the water line and then bring the waterproof PIs out for in the water searching. Infinium, sand shark and a Vallon VMH3CS.
The Vallon is a mine detector but performs extremely well at the beach and has good sensitivity to small items like gold chains down to approx 6g weight..

 

[Dirty_Coins]

That was a really interesting thread. I live near a beach and its the only place I detect anymore. The sand is very deep to the point that you can go several minutes without a target in PP mode on the XCal. I considered swapping it out for a Surfmaster and I inquired with a different group, they were also of the opinion that the Excal is the better machine and the depth difference is not really worthwhile. So I'll stick with it for now. I can't afford both. Plus, the odd time I do need to switch over to disc.

By beach is great lakes freshwater with feet of sand on it. The water is calm most of the time so the sand doesn't move much, but it is rammed in the summer time, like 1,000 people a day swimming in there, and I can walk from my house. There's lots of great gold to be found but its all fresh drops unfortunately. If I could ever get to the bottom of that sand it would be a gold mine! I daydream about getting a gas dredge and scuba gear but there would be hell to pay for doing that!

 

[Dancer]

At the salt water beaches I use the Infinium for wet sand & wading. You can swap coils out with the Infinium, I've got 2 monos and a DD coil. A lot of machines are solid wired with one coil. It can adjust for Emi, has threshold. Great Pulse Induction depth, but best of all maybe is the target ID tones. With time learning, highly accurate. But like all machines, got to dig those iffy targets. Good for 200 feet. Can be hip mounted. I love it. So all this and Garrett decides to discontinue it. Still plenty of parts & service.
Dry sand , I do well with a At Pro, and it's good for a 10' dunking.
In the end. A good & lucky hunter has to pick a good site than squeeze what ever machine he's using to the Maximum.
Just saying.