Newbie Excal - Freshwater Settings Advice - Please!

[GotSilver?]

Hello all, I excited as I just got my new Excalibur II 1000 - can't wait to swing it. Now comes the fun part - starting to get to know the machine. I'm coming to this from an E-Trac so I'm assuming the Excal is much easier to pick up. I am hoping to get a little advice from you Veterans. I'll be using it in freshwater lakes in Michigan primarily...what settings should I start off with to get going? Thanks for the help...

 

[Critterhunter]

My biggest advice is that these BBS machines are a different animal than the FBS units. Prepare to get frustrated even though you've owned other Minelabs. Fight the urge to give up. With time you'll learn the rich detailed language in audio of these machines, as well as the quirks of how they act. All machines are different, but I'd say the Sovereign (a BBS machine) was more "different" than any other I ever owned. It took me a while to learn how to like it's unique traits.

I'm sure experienced Excal owners who beach and water hunt will have a lot of tips to get you going.

Hey Ron, I'm sure the sticky varieties have already mixed their max limit in terms of how many you want stuck at the top of the forum, but how about a sticky for Excal and Sovereign setup and use tips? People could also stick links to videos in it where others show various ways to set up and use the machine. That was done somewhat in the Sovereign model sticky but more could be done IMO. For instance, many people get confused and think Iron Mask ON does a better job of ignoring iron than with it turned off, or that the sensitivity gets higher as they turn clockwise where in fact the reverse is true. Even for me it took a little thought to figure out how the PP/Track/Fixed switch worked in relation to the discrimination iron mask on/disc iron mask off/all metal switch.

 

[GotSilver?]

Thank you, C-Hunter! I appreciate the words of encouragement and the thougths for assistance! Much appreciated...

 

[dewcon4414]

The Xcal is a fairly simple machine to use out there in the water. It gets a little more complicated if you want to hunt in PP which i do on occassion. Threshold just so you can barely hear it in disc, volume 3/4 to full, it seems to give a clearer tone to me at 3/4. Sensitivity..... id suggest you start at 6 since and see what your location allows. Here in Fl there isnt much minerals so i can crank mine up between 7 and 8 before i start getting a bit of chatter or falsing. I run my disc always as low as it goes 1. The only target i ignore .... by ear is a shallow bottle cap, everything elce you dig. The Xcal i going to null over iron. Do some air tests that always helps. It wont take long for you to catch those targets just off the coils HALO...... centering your target always gives a more reliable tone. But if you are getting a tone you digging it anyway out there..... that is if you are chasing gold. Honestly it wont take you long to learn the tones. Ive used the Explorer for many years now and the DFX before that..... water hunting isnt complicated and the Xcal makes it even easier. Make sure you get a GOOD scoop..... or you will be paying again like most of us have. Enjoy.

Dew

 

[bootyhoundpa]

volume-3/4. disc-0, sensetivity-start at about 2 oclock--if unit is stable you can slowly tweek it up to about 12 oclock, threshold barely audible, i prefer to hunt in disc mode.....i agree with dew that the volume has a better sound at 3/4 or 3 oclock setting..... these are my favorite settings anyway.... dig all repeatable signals...... if you notice falsing in rythm with in coming waves then back your sensetivity down slightly until stable.... enjoy.....

 

[Critterhunter]

Funny about the volume thing. I have noticed that on my GT as well- that beyond a certain point the audio quality seems to degrade and not be able to hear as much detail to it as it makes it more "flat" in a way. I don't think it's an issue with the machine, but rather an issue with the headphones. Once the volume is blasted to high enough levels on certain heaphones they start to distort or "flatten" out the target's audio is what I think is going on. I bet with different headphones it could be raised all the way without distortion or degradation.

 

[dewcon4414]

Funny .... but ive used someone's Xcal while mine was being repaired that had the headphone mod. The tones were LOUD and its like a totally different machine..... something that took me some time to get used to. Normally when i hunt in the wave line i switch to PP...... no real falsing, but you know when you hit a target.

Dew

 

[Spungehead]

In my Excal freshwater experience, you can often go full tilt on sensitivity...after all, it's the salt that's the main challenge to most machines, and even in saltwater, I go with zero disc, although you may choose to use just a bit, if you're having trouble with foil or some other low conductivity stuff......'course just remember that gold lurks down there as well. A big gold band can sound nearly like a penny, but small, irregular gold items get lower and quirkier, the more irregular they get. Most detectors love circles the best....making a break in that circle is what makes it tough to broken gold rings, gold toe rings and, of course, gold necklaces and chains are one of the biggest challenges. The machine tries to see each link, so small stuff is REALLY tough....without a pendant or something similar attached, a large percentage of detectors out there will miss small necklaces. Fortunately, i have another tool in my arsenal to tackle those........

 

[GotSilver?]

Great advice...thanks guys!