Questions on Explorer SE settings on Maui beaches

[diverhy]

I would really appreciate someones help?
I am going to help a friend in Kihei Maui that has an explorer SE and Excalibur. I do own an Explorer Se but have only used very little at home in California. I use my minelab 5000 for gold )))). They have tried both machines on beach. They put their own jewelry in the sand and was not able to get a signal to find. They said that they have been cleaning all the garbage off the beaches LOL!!!!! I was hoping someone could help me understand some saltwater settings to go help them. I am thanking you all in advance for your kind help.

 

[diverhy]

My friends are not serious beach hunters! They just want to go out once in awhile to search for small finds!!! So, it would be great if you would be kind enough to educate me why saltwater is making it different!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hotcz70]

possibly post your question on the beach/water hunting forum.

 

[Big Fang Coin Biter]

Really the salt should only require a slight reduction in sensitivity. I have used my Explorer II on the FL beaches numerous times. The only real problem area is at the water line where dry and wet sand meet. That area or a wave lapping in tends to give a signal if your sensitivity is too high. The other factor that you need is very little discrimination. I figure that is why your friends could not find the burried items. I would suggest using iron mask set at about 1/8 inch of the left side blacked out. This will knock out some of the tiny foil and most iron. You may miss some tiny gold too. Another thing to note is that fine gold chains are very hard for any machine to find. If that is what they were testing with, that may be the problem.

So in a nutshell run the SE in conductive tones, iron mask set at 1/8th inch, sensitivity set as high as you can without getting ghost signals while swinging. Should be good to go for deep goodies. Do pay attention to the tiny signals, as they will be the ones others have missed.

For the wet sand transition area you may have to reduce sensivitivity. Hunt parallel to the surf and you will only have a couple passes requiring lower sens. Be careful not to get the control housing wet - do not lift the coil up high until the water has drained out of the tubes.

Good luck, I am sure it will be fun even if you don't find a fortune. I was at that beach back in the mid '70's (no detector though).
HH - Robin

 

[Neil]

I told him basically the same thing Robin.

I was living down in Puerto Rico in the mid 70s, didnt detect then and practically lived on the beach when I wasnt working. Never saw one detectorist.

 

[dewcon4414]

There is NO ONE who cant find gold with an Xcal.... plain and simple. It gets more difficult on the wet/dry sand than in the water. You have approx. 100 to 1 target ratio in the dry sand which decreases as you enter the water..... about 25 to 1 in the water because of target bread down. I wont go into the Xcal use.... but obviously they need more experience.

BUT.... the SE is an excellent machine if you understand it not going to find smaller gold targets. I think the smallest ive found is around .5 grams and i did well last year. I run my SE at a notch or two above AM .... just enough to knock out minerals. Set your noise manually at 11, it will run quieter. Dig ANYTHING that repeats or isnt a bottle cap. These arent raw gold machines. Also dont expect to pick up a 14K ring at 14 inches on a beach like a high conductor quarter. They are low conductors and any beach with minerals will tend to reduce it even more. Small gold on a salt beach sounds very very close to salt minerals falsing. Keep it simple and dont attempt to find a reason NOT to dig especially on a beach. Many targets are shallow and you can just kick the sand and move on. Some hunters dont even care about tiny targets .... most wouldnt be worth $20 if you found them. Gold is going to fall between foil and a penny. Buried targets dont react the same.... i believe they have a tendancey to see the HOLE and reduce sensitivity since they see the hole different than the ground around it. Its a learning experience and takes time.... but a LOT simplier to beach hunt than dirt hunt. Also.... conditions change daily on a beach in the water especially.

Dew

 

[Neil]

There is NO ONE who cant find gold with an Xcal.... plain and simple. It gets more difficult on the wet/dry sand than in the water. You have approx. 100 to 1 target ratio in the dry sand which decreases as you enter the water..... about 25 to 1 in the water because of target bread down. I wont go into the Xcal use.... but obviously they need more experience.

BUT.... the SE is an excellent machine if you understand it not going to find smaller gold targets. I think the smallest ive found is around .5 grams and i did well last year. I run my SE at a notch or two above AM .... just enough to knock out minerals. Set your noise manually at 11, it will run quieter. Dig ANYTHING that repeats or isnt a bottle cap. These arent raw gold machines. Also dont expect to pick up a 14K ring at 14 inches on a beach like a high conductor quarter. They are low conductors and any beach with minerals will tend to reduce it even more. Small gold on a salt beach sounds very very close to salt minerals falsing. Keep it simple and dont attempt to find a reason NOT to dig especially on a beach. Many targets are shallow and you can just kick the sand and move on. Some hunters dont even care about tiny targets .... most wouldnt be worth $20 if you found them. Gold is going to fall between foil and a penny. Buried targets dont react the same.... i believe they have a tendancey to see the HOLE and reduce sensitivity since they see the hole different than the ground around it. Its a learning experience and takes time.... but a LOT simplier to beach hunt than dirt hunt. Also.... conditions change daily on a beach in the water especially.

Ive never set my noise manually, I will give that a try.
Dew

 

[Dave-IL]

Very informative post, dewcon.

 

[dewcon4414]

Thanks Dave..... beach hunting isnt nearly as complicated as dirt digging. We have to change the way we tend to think. We dirt diggers try and reduce the number of targets we dig just because there is tons of trash and minerals to deal with. SOME beaches can be trashier than others, but the darn gold ranges from foil to about a lincoln cent. So about the only thing you dont dig is iron or shallow bottle caps. In the Salt water there is at best a 1/4 of the targets you have to deal with on the dry sand.... they just get barried, desolved or moved back on shore. In the water is a total different animal..... do i grid, whats the wind doing, winter vs summer tides, angle of waves and where it moving sand opening up cuts, how deep are people in the water, and what kind of targets am i getting to determine if its going to be productive. I know guys who hunt over there and the machines mentioned are worth their weight and NO ONE should be NOT finding gold on occasion.

Dew