Scuba Detector

[controlfreq]

Anyone have any experience with the small handheld underwater SCUBA detectors, the ones roughly a foot and a half long? I got one from Quest that looks like an over sized pancake flipper. Worked pretty good the first hour or so but then crapped out. Sent it back, got another and now new one crapped out on its first dive. It was a lot of fun the hour or two that it worked though. I do have a couple of full sized machines, an Infinium LS and a Tesoro SRII, I just like the small size of this thing, it was so much easier to use.

Can anyone offer any experience or reviews on some of the other similar devices? Again, looking for the small hand held type for underwater mainly for coins, jewelry, and other fun stuff.

 

[jtalley007]

Check out the Nokta/Makro pulsedive. I had a quest and never got to actually use it before it quit. The Nokta/Makro are quality products built like a tank. You can get it with 2 different sized coils. The coil is removable then it’s a standard, high quality pinpointer. Very impressiv, hope this helps

 

[controlfreq]

Check out the Nokta/Makro pulsedive. I had a quest and never got to actually use it before it quit. The Nokta/Makro are quality products built like a tank. You can get it with 2 different sized coils. The coil is removable then it’s a standard, high quality pinpointer. Very impressiv, hope this helps

So you have had good luck with the Nokta? I was watching some videos on it earlier, operation of the electronics looked almost identical to the Quest, the electronics seems to be the failure point. (Both times my Quest failed it was underwater so maybe it's not water tight.) My gut instinct tells me they both outsource the electronics though, hopefully I'm wrong. I like the modular design of the Notka, operating depth, PI and that there are accessories like headphones and a larger coil. It has all the bases covered if the QC is there.

 

[controlfreq]

Well, if anyone is still watching, I bit the bullet and got the Pulsedive. Only had it out twice, once snorkeling and once on scuba. It's a basic "beep and go" PI detector; when it finds something it beeps/vibrates which is really all you need underwater IMHO. The basic techniques for (old school) dept and pinpointing apply. It has an adjustable setting for 4 different sensitivity levels and can be set for beep, vibrate, or both. I've found vibrate works best underwater since the noise from the regulator bubble exhaust is pretty loud when trying to listen for the beeping. It also has an attachment to make it a pinpointer although I've not used that yet except bench testing. I'm now saving my box tops for the 8" coil... still need some more bottom time with it but so far it's working out as expected.

Calabash_Digger has a pretty good review on youtube:

 

[rc2125]

Pulsedive with 8" head is about the best thing going. It has pretty good depth, a nice 8" swath, but can be blind to quite a bit of smaller jewelry type items that you'd think it should be able to see.

Have had all the others, sometimes tried them twice just to be sure. The oldest one had such a short detection range that it wasn't hardly worth messing with. The next popular brand one was slightly better, but has a really stupid menu/settings array and only slightly better depth.

 

[geardoc]

I've been using the Pulsedive in snorkel depth water. Works well so far for a couple of weeks. However, I wish it had discrimination, since I find mostly nails and garbage.

 

[collectdelft]

Has Anyone tried the newest to the Quest line-up, the Quest Scuba tector pro?

 

[geardoc]

Looks promising with the long handle.

 

[Nauti]

I don't understand the point of these detectors when there is a machine like the garrett seahunter available.You can configure the seahunter so it is a compact underwater unit,it has discreet discrim setting which is useful,particularly on shallower targets and you can configure it as a normal detector for beach work where it also excels.Is it just a cost consideration?