A great water and beach detector.
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The Excalibur
- Thread starter Ron from Michigan
- Start date
Photo of Excalibur Sword.One of the coolest detectors ever made.:Note stock, has the S rod asm and 8 inch horse shoe coil.These are getting harder to find.
OldBeechnut
Well-known member
n/t
OldBeechnut
Well-known member
Many don't know the earliest Gary Strom Excaliburs were numbered....Amazing that two pictured are just a few numbers away..One is SteveMc's in Florida
OldBeechnut
Well-known member
n/t
n/t
I hope this is on subject and BTW this is my first post, sent here by OldBeechnut after I told him about my ancient Excalibur.
The unit you see below is getting ready for new headphones. It has been repaired MANY times by me while living overseas without access to Minelab's services.
And besides ... I'm a do it yourself guy anyway. This was bought second hand from a diver who had become unemployed when the salvage project he worked on was wrapped up.
He claimed this was an early model built specifically for testing in real world salvage use. It was an "800" and had the horseshoe coil, but I don't remember the sword decal being on it.
During one of my many "overhauls" I accidentally wiped the tube with Trichloroethylene which caused it to spider web crack instantly.
I then glassed the outside leaving view ports where there were no cracks. I also added my own knob guard of my own design and painted it all, including the hand drawn indexes you see.
I also did not want the locals to know what kind of detector I was using so I marked it "Experimental"
That was all about 15 years ago.
The original coil is long gone, replaced by a Minelab 10 inch DD, and the red phones were discarded long ago in favor of my home made phones which have also been replaced several times.
I have made over 25,000+ with this machine and that is being conservative. The circuit board is still working even after a minor saltwater flood.
(BTW if you flood use distilled water rinse, followed by pure isopropinol, then spray with ACF50 or corrosion-X to displace water and protect from corrosion).
I miss that honey hole overseas as I can't find much here in Florida with all of the competition. Best find with this machine here was two half reales from the 1715 wrecks after two hurricanes.
Anyway, behold Serial # EX112, one of the first excaliburs ... and I will keep it working even though I have a second generation 1000 and a "II " on the way.
A quick question for experts on these early models : The original phones had transformers mounted at each piezio element. I just ordered two 50 mm piezios in case I build my next phones instead of buying.
Will the output drive the piezios or do I need transformer coils ? My previous home made phones all used mylar speakers encapsulated in water tight chambers, and they sounded fine, but I want to go with transducers this time.
The unit you see below is getting ready for new headphones. It has been repaired MANY times by me while living overseas without access to Minelab's services.
And besides ... I'm a do it yourself guy anyway. This was bought second hand from a diver who had become unemployed when the salvage project he worked on was wrapped up.
He claimed this was an early model built specifically for testing in real world salvage use. It was an "800" and had the horseshoe coil, but I don't remember the sword decal being on it.
During one of my many "overhauls" I accidentally wiped the tube with Trichloroethylene which caused it to spider web crack instantly.
I then glassed the outside leaving view ports where there were no cracks. I also added my own knob guard of my own design and painted it all, including the hand drawn indexes you see.
I also did not want the locals to know what kind of detector I was using so I marked it "Experimental"
That was all about 15 years ago.
The original coil is long gone, replaced by a Minelab 10 inch DD, and the red phones were discarded long ago in favor of my home made phones which have also been replaced several times.
I have made over 25,000+ with this machine and that is being conservative. The circuit board is still working even after a minor saltwater flood.
(BTW if you flood use distilled water rinse, followed by pure isopropinol, then spray with ACF50 or corrosion-X to displace water and protect from corrosion).
I miss that honey hole overseas as I can't find much here in Florida with all of the competition. Best find with this machine here was two half reales from the 1715 wrecks after two hurricanes.
Anyway, behold Serial # EX112, one of the first excaliburs ... and I will keep it working even though I have a second generation 1000 and a "II " on the way.
A quick question for experts on these early models : The original phones had transformers mounted at each piezio element. I just ordered two 50 mm piezios in case I build my next phones instead of buying.
Will the output drive the piezios or do I need transformer coils ? My previous home made phones all used mylar speakers encapsulated in water tight chambers, and they sounded fine, but I want to go with transducers this time.
deepdiger60
New member
Yesterday i had a chance to get my hands on a really nice Excal 800 hanging in a garage i always go to local yard sales this time of year dozens on the weekends looking for what else ? metal detectors so far i have scored 2 really old for 5.00 each but yesterday i see this Excal 800 hanging on the wall because the garage door was open so i asked the kind old lady what the deal was on it was it for sale ? she thought about it for a minute and said no it was her late husbands machine it was his pride and joy then she shows me this beautiful gold ring with a small diamond on her finger that he found at a local beach years ago and gave her, and she has not takin it off since and then she said sorry but i cant sell it , i would not push the issue any further and told her thank you anyway i would not even make a offer . Oh boy that machine had all the accessories in a bag hanging next to it extra battery,s it had the 8 inch coil on it ggrrrrrr :veryangry: iam sure the batteries were no good anymore and it was covered in dust but i bet after a little cleaning and a fresh battery it would still work . She was a nice old lady i respect her decision .You never know what is out there until you look .I wish i had brought my camera 
Thought i just tell this story . Jim
Thought i just tell this story . Jim
n/t
Suncoast Kid
Well-known member
I use pluggers dive shaft with beach extension, with another aluminum extension(14"). It's not that heavy and keeping the unit behind the elbow really balances out the weight. I can use it all day long with no problem, but it's not for breaking down to put in a car. I guess that's the trade off for having a straight shaft, and a dive shaft in one. Total length = 68". It's long, but a little effort gives you a nice wide swing, great for covering large areas like the beach. HH
Critterhunter
New member
No, it's pretty much the premier water machine on the market for both salt water and fresh water, handling the worst of salt or ground minerals in terms of a VLF detector. It's depth is legendary along with it's tone alerts and detailed audio. It's a waterproof Sovereign, and will get even the thinnest of gold rings at jaw dropping depths, although it (and the Sovereign) are not known for hitting on fine gold, such as thin gold chains or tiny gold earings, but in terms of even thin gold rings the depth will knock your socks off, because an intact gold ring makes a complete loop in metal, and so presents as big of a signal to them as a silver coin for instance. Other machines might hit harder on finer gold like thin chains, but the Excal/Sov will hammer even a thin gold ring at extreme depth.
And, not only do many "heavy hitter" water hunters prefer the Excal, along with many heavy hitter dry beach hunters, but some are known to take the Excal onto dry land in search for old coins at pounded out "dead" public sites, because being a waterproof Sovereign, it'll do what the Sovereign does- Find old coins at sites others have long since given up on, both in terms of shear depth, and also in terms of finding old coins among iron and other junk.
You can put a meter on the Sovereign, but on the Excal you can't, but because of the long drawn out detailed audio and numerous tone alerts, many don't even want or use a meter on their Sovereign, so the need isn't also a "must" for the Excal either if you venture onto land.
If you are the type to want to hunt be ear alone on land, the Excal (or Sov) affords you that ability with some of the best detailed long audio in the industry to judge targets by, and also with the numerous tone alerts of a Minelab. It's like a Minelab had a baby with the best of the old analog audio machines...The rich detailed long audio of the cream of the crop analog machines, combined with the numerous tone alerts of a Minelab. If you like to hunt by ear, which many say is still to this day the best way to judge targets over using a visual ID, then the Excal or Sov are prime candidates for that. All that said, I still prefer a meter on my Sovereign to split hairs on targets on land in finer detail, but in terms of audio the Excalibur/Sov are where it's at IMO.
And, not only do many "heavy hitter" water hunters prefer the Excal, along with many heavy hitter dry beach hunters, but some are known to take the Excal onto dry land in search for old coins at pounded out "dead" public sites, because being a waterproof Sovereign, it'll do what the Sovereign does- Find old coins at sites others have long since given up on, both in terms of shear depth, and also in terms of finding old coins among iron and other junk.
You can put a meter on the Sovereign, but on the Excal you can't, but because of the long drawn out detailed audio and numerous tone alerts, many don't even want or use a meter on their Sovereign, so the need isn't also a "must" for the Excal either if you venture onto land.
If you are the type to want to hunt be ear alone on land, the Excal (or Sov) affords you that ability with some of the best detailed long audio in the industry to judge targets by, and also with the numerous tone alerts of a Minelab. It's like a Minelab had a baby with the best of the old analog audio machines...The rich detailed long audio of the cream of the crop analog machines, combined with the numerous tone alerts of a Minelab. If you like to hunt by ear, which many say is still to this day the best way to judge targets over using a visual ID, then the Excal or Sov are prime candidates for that. All that said, I still prefer a meter on my Sovereign to split hairs on targets on land in finer detail, but in terms of audio the Excalibur/Sov are where it's at IMO.
So Just out of curriosity. How does the excal 2 compare to the whites BH300. seems both units are set up rather similar and both handle fresh and salt water extremely well. Price seems to be a bit close as well. 15khz on the whites and Isnt the excal 17khz. ?
Both have 12'' coils. The whites has a dual filter , GB, TH, DISC, AND SENS, can also run in AM mode and still I/D targets. Does the excals tones work very disctinctivly as far as beaing able to tell the difference between targets????
Both have 12'' coils. The whites has a dual filter , GB, TH, DISC, AND SENS, can also run in AM mode and still I/D targets. Does the excals tones work very disctinctivly as far as beaing able to tell the difference between targets????
dewcon4414
Well-known member
I never used the BH. But its multi 17 freqs with the freqs being set at 1.5 kHz increments. The Xcal has a 8" and 10" coil. The tones require some time.... at first they all sound the same very compressed...... but after time they become pretty distinct and most times you can call your target. Like most detectors, the tones change a bit the deeper the target. The pods are great..... you never have to open them up to change batteries. One of the best at transitioning from water to sand and ive never seen a better machine at knocking out iron. The Xcals can run in PP as well.
Dew
Dew
Kevin_Fayette_Pa.
New member
just order one can't wait to get it
I tested my beach hunter ID and an Excalibur II this weekend on a man's gold wedding band buried at approximately 10 to 12 inches in wet sand and both gave a dig me signal. The beach hunter was super tuned with max sensitivity. That being said, I'm saving my money for an Excalibur or sovereign gt. the mine labs seem to be such more stable in the salty environment. I can't maintain a good threshold with the beach hunter tuned to match the depth of the minelab. Mine has the 9.5 coil not the 12 inch. Interested in other's opinions and test results.
GeorgeinSC
Well-known member
Corrosion from salt water. Need to keep them coated with Dielectric Grease.
gettinrings
New member
this detector is GREAT anywhere I have put it to the soil !! I use my EXCAL2 with 10" coil all over the place.. salt water, lake water, creeks, land, rocks, sand, grit, grim and more ---- it just keeps the finds coming !!!
You will get used to the tones after awhile.. some are harder than others but just dig dig dig dig.. and you will soon know most targets before you use your scoop!!
GOOD LUCK ALWAYS
You will get used to the tones after awhile.. some are harder than others but just dig dig dig dig.. and you will soon know most targets before you use your scoop!!
GOOD LUCK ALWAYS