Water Hunting with the Landstar?

[tbirds1976e]

Have a question on hunting in the water, mainly lakes or streams or river.
Live near the Missouri river and have several lakes to check out. Wondering how to use the landstar in or near the water or if
it can be done. The manual says it can be used but to not get the housing or
wiring wet. No beach hunting but would love to try that some day. Just a general
question for maybe something down the road......

 

[Wayne/TX]

Hi, tbirds1976e! The Land Star is quite capable of using near water or on the beaches
around lakes. Just don't get the upper control box submerged since it's not designed
for that. Of course, the practical aspects of sweeping the coil under several inches of
water call for a good measure of care and technique when setting the detector down
in order to dig up an underwater target. Any of the dry land around the lake should be
no problem.

The LS can even be used on saltwater beaches too but will perform better on the dry
sand areas. Wet salt sand has a capacitance effect which causes overload and
feedback problems for all VLF detectors (the wet sand acts like a big sheet of metal).
Some lessening of these effects can be achieved with the LS by tuning the ground
balance control to the sand as much as possible, decreasing the sensitivity control
slightly, and setting the discrimination control a certain amount. If around these
conditions, do tests on various coins, like quarters, dimes or nickels until you arrive
at suitable settings. You may also have to keep the coil at a constant height over wet
sand after these settings in order to maintain the ground effect tuning. These settings
can also be used on any VLF that has similar controls. Again, you'll have no problems
in the dry sands on salt beaches. The same settings for not canceling out Gold items
will apply anywhere, of course (not too much disc.).
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
..W

 

[GoGoGopher]

It is better to hunt with a partner who can hold your detector while you recover your targets if your out in water any deeper than knee deep...This way you can better assure your detector will not wind up in the drink...


HH,

GoGoGopher

 

[Weekendwarrior]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I am fairly new to MDing & use a BH Pioneer and it goes nuts around wet sand, unfortunately it doesn't have any controls other than depth and discrimination control. I am a little confused as it states the machine can be used for wade hunting, I can only imagine how it would react in the salt water. ? - Could the coil that came stock be for land hunting only?

 

[GoGoGopher]

The 8" coil will go nuts on wet sand, and will probably be useless on Salt Water beaches...the 4" coil may fair better, as it has a smaller, tighter detection field. Your machine can be used on fresh water beaches with some success...you need to turn the SENS down below noon...9-12 o'clock should work OK...if it chatters, keep turning it down...If you have to turn it down past 9 o'clock, your not going to find much...You also want to hunt parallel to the water...that is from the sand to the water, not down the beach along the waterline....go towards the water, then come back and move over and go back to the water again...this has helped some to cope with the wet sand....

HH,

GoGoGopher