Which PI Detector ?

[rarysgaard]

What is the consensus on these 3 machines, Goldquest Aquasearch V2, Whites Dualfield PI, Head Hunter PI ? If I get one, I will be primarily hunting in freshwater lakes. I know the Goldquest Aquasearch is twice as expensive as the other two. Thanks

 

[AUDuke]

Check out the Detector Pro PI.

 

[freshwater1]

don't know about the three you mentioned ,but I own a Garrett sea-hunter II P..I. and all I did was dig every piece of rust and steel that you could think Of .so,,,, that is why I went out and bought a Excalibur II. found more gold and silver in three months than I ever have. on land or lake.

 

[rarysgaard]

Thanks for the imput. I do own an Excaliber and I love that machine and it's been good to me. I have found lots of gold rings with it and even found a thin 22kt. chain. I went out with it a few times this year and only found a couple of junk rings. Everybody here is now aware of how good the Excalibers are so after reading about how much deeper the PI is I thought I could find some really deep rings that a VLF machine can't reach.

 

[tomcatpl]

i have the xcal 2 and i'm getting in the mail the mark 2 just for the days when the beach is sanded in ,,,,i think it's a good idea to have an PI unit on hand

 

[kered]

If you can afford it go for the Goldquest, if its for out of the water the goldscan5 or TDI, the extra cost will be recovered faster than you might think

 

[Smudge]

The Gold is probably the best but very expensive and takes a lot of time to learn.

Of three you listed, I'd go with the Detectorpro with the 8" coil.

The Dual Field with its 12" coil is like swinging a garbage can lid and pinpointing is a nightmare. I know. I owned one.

Sold it and got the Detectorpro. It's amazingly lightweight and you can swing it all day, something I cannot say of any other beach detector. Pinpointing is dead on and the depth is amazing. I'm just sorry I didn't find it sooner.

It's very powerful so be warned, you will dig deep targets so get a decent sand scoop. Also, it drinks those 9 volt batteries, and forget rechargables. Alkalines will get about 8 hours of use to a pair. And use the Energizers. For some reason, they're the only ones that really last.

 

[therover]

Using my HH PI with the small coil, I have recently really started to listen to the faint rises in the threshold that repeat. There have been very small pieces of aluminum, really small grommets and a few tiny earrings I have dug up that did not signal normally, that I thought were just the results of the salt water.

If you get into an area where you think small targets may have accumulated, sweep slow and really listen. The HH PI will tell you something small and of lower conductivity is down there if you listen. Trick is, you have to run at the optimal delay and have the threshold audible enough where you constantly hear it. In addition, DEEP nickels have also signaled that way. 16-18 inches easy...even with the small coil. You just have to trust the machine and listen.

Oh yeah...I have dug and chased a few false signals this way too, so it ain't fool proof ! The cool thing is with the small coil, after a few scoops you can get the coil into the hole and close to the target. At that point, it will bang on the target. If it doesn't, then it's probably a false signal.

JC

 

[goodmore]

I also recommend the HH PI. It is a great machine. I love hunting with it. Depending on the beach (because of iron) I would rather use it than my Excalibur. I picked up the larger coil for it. Last year was strictly the smaller coil. It pinpoints easy and it is the lightest detector out there. We call it the best kept secret of beach hunting.

 

[tomcatpl]

just got the mark2 boy is it heavy .....and the shaft does have a lot of movement

 

[therover]

I had one with the large coil but that was years ago and I wasn't as in tune with PI hunting as I am today. I have one with the 8 inch coil and it is a really good unit. Now that I have used it enough, I think I am ready to splurge for the 11 inch coil as well for more coverage and depth on those days when the beaches are sanded in or when I have to cover a lot of beach due to targets being sparse.

 

[goodmore]

My thoughts exactly. Since DetectorPro gave us the ability to switch coils I knew it was only a matter of time until I just had to have the 11 inch coil. Of course I had to get a bigger scoop also.

And going out with the HH PI again is the thing I look forward to the most about detecting. That is how much fun I had with it.

 

[kered]

DF Heavy????? Man don't even consider a Minelab, i compare my DF to a Tesoro, That dustbin lid sure covers some ground and pinpoints good once you get the hang off t, like anything new its practice, try swinging an etrac with a 18x15 SEF on it now thants a bin lid

 

[Craig-PI]

The Gold is probably the best but very expensive and takes a lot of time to learn.

Of three you listed, I'd go with the Detectorpro with the 8" coil.

The Dual Field with its 12" coil is like swinging a garbage can lid and pinpointing is a nightmare. I know. I owned one.

Sold it and got the Detectorpro. It's amazingly lightweight and you can swing it all day, something I cannot say of any other beach detector. Pinpointing is dead on and the depth is amazing. I'm just sorry I didn't find it sooner.

It's very powerful so be warned, you will dig deep targets so get a decent sand scoop. Also, it drinks those 9 volt batteries, and forget rechargables. Alkalines will get about 8 hours of use to a pair. And use the Energizers. For some reason, they're the only ones that really last.

Really now... my hunting partner has the HH PI, he had a accident and I let him use my Dual Field... he was amazed at how well it PPed and I agree its a very easy detector to PP with... swinging the large coil glides right thru the water so I have no idea what you are talking about here... as far as depth the HHer and the DF are very close to each other.. to each their own I guess

 

[Craig-PI]

If I were you... either the DF or the HH PI would be my choices... both are deep and fairly easy to learn... I have owned both... as to the high end detector I believe there is quite a wait to get one... I have a good friend who waited quite a while, finally giving up and purchasing the DF... he couldn't be happier... biggest thing with a PI is having the patience to learn what your detector is telling you... master the PI and you won't dig much more trash than a VLF user does and you will find the gold they don't even hear...

 

[UK Brian]

Aquasearch is very sensitive over the whole width of its coil unlike the Whites. This makes it much easier to find very small items, the DF can be a bit like trying to paint a barn with a one inch brush with the sensitivity being concentrated in a 5.5 inch area once a target is at any depth. More important you have an adjustable SAT control which makes all the difference in some areas. With this you size and I.D. a target much better or even improve the already excellent pinpointing if you want.
For general beach use the Aquasearch can be adjusted to cope with mineralisation with the SAT whereas the Whites needs adjustment of its pulse timing reducing the sensitivity to gold.
Problem is its expensive and will you be able to get repairs/spares a few years down the line. I'm certain I heard that both Bill Crabtree and Eric Foster are looking to retire soon. Hope this is wrong but when your investing so much money it would be best to check.

 

[rarysgaard]

Thanks for all the info. I agonized over this decision, but ended up buying the HH PI. I liked the idea of changing coils and the light weight and being able to break it down for traveling as well as having the electronics in the headphones and not worrying about leakage.There really is no manual for it, but apparently it is an easy detector to use. I will have to learn the nuances of it. I bought all the water hunting books by Clive Clynick so I have been studying pulse machines since I have never owned or used one before.I thought long and hard about Whites' DF since Clive raves about it and even wrote a book on how to use it.I am happy to see so many good postings on the HH PI and how it is about equal or perhaps even deeper than the DF. I also keep reading about how the HH PI is the best kept secret.on the beach.I am really looking forward to using it and learning everything I can about PI as the water hunting competition is fierce.Thanks all!

 

[Craig-PI]

You made a good choice.. its hunting partners detector... just be patient while learning it you will dig lots of junk but master it and you won't dig much more junk than a VLF user will.. most iron targets have a long wide signature and it won't be a good target... PPing with it can be a challenge with the large coil but you can turn the coil on its side and it will help you in that dept...