Excal tones

[TexasRT]

Was able to get out for a couple of hours this evening. This is my third time out with the new Excal, and I'm needing some info on the tones. Are the different tones suppose to be distinctly different or do they sound so close to the same that you can barely tell the difference in them. It just seems like everything sounds the same to me, maybe I'm just not hearing the differences. I bench tested a quarter, gold ring, and a sterling ring and I could just BARELY hear the differences if any, is this normal?
Has anyone ever got an Excal or know of anyone that got one that everything just sounded the same, I mainly want to know if it's the machine or me.
I have a good steady threshold.

Thanks

 

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[bootybay]

ah heck don't laugh, at times mine all sounds the same except for the tinny sound of tin foil or junk metal..but the coins usually sound the same..then at times I will get that med sound of a sweet nickel.. its like my machine has a mind of its own..if its a solid sound I dig it. but on the other hand, at times I get a broken signal..sometimes its junk sometimes is a nice suprise too.

 

[TexasRT]

Yeah I just keep seeing everyone talk about the different tones and how helpful they are for being able to indentify what you've got. I thought they would be more noticeable I guess.

 

[bootybay]

takes a while I guess.. I know I am still learning em.. gotta have that threshhold just right too..

 

[TexasRT]

Maybe so, I keep my threshold just were I can hear it. I still like the machine though, the straight shaft I put on it made a huge difference in the comfort.

 

[Lou from downunder]

Maybe its just my ears.
One eardrum ruptured twice, countless inner and outer ear infections plus I now have constant ringing in the ears.
But it all sounds pretty similar to me, unless its obviously crap.

For example.... good solid signal, turns out to be an old silver sixpence only an inch down.
Only a foot away, EXACTLY the same signal, I'm thinking another sixpence, pocket spill maybe, turns out to be 12 gram 18 ct white gold band an inch down. Both on clay with one inch of sand.

With me, if it dont null, I dig.

Lou.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Remember most of the targets are made up of different base metals and these metals are what make the targets so hard to tell apart. Unless your digging 24k gold. Some silver coins are 90% and will usually scream silver tone, while others are 40% though they usually give you that rich high pitch tone they can also sound like clad.

A lot of the gold targets will give you the sweet low growl we love to hear on the Excal that says gold, but other gold targets will sound just like a pull tab....Many of the bottle caps are easily recognizable by the "brrrap" tone and the wiggle will tell you its a cap, but corroded caps can give you a good signal and the wiggle will not help at all....Aluminum foil is usually easy to recognize but then again, you never know when someone put their jewelry in a cigarette pack and lost it....

You say you bench tested a quarter, a gold ring, and a sterling ring, but was the quarter a 90% quarter or a clad quarter, and what karat was the gold ring? A clad quarter and a 14k gold ring will usually sound a lot alike. A sterling silver ring still has a base metal, usually about 8% copper in it..... While 18k, 22k and I'm sure 24k (haven't found 24k ring yet) will have the low gold growl, a 10k,12k, and 14k gold ring and a LOT of pull tabs sound alike...........If you try to discriminate out pull tabs, either by Excal discrimination knob or your ear and your going to miss a lot of gold, especially at the beach.....

Best advice is if it is a solid signal in 2 directions N-S and E-W dig it.....If it nulls in one direction, but gives a signal in the other direction dig it....If it nulls in all directions, move on to the next target....

Oh, and if your not using a pair of dark polorized sun glasses get a pair, it will keep you out of trouble.....

 

[TexasRT]

Thanks to all for the replies, at least I feel confident it's not the machine.

 

[TexasRT]

T-Hunter sent you a PM

 

[rc2125]

Got my excal not too long ago and for awhile thought everything prettymuch sounded the same. My hearing isn't the best to boot, tinnitus/etc. I made several 6ft x 2" plywood strips and zip-tied or glued a bunch of test targets to them (coins/foil/lead sinkers/hair clips/bottle caps/various pull tabs,rings/junk rinks/pop cans/and many silver and gold rings of different sizes,10k/14k/18k). Lay'em out in the yard, run'em with the excal, try to distinguish and remember the differences. It's taken about 3 weeks now, like 12 short hunts, but am somewhat able to "call" my targets before I scoop them (still to be suprised here and there).
I have 6 different gold rings layed out, all different kt/shape/size, they all give a different tone. The larger ones seem to give a higher tone, the thin ones seem more growly or low, but they all give smoother "transition" sounds. The big/fat 14kt ring I recovered yesterday sounded more like silver does, but the sound was smooth-on/smooth-off, nothing abrupt.
The part I hear that sets gold apart is how the tone starts and stops. It comes on smooth and goes off smooth, unlike most pull-ring parts that ascend drastically in volume, settle, then ascend again before dropping off. Found a large/heavy 14k hoop earing the other day, it was an ultra low, drawn out, BRRRaaaaangy type sound, similar to a beer bottle cap though.
Still can't help but to dig about every good/repeatable sound, sometimes able to judge if it's a coin by the pingy'r tones. On the older beer cans, the part of the pull-ring that peels off the can top, when that part is seperated from the pull-ring, can sound pretty close to gold.

Above and beyond dig'n the repeatable tones, I'm all over the "smooth" tones or the "different-than-everything-else" tones.

Oh, and if your not using a pair of dark polorized sun glasses get a pair, it will keep you out of trouble.....

 

[excal/pirate]

Remember most of the targets are made up of different base metals and these metals are what make the targets so hard to tell apart. Unless your digging 24k gold. Some silver coins are 90% and will usually scream silver tone, while others are 40% though they usually give you that rich high pitch tone they can also sound like clad.

A lot of the gold targets will give you the sweet low growl we love to hear on the Excal that says gold, but other gold targets will sound just like a pull tab....Many of the bottle caps are easily recognizable by the "brrrap" tone and the wiggle will tell you its a cap, but corroded caps can give you a good signal and the wiggle will not help at all....Aluminum foil is usually easy to recognize but then again, you never know when someone put their jewelry in a cigarette pack and lost it....

You say you bench tested a quarter, a gold ring, and a sterling ring, but was the quarter a 90% quarter or a clad quarter, and what karat was the gold ring? A clad quarter and a 14k gold ring will usually sound a lot alike. A sterling silver ring still has a base metal, usually about 8% copper in it..... While 18k, 22k and I'm sure 24k (haven't found 24k ring yet) will have the low gold growl, a 10k,12k, and 14k gold ring and a LOT of pull tabs sound alike...........If you try to discriminate out pull tabs, either by Excal discrimination knob or your ear and your going to miss a lot of gold, especially at the beach.....

Best advice is if it is a solid signal in 2 directions N-S and E-W dig it.....If it nulls in one direction, but gives a signal in the other direction dig it....If it nulls in all directions, move on to the next target....

Oh, and if your not using a pair of dark polorized sun glasses get a pair, it will keep you out of trouble.....

good advice th also 14k 10k and 18k 22k will all sound differnt the higher the k the lower the tone it takes a long time to get used to the sounds and most important everyone hears things differnt pulled out a white 18kwhite gold ring that sounded like a dull pulltab also it depends on if the ring is on edge or flat i really like hearing the weird tones because you never know what your gettinf

 

[TexasRT]

RC / Pirate - Thanks for the info, again very helpful. After hereing all the descriptions of the sounds vs objects I definitly think it's the operator, not the equipment LOL.
I will just keep hitting it and I'm sure it will come with time. Actually all this talk has got me thinking I should probably hit the beach today, practice makes perfect right!

Hopefully I'll have something worthy of posting some.


Thnx

 

[Sandman]

As Treasure Hunter says different metals are mixed with the target which gives them different conductivity so the tone will be different. If the tone is the same on two passes you should check it out if it is a solid tone. Sometimes it will null on small iron an couple inches away you have a nice gold ring in either white or yellow gold. Two different tones not counting the base metal.

So if it is a solid signal, dig. It might not be gold, but it won't be iron.

 

[TexasRT]

Thanks Sandman
Will do, I think I'll be checking them all out lol.

 

[TexasRT]

Oh by the way, the sunglass issue was taken care of along time back.

 

[mlayers]

Here is my problem with my Ecalibur. When I am out detecting at the beach and I am swing the detector my tone will raise up some like a higher pitch and stay there for awhile. then it will go back down. Was this a good signal to dig or to go on. I am still trying to learn machine also I have only been out around 5 times with it and I only hunt maybe 3 hours the most...... Matt

 

[Montauk3]

Good question, good responses, excellent reading!(for learning)

 

[travelingjack1]

I have also only been out on 3 major hunts (6 hours or more) and 3-4 minor hunts for a hour or two in my yard. I really didn't see much of a difference until the last time I went out. I feel a little more comfortable with my machines and the tones now. The major problem I had was wasting time digging broken tones in discriminate. After getting some advise from some members here I stopped digging tones that were not solid good tones. I got to dig a variety of different targets on my last hunt and I was able to guess what 4-6 targets were before I dug them. I would go on utube and search for Excalibur videos and watch all of old beachnuts videos. He shows how the machines work in disc and pin and you can hear all the different tones as he shows most of his finds in some of the videos. Good luck HH

 

[TexasRT]

ML - I am certainly no expert on the Excal as I have only had mine out a few times also. The first couple of times in the salt water I noticed mine doing the same thing, after I backed off on the sensitivity (advice from here) it stopped. This may be your problem too, I was running mine on Auto at first. I've also noticed my will very breifly change pitch as a wave crosses the coil cable. If it's not nulling before changing pitch give it a try. If if is nulling on trash or what you've discriminated out it will change pitch when it comes back indicating you hit a dscriminated target.

Again just want I've experienced so far, not saying it's your fix.

I would also like to know if it's better to have the bigger rap of extra coil cable at the top or bottom of the shaft or does it not make a difference.

 

[excal/pirate]

Here is my problem with my Ecalibur. When I am out detecting at the beach and I am swing the detector my tone will raise up some like a higher pitch and stay there for awhile. then it will go back down. Was this a good signal to dig or to go on. I am still trying to learn machine also I have only been out around 5 times with it and I only hunt maybe 3 hours the most...... Matt

sounds like your running a little hot or swinging to fast the senc is not a depth gauge i never take mine off 3 and still hit objects at 15 inches