Best PI machine for Salt beach

[dirtdigger1581]

I'm thinking about buying a PI machine for hunting the wet sand and shallow water(up to chest deep) of a salt water beach. I'm wondering what the opinions of everyone here are as to what PI machine is best for this application. I currently use an Excal II for the beach and it's been great, but I've heard there is a big depth advantage over the Excal when going to a PI machine. How deep can they actually get compared to the Excal? I don't mind digging a few more targets while on the beach if it gets me a few more goodies that are missed by the Excal. What's everyone's take on this? And what does anyone have experience with? Thanks for your help!

Happy Hunting!

-Nate

 

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[Frankn]

I usually find a little gold and silver on each hunt with my surfmaster PI PRO. Just turn the two knobs to the presets and hunt. Last outing I found this fine gold chain with cross. Sold for $250.

 

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[Rogerv]

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I like the original thread unfortunately its starting to sound like a bunch of grumpy little old ladies fighting amongst themselves. I just purchased a Seahunter Mark II and was looking for tips and techniques not arguments. Lets keep it to the facts and techniques.

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

I've got a few Pi's and the deepest would be the Infinium 10x14 mono, a real SOB to learn but deeper then my Sea Hunter 8 and Whites DF PI 12, I know Toddy, and SharkHunter do well with the Infinium, but with smaller coils, I think. I look at VB, and OC as fresh drop beach's, Best hunting July to Sept....... unless there is a good storm coming up the coast. Therefore the CZ's once ruled, then the Sovereigns, and the Excaliburs have taken over in the past 12 years. PI's have there places and times, that's why I have a few. If I were to recommend one, I would say the Df, a easier machine to learn and master...the only bad...the sand is so soft in the Mid-Atlantic States in the water it is very hard to get much deeper then 10 to 14 inchs..maybe 2 scoops before the walls start to collapse....Good Luck..Keep us informed...

Have you tried PP hunting with the excal, as deep as the DF n SeaHunter in the wetsand if you crankup the senstivity to 9,
But once in the water the excal falls on it's face, that's where the PI's rule...

From what I have been able to determine the performance of the Excalibur drops off slightly ( a decrease in depth of 1" to 2" at max) underwater since its sensitivity has to be reduced when the coil is below water. Simply put the sensitivity needs to be reduced as the coil sees return(s) from the salt/mineralization in the water above the coil in addition to the returns from below the coil. I suspect that the maximum effect occurs in the first four to six feet of water over the coil and further increases in depth (while diving) do not further effect performance. The Excalibur compensates for this when in auto sensitivity or by the operator in manual mode by setting the sensitivity within the sub aqua range (lower sensitivity settings). I have also been informed that shielding is also a factor, and some Excalibur production models are more affected than other.

As the Fischer CZ21 is also a multifrequency metal detector using similar hardware technologies but implemented differently, I would expect it’s performance would also drop off underwater?

From what I have been able to gather on PI coils (mostly mono) increasing the coil diameter does not increase the maximum depth a target can be detected at, however it does increase the area which can be searched.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Strange I hunt waist to chest deep with my excals and never really had an issue, well other than trying to keep surf from turning me upside down....

Don't know if it is because I am using wot and 12x15 self butterfly coils or what, but both excals I own are very stable as far as I can go with out diving......



Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[R.Danneskjold]

Jesus H. What a mess! I am looking at a PI........HOPING to come to some sort of clear winner. I guess not! I am going between a Tesoro Shark and an Infinium. Any opinions without the mass flamings that have occurred thus far? Sorry.....this may be opening an old wound!!! Lay it on me!

 

[Terry Soloman]

Jesus H. What a mess! I am looking at a PI........HOPING to come to some sort of clear winner. I guess not! I am going between a Tesoro Shark and an Infinium. Any opinions without the mass flamings that have occurred thus far? Sorry.....this may be opening an old wound!!! Lay it on me!

The big question is how deep do you REALLY need to go? Most of us find good gold, silver and clad between 3"-11" deep in wet sand and in the water. The Tesoro Sand Shark is the easiast PI to learn and use, has a slim coil that slices through the water with ease, pinpoints like a charm, weighs 4.4 pounds, has two operating modes and and adjustable signal tone frequency that can be customised to YOUR ears; The earphones are comfortable; and all the controls are outside the box and easy to adjust. At $580.00 for the 8" Sand Shark with a lifetime warranty is VERY hard to beat, and can give you up to 17" in depth.

 

[Crispin]

Jesus H. What a mess! I am looking at a PI........HOPING to come to some sort of clear winner. I guess not! I am going between a Tesoro Shark and an Infinium. Any opinions without the mass flamings that have occurred thus far? Sorry.....this may be opening an old wound!!! Lay it on me!

Let me put an end to the debate for you. I have no vested interest in either machine but I own a Sand Shark. The way I see it...it is a lot like buying a bottle of scotch. The 12 year bottle of McCallan's is a very, very good bottle of scotch. Probably run you 50 to 60 bucks. The 25 year bottle of McCallan's, well, that's even better but it is going to run you around 175 bucks. Now if you don't drink a lot of scotch then you will not be able to tell the difference between the 12 year and the 25 year. You have to really know your scotch to appreciate it at 3x the value. If you don't drink much scotch then you are wasting your money on the 25year.

If one machine costs more than the other there is a good reason for it. However, if you are just starting off then I doubt that reason applies to you. I've had my Sand Shark for over a year. I was out with my dad the other day and he asked me to predict what we were going to dig up. I was spot on about 80% percent of the time. Double blips are almost always iron. If it is a strong double blip I would dig it. The sensitivity has to change depending on the beach. If you are hunting clearwater then jack the sensitivity all the way up and get ready to listen to murmurs and dig deep. If you go to Madeira turn the sensitivity down and avoid anything that sounds like a sparkler or else you will spend your whole day digging junk. That is just a sample of what I could tell you about the sounds of my machine...just a sample.

If you are a rookie. Go with the less expensive one with a lifetime warranty. If you mess it up... they replace it. If you get better and decide you want a more expensive machine then sell the sand shark used for 400 dollars and buy the new one. Hope this clears things up.

Crispin

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I'm a scotch lover too, nothing like a nice bottle of scotch...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[dirtdigger1581]

Well said, Crispin!

 

[RobSFRD]

Well said, Crispin!

Really, who gives a sh$t? I have a garrett at pro and go in the surf. Do I find everything? No, have I found some good things? Yes! I have a great time away from work detecting with my 500.00 machine which I can afford. I get a rush every time I dig, sometimes it's good, sometimes a bottle cap. I am just happy to be alive and out having fun. If someone can afford a cheap Chinese detector and gets in the hobby, who cares? I started out there! Jeesh

 

[RobSFRD]

Really, who gives a sh$t? I have a garrett at pro and go in the surf. Do I find everything? No, have I found some good things? Yes! I have a great time away from work detecting with my 500.00 machine which I can afford. I get a rush every time I dig, sometimes it's good, sometimes a bottle cap. I am just happy to be alive and out having fun. If someone can afford a cheap Chinese detector and gets in the hobby, who cares? I started out there! Jeesh

I work full time as a fireman in a good size Ohio city. 19 fireman just got killed in Arizona 3 days ago and u people are arguing about something so silly. Get a life!

 

[DewGuru]

If one machine costs more than the other there is a good reason for it.

Actually, there is not. Many people fall into the "it cost more, its better" mantra.

Case in point: A good hunting pal of mine, an older gentleman, hunting since 73, retired. He decided since he skimped on everything his entire life, his retirement "treat" would be a Minelab Excal. He opted for this machine as it was, at the time, the "most expensive" in the water based arena, and because it was "the most expensive" it had to be the best. We hunted along side, for the better part of a year, with the Shark running circles around him. Time and time again, he saw the loot I was producing with the shark, compared to him, and tired of being disparaged (and hearing me chuckle about his Excal), he purchased a Shark, and sold the excal. Going on almost 2 years now. He continually says he should have done so (sold/purchased) a year prior. The downside: now he wears me out equally and I have to split the loot with him.

Is the Shark the best? For us, it is. For you, who knows. The Point: Price does not equal "better".

 

[dirtdigger1581]

Really, who gives a sh$t? I have a garrett at pro and go in the surf. Do I find everything? No, have I found some good things? Yes! I have a great time away from work detecting with my 500.00 machine which I can afford. I get a rush every time I dig, sometimes it's good, sometimes a bottle cap. I am just happy to be alive and out having fun. If someone can afford a cheap Chinese detector and gets in the hobby, who cares? I started out there! Jeesh

The argument isn't about how much you should spend for a detector...It never was. This thread is a year old. Something I started when I was looking for a PI machine. I said, "Well said, Crispin" because it's not about how much you spend on a machine, it's how well you know it. I'm glad you have fun with your AT Pro, I have one as well, and they're great machines. I've used a Sand Shark and they are too. Tried an Infinium and didn't care for it. It all boils down to knowing what your machine is telling you and deciding to dig or not dig.

Sorry for your loss in Arizona. I'm a military member and have lost thousands of brothers/sisters in war. I've got a life, and metal detecting is part of it. War is another, just like fire is another part of yours. Why are you getting so hostile about a silly thread if it's of no concern to you Everyone has their opinion and I guess you just voiced yours. Freedom of speech....It's what I fight for I guess.

 

[RobSFRD]

The argument isn't about how much you should spend for a detector...It never was. This thread is a year old. Something I started when I was looking for a PI machine. I said, "Well said, Crispin" because it's not about how much you spend on a machine, it's how well you know it. I'm glad you have fun with your AT Pro, I have one as well, and they're great machines. I've used a Sand Shark and they are too. Tried an Infinium and didn't care for it. It all boils down to knowing what your machine is telling you and deciding to dig or not dig.

Sorry for your loss in Arizona. I'm a military member and have lost thousands of brothers/sisters in war. I've got a life, and metal detecting is part of it. War is another, just like fire is another part of yours. Why are you getting so hostile about a silly thread if it's of no concern to you Everyone has their opinion and I guess you just voiced yours. Freedom of speech....It's what I fight for I guess.

Dirt digger, I'm not hostile, just think its silly for people to get this upset about this topic, there are more important things in life.

 

[dirtdigger1581]

Dirt digger, I'm not hostile, just think its silly for people to get this upset about this topic, there are more important things in life.

I agree...The intent when I started this thread a year ago was to get people's opinions on what PI machine I should spend my money on. It was meant to be an informative discussion, and a few people on here decided to throw flames at each other. Some of the info in here is good, and a lot is a bunch of childish bickering. Unfortunately, some people have nothing else to do. Take care Rob, and be safe.

 

[bn81159]

I agree...The intent when I started this thread a year ago was to get people's opinions on what PI machine I should spend my money on. It was meant to be an informative discussion, and a few people on here decided to throw flames at each other. Some of the info in here is good, and a lot is a bunch of childish bickering. Unfortunately, some people have nothing else to do. Take care Rob, and be safe.

I have both a sandshark and a modified excal 1000, I like the flexibility of both machines.

 

[casarachi]

I've read this entire thread, I want to go full time detecting so need to hear all the pro's and cons and if any "feelings" are expressed, well, you dig the bad to get to the good right?

So, I went ahead and picked up a nice condition Whites PI 1000 series 2 lol, ancient relic in it's own right. Can't wait to try out a PI. Priced about that of a good pinpointer so thought I'd have a go with it.

The reasoning for jumping on the whites 1000 is I found this "nose ring?" 8 to 10 inches down with my 23 year old WHITES EAGLE SPECTRUM in the wet sand in coin mode (before I found out Relic mode goes deeper). It was a bit risky putting down the detector to dig this up but it came up as an 86 so went for it. Is this what you mean by small gold/silver? Though I'm not sure what this is. Stopped to talk with a guy using an EXCAL 2 and he seemed pretty impressed so gave me the guts to show it to you. I can wait to get something I can put down without the fear of getting it wet.



I hear a lot of good things about some units, then I hear people saying bad things, well, not really bad things, just things not as good. I guess that's how you weigh your decision. I have a SURF PI PRO(unless this pi 1000 does the trick) & a Sand Shark on my want list. I'll probably get the Whites used and go new on the TESORO.*Unless of course the Tesoro warranty stays forever even if purchased used? oh and maybe a Fisher 1280X (oops sorry, this is a discriminator) ok, possibly the IMPULSE then, well no I should still try the 1280x based on some reviews I read, and maybe a Garret Sea Hunter for their "history", which Is why I gave the PI 1000 a chance. (only because I have to learn the hard way myself.)

Any of you full time treasure hunters need an assistant/ protoge?

 

[captaindoug]

I have two sharks, an eight inch and a ten and a half, my buddy has a x-cal. I dig more than him but almost always walk away with the most loot. I also dig the double beeps and your right they are always bobby pins.

 

[Hag730]

Thanks for the input. Seems the whites DF and Tesoro Sand shark are the popular models across the forums. I'm expecting to have to dig quite a few more targets, but I like the idea of the added depth over the Excal. Thanks for chiming in!

You know what the SS is deeper at finding rather than the Excal......fish hooks, tent stakes, bottle caps and bobby pins. I own both, I've taken both to the two beaches I hunt......both very different sand conditions. Ive dug holes and stuck different gold rings into the side of these holes so I didn't disturb the packed sand above. Guess how many times the SS was able to detect these various gold rings at deeper depths than the Excal? Um....none

 

[DewGuru]

Guess how many times the SS was able to detect these various gold rings at deeper depths than the Excal? Um....none

I'd suggest sending it in for a check up if thats the case.