Target Recovery Time

[Just Grafixwld]

Hey all, thanks to this site I bought an Excal II and I love it. I asked about which machine to get for my situation and was led to what I was already thinking. Anyway, That was under a different name and since the site was redone I had to come up with another name, deleting cookies etc. didn't work. So here I am with my first delima. I'm used to digging dry land with a 705 XTerra using a pinpointer which equals small holes and an extremely fast target recovery. In the water with the Excal I'm digging massive holes and trenches and although I eventually find the target I have to wonder if this is normal. I live in Colorado and hunt beaches where there is little to no action regarding silt and sand moving around from waves etc. and just coming back from the Texas coast I know the difference. I thought I'd found the "sweet spot" in pinpoint but due to lack of visibility I can't seem to find it in the water. I'm talking chest to shoulder deep. I try to feel the coil with my foot but here I have to kick the scoop pretty hard to get any depth and have to wear pretty thick soles to do that. I scoop, swing the coil, and scoop, and so on all the while feel the bottom with my feet to align my next dig. Is this normal or is there a better way ? I even thought about strapping a diving light to my shaft and wearing snorkle gear to get a visual on that sweet spot. In five outings I've found tons of stuff, digging everything still to learn the machine and aside from the usual junk I've found 5 rings, one today I think is gold (will have to test) the rest just junk. I just need to know how to speed things up. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Phil
aka. Grafixwild

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[CASPER-2]

I alway wear mask at least and usually a snorkel
in low light or murky water - you could zip tie
a glow stick if you can get them at a low price to help
or paint your coil with glow paint
long handle scoop with biggest basket helps too

[dewcon4414]

I noticed that Casper.... does it get you out there further, at least where you dont get swamped by the waves where others cant get.... or are you using it like you said to see the coil better? There are time i know it would speed recovery.... because i can see the target, but wave action prevents me from seeing it well.

As far as recovery.... when you hit the target move you coil back toward you as it weakens put your foot behind the coil then put you scoop right in front of that foot. Most of the time this works until you get used to it. Also, sometimes its the scoop. I used an RTG at first and floater targets like pennies and junk tended to want to float out as the scooped filled. Evaluate your targets..... are they small ones getting away.... is it worth chasing them as a time waster? Put a magnet in the bottom of your scoop it helps if say its a stud with a steel pin.

Dew

[bigscoop]

Most likely, because you are so deep in the water, you're probably starting your dig too close to the target, and because of the flatter digging angle the scoop is passing over the target, and maybe even pushing it around. Quite often, when I've missed a target once or twice, I'll slip the front half of my foot into the hole as I'm centering the target again and a lot of the time the target is actually toward the back of the hole. Also, if there is current and if there is flex in the coil shaft this will sometimes cause the target to appear to be right or left of where it really is. And again, when there is current, always turn to face into the current as this will help prevent washouts. Hard bottoms are tough in deeper water and if the target is more then a couple inches down, which they seldom are, it can take quite a bit of effort because you are so buoyant in the water you just can't apply enough pressure to the scoop. Hope some of this helps.

[DANGLANGLEY]

This seems hard to explain but I will try. I leave the search coil on the target and put the scoop handle against the shaft on the metal detector and slide the scoop up till I feel it bump the search coil and then move the coil out of the way. Tilt the handle forward to get a good angle on the target and then push it down with my foot. As soon as I get a scoop full I mark the spot with my foot and re scan the hole with the detector. It takes a lot of practice and sometimes it still takes me a few times to get the target. When I try several times and the target seems to float out of the scoop I just move on. Also, I sharpened the bottom edge of the scoop. That has helped me more than anything with the thick mud and rocky bottoms here in Tennessee. Good luck.
DANGLANGLEY

[Just Grafixwld]

Thanks, everyone,

Dew, I've got a 6' RTG with I think 5/8 holes and use a magnet. I got it because I can also use it in the tot lots where they use pea gravel and most of it shakes out easily, works great. But, I guess one scoop doesn't fit all. I was trying to feel the top of the coil at the sweet spot and digging there. Starting where the signal fades makes sense with where you're starting to dig.

Bigscoop, That would put me right about where you're talking about. I think your right, The angle has put me in front of the target, no wonder I have these trenches.

Danglangley, I'm definately getting another scoop. Here you can't push it in very deep, I have to kick like a shovel and the sharper the better. As for the floaters, I'm still digging and recovering everything just to learn. but I think it's time to let that stuff go.

I'll try it all and if all else fails I'll light the place up. I'm just so used to recovering things really fast and I knew this would take longer but I'm really spending way too much time on a target. I never would have thought the biggest learning curve for me would be recovery.

Thanks again for the help everyone !

Phil