Please help me decide on a metal detector!

[chaselarkin123]

Hello everyone,

I am completely new to the beach metal detecting world. I have met some cool people that hunt for treasure in Florida(where I live), so I decided that I am going to purchase a PI metal detector tomorrow before my first metal detecting outing this weekend. They are avid divers and treasure salvagers, and use aquapulse aqb1 units. I had originally debated going all out and also purchasing since this is going to be a lifelong hobby for me. After reading some information from forum members, it sounds as if the aqb1 is not as adequate for smaller targets or lower karat rings(commonly found from 1715 fleet). They mentioned that the higher (delay?)wont pick up lower karat and smaller items, but will detect larger and deeper objects. Can anyone confirm or deny this allegations? After reading this I'm wondering if I should just buy a entry level such as the Tesoro Sand Shark, since I will be searching wet sand and surf in florida 75% of the time and diving with it mayne 25%. Is anyone familiar with the specific units that work best with the specific mineralization of south florida waters? Thank you and any advice would be great as I am completely new and I'm only basing this off of what I've read. Thank you!!

 

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[sponge]

The sand shark is the perfect machine for a newb. Its very durable and extremely sensitive. You dig alot at the same time learn alot. I used one for over 2 years and have nothing bad to say about the shark.

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[Treasure_Hunter]

I had 3 different past hunting partners who had PIs when I met them who gave them up and went to excals, they got tired of digging tiny pieces of iron. They would be digging deep hole I would scan their hole with my excal and tell them it was iron but they continued to dig to be sure.

I'm not saying anything bad about PIs at all, just saying all 3 hunting partners got tired of digging deep holes for tiny pieces of iron. Many members here love their PI and post great finds from their beach hunts.

 

[jeepGold]

Upgraded Excal 1000. Amazing dry/wet sand detector and will go deeper than you'd care to go underwater.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I hunt using modify excals, I hunt in all metal and use thumb switch to switch to discrimination to check target. I get targets in all metal that I don't get in discrimination until I remove several scoops of sand. With combination of the mods and 15 inch coils many times I'm digging tiny targets that turn out to be 15-20+ inches deep, this is in wet sand, can't really tell depth accurately when digging in water...


I use NO discrimination at all, if you discriminate out pull tabs ect your discriminating out 10, 12, and some 14k gold. I skip iron and dig all else. Large iron will not null, I have dug up pieces of rebar that screamed, but I don't dig tiny pieces of iron and our beaches are full of tiny pieces of iron from crab traps, fishing and hurricanes..

 

[Escape]

I will give one example - though I have many - (I do mention this in one of my stories) -
at South Bch Miami - out from one of the lifeguard stands maybe about 15-20 yrds - for yrs there was a large piece of cast iron
many guys that were local hunters knew about this piece - but no one ever wanted to take it out
guys would ask me if I got the large blast out in that spot and some would say "I was getting a lot of quarters..." or whatever near
the man hole cover - so it was a point of reference for some . I myself on one of my first trips down there - had gone over it a few times
one trip I hit it - I decided to just get rid of it if it was not to big . I dug down and pulled it out - threw it up on shore. I went back to the spot and
gave it a quick check - and got a faint signal. dug down a few scoops and came up with one of the heaviest 18k gold rings Ive found - I got to wonder how many had passed it by . I know a bunch of guys and have a few friends that use Excals down there and that went over that iron - and they did not read the gold under it. On another trip down there - I hit in the shallow trough (which I usually don't because so much trash gathers in it) just within a few feet from shore at low tide - I was right it was loaded. I saw 2 guys working it together farther north of me. I went out in deeper water but it was sanded in - eventually I caught up to them and decided to turn and head back but work the area they did - I was getting tons of pulltabs and some newer bottle caps - they had been cranking their discrim. to plow threw the trash . I was going to be there all day - I had a room right on the strip - so had to make the best of it
I was pretty much just getting zincs they left behind. I decided to just clean out as much junk as I could and in all metal just starting pulling everything out
had about 40 pulltabs and a dozen caps along with some other junk - in one spot after pulling a bunch out rechecked and got a few greenies down deep under the junk - so I would clean out a 5 foot by 5 foot spot and then recheck and started getting faint signals down real deep - most were greenies - some were caked older caps - one of the spots I cleaned out I got a faint signal and pulled a nice 1/3 carat diamond ring from - they both were using Excals and who knows how many others passed that target and the other deep greenies from there. Ive got many other stories similar of finding silver and gold deep under or with iron and aluminum and places that were rumored to be cleaned out and they pretty much were except for what I found under junk.
Don't want people to get wrong idea - my machine is not better - Im not saying that Im better
what Im saying is they may have used to much discrim. - they may have got the large junk hit and could not pck up the good under the bad because of their settings - thing is with a PI or hunting in all metal - if you dig it all - you hopefully will get it all
in my cases - digging it all - Ive gotten a lot of deep gold that was missed or masked because of hunting in all metal or using a PI
and it was worth it

Sounds like it is all in the method. Thanks for sharring yours

 

[chaselarkin123]

Thank you all for your responses! I'm starting to get a better understanding of the different detectors as well as methods. I'm leaning toward the excal II still, as the thought of being able to null iron is amazing. I may eventually want to get the sandshark or white dual field pi to use different methods and truly see what I like and works best for me. From what I'm hearing though, you cant go wrong with the excal II

 

[Boatlode]

I would prefer to be able to discriminate if possible. I'm getting the feeling that a PI might not be as useful in florida. I am now leaning toward the excal II. It sounds like its a great machine with the ability to discriminate pesky iron. Any thoughts?

If you don't want to dig a lot of holes, then you want something that discriminates. I dig everything anyway, so I am very happy with my Sand Shark.

 

[chaselarkin123]

Is there any consensus on which one will detect items deeper in shallow saltwater( PI vs. other types)? Sorry to be asking so many questions. I just want to pick the right one as it is a BIG purchase!

 

[chaselarkin123]

Also, the areas I will be searching will likely have LOTS of trash and iron.

 

[Sleepy]

I've been detecting about forty years but only a small percentage of that has been in salt water. My choice, like Casper, is the Fisher CZ21. There are a lot of good detectors out there but I agree with Casper also when it comes to using any detector, mastering the operation of the equipment you're using will give you much better results over anything else. I've spent so much time with my CZ21 learning all of the little things that allow me to hunt right behind others at this one particular swimming hole and find lots of small jewelry that others have simply passed over. And it's not because my detector is better than others, it's because I've learned my detector's abilities so well that I trust it and am confident that if I miss something it's because I walked over it and not due to a weakness or fault in the detector. I purchased a PI detector and tried to adapt to it in hopes of gaining more depth and finds on the Florida beaches. I sold it a couple of years later because it took the fun away from detecting after digging eighteen and twenty inch holes to find hair pins. But whatever you choose to go with, master that detector and seek out tips from the ones that use that same detector and you will soon be amazed at how you can make it work in your favor. Luckily there's a bunch of folks on Treasure Net that are real pros when it comes to operating just about any detector you decide to go with. Take any information you can that these folks offer and hang on to it but most of all, master the equipment you decide to go with and the rewards will start presenting themselves.

 

[chaselarkin123]

Thank you! I am now debating the Excal II and the Fisher CZ21 thoroughly. Has anyone used both and formed a certain opinion?

 

[jeepGold]

Thank you all for your responses! I'm starting to get a better understanding of the different detectors as well as methods. I'm leaning toward the excal II still, as the thought of being able to null iron is amazing. I may eventually want to get the sandshark or white dual field pi to use different methods and truly see what I like and works best for me. From what I'm hearing though, you cant go wrong with the excal II

Doesn't have to be an Excal II. Can be an Excal 1000 or even the 800. I got my Excal 1000 used off Craigslist and it was MINT. 700.00. Then I got a carbon fiber straight 3 pc travel shaft for something like 100.00. Added a 15" WOT coil, remote pin point (HIGHLY recommended), some grey ghost headphones, a NiCad battery pack, a hip and chest mount, the coils are swappable thanks to OBN and using quick connectors and the headphones are as well.. All in all I have about 1500 into it. I've already made it back in just a few months and it's not even good beach detecting here in So Cal.
I can go down about 2 ft in the dry and up to my knees in the wet for a penny. I pulled an Iphone out of the wet sand that was up to my thighs. No joke. With the excal you really just have to have your coil over the target, not much guess work. It'll let you know it's there. As said, hunt in pinpoint and when you get a solid tone, switch to discrim and determine what it is by experience. Nulls small iron very well and I wish it had a more distinguished tone for pennies as they are close to other target sounds and I HATE pennies. You also listen for faints/whispers in the threshold. That just means that its very deep and or very small. This is the stuff that most others will miss.. It's like another layer for you to work that others don't get to.

 

[Boatlode]

Is there any consensus on which one will detect items deeper in shallow saltwater( PI vs. other types)? Sorry to be asking so many questions. I just want to pick the right one as it is a BIG purchase!

PI will find items deeper than the other types. Thats the trade off - depth vs. discrimination.

 

[jeepGold]

Question is: How deep is to deep? Do you want to dig a 3 ft hole for a gum wrapper? I couldn't imagine not having iron null and discrim. I keep my excal's discrim at 1 but it's nice to have. If it's a diving machine and there's not much trash I say go for a deep watered PI. If its for wet and dry sand and a little surf, I'd be hesitant on a PI (personally)

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

PI will find items deeper than the other types. Thats the trade off - depth vs. discrimination.

When you do the custom mods on the excal you get depth plus the benefit of true discrimination.... You don't dig hair pins, fish hooks, tiny pieces of crab traps ect..

 

[frogmaster-riviera]

When you do the custom mods on the excal you get depth plus the benefit of true discrimination.... You don't dig hair pins, fish hooks, tiny pieces of crab traps ect..

TH, Excalibur is a good detector for sure. Concerning PI, when you are very used to it, you still Digg some rubbish like you would (have to?) with your Excalibur, but you find so much little goldy stuff....

I use CTX also and I can tell you that I perform better with CTX when I take time to "visit" all the little signals.

-> Something strange on the Excal, you may have signals when using the discri mode that you won't hear in All Metal PP mode... can you believe it?

 

[chaselarkin123]

TH, Excalibur is a good detector for sure. Concerning PI, when you are very used to it, you still Digg some rubbish like you would (have to?) with your Excalibur, but you find so much little goldy stuff....

I use CTX also and I can tell you that I perform better with CTX when I take time to "visit" all the little signals.

-> Something strange on the Excal, you may have signals when using the discri mode that you won't hear in All Metal PP mode... can you believe it?

Do you recommend that I run the unit in discri mode or all metal PP mode when in shallow salt water? What do you mean when you said, " you may have signals"?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Start off using desc till you learn the nuances of the detector.

I personally have never noticed signals in desc I didn't hear in pp, but I have had signals in pp I didn't hear in desc.....

 

[frogmaster-riviera]

I mean that on certain coins, especially old coin, when you are in All metal / PP mode you can't hear them and when you switch to discrimination 1, you can hear a little signal.

I know it's amazing but all the users on the riviera know that for certain old coins, ALL METAL mode won't detect them, discri mode YES.

Don't ask me why, I'm not a newbie and I'm not dreaming for sure.

Same coins with CTX are also hard to catch also.

 

[DewGuru]

You hear quite a bit about PI machines finding iron. Once you learn your machine, you will learn its signal and be able to pass it if you prefer. Make no mistake about the excal however, as with it you'll be digging way more than your fair share of tin foil, bottle caps and pull tabs, and, without the depth of a PI.