This PI machine is wearing me out

boss driver

Full Member
Dec 9, 2012
172
103
Detector(s) used
Dues, AT Pro, Tesoro Sand Shark, Excal II
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
My Sand Shark is wearing me out. Hits deeeeeep, but hits everything with no clear indication of composition (as advertised). I'm looking to move to something that will give some iron discrimination and although I understand the trade-off is a little depth...I'm good with it. Don't want to break the bank, would like to stay in a price comparable to my Shark, but looking for input from others who've made the switch or who can speak to the pros/cons of their saltwater machines. I don't go deeper than chest high and usually only waist deep...or more often knee deep or less. Thanks!
 

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langsy

Jr. Member
Feb 10, 2013
27
17
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
tigar shark alternative to sand shark

Ive never seen a Sand Shark add that said you could tell what a target was other than somewhat being able to tell SOME targets are iron.
That's are no VLF machines in the Sharks price range. A used cz or Excal are your best bet. Both of these will approach PI depth in all metal mode and you can usually decide a target is junk by flipping to disc before digging down 16" to actually see it.
tigar shark is a vlf that descrims iron
 

Fletch88

Silver Member
Mar 7, 2013
4,841
2,367
Valdosta, GA
Detector(s) used
Garrett ATPro- 8.5x11, 5x8, CORS Fotune 5.5x9.5
Tesoro Silver microMax- 8 donut, 8x11 RSD, 3x18 Cleansweep
Minelab Excalibur ll- 10" Tornado
Minelab CTX 3030
Minelab Xterra 305
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
tigar shark is a vlf that descrims iron

Yes I have had a coupe of Tiger Sharks over the years. A Sand Shark is not a Tiger shark through. It is a Pulse Induction machine with no discrimination.
 

jeepGold

Hero Member
Sep 7, 2014
585
579
Vegas
Detector(s) used
CTX3030, Nox800
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I wear mine behind me on my lower back. It's out of the way, no stress, no problems. The headphone cable goes up my left side and the coil cable on the right. I leave a lot of slack for it, so it doesn't bind or cause a sharp bend.

Exactly how I wore mine .after awhile it will stress and you will snag a cable.
 

cudamark

Gold Member
Top Banner Poster
Mar 16, 2011
13,216
14,538
San Diego
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Detector(s) used
XP Deus 2, Equinox 800/900, Fisher Impulse AQ, E-Trac, 3 Excal 1000's, White's TM808, VibraProbe, 15" NEL Attack, Mi6, Steath 920ix and 720i scoops, TRX, etc....
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

cudamark

Gold Member
Top Banner Poster
Mar 16, 2011
13,216
14,538
San Diego
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus 2, Equinox 800/900, Fisher Impulse AQ, E-Trac, 3 Excal 1000's, White's TM808, VibraProbe, 15" NEL Attack, Mi6, Steath 920ix and 720i scoops, TRX, etc....
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Snag on what? It's all behind me. :icon_scratch:
 

cudamark

Gold Member
Top Banner Poster
Mar 16, 2011
13,216
14,538
San Diego
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus 2, Equinox 800/900, Fisher Impulse AQ, E-Trac, 3 Excal 1000's, White's TM808, VibraProbe, 15" NEL Attack, Mi6, Steath 920ix and 720i scoops, TRX, etc....
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Cuda, I think I'm going to try that method. I met a fellow pirate Sunday that had his on his back belt line. Seemed very comfortable. I've about decided to just hunt in disc rather than flipping back and forth from am-disc on my straight shaft. When the threshold pitch changes on the Excal without a target response you are basically hitting targets as deep as you will in pp
Mine doesn't seem to work that way. Most of my deep targets will hit in PP, but when I switch to Disc, all I get is the steady threshold tone with no variations or changes. I get at least another 2" in depth hunting in PP. Mounting my pod behind me on a hip mount allows me to easily switch between PP and Disc with my left thumb, as the switch is now at my left hip and on that end of the pod. Getting the pin point mod moving the switch to the top of the hand grip is an even better option.
 

jeepGold

Hero Member
Sep 7, 2014
585
579
Vegas
Detector(s) used
CTX3030, Nox800
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Mines was behind me with the headphone cables on the side where I dig. I caught it with the scoop while chest deep in the water. A wave hit me causing the scoop to hit my cabling and shorted a wire. I loved the hip mount for weight balancing but now that I have the excal mounted behind my elbow on the shaft it's much better balaneed and the cable runs are very short... I tried it, just prefer what I have now..
 

Fletch88

Silver Member
Mar 7, 2013
4,841
2,367
Valdosta, GA
Detector(s) used
Garrett ATPro- 8.5x11, 5x8, CORS Fotune 5.5x9.5
Tesoro Silver microMax- 8 donut, 8x11 RSD, 3x18 Cleansweep
Minelab Excalibur ll- 10" Tornado
Minelab CTX 3030
Minelab Xterra 305
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Mine doesn't seem to work that way. Most of my deep targets will hit in PP, but when I switch to Disc, all I get is the steady threshold tone with no variations or changes. I get at least another 2" in depth hunting in PP. Mounting my pod behind me on a hip mount allows me to easily switch between PP and Disc with my left thumb, as the switch is now at my left hip and on that end of the pod. Getting the pin point mod moving the switch to the top of the hand grip is an even better option.

Yes I have had an Excal 1000 with PP mod and I did love how easy it was to flip the toggle switch. I also seemed to get an extra 1-2" with it in pp. I compared many faint targets last Sunday on the Excal 2 I just bought and I didn't notice as much difference between depth of pp vs threshold pitch change depth. I almost wonder if adding the switch into the disc circuit adds some resistance causing decreased depth in the disc mode vs pp mode? It seemed to be drastically different after I modded that 1000, but not as much on this stock Excal 2.

I am also not wanting to lose the waterproof depth capability by adding the mod. I still want to dive with this one.
 

Last edited:

penzfan

Bronze Member
Apr 12, 2014
1,417
994
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030 - Excal 1000 - Excal II - Sovereign GT - RTG/Oleg Scoops - XPointer
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Just an FYI, I have discovered that .925 Ear Rings may not sound off in PP, but they will in Disc Mode with my Excal 1000 Blue Tube...
Most of my deep targets will hit in PP, but when I switch to Disc, all I get is the steady threshold tone with no variations or changes. I get at least another 2" in depth hunting in PP.
 

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