PI vs VLF in good soil?

[bg64vw]

I know the PI is king in bad soil but what about good soil is there a big difference in depth? I know discrimination isnt as good but if Im at hunted out civil war site I will probably be digging everything.

[Sandman]

Doesn't really matter if the ground is good or bad, the PI is deeper. But you have to decide if digging all them holes for junk is using up all your time that you have to detect. Sometimes digging everything sometimes gets you less.

[bg64vw]

Well to clarify my situation it will be previously hit civil war sites, little trash, and my non relic hunter will be my DFX. I rather dig and know than to skip and miss, plus I understand the PI detector Im interested in, Whites tdi hits hard on brass and with a little work you can weed out square nails, all other iron such as implements I would want to dig as well.

[Smudge]

I only know of one detector that would beat a PI for depth.

The White's Sierra Madre. You may want to look into this detector. I hear standard claims of up to 2 feet.

But like a PI, you can forget discrimination. You will dig everything.

It's also cheaper than most PI's.

Good luck on your choice.

[Keppy]

sumdge ...........is right if you want depth the Sierra Madre is the detector you want........... They say it was made with one thing in mind DEPTH...............It is a VLF detector ... fully auto ground balancing... The madre does not use any type of filtered discrimination . This allows all power to go directly to the 9.5 inch search coil that is standard with it...For a depth of 2 feet or more...........Or You can upgrade to the 15 inch coil for up to a depth of 5 feet...............with this detector....................it has low & high output modes and a pin point trigger..........that is a lot of depth for a VLF detector..............I have read were some has used it for gold prospecting....... and only $599.00 new....

[dbsmokey]

I only know of one detector that would beat a PI for depth.

The White's Sierra Madre. You may want to look into this detector. I hear standard claims of up to 2 feet.

But like a PI, you can forget discrimination. You will dig everything.

It's also cheaper than most PI's.

Good luck on your choice.

If you use a White's TDI (pulse machine), it IS possible to discriminate out iron! Read the posts on findmall or google the TDI forum. I have personally done it myself. I can coinshoot and eliminate all but large iron pieces.

[Sandman]

True the White's Sierra Madre is deep, but I am under the impression that this depth is mainly for larger metal objects and not coins or buttons at depth. But I have never used one in the field but once. I would think a Sov GT with a WOT coil or a Nautilus DMC IIB would be worth learning about.

[Keppy]

True the White's Sierra Madre is deep, but I am under the impression that this depth is mainly for larger metal objects and not coins or buttons at depth. But I have never used one in the field but once. I would think a Sov GT with a WOT coil or a Nautilus DMC IIB would be worth learning about.

Sandman... I never used one either........... I just know what i read about it............and what i saw in the findmall forum about it.......... And i did see were they hunt coins with it and Gold nuggetts with it .........And also use it on the beach ........

[OBN]

The Madre is a basic All Metal detector used primarily for industrial use. You can hunt relics under certain conditions and even coins but the meter just shows intensity only. No target ID or Discrimination.

[Adrian SS]

From my experience with PIs and vlf machines over many years of detecting I am certain that a high quality vlf will out perform an equal powered PI any day of the week in ground that the vlf can be ground balanced well on. The PI is best in salt and in iron mineralisation and when the machine is set up for goldfield ground balancing work where the vlf struggles.
My 6000 DI PRO SL slaughters my PI (and all of my other detectors) in quiet to light iron mineralisation and I mean it gets at least twice the depth of the PI. My PI is a goldfield machine. near the top of the line. Not naming it to avoid heated discussion. PIs are by nature insensitive to small items of non ferrous material compared to vlf detectors. a High frequency vlf will murder a PI on tiny gold in quiet ground but I guess you have to ask yourself, How many gold fields are in quiet ground?) But take the PI to the beach and it will kill your vlf with the exception of the SOV and Explorer series which are not true vlfs anyway.

Adrian SS

[liftloop]

sumdge ...........is right if you want depth the Sierra Madre is the detector you want........... They say it was made with one thing in mind DEPTH...............It is a VLF detector ... fully auto ground balancing... The madre does not use any type of filtered discrimination . This allows all power to go directly to the 9.5 inch search coil that is standard with it...For a depth of 2 feet or more...........Or You can upgrade to the 15 inch coil for up to a depth of 5 feet...............with this detector....................it has low & high output modes and a pin point trigger..........that is a lot of depth for a VLF detector..............I have read were some has used it for gold prospecting....... and only $599.00 new....

that there detector it a 5900 di pro...of to day..