About to Buy Whites PI-Pro - Good Idea??

[PlanetExpress]

About to Buy White's PI-Pro - Good Idea??

Hi,

I've been looking at detectors for a while now, and have asked some questions on this board. I got some great help.

I'm about to buy a White's PI-PRO. If I describe my intended use, can anyone let me know if this is the right detector?

Intended Use:

1) Snorkeling by the beach (salt water)
2) Diving wrecks (salt water)
3) Beach combing in surf (salt water)
4) Beach combing on land
5) Detecting on dry land far away from the ocean

I realize the PI-Pro has no capacity to filter out pull tabs and other junk, but I have a decent amount of time free to dig.

Any reason I shouldn't get this unit??

Thanks in advance to anyone posting a comment!

 

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[spez401]

Re: About to Buy White's PI-Pro - Good Idea??

I love my Surfmaster PI. The Surfmaster was the precursor to the SurfPRO PI. I had and upgrade done to it, and basically now they are the SAME machine. It has worked great for me on every beach i've ever been to, and has made me VERY happy with some great finds on too many occasions to count.

My only complaints about it, are there is no discrimination or way to measure depth. But if you're like me and dig everything anyway...not a big deal. That however never stopped me from collecting tons of goodies. After my first season with the PI, I had enough to pay for my DFX.

My advice... get a big scoop and prepare to dig deep. I have gotten hits and ended up digging small rings, earrings, and even chains at 18". If you air test my machine, my wedding band sets it off at just around 24 inches. Just remember... if its getting signals for that stuff at 18", its also going to respond to nails, pull tabs, and bobby pins.

 

[rcasi44]

Re: About to Buy White's PI-Pro - Good Idea??

I was thinking of getting one also, but I wouldn't use it on land. Fresh water also has a lot of the little junk that could use the disc. Rob

 

[PlanetExpress]

Re: About to Buy White's PI-Pro - Good Idea??

Thanks, guys. I think since I'll be primarily in the water using it, I'm going to go for it.

Spez401: I'm planning to do like you and just dig everything up. May be a little more time consuming, but my theory is (and it's a newbie theory) that maybe I'll find something another detector rejected.

Coventry, huh? I lived by Olivia's Bridal for a very short time (3 mos). My parked car got plowed by a truck there that jumped a fence (crusing the fence down on my car), then hit the Olivia's Bridal sign. Smal world. Thanks for the advice on the detector. I'm going for it!

 

[PlanetExpress]

Re: About to Buy White's PI-Pro - Good Idea??

Rob, why wouldn't you use the PI PRO on dry land? I plan to use it maybe 1/3 of the time in that capacity. What would be the drawbacks? Just curious, since I'm only getting started understanding detectors.

 

[Trez]

Re: About to Buy White's PI-Pro - Good Idea??

I love my Surfmaster PI. The Surfmaster was the precursor to the SurfPRO PI. I had and upgrade done to it, and basically now they are the SAME machine. It has worked great for me on every beach i've ever been to, and has made me VERY happy with some great finds on too many occasions to count.

My only complaints about it, are there is no discrimination or way to measure depth. But if you're like me and dig everything anyway...not a big deal. That however never stopped me from collecting tons of goodies. After my first season with the PI, I had enough to pay for my DFX.

My advice... get a big scoop and prepare to dig deep. I have gotten hits and ended up digging small rings, earrings, and even chains at 18". If you air test my machine, my wedding band sets it off at just around 24 inches. Just remember... if its getting signals for that stuff at 18", its also going to respond to nails, pull tabs, and bobby pins.

Spez,

Was that 18" on a gold chain? or an anchor chain?
Just curious, did you modify your machine? because 18" on a gold chain...
Don't you think 18" is kinda pushing it for a gold chain...unless is has a 1 ounce medallion attached to it?
If that's the case...I think everyone would be using a surfmaster PI...


Planet express...see if there is a detecting club near where you are...then go, see if some of the members would let you try their machines...shop first, review as many detectors as you can, ask questions...and before you buy on, try one.

Good Luck,
Trez

 

[spez401]

Re: About to Buy White's PI-Pro - Good Idea??

Trez... a gold chain. The PI machines go DEEP. But there is no discrimination. For every good find like that chain @ 18", i dig 100 bobby pins, nails, bottlecaps and pulltabs. Thats the problem with the PI machines

As for the modification... yes. I had it modified a couple years ago. Before it was done, I would only get hits (unless it was a block of iron) down to 12-15 inches. After I had it done, i was literally getting double the depth in some cases. The mods were done by Mr. Bill @ surfscanner detectors in MA. I think its www.surfscanner.com... but i could be wrong. I have it save in my favorites on my other comp. he also offers some mods for other detectors, but im not sure which ones.

As for using the machine on land... same thing... it finds EVERYTHING. every pull tab, nail, screw and bottlecap you can imagine... allong with some good stuff. Thats the reason people prefer the VLF machines over the PI machines. If you're like me and dig everything regardless (especially on the beach). Then it is a great machine. Personally, I'd rather dig up 100 pull tabs than miss a ring. Since I bought a DFX (several years ago), I don't use the PI on land. It is strictly a diving/beach machine for me now.

 

[rcasi44]

Re: About to Buy White's PI-Pro - Good Idea??

As Spez said in a park, sports field, picnic area, school yard etc. you couldn't make a swing without multiple target hits. It would take you all day to cover very little ground. Those PIs go deep and I don't think they show depth. You can't leave sites like I mentioned looking like a bomb field.

You say you will dig everything but how many 10" deep hairpins will you dig before you quit. On the dry sand with a scoop it may be possible but not in the dirt. Believe me if you dig too many holes with few good finds you can lose interest. There also aren't as many GOLD finds on land like in the water.

Check out some of Sandmans posts on the Beach and Water forum or write him a PM. Rob

 

[Sandman]

Re: About to Buy White's PI-Pro - Good Idea??

Hello guys. As Spez and Rcasi said the PI has almost no discrimination. At the beach where digging is easy and sand could cover something very deep, you need a PI only if you have a strong back or like work. Besides, being a water detector it will be heavier than needed for land work and not able to change coils, in a trashy area the thing will sound like you turned it on inside your car.

As for using the PI while diving, you will also use more air recovering trash, but it's better than not knowing something is there and the chance is great that you will find the big one with the deeper depth and area covered. The air can be solved with using a Hookah system.

Personally, I mainly use the Minelab Excal 1000 at all my salt and fresh water detecting now because it is almost as deep as a PI, but with the iron mask. It'll report on a gold ring under a railroad spike. For some reason I like the smaller 800 coil while diving.

Sandman

 

[PlanetExpress]

Re: About to Buy White's PI-Pro - Good Idea??

Thanks for the advice, Sandman.

Deciding on a detector for this type of work really isn't simple. I'll check out the Minelab also, based on your suggestion. I am indeed using a Hookah system from the boat... good call.

On other forums I'm on related to boating, a beginner often asks, "Which boat is right for me?" We usually ask them what they will be using it for and suggest based on that. Seems like detectors are exaclty the same.

I definitely can't buy two detectors at this point, and will be doing most of my detecting in the surf and sand over the winter months. I may have one or two trips inland to check out an old and historic town I grew up in, but other than that, it's beach and sand, then wrecks in the summer.

So... I'm leaning toward the Minelab or PI-PRO. I do like iron rejection. Can the iron rejection be turned off, if say... I were looking to find metal in general while diving? Will the Minelab have the power the PI-PRO has for detecting everything and deep?

Also, I've seen that most divers seem to use the PI-PRO. Any reason for this?

Thanks again. This forum has been very helpful.

 

[bazinga]

Re: About to Buy White's PI-Pro - Good Idea??

I am new to this water detecting and just recently purchased a minelab excalibur 1000. When I did a test of it on my wooden floor which is full of nails it nulled out completely until I went over a coin, gold ring, silver, etc.

And yes, you can turn off the iron discrimination by setting it to zero.