Surfor Beach PI machines use on land

[roadrunner]

Has anyone used a PI machine made for the beach, such as a Surf PI, or an other brand and use it inland for mding like you would a Minelab or a land based PI.
I was wondering about ground balance and if it was needed if some one where to try and use a PI for the surf on dry land.
I am trying to see if a surf PI could be used like a minelab say in Az in place of a Minelab, or a land based PI.

 

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[huntsman53]

Has anyone used a PI machine made for the beach, such as a Surf PI, or an other brand and use it inland for mding like you would a Minelab or a land based PI.
I was wondering about ground balance and if it was needed if some one where to try and use a PI for the surf on dry land.
I am trying to see if a surf PI could be used like a minelab say in Az in place of a Minelab, or a land based PI.

I used my' Surfmaster II recently to recover a 14kt Gold and Diamond Engagement Ring (it cost $7,000+ with the Wedding Band & after taxes) for a lady and her fiancee. It was an 186 mile trip one way to NW Georgia from my' home and I decided to take 3 of my MD's. This was not only to try them out since I don't really get much time to swing them and also as a just in case scenario (i.e. in case of a breakdown or in case one or more was not suited for the soil and in case I had problems getting any of them set correctly for te job). I first tried my' Minelab Sovereign Elite but due to too much trash at the location and me being unable to tune out the iron targets sufficiently, I switched to my' White's Goldmaster II but still had the same problem. I then got out my' Surfmaster II, tuned it to where iron targets were just a slight blippety...blip and was good to go once I got the hang of the different tones. It took a little over 2 1/2 hours due to the problems I noted above, taking a few breaks and trying to stay warm as it was a very chilly day due to the wind but I finally found the ring.

The problem you may have with using a Surf PI, Surfmaster II, Beachhunter ID, etc., etc. is if the soil is highly mineralized or a lot of hot rocks. These MD's can compensate (ignore) saltwater or saltwater beach sand but not highly mineralized soil or hot rocks. I did not really know these tidbits about these MD's until I posted about trying them to search for Gold.


Frank

 

[roadrunner]

Thanks for the quick reply.
Is the surfmasterII the vlf machine?
A surf PI is pulse,like your minelab,right?
Where you on inland dry ground then?
Same with my Goldmaster V/Sat. I cant use it in trashy ground, it just wails all the time.
Is your minelab a PI machine?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

The biggest problem I would see, in trying to use a beach pulse machine on land sites, is that you'd have no way to pass up iron. Ie.: every frickin' little birdshot, staple, pushpin, nail, etc... will "ring the bells of Notre Dame". On the beach, perhaps you have the liberty to investigate every bread twistie, nail, bobbypin, etc... But on land, most people want to at least knock out iron.

A friend of mine had 2 machines: A standard coin/relic machine, and a beach pulse machine. One day, I took him and a friend of his to a ghost-townsy relicky site of mine, where I'd pulled seateds, reales, etc... in the past. He brought alone his beach pulse machine for his friend to use, since that was the only other machine he had. And trust me: 5 minutes into this endeavor, he and his friend put the machine back in the truck. He couldn't progress out of an area 3 ft. square, on account of the myriad of beeps, turning out to be nuisance little flecks, nails, blah blah.

About the only places I could see using a beach pulse machine on land, is some place where you will indeed want to strip-mine every last signal out. Like at some CW sites, for instance. Or perhaps for nugget/prospecting uses.

In the old days, it was a "given" that beach pulse machines went deeper than discriminators. But this is no longer the case. There are now discriminators that can get a coin down to 11" or so deep, while passing iron, etc... That's about the same as most beach pulse machine's depths. And to the extent that certain beach machines or nugget machines push deeper yet (1.5 ft. on coins), then heaven help you to try to use something THAT squirrelly sensitive in land sites. Then you really will go bonkers.

JMHO.

 

[huntsman53]

Thanks for the quick reply.
Is the surfmasterII the vlf machine?
A surf PI is pulse,like your minelab,right?
Where you on inland dry ground then?
Same with my Goldmaster V/Sat. I cant use it in trashy ground, it just wails all the time.
Is your minelab a PI machine?

You are right, my' Surfmaster II is a VLF machine! I did not even think of that when I loaded up for the recovery trip and even while MD'ing there. My' other two White's underwater MD's are PI. I am not sure as to whether my' Minelab Sovereign Elite and Explorer II Metal Detectors are PI or VLF but they both use the BBS (Broad Band Spectrum) Technology. I am sure that there are many very knowledge MD'ers on here that can give us that information.


Frank

 

[Tom Slick]

You are right, my' Surfmaster II is a VLF machine! I did not even think of that when I loaded up for the recovery trip and even while MD'ing there. My' other two White's underwater MD's are PI. I am not sure as to whether my' Minelab Sovereign Elite and Explorer II Metal Detectors are PI or VLF but they both use the BBS (Broad Band Spectrum) Technology. I am sure that there are many very knowledge MD'ers on here that can give us that information.


Frank

The FBS and BBS Minelabs are all VLF machines. As mentioned above, the White's Surfmaster PI will not work well as a coin or nugget detector. Some will answer that their Surmaster PI will detect a nugget and a coin but that's not the same as actually using one for that purpose. The White's TDI is a much better nugget shooter and old coin detecting PI machine due to it's adjustable ground balance and Pulse Delay.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Yes. I have experimented with my Tesoro Sand Shark at Rich Hill in the Weaver Mountains, and near Cow Creek in the Bradshaws. I found several nuggets, but nothing smaller than 2-grams. Lots of bullets and barbed wire, but it surprised me and actually did pretty well.

 

[huntsman53]

The FBS and BBS Minelabs are all VLF machines. As mentioned above, the White's Surfmaster PI will not work well as a coin or nugget detector. Some will answer that their Surmaster PI will detect a nugget and a coin but that's not the same as actually using one for that purpose. The White's TDI is a much better nugget shooter and old coin detecting PI machine due to it's adjustable ground balance and Pulse Delay.

Thanks for the information! While most of my' MD's are great when I can get them adjusted correctly for the type of soil, terrain, junk and other targets, I really need to spend more time with each one. Since I primarily Gold prospect now, I am hoping to trade some of my' MD's towards the price of a Minelab GPX 5000 since it is better suited for the Gold grounds. I will keep several of my' MD's and especially my' old White's Goldmaster 66-T (which has Mineral and Metal modes) as it has everything from a 4.5 inch coil up to one that is nearly the width of a kitchen stove with a total of 5 coils and numerous shafts/rods. It previously belonged to an old Geology/Gemology Professor who traveled the world to find Gold, Silver, Platinum, etc. as well as Gems, used this MD to do so and actually found and hoarded a lot of stuff. I tried to purchase his' collection of specimens and nuggets when his daughters and granddaughter were selling his' Estate but they split everything up between the heirs (bummer). I may also hold onto to my' Minelab Explorer II as I have 3 coils for it and it actually spent time in Iraq clearing Land Mines and IED's and the old Gal has many scars to prove it.


Frank

 

[roadrunner]

Thanks guys.
I am planning to use it just for the gold fields, or prospecting.
The reason so is to have one to run behind my V/sat.
Or,would it be best to just run my V/sat and forget about a PI machine.
My v/sat has no discrim but does have an iron id switch.

I will never have the money nor spend the money on a GPX4500 or 5000.
I could buy a truck and a quad for that much.
At least a used one would buy me a truck. Or a quad.
I was thinking about a Surf PI kit.
Terry thanks for your input. I know you know what will work and not work in our areas here.

 

[cudamark]

Thanks guys.
I am planning to use it just for the gold fields, or prospecting.
The reason so is to have one to run behind my V/sat.
Or,would it be best to just run my V/sat and forget about a PI machine.
My v/sat has no discrim but does have an iron id switch.

I will never have the money nor spend the money on a GPX4500 or 5000.
I could buy a truck and a quad for that much.
At least a used one would buy me a truck. Or a quad.
I was thinking about a Surf PI kit.
Terry thanks for your input. I know you know what will work and not work in our areas here.

If you don't want to spring for a GPX series machine, I'd get a Fisher Gold Bug. Most of the PI water machines don't have a coil suited for nugget hunting and they're frequencies are usually too low for tiny gold nuggets.