JW Fishers PI Sled Information Please

[treasurenut]

So after doing much research of what to use on the 1715 wreak sites, I have come up with the JW Fishers PI Sled

Information about the PI coil Sled.

"COMMERCIAL DUTY DETECTION SLED

8 X 48 Inch Sled-Searchcoil | Pulse 8X/6X

BEACH SLED SEARCHCOIL!

The JWF Sled-Searchcoil Provides The Largest Detection Pattern Available! The Pulse 8X/6X-Tuned Searchcoil is mounted on top of four small skis. Intended To Drag Over Clear Ocean Beach Sand And In Shallow Ocean Beach Water.

+ Covers The Largest Detection Area In 1 Pass
+ Surface Detection Pattern About 12 Feet Wide (4 Feet From Each Side Of Searchcoil)
+ About 8 Foot Depth Pattern
+ Greatest Large Object Detection Depth (Large Canon, Ship Boiler, Anchor, Filled Treasure Chest)
+ JWF Research Results Provides This Unique Searchcoil Pattern For Their Pulse Technology That Yields Good Sensitivity And Response To Small Metal Objects Such As Rings, Coins, Gold Jewelry Chains, Escudos Gold Coins (Doubloon), Pieces of Eight; Weapons, Buried Metallic Money, Hinges, Locks!
+ Unique Wide Sweep Pattern At The Deepest Capability Of The Dynamic Electro Magnetic Detection Pattern! This Is A Huge Advantage Over All Round Searchcoil Technology! "


Now I want to hear from you guys already out there on the wreak sites if this would be a good tool for finding some spots to blow some holes.

Also the few questions I still have about this sled. If anybody want to take a shot at them.

1) As we have reef in our section, what would be the tow height in the water where we could still pick up silver coins in the sand.

2) After getting a hit, how do we mark the spot where the PI gave a signal (it does not come with GPS, and its under water)

3) We have a Torpedo (water scooter) also would a diver towing the sled make more sence than a small boat.

4) From experience what detection depth should we expect ?

5) As I understand it the PI sled hooks up to the X8 fisher detector, or is that wrong ?

Anybody with information on this please let me know

Treasurenut

[mad4wrecks]

There is so much metallic junk along the Treasure Coast that a boat towed pulse sled is going to sound off so often your ears will start ringing. You will find lots of trash, but there is always the possibility of treasure.

We used one on the Gulf coast, miles from shore where there was little boat traffic and we still ended up locating a number of trash targets.

Do you have a dig boat?

[treasurenut]

Mad4treasure: We are trying to put everything together now and I was just trying to figure out what exactly we needed for finding the spots to blow.

I do hear your concern with trash and PI detectors but its really the same as being under water with a Aquapulse and finding coke canes I don't know that there is anything to do about that.

The real problem I have with the Mags and I have look at a few is that they pick up only the Iron. I do understand that where there is Iron there is a good chance of treasure but still maybe the price in the 20k range is a little much for our projects.

Any thought on what we need to be looking at would be great.

On another note Sub bottom profiling would that make any sense have look at a few of those also.

Hope somebody can give a hand with more information on what we need to be looking at.

We are in 10-30' of water with reefs around from Sebastian to Vero

Thanks for the help

Treasurenut

[ScubaFinder]

I think your best search tool is Bill Moore in the conservation lab at the Fisher Museum in Sebastian. He has maps that show the scatter patterns of every wreck, as well as every hole that's been blown on the sites. Find an area that should be inside the scatter trail but hasn't been searched....that or building a boat capable working closer to shore than anyone previous are your two best chances at hitting it big on the 1715 sites. That or magging looking for unknown wrecks. The difference between a mag and pulse sled is that a mag can see 50+ feet to either side, while a pulse sled only sees a 4-5 foot range. I was with Mad4 on the west coast project....we found fishing poles, cell phones, and a host of other junk, we spent weeks using a sled, and i have to agree with him that they are not very effective for our uses. Also the pulse sleds don't get deep enough to see most of the treasure. A sub-bottom wouldn't be a bad idea for piles of silver bars, but for individual coins or even small clumps, they don't have the resolution to pick anything out.

If it was easy, we'd all be doing it that way. Using a combination of tools that fit the environment you are searching is usually the answer. The maps from Bill Moore would be my starting point.

Good luck,

Jason

[treasurenut]

Thanks Jason and other I have talked to about this. I agree if it was easy it would not be fun, its like golf right.

Treasurenut

[old man]

treasurenut, If you want to save yourself a lot of time when you're searching, forget about the JW fisher unit. Unless they refined the unit in the last few years, I wouldn't even bother wasting the money. There is a much better unit on the market. It is made in Germany. Your can either get it with a one meter coil that is reported to find a cannon from 40 feet way or you can get the 2 meter coil. You would have to configured it with your own tow sled or if you are in shallow enough water, tie it onto a raft and tow it behind your boat. The unit has an intensity meter and two different colored lights on the electronic console that has to be top side on the boat. One light tells you if you have a non ferrous target the other light comes on when the target is ferrous metal. I would also recommend getting the 100 foot cable for the unit.

I've used this unit for the last 15 years and I can't say enough good things about it. The unit is offered for sale thru the Kellyco Company near Orlando Florida. You can check the unit out on their web site on the internet. As far as I'm concerned the JW Fisher unit doesn't come anywhere near the sensitivity of the Pulse Star ll Unit.

[treasurenut]

old man:

Thanks for the information about the pulse star II, after looking at it I agree with you that it looks much better than the JW fisher model.

Any tips on how to mark the spot when towing it, and does it give you deep of the target or not could not really see that from the write up

thanks

treasurenut

[wwwtimmcp]

I have used one of these for 3 years, and it has done a fantastic job for me. it will go deep so plan on digging. it does not have discrimination so you really can't tell if it is junk or goodies but I have found a ton of stuff under the trash so it pays to dig everything. it does have a tendency to snag on rocks and stuff but it is also easy to retrieve. mine paid for itself very quickly and if I can get some more boat time I'm sure it will continue to pay off.

if you have alot of coral on the bottom you can float it on a couple of boat bumpers to save the coil and coral. you might also and some of the pipe insulation around the coil to save it from scratching the paint sealer used on it. I can stop within 3 feet of a signal and all I do is dive down to the coil with my pulse 8x and look behind and around the coil. I find if there is one find by the coil there are usualy more.

the only problem with floating the coil is you lose that much depth due to the coil being farther away from the bottom. a pulse 12 would be my only other option, the pulse 10 is pretty much the same thing as the 48" coil in terms of performance. due to the shallow area I am working I added a short deployment rope about 20' from the coil this keeps the coil easier to handle,deploy,and retrieve in the event of a snag.

quite frankly I am very impressed with mine and it is a permanent part of my arsenal. I can run, deploy,retrieve,and dive all from my 11' inflatable boat with ease, try that with a towfish. jw fishers has treated me very well over the years and I cannot say enough about the quality,service,and speed at which they take care of me. I hope this helps and I wish you the best.

[old man]

old man:

Thanks for the information about the pulse star II, after looking at it I agree with you that it looks much better than the JW fisher model.

Any tips on how to mark the spot when towing it, and does it give you deep of the target or not could not really see that from the write up

thanks

treasurenut

treasurenut, I mark the spot the old fashion way. I get a length of quarter inch rope about 10 feet longer then the depth I am in, I use an old sash weight from an old time window, tie one end of the rope around the sash weight, the other around a clorox bottle and throw it over the side when I get a hit and then come back and dive on the site, then I go down with and underwater metal detector and start looking around.

[treasurenut]

@wwwtimmcp

Thanks for the input on the JW fisher unite, I always dig all the trash as its the only way to get it away and sometimes the goodies are under the trash.

@oldman

Sometimes doing it the old fashion way, makes more sense that getting all smart about it. I was thinking a non metalic weight and a water bottle with a string connecting the two would work just fine like you said.

I think I have a plan of attack now thanks all for the information I will keep the board up with our finds and how we use the PI detectors

Treasurenut