Any of you use the Minelab Excalibur on shipwrecks?

[makahaman]

I was wondering if any of you guys use the Minelab Excalibur on any of the shipwrecks? I was wondering because everyone that beach hunts seem to rave about this machine. Any feedback will be much appreciated. Aloha

 

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[ScubaDude]

The only one I've ever seen leaked and died in 20 feet of water, too many control knobs, other than that tidbit I can't help you much.

 

[diverlynn]

I've had mine about 2 months. Takes some getting used to. Because we do not discriminate against any metals, the buttons usually stay in one spot unless I am using the pinpoint. We can get to within 5 feet of another detector without picking it up. Amelia bought 5 at one pop so we got a great deal on them. I also have the stainless steel weight balancing handle. I am pretty sure I made a good choice. I do like the aqua pulse for depth but pricey and interfears with the minelabs pretty bad.

Diverlynn

 

[ScottyLee]

DiverLynn,
If you had both the AquaPulse and the Excalibor, which one would you use?

 

[diverlynn]

Hi ya Scotty,

This is a trick question, right??

Diving alone...the Aqua Pulse but then again, I have not used it on land.

diverlynn

 

[ScottyLee]

lol....no trick. Just wondered if both where sitting on the swim platform, which one would you grab as jumped into the water...

 

[NC_Bob]

We can get to within 5 feet of another detector without picking it up.

Hey Lynn,

You say "another detector" -- meaning any old detector or another minelab?

A couple of us had two Excal 1000s in the water a couple of months ago. Lots of crap on the bottom didn't help but it really seemed the 2 machines jabbered at each other when we were too close together. When we separated (beyond the 15' or so vis) things seemed to stabilize, although at times my machine seemed to go a little crazy all by itself (but maybe that was buddy getting closer than I was aware of, given the vis). I also found that the excal goes nuts of you use a vibraprobe anywhere near the coil and takes a while to settle down afterwards. All this was done with "extreme prejudice and discrimination" as there was a ton of junk we didn't want to be digging. We also dived a shallow freshwater site with similar results.

Sadly I haven't had my machine in the water since, so I can't say for sure it was crosstalk, but that seemed to be a likely explanation as a few days earlier wading in a similar location didn't result in the crazy jabbering. Only being able to afford one MD for multiple tasks, the excal definately seemed to be the way to go, so I'll be really interested in anyone else's experiences.

BTW, we maxed at about 45 feet and although my probe flooded the excals remained watertight.

Bob.

 

[diverlynn]

We usually have 2 divers working a blown hole. One in the hole and one working the burm and surrounding areas. At times we actually have 2 minelabs or 1 minelab and 1 Fisher CZ-20 in the same hole, 5'-7' without problem. We are working in some really narley grey clay which leaves large crevices when the loose sand is blown away and total darkness. The excal churps when going over the rough surface or burms, that is what I am having to get used to. The Aqua Pulse doesn't seem to churp unless there's a target.

diverlynn

 

[mad4wrecks]

Scotty-grab the Aquapulse!

 

[FISHEYE]

I would take the aquapulse and deep six the Excalibor.all i ever see on all the Md forums is"my Excalibor broke an i sent it back to the factory"and then it took forever for them to get it back an then it broke again.I have had the same MD for over 10 years with the same set of ni cads in it an its still working an is waterproof to 150 feet.My ni cads charged up for 12 hours last for 4 24 hour days.

 

[stevemc]

A PI is deeper than an Excal. Any of them. The bigger the coil the deeper they will detect. Especially in salt water. PIs will interfere with another PI if they get close, the more powerful they are the worse it gets. I have seen those old grey ones with the round plastic cases work fairly close to another, but they have very small coils and arent that powerful, but some guys swear by them. I would rather use a PI. CZ 20s dont work so well in salt water. They are VLF detectors and really have to turn it down to make them work in salt water. In salt water they only go down a few inches on a coin. PIs get better in salt water especially on stuff that has laid there for years. They will go deeper in salt water than an air test. Some PIs have faster pulse, and can detect very tiny gold or alloy gold, which is hard to find, but you dont really need that for treasure detecting.

 

[makahaman]

Hey guys I have a Surfmaster PI and works pretty good nice and simple, the only thing is that I hate digging those small pieces of metal when diving. Everyone on the Beach Hunter forum swears by the Minelab Excalibur! They are born believers reincarnated that the PIs aren't as good as the Minelab. So what do you think, should I spend my money on a new metal detector or should I buy a Torpedo DPV to help with my efforts? Hope to hear from you guys!! Aloha

 

[makahaman]

Hey Grubstake you find most of your stuff with PI's? Boy have you found some awesome things, I wish I could find stuff like you!! Do you use PI's mostly? What is your favorite machine? Can you post more photos of you because I really enjoy seeing you find all those great treasures!! Aloha

 

[stevemc]

Makaha, I also use Whites PIs. I have an older one maybe 10 years old regular surfmaster PI. I also have a Surfmaster PI Pro that was further modded by Mr Bill. With the older one, I was still finding more jewelry that CZ 20 (of course) and Excal, but the excal guys sure do find some jewelry. I do dig more than them, but they do not go as deep. The Pro will find a broken, thin alloy ring, where most MDs wont. Fine,thin chains are a problem, as they wont pick up until you brush the coil over them. If they have a clasp it will though. You will dig more junk, just keep it all. The guys with the discrim pass up a lot of gold, as it is discrimed out. Appraently the excal will still discrim and still find gold alloy. but not as deep by far. By the way i used to live on Oahu, North shore just past Sunset Beach,in 1975 and 1976. We drove through Makaha, even surfed there. We went through to hike up above Keana point, up into the mountains. My neighbors were in the military so we could short cut through where they did all the rappeling and bombing. Hang loose brah! Steve.