Silver uMax and 11" widescan in wet salt sand

[TallTom]

I have read that the 11" widescan Tesoro coil will give me wider scanning
coverage and about the same depth as the 8" concentric coil that
comes with the Silver uMax. That's good for me and might be enough
reason to buy it.

However, I also would like to scan the wet, salty sand at my
Southern California beaches. I've read that the 11" widescan,
with its DD design, is less subject to mineralization problems.
Does that also apply to salt water problems? I probably won't
want to use it much in shallow salt water at the beach, but I'd
like to use it in the wet sand at low tide. Will that work and give
me any kind of depth at all?

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[Sandman]

I am sorry to say that no coil can really improve the Umax for hunting the wet saltwater sand without falsing. You can turn down sens till it gets stable and see what kind of depth you'll get. Most hunters learn they need a multi freq. or PI to hunt the wet sand.

[TallTom]

I am sorry to say that no coil can really improve the Umax for hunting the wet saltwater sand without falsing. You can turn down sens till it gets stable and see what kind of depth you'll get. Most hunters learn they need a multi freq. or PI to hunt the wet sand.

I was afraid of that. I knew I wouldn't get 6-8" depth in wet salty sand with it,
but I was hoping I might get 2-3" if I turned down Sens enough.

Has anyone tried the 11" widescan with a Silver uMax and been able to
get ANY depth at all in wet salty sand? Or does it get so much falsing that
it's useless except in the dry sand? (That's my conclusion about the 8"
concentric so far, by the way.)

[beckleeson]

I was afraid of that. I knew I wouldn't get 6-8" depth in wet salty sand with it,
but I was hoping I might get 2-3" if I turned down Sens enough.

Has anyone tried the 11" widescan with a Silver uMax and been able to
get ANY depth at all in wet salty sand? Or does it get so much falsing that
it's useless except in the dry sand? (That's my conclusion about the 8"
concentric so far, by the way.)

I to would love to know the answer to that!

[sandshark32431]

i think tesoro should come out with a beach detector for dry/wet sand that would compare to a sov gt that i hear is the beach killer with a 15 inch coiltec coil on it

[TallTom]

After starting this thread and not getting a definite answer to my last
question (Will I get any depth at all in wet sand with the 11" widescan?),
I'll give my own answer.

I bought the 11" widescan and installed it on my Silver uMax. I had to
learn a different way to pinpoint, and the new way it works in Disc mode and
All-Metal mode, but that's a different topic. Here's what I learned with
a little experimentation (admittedly not much) in wet sand on So. Calif
beaches.

You CAN use it on wet sand BUT:

1. You don't get much depth. I've found targets at about 2 inches,
and maybe 3 inches (rough estimates), but nothing deeper so far.
I'm talking about really wet sand here. In sand that is just slightly moist,
but not soaking wet, this coil seems to work just about the same as
if it's in dry sand. (No falsing, similar depth.)

2. If you touch the coil, even slightly, to the wet sand, it falses immediately.
I need to wipe it dry to continue using it effectively.

3. You have to turn down Sens somewhat, and you have to search in
Disc mode, not All Metal. It falses way too much (for me anyway) in
AM mode on the wet sand.

Bottom line: It's a little better than the concentric 8" on wet salt sand,
but not overwhelmingly. If you buy this coil, do it for other reasons,
not for low tide searching near the waterline. (Those other reasons are
good enough for me, by the way. I'm using the 11" exclusively these
days, both at the beach in the dry sand and at parks in the dirt. I like it.)

[Detector Wars]

Interesting info, have you tried ground balancing your Silver? That should improve it at the beach, but your ground balance for parks would then be way off, so you would need the convenience of a ground balance mod.

[Allcav]

After starting this thread and not getting a definite answer to my last
question (Will I get any depth at all in wet sand with the 11" widescan?),
I'll give my own answer.

I bought the 11" widescan and installed it on my Silver uMax. I had to
learn a different way to pinpoint, and the new way it works in Disc mode and
All-Metal mode, but that's a different topic. Here's what I learned with
a little experimentation (admittedly not much) in wet sand on So. Calif
beaches.

You CAN use it on wet sand BUT:

1. You don't get much depth. I've found targets at about 2 inches,
and maybe 3 inches (rough estimates), but nothing deeper so far.
I'm talking about really wet sand here. In sand that is just slightly moist,
but not soaking wet, this coil seems to work just about the same as
if it's in dry sand. (No falsing, similar depth.)

2. If you touch the coil, even slightly, to the wet sand, it falses immediately.
I need to wipe it dry to continue using it effectively.

3. You have to turn down Sens somewhat, and you have to search in
Disc mode, not All Metal. It falses way too much (for me anyway) in
AM mode on the wet sand.

Bottom line: It's a little better than the concentric 8" on wet salt sand,
but not overwhelmingly. If you buy this coil, do it for other reasons,
not for low tide searching near the waterline. (Those other reasons are
good enough for me, by the way. I'm using the 11" exclusively these
days, both at the beach and in the dirt. I like it.)

You can turn your disc level up past foil and this will help as well. You will still get some falsing, but not as much.

[shanegalang]

Also, if I'm not mistaken, when you use a different coil than Tesoro provided with a given detector, the machine should be re calibrated or you will have some pin pointing issues. I could be wrong but it seems I read that..........Robert Martensen?? Chime in?

[Allcav]

Also, if I'm not mistaken, when you use a different coil than Tesoro provided with a given detector, the machine should be re calibrated or you will have some pin pointing issues. I could be wrong but it seems I read that..........Robert Martensen?? Chime in?

Only if the unit has a factory preset ground rejection. If you have a manual or auto ground balance, you do not need to have the machine tuned to the coil!

[TallTom]

I've done some more wet-salt-sand detecting in the past few days with
the Silver uMax and the 11" wide scan Tesoro coil, so here's some more info.

I seem to be getting a little more than 2-3" in depth. I haven't found
many targets in the wet sand, but a few have been possibly as deep
as 4". I'm not measuring, just estimating, and that's hard when the
hole fills nearly full with water as soon as I scoop, so I don't claim
perfection here, but I definitely get better than 2" sometimes.

I've been using Disc and setting it to just above foil. Only the center
portion of the DD coil detects a target in Disc mode, unlike AM mode,
where nearly the whole diameter of the coil detects. This difference
wasn't clear to me until I got the coil and experimented with it.
So I have to overlap much more in Disc mode if I want to cover an
area thoroughly when detecting. (On the dry sand, I can search
in AM mode and then flick the switch to Disc mode after I hear a
target in order to find out if it's a good target. In the wet sand
I have to scan in Disc mode to prevent constant falsing.)

I've had no pinpointing problems. A little back yard testing showed
me how to use the X technique to find the target location quite
accurately. That works well, whether I'm in dirt, dry sand, or
wet sand. It's not the same as pinpointing with a concentric coil,
but I knew that before buying the coil from reading this forum and
other sources.

Regarding the need to have factory adjustment for this different coil,
I haven't seen the need for any change. Maybe it would give me better
results, but so far I'm quite happy with how it's performing. The sounds
of some targets are different, but I've learned them fairly well, I think.
Quarters now sound softer than with the 8" concentric. Nickels are a
little raspier. Bottle caps are louder and raspier still. But I know the
sounds can always be deceiving (or maybe I should say my ears can
be deceiving), so I generally dig anything that has almost any
chance of being good. Even when I say to myself, "That's going
to be a bottle cap," I dig it and 90 percent of the time I'm right.
But sometimes it's a nickel or some other interesting object.
And if it's a bottle cap, well, I'm helping clean up the beach or
the park.

To answer another question, no, I have not looked into getting
a ground balancing mod for my Silver uMax. Maybe I will later, but
so far it's doing what I want in my local ground conditions. And I'm
able to detect in wet sand this way, as long as I'm careful not to
make contact with the sand, and I'm getting 3-4" depth in targets.

So no complaints from me. I'm getting what I hoped for, and maybe more.

--Tom

[GreenMeanie]

I would stay out of wet sand with that model tesero.

[TallTom]

I would stay out of wet sand with that model tesero.

I usually do stay out! However, once in a while when it's low tide and I see a long
expanse of exposed wet sand where I KNOW a bunch of people were
waist-deep in the water a few hours before, I can't resist.