Excalibur and setting for Beach Hunting, Please Help

[accteam]

Hello,

I got my Excalibur a long time ago, about maybe 6 or 7 years ago. I would hunt with it but had to stop for a long time because of a few back operations. I finally got the ok from the Dr. to start again. I dusted off the old Excalibur and charged the battery. The only problem is, because it has been a long time since I hunted, I forgot some of the good settings to use for beach hunting.

Just in case if the area I live in plays a part on the setting...I live in brooklyn, NY. I hope there are some pro's here who use or know what settings might be good. I still have the booklet that came with the unit, but we all know that those are the basic settings. So, if there is anyone who owns the Excalibur and has some good tweaks, please let me know or email me at

jolusia7501@aol(NOSPAM).com

To send email, must take out the (NOSPAM) first. I have them in the email address to help with cut down on the spam. Thanks and looking forward to some help.

 

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[-Jones-]

accteam,

Attached is a pic of my excalibur 800. Don't know if it's set-up the same as yours, I'm not knowledgable as to the excalibur's evolution.

The knob closest to the headphones, I keep on Disc. once a target is found, sometimes I'll switch to Pin Point.

Next knob is Threshold. I adjust to just a barely audible sound.

Next knob is Volume, that should be self-explanatory.

Next knob is Sensitivity. I usually keep on the Auto setting.

Last knob is Discriminate. When I detect, I carry a target bag with me. Inside is a couple dozen of different targets ranging from a nail, copper penny, silver quarter, tin foil, bottle cap, etc etc to a gold ring. When I begin to detect, I'll lay certain targets out in the sand and adjust the discriminate knob hearing how the detector reacts to different settings with different targets. Each area I detect I use the same procedure, dropping targets, adjusting, and listening.

I'm sure others have other procedures and if so please let us know............ 8)

 

[Sandman]

Ric, you have one of the newer Excals, but it looks like the paint job is just different. That is a good idea about laying different items down and seeing how detector behaves. This is fine for other VLF detectors, but not the Minelab Excal. I set my discriminate at 2 or 3 and leave it. Since it ignors iron, I don't have to dig bobby pins at two foot like you do with a PI.

Sensitivity set in Auto is OK in freshwater lakes, but for more depth use it at about the 10 o'clock position. The farther you turn it COUNTER CLOCKWISE, the more sensitive it becomes. Some areas you can't run it this high. I know you usually keep it on the Auto setting, but others are reading this.

HH,
Sandman

 

[-Jones-]

Sandman,

Thanks for the tips on settings. Next time on the beach, I'll try-em out....... 8)

 

[gravediggermax-vabeachva]

ric

like sandman said, loose that auto and lower discrimination...................u have walked over much gold with setting like that.

try the sensitivity around noon or 1pm or higher as mentioned

good luck

 

[neilo]

Turn to discrimination, threshold so you can only just hear it,turn disc down to minimum setting.sensitivity turn up slowly until you experience false signals, then turn back until they just stop.Volume on full volume. and you are ready to hunt.Dig all signals regardless.good hunting seeya Neilo

 

[accteam]

Hello again,

Well I finally made it out for the first time detecting in a long time. I have to say I really missed being out hunting again As well, when I finally called it a day...which was hard to do...my whole body was killing me so bad...mostly my arm!

Anyways, it was worth it and the more I get out there and hunt, the less pain I will feel. So, I hit the land first. I went to this area where I found lots of civil war items but was thick full of weeds, so will have to wait....not wanting to waste a nice day....I hit some area's a few feet away and started getting modern stuff...pennies and etc. Came across a silver ring and broken watch.

Then hit the beach...water side to see how things will work. I'm sure most of you guys know that god likes to play tricks and has he/she would have it....he made it so the first target would be a gold ring...nothing crazy but still a nice find. And with the thrill of finding the ring...and set me on the hunt to find another one...so I searched and searched but mostly dug coins and lots of lead. This is where my new question comes in:

First...I need to know if some of the things that happened are normal. When I was hunting on land, I was not sure of the correct setting, so I found myself turning knobs alot...a real lot. I turned the threshold just enough to hear a light hum...I heard few people say, turning it where you cant hear the threshold, is bad...is this true? Then I turned the discriminate to about 4 or 5 and the sensitivity to about 8 or 9 but noticed problems and only when I turned it to 1 or 2 did it seem not jumpy.

Tell me if I'm wrong...but when I tried setting the sensitivity a bit back off of the auto setting...the unit would start to beep and hum, then go with no sound, then back to beeping, etc. How do I know if its not the ground causing. Also, another problem which I'm not sure if this is normal or not...some targets I came across would act as if they were real long, like a pipe was buried underground, only to dig up a old shoe buckle or etc...meaning, I would swing the unit and once I got a hit, I would swing the unit over the target in a 'x' pattern to try and center it, but it would sound either to big and to find out after digging, that its a small item.

As for the beach...I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or maybe the area on the beach was a bad spot. I was hunting the wet part of the beach, more toward the top edge and aside from finding the ring, found mostly coins but when I moved down a bit to the where the small pebbles/rocks where hiding under the sand...I found alot of lead pieces. They would give a real loud solid hit. They were all smooth a guess from the sand and pitted...but this was all I kept finding....I don't understand, why. Was I hunting the wrong area? I know you cant say the rings are only in a certain part of the sand, but I just cant see how out of all these people on the beach, all I kept finding was this small little lead items.


I know I wrote alot and I'm sorry for doing so. I'm just very interested in learning how to do this right and hope maybe if I explain what some of the things I'm going thru, someone might be able to say they heard the same of etc and have advice. Please let me know some of the answers to me questions.


Thanks,


PS: VERY IMPORTANT...Is it important to ground balance the Excal and if so...how do I do this? Because I also own the Whites XLT and there is a button to ground balance and I didnt know how to do it with the Excal. Thanks again for all the help in advance

 

[surfrat96]

You don't have to ground balance the Excal. and I would definitly set the discrimination to 1-2 as sandman suggested setting it at 3 o'clock you'll definitly be walking over a lot of gold as Max said.

I also agree with Max on the sensitivity at 12-1 o'clock.

Good luck!!

HH 8) surfrat