- Oct 6, 2009
- 1,212
- 2
- Detector(s) used
- MXT 300/Excal II/Surf Dual Field
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Well, I got the new PI Dual yesterday, so I figured I'd try to familiarize myself with it on a could of lake beaches near my home...
First beach I hit really hard twice with my Excal in the past couple months.. I found several of those hair bands with the little metal connector on them. I was surprised at how solid the signal was from such a small piece of metal... I found a couple bobby pins, and like everyone said, they produced a double blip, but I noticed only if I swept the coil moderately fast. If I swept slow and short, like I would with the Excal to pinpoint, it just gave off a single blip, so I dug thinking maybe it was a pocket spill... Nope..
Then, I started noticing what I think people refer to as "whispers'..The machine was set with pulse at minimum (factory marked setting) and noticed the threshold is not a smooth hum, but kind of chattery.. Maybe increasing the pulse width would smooth tha out? I am used to the smooth threshold hum of the Excal I guess..
Anyway, I heard a faint tone, but solid, and dug 3 scoops down. As I dug down, it got louder and more solid.. 3rd scoop and up comes a nice gold bracelet!! I though, "no way, my first time out with it and I find another gold bracelet?"... But alas, a closer look back at the truck shows a 14k GP marking... Dayum...
Found a dime at a good 16" with it, which impressed me.. But found nothing more.. Pretty clean beach..
Then comes the other beach... OMG.. I couldnt even hunt near the dock, it was like having the MXT with a huge coil near a barbeque shed!!! So I moved out a bit, and still, signals everywhere.. Nail here, screw there, bottle cap there, etc... Cant say I wasnt warned!! LOL...
But digging tons of signals wasnt my irritation.. What was irritating, was none of it would stay in my scoop (1/2" holes).. I really need to do something about that.. I'm sure most of them were junk, small pieces of iron, etc., but some of them could very well have been gold earring backs, or studs, etc.. The water was hideously dirty, and I could barely see the yellow coil in 3 feet of water, let alone a small stud..
The only complaint I would have of this machine is not digging iron, but that it has no volume control.. I am hard of hearing, and it just isnt quite loud enough.. When the wind wasnt blowing, it was fine, but when the wind whipped up, I had a hard time hearing it, I cant imagine what a pounding surf AND wind would do.. Why didnt they make it with a volume??
The floating coil does work the arms, but I am hoping the straight shaft I am going to put on it will make that better.. The "S" handle on any detector is not the best ergonomically for long hunts.. They also should have placed the headphone wire at the back of the unit, instead of in the front with the coil wire. I kind of hangs up on my arm when swinging.
All in all, I think I am going to be glad that I have added this machine to my arsenal..
So here is a pic of what I came home with... Two solid hours of hunting..
First beach I hit really hard twice with my Excal in the past couple months.. I found several of those hair bands with the little metal connector on them. I was surprised at how solid the signal was from such a small piece of metal... I found a couple bobby pins, and like everyone said, they produced a double blip, but I noticed only if I swept the coil moderately fast. If I swept slow and short, like I would with the Excal to pinpoint, it just gave off a single blip, so I dug thinking maybe it was a pocket spill... Nope..
Then, I started noticing what I think people refer to as "whispers'..The machine was set with pulse at minimum (factory marked setting) and noticed the threshold is not a smooth hum, but kind of chattery.. Maybe increasing the pulse width would smooth tha out? I am used to the smooth threshold hum of the Excal I guess..
Anyway, I heard a faint tone, but solid, and dug 3 scoops down. As I dug down, it got louder and more solid.. 3rd scoop and up comes a nice gold bracelet!! I though, "no way, my first time out with it and I find another gold bracelet?"... But alas, a closer look back at the truck shows a 14k GP marking... Dayum...
Found a dime at a good 16" with it, which impressed me.. But found nothing more.. Pretty clean beach..
Then comes the other beach... OMG.. I couldnt even hunt near the dock, it was like having the MXT with a huge coil near a barbeque shed!!! So I moved out a bit, and still, signals everywhere.. Nail here, screw there, bottle cap there, etc... Cant say I wasnt warned!! LOL...
But digging tons of signals wasnt my irritation.. What was irritating, was none of it would stay in my scoop (1/2" holes).. I really need to do something about that.. I'm sure most of them were junk, small pieces of iron, etc., but some of them could very well have been gold earring backs, or studs, etc.. The water was hideously dirty, and I could barely see the yellow coil in 3 feet of water, let alone a small stud..
The only complaint I would have of this machine is not digging iron, but that it has no volume control.. I am hard of hearing, and it just isnt quite loud enough.. When the wind wasnt blowing, it was fine, but when the wind whipped up, I had a hard time hearing it, I cant imagine what a pounding surf AND wind would do.. Why didnt they make it with a volume??
The floating coil does work the arms, but I am hoping the straight shaft I am going to put on it will make that better.. The "S" handle on any detector is not the best ergonomically for long hunts.. They also should have placed the headphone wire at the back of the unit, instead of in the front with the coil wire. I kind of hangs up on my arm when swinging.
All in all, I think I am going to be glad that I have added this machine to my arsenal..
So here is a pic of what I came home with... Two solid hours of hunting..
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OldeBeachnut, are the Peltors dive worthy (good under the water)?
