Infinum vs. Excal. II

[sandsifter]

For water and beach hunting which is better?

 

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[Michigan Badger]

For water and beach hunting which is better?

I'll post only because I've owned both. Sandman and a few others can really answer your question.

The Excal is greatly loved by fresh water hunters. The Infinium seems to be the way to go for salt water hunting.

But then you have those who prefer the Infinium for both fresh and salt water. And so it goes on.

I personally didn't care too much for the Excalibur. But then I used it mostly on the beach (land hunting). To me it didn't seem deep.

Just before I sold it I buried a quarter at 5 inches in the sand and couldn't get a beep.

I'm now learning the Infinium and so far I really like what I'm discovering.

Both the Infinium and Excal are extremely well made machines. Both are simple to use. With both one has to learn how to pinpoint and interpret sounds.

The sum: The Infinium is far deeper than the Excalibur but loves iron. The IornCheck helps a lot but to be certain one really needs to dig all soild signals so you're basically hunting all-metal with the Infinium. The Excal does much better with iron but at a cost of depth and possible missing good targets due to iron masking.

Confused yet?

Sandman where are you?

 

[sandsifter]

Thanks Badger! Awesome explanation. I live in Milford, Delaware about 2 miles from Slaughter Beach. About 18 miles from Cape henlopen.
You are a true inspiration to the board.

 

[Willy]

I've had both and, over mineralized ground, there's really no comparison.. the Infinium slaughters the Excal. re. depth. It's also more sensitive to small, low conductive targets. I did pretty exhaustive side by side tests on the same targets and, in my ground, those were the results. ..Willy.

 

[sandsifter]

Thanks Willy

 

[Willy]

The Infinium 'can' disc. out some iron. It doesn't do it the same way as a VLF; you have to advance the pulse delay (disc.) and pay attention to the order of the dual tones. I had both and hunted on an absolutely infested part of the beach.. they both sounded of on about the same amount of iron. The Excal didn't have the ID accuracy at depth whereas the Infinium was basically unaffected. It's a case of 6 of one and a half dozen of the other. One thing to note is that the Excal is the easier unit to learn the ins and outs of and doesn't have the dragging secondary tone. ..Willy.

 

[Indasurf]

I find that out in the water there's just much less targets to dig. Don't forget the Infinium has adjustable "disc with iron-check" and if you just dig the high-low signals you're going to get the gold in the water (did I say DEEP gold)!!! Once you really learn the different sounds and use the dual tones with "disc-iron check", you dig a whole lot less trash. I can cover a good amount of ground hunting just the high-low signals for gold.

I've also owned a couple of machines from down under and find nothing comes close to the raw power and stability of the Infinium!!!

I like my VLFs in trashy areas with some wet and dry sand, but love the power of the PI in the water!

The bottom line is some hunters will take the time to "master" their machines and do well with them. When others will try something for a short time without really understanding it and then get rid of it and complain!!!

I also own and use various machines because "NONE" can do it all!!! Happy hunting to all!!!!

 

[Keppy]

Like...Badger..I have owned both and did not care for the ..Excalibur.. If you want depth you will take the ..Infinium ..................And i am a minelab lover but i like the Infinium......but one is ....VLF ...and.....one is......PI.............==Jim==

 

[dazoff]

Neither is VLF. One is BBS the other is PI.. Dan

 

[Willy]

BBS is still VLF (Very Low Frequency). The fact that there is more than one transmitted into the ground makes no difference. In fact, from what I can gather, even single frequency detectors 'can' be considered BBS insofar as they will transmit harmonics of the base frequency. It's just that, on the receive end of things, they don't process any of the information on any but the base frequency. I think it was on Carl's forum where someone hooked up a frequency analyzer to a BBS (could have included FBS too) detector and found it to be transmitting on 3 main VLF frequencies. The other 'frequencies' were harmonics and not very strong. It was a bit of a tempest in a teapot about a year or so ago and seems to rear it's ugly head every so often. ..Willy.

 

[Indasurf]

Willy,

Very nice post. I was told the same thing from a metal detector tech that it's still a VLF circuit.

 

[Keppy]

Thanks Willy i knew it was but we have to inform the others that..BBS is VLF ......I have been useing Sovereign's since about 1992 ...Same as with the X-terra detectors that VFLEX is just VLF .also ....I called Minelab and asked what is VFLEX and they said..........." VLF "...............==Jim==

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

IMO PI's are for young hunters with strong backs who do not mind digging deep holes on beaches. In deep water that may be a different story, I don't know since I do not dive.

I have walked up on hunters using PI's on beaches and were close to their knees almost diggin in the wet sand, I scanned it with my Excal per their request and got solid nulls both directions and same when I did a 90 degree turn. I told them it was iron, and Excal was never proven wrong by their recovery.

I currently have 2 Excals, 1 Sov GT with a WOT, and a Waterproof Sov GT with WOT that I use for beach hunting. I have pulled up some deep targets using the Sov GT and WOT combo. Looking forward to trying the Waterproof Sov GT I just received, I'm headed to the beach his weekend. I love the SOV GT, and currently I am selling one of my Excals.

Just my opinion only, and applies only to me, but .............
Time is too valuable, and I am too old to be digging holes to China and pulling up bobby pins when I get there.

 

[Willy]

There's a big difference between most PI's you'll see being used on the beach and an Infinium. Most PI's come under the heading of all-metal beep-dig detectors. The Infinium actually has a workable disc. ..Willy.

 

[Indasurf]

IMO PI's are for young hunters with strong backs who do not mind digging deep holes on beaches. In deep water that may be a different story, I don't know since I do not dive.

I have walked up on hunters using PI's on beaches and were close to their knees almost diggin in the wet sand, I scanned it with my Excal per their request and got solid nulls both directions and same when I did a 90 degree turn. I told them it was iron, and Excal was never proven wrong by their recovery.

I currently have 2 Excals, 1 Sov GT with a WOT, and a Waterproof Sov GT with WOT that I use for beach hunting. I have pulled up some deep targets using the Sov GT and WOT combo. Looking forward to trying the Waterproof Sov GT I just received, I'm headed to the beach his weekend. I love the SOV GT, and currently I am selling one of my Excals.

Just my opinion only, and applies only to me, but .............
Time is too valuable, and I am too old to be digging holes to China and pulling up bobby pins when I get there.

Based on your post, it would suggest to me that you've never seen the Infinium in action. It's NOT a dig all PI machine and if you use the disc with iron-check and really know how to use it, you'll dig a whole lot less junk! The other thing is in the deeper water (water hunting) there's not much trash anyway and the targets are much fewer and the good stuff is deep (this is where the power of the pulse really shines)! I've walked over pounded areas that were gone over with some of the best machines known, and pulled jewelry and DEEP nickels that were missed by everyone. I would not recommend the Infinium if I only had "one" machine (no detector can do it all well) or were a beginner. You will dig more trash over a good VLF and this why I own and use both. I like to "dry sand" and do some of my "wet sand" hunting with the VLFs (sometimes will use them in the water too). BUT, if I'm going into the water or in areas that have been hit hard, I'll most likely grab the PI as the stability is better and you just hear deeper targets. If an area has alot of minerals (black sand) or is sanded in, I'll grab the pulse as the extra depth might get you something that you would'nt hear with another machine. So, there it is, both work well together for me and are used depending on the different beach situations I encounter.
Thanks!!!

 

[G.I.B.]

I have been watching the forums and taking it all in as I’m upgrading from my Sand Shark for this seasons hunt.

I expect that owners of each individual machine will be very loyal to the brand, considering how much money each one costs. I sincerely appreciate the views of folks who use both. That is the only way to really judge the two machines against each other.

The choice, for me, has been narrowed to either the Infinium LS, or the Excal II. My Sand Shark has preformed quite well. I’ve found lots of gold, CLAD, and of course, iron. I am however, ready to avoid all the iron, but I like depth.

Ahhh… the conflict.

My biggest enemy is the small sections of rusted away into palm size, or smaller, crab trap parts.

I know the Excal will ignore it, will the Infinium? (at least audibly identify them, not to be confused with gold!)

One day I intend to hunt nuggets, and dry dirt. (no playgrounds)

The Infinium sounds to be a very capable machine for nuggets and such, but I’ve not read anything about the Excal in dry dirt. How does it perform?

One machine can’t do it all, but I’m buying the one that comes the closest!

 

[Willy]

I've had both the Infinium and Excalibur and now have neither.. how's that for unbiased? The Infinium will kick Excalibur butt, in mineralized ground, in both depth and ID at depth. The BBS detectors suffer from the same problems as other VLF detectors, mainly reduced depth in mineralized ground and unreliable ID beyond a certain depth (nowhere near full depth). The Infinium will give the same ID at 1" as it will at it's depth limit. As for the crab trap parts, it depends on the relative conductivity. Remember, iron to a PI can either be classed as a high conductor or low. It all depends on how big the piece is and how much is still 'iron'. For coin hunting (unless you're engaged in 'dig it all' depth hunting) the Excalibur will generally kick Infinium butt. For nugget hunting it no contest; the Excalibur is sooo outclassed by the Infinium that it's nothing short of pathetic. ..Willy.

 

[G.I.B.]

I've had both the Infinium and Excalibur and now have neither.. how's that for unbiased? The Infinium will kick Excalibur butt, in mineralized ground, in both depth and ID at depth. The BBS detectors suffer from the same problems as other VLF detectors, mainly reduced depth in mineralized ground and unreliable ID beyond a certain depth (nowhere near full depth). The Infinium will give the same ID at 1" as it will at it's depth limit. As for the crab trap parts, it depends on the relative conductivity. Remember, iron to a PI can either be classed as a high conductor or low. It all depends on how big the piece is and how much is still 'iron'. For coin hunting (unless you're engaged in 'dig it all' depth hunting) the Excalibur will generally kick Infinium butt. For nugget hunting it no contest; the Excalibur is sooo outclassed by the Infinium that it's nothing short of pathetic. ..Willy.

Dang... no easy answer here. It simply looks like I have to eventually own them both. Now I should suppose, the question would be, which one first?

I do hunt the beach a lot, but I want to do some nugget shooting and a little relic hunting as well. I also want to get what everyone else has missed in the surf. Choices... oh lordy... the choices...

 

[Willy]

Well, trade the Sand Shark in for a VLF and buy the Infinium. ..Willy.

 

[makahaman]

Hi guys not to get off the subject of the Excalibur but I was wondering about the coil of the Infinium!! Does that 14" coil really go deeper to pick up the rings and coins, I was just really curious because I owned a Sea Hunter with a 12" coil in the past and it only picked up large iron pieces!! Does the Infinium go deeper than my Surfmaster PI's 8" coil? I need something that can go really deep when I am diving underwater because I have a beach that I know has more gold but just can't be reached by my PI. How hard is this machine to use and set up? Just wanted to know because I would love to get another machine but don't know which one to get!! I have been doing research about this machine and found an article which a guy by the name of Steve that does nugget hunting in Alaska used this machine in Hawaii. He said that this machine gets noisy is that true? I mean I can stand some noise but not lots of noise that I can't hear my beeps!! I was wondering I have heard that Whites is coming out with a machine too anyone know what that is about? Aloha