Minelab Excal vs Whites

[whiteriver23]

OK - so I'm a 73 yr old MD'er looking for a good fresh & saltwater machine.
Had a Whites BHID 300 and loved it until it was stolen so, now I'm searching for
a replacement. Only used the 300 in freshwater & had lots of finds but, I'm seeing
a lot of good comments about the Minelab Excal with the exception of the knobs
falling off and a few comments about the learning curve. Definitely don't want to
go the PI route since I don't look forward to digging really deep holes for bobby
pins. Seen a few negatives about Minelab service being slow and expensive. The
one plus I had with Whites on my BHID 300 and my MXT was good service and quick
turnaround. I've also thought about a Sand Shark and a Tiger Shark since the
two combined would be about what a Excal would cost. The more I research
the more confused I get. If anybody has had some experience with the Minelab,
or the Shark detectors I'd surely appreciate you comments. I expect to head
to the Texas gulf this winter for some beach hunting.

Thanks
JP

 

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[DANGLANGLEY]

I have a sand shark and it does a very good job at finding needle sized objects a foot deep in the sand (fresh water). It does not have a discriminator so you would be digging everything. I really don't have anything bad to say about it. I don't have any experience with white's detectors but I do have a Garrett AT Pro. That machine is fantastic. I am so glad I got it. You can discriminate the bobbie pins and rusty nails. I have found one gold ring with it and it was about 6 inches deep in the sand and with that signal amplifier it sounded like it was right under the coil. It also has a depth meter and a number read out. You should check it out. I think you would be happy with it. You can turn it loose in the deep water and the arm rest just barely sits above the water. It's easy to use on land too as it weighs a little over two pounds. Best of luck to you.

DANGLANGLEY

 

[Jason in Enid]

If you want to be able to reject iron while hunting an ocean beach, NOTHING beats the excal.

 

[liftloop]

stick with the vlf type detectors, better discrimination, easier on your self. get a light long handle sand scoop and Good find will be jingling in side in no time. ask a lot of questions here.time,persistence.you be fine.

 

[rons1947]

My first water detector was a Sand Shark,with a 8 inch coil.It is very sensitive and goes deep,but,as previously stated,it picks up everything.I heard an lot of people praise the Excalibur,so I borrowed one from a friend.I liked it ,so I bought a Excalibur 2,because I was digging a lot less trash. In almost 3 years,I have not really learned the tones that that help you identify targets,but it has paid for it self several times, with nice finds.I have had it in for repair 3 times.Should you buy a Excalibur 2,be sure to take off the coil cover often and clean out the sand that gets caught between the coil and cover,as it wears small holes in the coil,which lets water leak in ruining the coil.My last repair for this problem cost me $297.00 .I am now trying to protect the coil by leaving the coil cover off and coating the bottom of the coil with truck bed spray.Both detectors are very good.I keep the Sand Shark as a back-up machine.Sorry for being so long winded.

 

[whiteriver23]

Thanks guys for your replies. I've just spent a couple hours looking at comments about the excal, problems with the
knobs which is nothing new, and noted several problems concerning the battery housing in addition to charging problems.
Seems like if you get one problem free your good to go but, if you have to send one in for checking/repair you may be in
for a long and maybe expensive wait. From the pictures I've seen at Kellyco they now seem to come with a straight shaft which is an improvement over the poorly balanced "S" shaft but I'd feel a whole lot more comfortable knowing that some of the other problems have been addressed.

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

Not in the same ball park the BHID is an low cost entry level water detector. The Excalibur is a world away! Note I did not say the BHID is a bad machine its a great entry level machine. I used one for a 1/2 year and it sure was able to find gold.
But you can't compare the two. The Excal. is a better machine and needs to be tuned during the hunt for the different conditions you may incounter. The BHID is a beep and dig with little adjustments for conditions.Both have the places in the hunting world. If money isn't an object (and it shouldn't be) then the Excal. is the way to go. It will pay for its self in a 6 months of frequent use!
IMHO BCNJ

 

[whiteriver23]

Not saying the excal isn't a good detector but, there seems to be some troublesome
quality control issues just going by some of the threads I've seen and I have no idea
if Minelab has gotten a handle on the problems. I am leaning toward the excal and
wondering if the serious excal users have any hints they may want to share about
shortcuts in the learning curve or any enhancements to the machine that might
make it easier/better to use? From what I've seen on various posts here & on
You-tube, it appears to be a turn on and go machine once you can identify
what the various beeps mean and I do like the null feature over iron.

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

Whiteriver23, Its not just turn on and go. If your out there digging tones that are loud and blow your ears off your digging the wrong stuff! Its those small little threshold breaks that dreams are made of! If you don't have the volume,threshold,discrimination, and sesitivity set correct you won't hear those small barely able to hear breaks! Along with a proper set of headphones.Many Excalibur users don't know how each of the dials affect the other but they do. Too much time is spend hunting durring the first few months hunting rather than learning what makes the detector work properly! And the nulls aren't always a piece of iron many times its a piece of gold/coin out of range!There are quite a few differances to the nulls once you spend time investgating them!All this being said more information is available in all metal than discriminate with the Excalibur. Most never take the time to learn to hunt this way. Why? Because its not a turn on a go method of hunting and requires many hours to master, and in the end is quite rewarding! The nay sayers will be quick to point out why have a detector that has discrimination if your going to hunt in all metal. Because is deeper and works better!
IMHO BCNJ

 

[lawsonland]

Hi,
I just got the Excal, any tips on "how each of the dials affect the other" would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Jon

 

[Burldrives]

Im surprized no one mentioned the Fisher cz21 I am also trying to make a choice many consider the cz21 and the excall 2 among the best beach machines . Ive read some excall owners say the love it I have had 4 or 5. do they break that easy ? Any coments on Fisher reliability ? I am using a older Garret pi not happy

 

[bigscoop]

The Excal & CZ-21, I use both and they both perform very well. If I only had one choice I'd go with the Excal simply because it's a bit more versatile and it's more sensitive to fine gold. Weight isn't an issue for me since I chest mount both control units.
Both machines are reliable units.

 

[norbyx]

The CZ-21 is the best metal detector to find gold, it will outperform the excal in finding that small gold that the excall will just pass over and null.
There is also another metal detector that no one talked about the Headhunter Wader, I have one and I like it a lot. It is as light as a feather and you could swing that thing all day without even knowing. The excal is a brick unless you are in the water and eaven in the water it takes some effort to swing due to the resistance so only solution is to have a neck strap.
The Headhunter is integrated in the headphones.
Anyhow My order of choice for water detectors is the following:
Fisher CZ 21
Headhunter Wader
Excalibur

 

[plymouthian12]

I hope this helps I own both the Excal 1000 and a Dual Field. I mostly use the Excal due to the iron disc. I hunt ponds and the ocean and not digging bobbie pins is awesome, I look at it as a gun owner you have multiple "toys" for play but each has its own benefits and uses. in fresh water i primarily use the Excal, in the ocean i use both but lean more to the Excal due to owning it longer, In the winter when water hunting the ocean i use the DF im looking for deep targets in the rocks and black sand and i feel the DF gets a little deeper in my opinion, on wet sand i love the DF due to it being lighter and i can swing it all day, and it seems that the DF will pick up studs better than the Excal. so i would say find out what you are looking for and where you'll be hunting the most and then decide on your weapon me i like em both
kent

 

[trsrseeker]

There is a reason Minelab has been able to get away with high prices, poor quality and poor service on the Excal and that is because in the right application it is a phenomenal machine and hard to beat. In fact in a trashy salt water environment it does not seem to have been beat yet. The more experienced Excal water hunters simply own multiple units to get around the problems you are hearing about. Some of the guys on this forum are very experienced in this field and are giving you priceless advice based on years of experience for free (e.g. BCNJ). Again, the advice is priceless if your are serious about water and beach hunting.

 

[dewcon4414]

You cant go wrong buying either the CZ or Xcal both are going to pay for themselves. Would i recommend a PI as the first water machine, not really. It could be frustrating if you arent a patient person.... meaning you will be out buying a disc machine soon after. There are going to be issues with any machine you put in the water.... sorry nature of the beast. I mean you are leaning on the coils, twisting the knobs, putting the battery on and off and putting it in the worst environment for electronic equipment....salt water. Lord knows ive had my issues with the Xcal, but.... id still buy another i think they are just that good. In Fl these water machines get used.... it not like up north where they may see seasonal use like a lawn mower that lasts for ever. Honestly... once it paid for its self several times what are your expectations?

Dew

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

Hi,
I just got the Excal, any tips on "how each of the dials affect the other" would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Jon

It would be a book to answer just how each control works with one another. The best advice is always seek out a deep target and start changing settings. You will quickly learn what works to better you results. Many will be amazed by lowering there sens. how this affects the strenght of the target that once was just a murmor is now a clear signal. Then seek out this author of many Minelab books.( Clive James Clynick )The info gained from these readings will go along way! These can be purchased from advertizers here on T-net.
BCNJ

 

[whiteriver23]

First, thank you folks for some thoughtful comments, it's a lot to digest.
I'm seeing that the excal is a helluva machine if time and patience are devoted
to learn it's capabilities. I'm also seeing the learning curve may be a bit steep
which I suppose is as it should be considering the investment. After reading
and re-reading the comments my first thought was, maybe the excal could
overwhelm the user thereby defeating the purpose of the purchase in the
first place. Then the quality issues pose another problem.

I did make a cursory run at the Fisher CZ and really didn't find a lot of
dissatisfied users and a lot of raves about the Fisher machines so, I'm
back to square one. I do have a copy of Clives's "Water Hunting" which
was published in 2005, a little behind current technology but, worth
re-reading. I'd really be an unhappy camper if I traveled 1000 miles
and end up with a defective detector with little hope of a quick fix from
Minelab.

I do have friends that do some gold detecting with Fisher's Gold Bugs
and they all seem happy with their machines and Fisher service when
needed, which is seldom.

Again, thanks to all you kind people willing to share comments and
experience.

JP

 

[Sandscoopdan]

It would be a book to answer just how each control works with one another. The best advice is always seek out a deep target and start changing settings. You will quickly learn what works to better you results. Many will be amazed by lowering there sens. how this affects the strenght of the target that once was just a murmor is now a clear signal. Then seek out this author of many Minelab books.( Clive James Clynick )The info gained from these readings will go along way! These can be purchased from advertizers here on T-net.
BCNJ

Buried Crap NJ is right on! I have been reading a few of Clive James Clynick and yes!!! His books will bring you to a new level of awareness about how everything works together. He has his own site called clivesgoldpage.com . When you buy a book directly from him, he will write a personal message to you.

 

[Sandscoopdan]

Whitewinter23, Look forward to seeing you on the beach this winter!!! I'll probably start bringing BBQ pit down to the beach and cook some fajitas, bacon wrapped shrimp. Oh, its....lunch time. No wonder im so hungry.
Dan