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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[dewcon4414]

Sorry, but i just dont see the Xcal as anything short of simple to use. ANY machine you buy you are going to have to learn the tones. Yes you can learn to tweak it but out of the box with the way most people set them up you are on your way. Then you dig everything but shallow bottle caps.... how simple is that? Many guys NEVER change their setting. ML service is up to you.... but this machine is as easy as it gets out there.

Dew

 

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[plymouthian12]

I forgot to mention if had my Excal for 10 years or so and have only had a problem once and that was this year had to have disc and threshold switches replaced cost me $160 i didnt think that was too bad and got the machine back 3 1/2 weeks after i gave them the okay to do the work i had no complaints about them, they also have more than one repair place now also

 

[Tony in FL]

Sorry, but i just dont see the Xcal as anything short of simple to use. ANY machine you buy you are going to have to learn the tones. Yes you can learn to tweak it but out of the box with the way most people set them up you are on your way. Then you dig everything but shallow bottle caps.... how simple is that? Many guys NEVER change their setting. ML service is up to you.... but this machine is as easy as it gets out there.

Dew

I am with Dew. Just about anyone can become productive with an Excal in short order. Of course one can go on to spend years learning more i.e. mastering tones, fine tuning sensitivity, all metal hunting, etc.

 

[whiteriver23]

I think I see where this is going, 2 detectors, the 1st one being the excal.
Don't know how you guys can keep track of all the tones the excal is signalling
and be able to interpret them. I just read a remark from somewhere the excal
will null over gold in certain conditions which is really puzzling! (dewcon 4414) As far as
expectations, since I'm in it for fun and recreation I'm hoping to use it for shallow
fresh & salt water & on the beach although we have a river close by that I may
explore. The fresh water beaches in my neighborhood are littered with pull
tabs and other assorted aluminum spinach.

(trsrseeker) If I can believe all the hype, the right applications only seem to
be limited by ones own imagination but, if you can guide me further on
what the right applications may be I'd certainly appreciate it.

(gcmsdon) Your comments sound appetizing. I usually hang out arounde
North Padre, are you anywhere close?

JP

 

[Jason in Enid]

Whiteriver, the only thing you need to know about the Excal is that if it changes tone in any way other than going silent, then DIG. That, and keep the disc low and you will get the gold without the iron.

If that swimming beach sees a lot of visitors during the summer, then those pulltabs are your ticket to G O L D!! A SWIMMING beach full of aluminum trash means that everyone else hunting there is ignoring ALL the gold.

 

[whiteriver23]

Jason,
I'm probably wrong but, that sounds like a PI machine? Or, are you saying, once you
recognize the tone for aluminum you can just ignore it and not dig that tone?

 

[stevemc]

I think he means a freshwater beach. Many use a VLF in freshwater and try to tune out aluminum, and other trash, which doesnt let them get gold jewelry. They tune out trash and they will never find gold. Gold jewelry is less conductive than anything. Very hard to hear unless near the surface or in clean sand. Like was said before some sounds of what might be deep something, are passed over. Those can be gold. I have had iron sound like non-ferrous. Gold jewelry has all the sounds, since gold jewelry is many different carat and alloys. It all sounds different. You might have to dig the iron out because the iron may silence and cover the nonferrous gold jewelry. Yes I have had that and dug the iron out and kept checking. Remember gold jewelry can be the hardest thing to hear. If it is covered or near iron, that will sound out or be silent, and cover the gold. If you hear things with the silent, dig it and see. Excal is great. Many like the CZ 20 and CZ21 too. I have used many PIs and dug many deep holes for tiny iron things. Wastes your time when in a good spot. They all have their own place and time.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Pretty good thread! Pretty simple. You have two choices BBS (Broad Band Spectrum, or Multi frequency VLF), or PI (Pulse Induction). Dig it all, or discriminate out iron. If you don't want to go in the water past your ankles get a Minelab Sovereign. If you want to go in up to your waist, get an Excalibur. There you go. All done!

 

[OBN]

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

BC is right, best to get out and play.
But for starters, I'm a PP/almetal hunter..reason, more depth on most beachs,..being able to run your detector hot in the PP mode, then checking in discrimate, One could not run senstivity on the excal at 9 o'clock in the discrimination mode, but just switching from PP to Disc then back to PP you can get away with it, picking up targets that most excal's might walk past, so if you get beach with few targets, try it..Discrimate hunters, please ad to the below...

Discrimate Knob
Set at 1, any higher then 3 you may miss some treasure, best to get out with a few targets and see what gets knocked out as you adjust the knob. No MAJOR effects on the other knob settings.
Senstivity Knob
Most run this at 12 to 11 o'clock, Adjusting this up can get you more depth, along with falsing, same beach / different day, settings may change. Chirps, then a null can be good targets in disc mode. Worth stopping for.....PP / Disc knob is affected here, you can run it hotter in the PP mode, up to 9 o'clock without to many issues. Volume Knob is affected also, by turning up the senstivity, and setting the volume full equals deeper targets heard.
Volume Knob
This is the Targets volume. To low you can miss faints,.......
In the PP mode, a good set of ears, and the volume full, senstivity at 9, depth on some beachs can be upto, 16 to 17 inch's on a quarter, 10 inch coil.
On/Off..Threshold Knob
Low as you can go, and still hear the threshold. Secret, fill in the 4 drain holes on the Yellow Headphones, with clear silicon, can get you lower thresold and still hear it. In the PP mode this can be very important, the faintest disruption of this straight line threshold can be a deep target. If the threshold was louder, these deep targets, or disruption, will not stand out. (Covered over) Full volume is important here, volume lower, and the disruption can not be heard.
Disc/PP Knob
Each mode is affected by the knobs above

 

[Jason in Enid]

Steve answered your question of me. When people try to avoid digging trash, they miss the gold too.

 

[GreenMeanie]

The minelab is heavy even for us younger guys LOL.
Better get the hip mount at 73.
But get the minelab easy to use and works great in the fresh and salt water.

 

[Jason in Enid]

The minelab isn't "heavy" if you get a better rod for it.

 

[trsrseeker]

In my experience the environment where the Excal has become my go to machine is saltwater (wet sand all the way down to the deepest water I dive in) environment when I am looking for non ferrous material and where there is enough iron trash or debris that I do not want to spend the time digging the iron related trash I would have to dig with one of the multiple PI machines I own. The more time I spend with the Excal in high ferrous environments the more I am blown away by its ability to find the non ferrous targets I am looking for right in amongst the ferrous stuff. There are some beaches I only use the Excal (because of the ferrous trash), some I switch between the Excal and the Whites DF, depending on the particular conditions (types of cuts etc) that day and other beaches where I only use the Pulse machines because the targets are generally a lot deeper in the sand and the iron targets that I would dig with the pulse machine make up an acceptable percentage of the total targets dug for the hunt. I have no experience with the machine in fresh water simply because that is not the environment in which I hunt. Good hunting!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I made my own straight shafts for my excals, still own 2.... It cost me all of maybe $25 each to make......As far as the knows, you can replace all the knobs for about $12 with knobs with stainless hex screws that will never fall off. The knobs have brass setting and the ss screws, no rusting.... I put a set on both of my Excals, have had an issue since...... Member Davespens here use to have them for sale, he still may....... As far as battery housing, there havbe been a couple reporting the housing having cracks, but there are hundreds of users of Excals on the forum boards not reporting any issues....Personally I recommend anyone who buys as excal to get the AA batery pod, not becasue of the housing isse but as a back up power supply it is worth its weight in gold.... Forget to charge you battery, charger not working, battery not working, pod leaking, none of it will matter, if you have the AA pod as back up you will never skip a beat going hunting.

 

[kiana7]

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

Awe wish I was there so I could taste some of your BBQ'S,sounds sooo ONO-LICIOUS,,HH

 

[whiteriver23]

Treasure_Hunter

Is the battery pod an aftermarket item or direct from Minelab?

 

[dewcon4414]

You could end up with a bad detector from any company.... period. You seem to be trying to shy away from the Xcal.... i wished more would. Id recommend you take a look at who is finding the gold and with what machine. I believe the Xcal is getting its share. Its expensive if you dont use it.... but i paid for mine in 2 weeks.

 

[PullTabPete]

Great thread, I appreciate all the insights posted from the experienced users. I have spent a lot of time last 3 months learning the Excal in freshwater only. I would say the machine is easy to get out of the box and use but of course hard to master without putting in the time. I have had success identifying the coins vs common trash like bottle caps, but am getting the feeling after reading this thread, I passed on some potentially good finds. I did find a few rings and mainly junk jewelry this summer and had a great time. Depending on the amount of available time and location, I skipped some questionable tones, that may have been good. Without consistent strong wave action, I was reluctant to dig some big holes in the water in front of the hotels next to my place. Those holes don't fill in so fast and I am on goods terms with the employees at some of the hotels, but if people start complaining about the 'metal detector guy' causing hazards, I could become persona non grata quickly.

Unfortunatley my kids school schedule will keep me away from the beach place alot until the next summer, so time to start working on learning the e-trac for the winter.

Again thanks for the great input on the excal and HH

Pete

 

[DigginItAll]

Hi JP, I'm new here but I own and love my Tesoro Tigershark! I have had it for 5 years now and have had it in the salt and the fresh water and if it is set up it will reward you nicely. It is very simple detector to use and the guys at Tesoro are second to none when it comes to service! I've used my Tigershark in Waikiki and here in Canada in the local fresh water lakes (of which there are no shortage) and have been very happy. It will find the small gold and silver, clad coins and you can discriminate out the bobby pins and pull tabs to boot. Give it a 'google' and see what you think. for the price I think it is the best deal around period. Oh and it is very good in all sand and mineralized soil as well. Just a quick ground balance and you're away!

 

[bigscoop]

Without a doubt the Excal is probably the most versatile water machine out there, it has fantastic target I.D. and separation capabilities, good to great depth (depending on how it's tuned and setup), and despite what you may hear from time to time it's also a pretty reliable machine, the number of actual complaints being very small to the number of these machines in use. As for the weight of the control housing, several ways of dealing with this such as a hip mount, chest mount (which I prefer), or a homemade or aftermarket balanced shaft assembly (I still made a custom shaft for mine even though I use a chest mount.) I've used the CZ's for about 15 - 20 years now and really like them, actually use to praise them as being the best all around water machine, but after using the Excals and becoming more familiar with them I'd have to give the Excal a noticeable edge in most situations.