Hi, I am so sorry to bother anyone with this. I owned a Garrett 500 pulse for 25 yrs and I just bought a new Minelab Excalibur 1000. Of course the reactions to metals are different, and I am lost. I would like to know an easy set up for the knobs to start with, and I'll salt my backyard to figure out what I am hearing. I think so far, the twang noise is iron when going over something, and the sharper noise is a good target. Any comments, or am I screwing this up from my Garrett. By the way, I could tell with the Garrett what kind of metal and how large after so long of using it. But this is really new to me. Or am I dreaming? Any help would be appreciated.
Need help with Minelab Excalibur noises please
- Thread starter grouper
- Start date
- Jul 27, 2006
- 48,475
- 54,934
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Grouper,
First welcome back to Treasure Net.
Your sure not bothering anyone by asking any questions. I am still a newbie myself, only been doing this for 20 months now, but thanks to the many great people on TN I have learned a lot in that time from their advice and suggestions..
I have an Excal 1000 and 2 Sovereign GTs I set both of them pretty much the same, I will give you the settings that works for me on my Excal. I think you will find that most people use about the same.
Settings for me.
Threshold - I set it so it sounds like a mosquito buzzing in my ear.
Volume Control - I turn mine as loud as it will go.
Sensitivity - I start in Auto, and when it becomes unstable I adjust it clockwise till it is stable. (11-2 o'clock position)
Discriminate or Pin Point - I almost always run in Disc mode. I very rarely ever use pinpoint. On the stock coil the toe and heel of the coil is the hot or sweet point. When you get a target you can "X" it (N to S / E to W) then slide the coil slowly to the "X" you made, when it sounds off it will be directly below the front toe of the coil if your approaching with it first or the heel or back of the coil if your approaching with it first.
Discriminate - I usually use NO discrimination, if I do use any I never go over 1.5, and that is rare. If you try to discriminate out the pull tabs and bottle caps your going to miss a lot of gold and silver. You will learn what the sound of bottle caps are, pull tabs are harder to tell apart, and ring so close to gold and many silver that you just can't afford to skip them.
Digging at the beach with a good scoop is so much easier then in dirt that pull tabs are not a problem as much as disappointment when it appears in the scoop.
The twang noise you mention should not be iron as the Excal nulls on iron, (you will hear the threshold disappear)unless it is a very large piece of iron.
Hope it helps.......
Good luck and good hunting....
First welcome back to Treasure Net.
Your sure not bothering anyone by asking any questions. I am still a newbie myself, only been doing this for 20 months now, but thanks to the many great people on TN I have learned a lot in that time from their advice and suggestions..
I have an Excal 1000 and 2 Sovereign GTs I set both of them pretty much the same, I will give you the settings that works for me on my Excal. I think you will find that most people use about the same.
Settings for me.
Threshold - I set it so it sounds like a mosquito buzzing in my ear.
Volume Control - I turn mine as loud as it will go.
Sensitivity - I start in Auto, and when it becomes unstable I adjust it clockwise till it is stable. (11-2 o'clock position)
Discriminate or Pin Point - I almost always run in Disc mode. I very rarely ever use pinpoint. On the stock coil the toe and heel of the coil is the hot or sweet point. When you get a target you can "X" it (N to S / E to W) then slide the coil slowly to the "X" you made, when it sounds off it will be directly below the front toe of the coil if your approaching with it first or the heel or back of the coil if your approaching with it first.
Discriminate - I usually use NO discrimination, if I do use any I never go over 1.5, and that is rare. If you try to discriminate out the pull tabs and bottle caps your going to miss a lot of gold and silver. You will learn what the sound of bottle caps are, pull tabs are harder to tell apart, and ring so close to gold and many silver that you just can't afford to skip them.
Digging at the beach with a good scoop is so much easier then in dirt that pull tabs are not a problem as much as disappointment when it appears in the scoop.
The twang noise you mention should not be iron as the Excal nulls on iron, (you will hear the threshold disappear)unless it is a very large piece of iron.
Hope it helps.......
Good luck and good hunting....
Sandman
Gold Member
- Aug 6, 2005
- 13,398
- 3,992
- Detector(s) used
- Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Welcome to the forum
Follow Treasure Hunters advice!! They are correct. I've used the Excal for diving and wading since they came out and these are the settings I use most of the time. Pinpoint isn't used on my Excal at all.
You might find CJC's books on the Excal and Sovereign GT useful as he covers the way the sound ramps up and down from a good target.
Some have said the Excal sounds like a strangled duck.
Follow Treasure Hunters advice!! They are correct. I've used the Excal for diving and wading since they came out and these are the settings I use most of the time. Pinpoint isn't used on my Excal at all.
The Excal does not sound off on iron at all unless it is large. When running the coil over iron, the threshold will come back as different tone, but don't worry it is not messed up and will sound off on a good target. Use the disc setting as low as possible and let the machine handle the bobby pins and iron crap. Make sure it sounds off on pull tabs and you will find gold rings if you wave the coil over it.
You might find CJC's books on the Excal and Sovereign GT useful as he covers the way the sound ramps up and down from a good target.
Some have said the Excal sounds like a strangled duck.
- Jul 27, 2006
- 48,475
- 54,934
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Sandman said:Some have said the Excal sounds like a strangled duck.
I think it is probably choking on all the gold and silver jewelry it finds.
- Thread starter
- #5
Well, I printed off the instructions you sent, and will salt the backyard a bit and listen awhile. I really really appreciate this information. I am just so used to the Garrett I think I got confused a little. I have a spot I'm working, and had to leave because I had no idea what I was hearing. I did get alot of targets, but need a bucket with a screen to dump the sand and rocks into. So, I'll go back. Here's what I have. The tiny village we are in, all the gutters in the entire village go to one pipe near the river. We got dumped on with rain, and I figure maybe someone got mad at their boyfreind and tossed their ring in the gutter, and the rain would have washed it out on the sand. So, you may want to check with the tiny towns and villages on where the rain goes from the gutters. I'll let you know what I find. UPDATE: I just tried the settings, and I can understand the noises much better. The 'choking duck' really helped. Thanks so much. Then I have about 40 targets in the area of the pipe. They were real ones, and not iron like I had thought. I'll let you know what I get. Gotta go get a bucket ready for tomorrow. The village is going to move the pipe this year.
Sandman
Gold Member
- Aug 6, 2005
- 13,398
- 3,992
- Detector(s) used
- Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
You should get a good scoop to speed up your recovery time. Less time spent sifting material means more time sweeping for the target. I use the Sunspot scoop because it handles lots of bottom types and not just sand. http://www.sunspotedm.com/beachscoops/ It is costly but you won't ever have to buy another one. If you hunt dry sand you might rather us a screen type scoop.
Attachments
- Thread starter
- #7
Now, that is a nice scoop. I'll get one. The sand / mud we are digging is pretty hard. Lots of rocks we have to move out of the way. It is kind of nice because the rocks acted like a sluece box. I'll be getting there in a day or so. Probly tomorrow because it's going to rain. Thanks again for all your help.
mr007s
Jr. Member
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but, I don't think silver can be discriminated out. At least I have not been able to.
- Jul 27, 2006
- 48,475
- 54,934
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
mr007s said:
Sorry, if I did not word it correctly, I did not mean you would descriminate all silver, but I thought I remember reading if the disc was set high, you could actually discriminate out low quality or tiny silver pieces. I know for a fact it will discriminate out lots of gold, sorry for my mis-wording.
If I am completely wrong I stand ready to walk the plank.
Sandman
Gold Member
- Aug 6, 2005
- 13,398
- 3,992
- Detector(s) used
- Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
You won't have to walk the plank. The Excel can disc out some silver coins and it depends on what the silver is alloyed with. Pure silver is almost impossible to disc out, but the sensitivity also has to be turned way down.
- Thread starter
- #11
Oh you guys... This is the best metal detector I've ever had. Thanks so much for all your input. Sorry I've not been posting, but about the time I started this thread, I ended up in the hospital with Bells Palsy and chest pains . If you don't know what that is, half your face is paralyzed. So, I've been recovering and chest pains are under control. But, I did go underwater metal detecting about seven times the last month and have a huge amount of clad coins, two silver rings, a 14k gold earring and two fake diamond pieces. Still... This underwater minelab works great, much better than a pulse unit, or at least the one I had. It took me quite a while to forget about the Garrett pulse noises, and learn this one. It was worth it. A buddy of mine and I went and covered an area where other detectors had gone, and he got a 1943 mercury dime, under a clad quarter about 7 inches down. He is very new at this and it was his first old find. Actually, his first day of finding anything. I'm off detecting today, underwater of course before the temp gets too cold. I'm still learning, and finding, and have a land cache area I'm going to search in a few weeks. Gees I like this machine. Well, off to go diving, and thanks again so very much for the help. I'll keep practicing.
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