Pi,s on UK beaches

[chipmonky]

Has any one any experience of using a P.I on our beaches.
I keep toying with the idea of maybe a Whites dual field pro.
Down here in the land of the pasty there must be countless lost ring out there( And the odd gold coin with luck) to find I do ok with the mine lab explorer 2
but a lot of the time there is so much sand about I am thinking the extra depth would come in handy.
Yes I no there will be a lot of digging crap but I like digging lol.
This would only be for use on the wet sand and in to the surf and would still have the explorer for the very trashy beaches
and the dry sand.
Plus I am thinking there would be allot less competition in the water because all my years at the beach I have never seen
any body in the water detecting.
Also at 400 quid less than an Excalibur that's a big difference in these hard times we all face
So come on all you secret P.i users are you all keeping quit because there that good
or is just no one is using them.
Thanks for any input

 

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[chipmonky]

Sorry for the small pic but this how bussy my local beach gets
so there must be loads out there

 

[Alan Hassell]

As you requested information re English beaches I decided to dig this old article out just for you. Sure its old and the machines may not be made today but there are plenty of 2nd machines around gathering dust in someones cupboard who might be happy to seel one if you can find one.
There were many advancements too and other manufacturers have jumped in on the band wagon too.
It is only intended to give you some ideas to go one anyway. If you do some more research you may come up with a better plan I hope this helps good luck alan

GOLDSCAN 2
PULSE INDUCTION TECHNOLOGY COULD
REVOLUTIONISE GOLD DETECTING IN AUSTRALIA.
By Alan Hassell©
Copyright © 1/11/92 published in Australian Gold treasure hunter magazine

Pulse Induction metal detector's have been around since the mid 1960s. Some of the first Pulse Induction detector's that came onto the domestic market were developed by Eric Foster. In fact it was Professor Hall, who assembled a team of highly skilled electronic engineers at the noted Archaeological Research Laboratories in Oxford University, U.K. to develop Pulse Induction, to complement magnetometers used in the research of historical sites.

Eric Foster, was one of the first to join the team and spent over four years developing many of the circuits and designs used by top name manufacturer's even today. An example of this is the XL-500 marketed by Garrett electronics. Perhaps it is because of Pulse Inductions superior depth capabilities that will make the old VLF/TRs obsolete technology.

Over the years, there have been many developments in the VLF/TR field, such as auto tuning, auto ground cancelling, motion detectors and visual display indicators that gave the hobby great leaps forward towards the perfect metal detector. However, the greatest drawback for the VLF/TR is the LAWS OF PHYSICS.

All VLF/TR detectors use either a 2D or Concentric coil. 2D coils are best described as being the same size and D shaped, which overlap each other within the coil housing. Concentric means basically you have two coils, a small coil placed within a larger coil on the same plane. In both cases one coil acts as the transmit coil, the other the receiver.

Once current flows into the transmit coil an electro-magnetic field is set up. Once a target nears that field, induction takes place in which current starts to flow within the receiver circuitry.

This is why TRs are really Induction Balance metal detectors. The close proximity of the two coils within the coil housing, is the limiting factor or reason why VLFs will never achieve depth superiority over Pulse Induction. For the layman, imagine if you can a microphone, amplifier and loud speakers. The closer that microphone is to the speakers, the greater the chance of feedback occurring. This occurs as you increase power or gain in the amplifier.

The same thing occurs within the search coil of any VLF/TR metal detector, limiting depth capabilities. Also VLF/TR coils have what is known as a capacitance effect on a wet salt water beach simply because salt water itself acts as a conductor. P.I.s do not have this capacitance effect and the opposite occurs.

Because salt water is a conductor the magnetic field is greatly enhanced by this conductance. It is not unusual to hear P.I. users digging targets not in inches, but in feet. This might sound like a fisherman's tale, greatly exaggerated, but P.I. User's world-wide experience the same phenomenon that is great because you get added depth for free. It is also because of this reason, in air-tests with Pulse Induction detector's are no guide to follow but in most cases will exceed depths obtainable with VLF/TR machines.

There are many newcomers in the hobby now, together with older enthusiasts who know nothing about Pulse Induction, that I feel an explanation how it works is in order. Unlike VLF/TRs, the Pulse machine has only one coil, which acts as a transmitter and receiver but not at the same time. Electricity travels at the speed of light or 186,000,000 miles per second, as many of you already know.

Because of its speed electricity does things faster than the eye or even the human brain can imagine. Pulse induction is basically a single burst of current at sufficiently high voltages into the transmit coil to cause induction. Because higher voltages are used than conventional detectors a magnetic field two or three times stronger than a VLF/TR is developed. That charge builds up in the transmit coil and once the current is turned off gradually decays.

If by chance there happens to be a target in that field, that target will absorb some of the current expended from the transmit coil. The target having been excited by this burst of current will slowly lose its charge too. This is known as an eddy current. After that first initial burst or charge of electricity, the receiver section of the detector takes over looking for these eddy currents remaining in the ground.

When one is detected the signal is modified and a reaction takes place indicating the presence of a target. This description is of one pulse only, whereas in reality over 500 pulses occur every second. High pulse speeds used in present P.I. detectors are very sensitive and respond faster than old machines manufactured in the late 60s that used 100 pulses per second, pinpointing is easier too.

Because there is so much material being fed back to the detector on detection of a target, the technology to harness that information has not as yet been developed, for it might require a micro-computer to scrutinise and decode that data.

All metals have a different decay rate, which when shown on a chart is known as a decay curve. It is basically the direct result of this decay curve that such essential things as ground balancing and discrimination are possible on Pulse Induction metal detector's. the Goldscan is another of Eric Foster's developments, it was designed originally for Australia's goldfields because Pulse Induction is not affected by Salt, black sands or mineralization.

However the first prototype sent from England, had a blue plastic case and could not handle ironstone and red clay unique to Australia. Disturbed by the reports by field testing the Goldscan, Eric Foster decided to visit Australia in order to overcome the problem. During his visit, Eric collected about 200 pound's weight of highly mineralised specimens from Victoria and Western Australia which he shipped to the U.K. for continued research and development to produce a Machine that could handle Australia's unique mineralization and penetrate deeper than anything currently available in the marketplace.

The first Goldscan 2 was imported by Don Mahoney of Miner's Den and came with no instructions. Also if my memory serves me right, the controls were marked with strange words, such as Delay, Sample Speed, Decay speed and several other words I cant even remember. As a result everyone who field tested the unit, including myself could not understand the complex tuning involved.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
The Goldscan 2 has a grey all plastic control box with seven controls and reset button. Two straps, one that goes around the neck, and another that passes through a slot at the back of the control box and goes around the waist to prevent the control box from swinging when trying to dig a target. A 10" coil is standard and is ideal for the beach or alternatively in the goldfields.

A three section search rod with arm rest is supplied too. All nuts and bolts used to assemble the search rod and coil are made of nylon. When one thinks of it metal would be detected anyway. Special Bulgin connectors are used to connect the coil to the control box. The Goldscan 2 has a meter that is used to check state of batteries and also signal strength. Headphones are used for audio as no internal speaker is present, also to keep battery drain down.

CONTROLS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS.
There are seven controls, a meter and a standard headphone socket on the Goldscan 2. The controls are : SENSITIVITY, DISC, ZERO, G.CAN/DISC, THRESHOLD, FOIL REJECT, VOLUME and this is what they do. SENS. This control is a five position multi-function switch, the first position is OFF and is used to turn the unit on and off. Position B is used to check the state of the Batteries.

When fully charged, the meter will deflect fully to the right or number 10 on the dial. Batteries need recharging after 10 hours use, or when the needle drops back to the black line on the meter marked B. The next three positions refer to the sensitivity of the unit, Lo = Low, M = Med, and Hi which = High.

Although these controls are self explanatory, it can sometimes be helpful to reduce or increase sensitivity especially when trying to pinpoint targets. DISC. A four position multifunction switch is used to control ground cancelling and discrimination of the Goldscan.

Off means exactly what it states and set in this mode will detect all metals at extreme depths on neutral soil or on the beach. Position "All" is still in the all metal mode at extreme depth but is used for cancelling out the ironstone and red clay mineralization so common on the goldfields. The GCAN/ Disc control is used in conjunction with the ALL mode in the same manner as you would with a VLF resetting the meter by pressing the zero button after every adjustment.

Which if any of you old timer's thought about it, was exactly the same way you tuned your old 5000 Ds, A2Bs, or GS 15,000s. Don't forget to lift that coil up and down and reset after every adjustment or increase in GCan. SEL 1, is the first of two discrimination modes, There are two because Pulse Induction is completely different to VLFs and allows a greater range of discrimination.

The GCAN/DISC control is used in conjunction with SEL 1 and is used as a variable discriminator in the Normal manner. However you will have to be prepared to lose some good targets whilst rejecting iron. During field tests conducted in England, it was found that it was possible to recover Roman Bronze and Celtic coins whilst rejecting pre-decimal and some silver coins. Using SEL 1 in Australia, you might find $1.00 coins are rejected at some settings.

SEL 2 being the last position uses the GCAN/Disc control the same as SEL 1, but $1.00 coins can be found easier in this mode but with a slight loss of depth. ZERO This control really needs no explanation but is there to reset the needle on the meter to 0 after making any adjustments with any control. GCAN/DISC This control has been explained and is used in conjunction with the DISC control for ground cancelling and Discrimination.

AUDIO This control is used to set the threshold of the detector and has a + or - sign. The + plus sign increases the Geiger counter clicking sound, whilst the - minus decreases it. This control does not affect the Goldscans Pulse rate that is set at a constant 500 pulses per second. This slow click increases to a high pitched squeal whenever a target is located and varies in tone depending on the size and depth of the target.

Some individuals might prefer to have the detector work in a silent mode. This control does not affect sensitivity. FOIL REJECT This control is used to reject small pieces of foil, increasing the control will reject larger pieces. VOLUME. Used to set the volume in your headphones, I use mine at maximum insuring I get those deep targets other detector's cant detect. The headphone socket also acts as a recharging socket, Make sure the unit is turned off before plugging the recharger into the socket.

A 240 volt AC recharging unit comes supplied with the Goldscan as standard equipment. A normal charge of 14 hours will allow 10 hours use of the Goldscan in the field. It is not advisable to give the Goldscan booster charges as this could lead to the NiCad's developing a memory.

Should this happen you may only get several hours use out of the batteries. To overcome this, you must discharge the batteries by leaving the unit switched on, with headphones in plugged in to drive the audio amplifier until the batteries are very low but not flat as you may not be able to recharge one or more of the cells.

Then recharge the unit as normal. These batteries will last for years if carefully maintained and looked after. Because the Goldscan uses 12 C cell NiCad's, which although more expensive work out cheaper and more convenient in the long run. Also it would be rather expensive to use 12 Alkaline batteries "C" cells every time. NiCad's are employed to keep running costs down. It has a working voltage of 14 volts and under operating conditions has about an 0.2 Amp battery drain.

This is not compatible with the 12 volt systems used in cars, which means you cannot recharge the unit from your car battery. However, Dick Smith, puts out a Solar Panel that could be used for recharging Goldscans batteries anywhere that mains current is not available in Australia. 12 volt inverters could be used to get a 240 AC mains supply, but are five to six times more expensive than a $99.00 solar panel.

THE ULTIMATE BEACH MACHINE IN USE.
The Goldscans Unparalleled depth advantages, on wet salt saturated beaches. Furthermore, P.I.s are not affected by coil capacitance, salt water or Black mineralised sands so prevalent in certain area's of the beach. making the Goldscan completely untouchable and superior to any detector available in the marketplace as of this time. The Goldscan is without doubt the most sophisticated deepest seeking metal detector that has earned the undisputed right of being called the Ultimate Beach Machine, in the U.K. in 1992.

Several years earlier, detectorists in England realising the advantages of Pulse Induction started using the Goldscan to recover many of the gold rings lost by visitor's to the beach. In a short period of 3 years, one individual dedicated to recovering gold rings, actually recovered 830 gold rings and other jewellery items apart from coins and silver objects. This he was able to do, working weekends and his normal holidays.

Keeping detecting his hobby, not full time occupation. His only tool, a shovel to dig his targets, and an all important tide table. Which told him the best times to go searching for those valuable gold rings. Every day, we have two tides, 2 high tides and two low tides. He usually works two hours before and two hours after low tides.

This allows him to gain access to area's of beach normally covered by water in which people swim. Area's in which jewellery items have been lost and accumulating for hundreds of years. during 1992, this individual recovered no less than 130 gold rings to mention nothing of other articles in silver and cash. Owing to subsequent publicity in treasure hunting magazines, The Goldscan is now the fastest selling detector in the U.K. and Europe.

SO EASY, IT'S CHILD'S PLAY Don't be fooled by its awesome appearance, which you'd expect of a highly sophisticated electronic metal detector, for looks can be deceptive, and in reality is very easy to use. For a start Pulse Induction machines have no tuning, like VLF/TRs. Although it's not exactly plug the headphones in because there is no speaker, but it's a good place to start.

I am assuming you'll be using the Goldscan on the beach, as it is really untried and tested on the goldfields. I emphasise and stress that although I have ground balanced the Goldscan on the Goldfields in highly mineralised area's until someone finds gold with it, it is untried. Now, the first thing you will have to do, is to make sure every single control is in the off or minimum position.

Turn the Threshold Audio control to the minus side and stop when you get to about 9 O'clock. Swing the coil as far away to the right hand side of you, which would be the normal extremity you would normally use when searching, place the coil on the ground or wet sand.

Turn the SENS control first to B, a full deflection of the meter should occur, that is if you fully charged your detector following the instructions supplied. The batteries need recharging when the meter falls back through the black line zone to the position marked B. Next turn the same knob, two more positions until the marker meets the MED line, and press the red ZERO button.

Lift the coil off the sand and start searching, you will note, the absolute silence from the headphones. This is normal, and is used this way by all top beach-hunters in the U.K. Many individuals there are accustomed to using discriminator's. Consequently, first thing they do is to use the discriminator's and lose all the good stuff.

Australian's on the goldfields use detector's in all metal mode and dig a lot of trash, but at the same time get a lot of gold in the process. The same applies on the beach. The detector that will locate a small item such as a gold ring at five feet has not been invented yet. The Goldscan however will come pretty close and if you're lucky enough to have one, you will know that I have not exaggerated at all in this Test report.

Because the Goldscan is such a highly sensitive machine, you may find you are even picking up your spade as you swing the coil over to the left. You are advised to drag the spade behind you ensuring the blade is on it's edge and not laying flat. Used this way, you will note when you turn around how straight you are detecting by the track you leave behind you. It's also handy to see where you have already scanned too.

When working any beach, it can be worked two ways. Firstly, just detecting the water's edge, or secondly, by picking a likely area say 30 feet square and gridding it. Speed, is unimportant, you are more likely to get better results and dig more targets if you go about your detecting in a slow methodical manner.

A typical example of this was experienced when Bill Harris and myself invited the chairman of a detecting club to join us on a highly productive beach in Cornwall, U.K. This particular detectorist, attended and took part in rallies where the idea is to gather as many tokens in a given amount of time.

He is best described as being a bull in a china shop. Swinging the coil, madly and rapidly from left to right, also holding the coil a good three inches off the sand. Being quite tall, every step he took was in 3 foot bounds. As a result of his first days' efforts, he recovered nothing.

Now I am serious when I say if you want to find gold, tie your shoelaces together, but make sure your right foot can only go forward about eight inches at a time. It's only after you can shuffle along the beach detecting that you can even think of untying them. Work unhurried, get results, work fast and miss them. What your looking for is in fact a needle in a haystack. Determination, Patience and persistence pays off.

Having located a target, the next thing is to pinpoint it. Some targets can be a little bothersome, but if you lift the coil up higher you can usually locate the dead centre, which is the strongest point of the signal. Drop the coil, and as you remove the coil, your eyes might be fooling you, but you get the impression that you can see where the coil had been placed, a visual eddy current if you like. Then start digging, you'll know what I mean when I say deep, don't be surprised if you have to dig a hole exceeding 12 inches deep to get the target out of the hole.

DISCRIMINATION AND GROUND CONTROL.
As a guide only, I will mention how I used the Goldscan during a visit to the goldfields in Birdwood, South Australia and also at Talbot in Victoria. After turning the unit on, turn the DISC control to ALL. This is still an all metal mode but can cancel ground effects caused by Red Clay and Ironstone.

Using the G.Can/Disc control , increase the knob by turning to the right. At the same time raise and lower the coil resetting the zero button after every adjustment. I found ironstone cancelled out on a setting of 5 whilst red clay cancelled out at 4. On occasions, I would go over an area that would increase the Pulse rate, upon digging it was found that red clay was the culprit. After that experience, before digging a target I always checked to see if the target would cancel out with G. Can if it did it was only mineralization.

A true metallic target will give a high pitched whine not a slow tick over motor-boating sound. During tests made in the presence of Rod South from the South Australian Mines Department and Phil Sternes, owner of Gold Mining Centre in Adelaide. Phil cancelled out a piece of mineralised rock and detected a gold nugget placed under the piece of mineralised rock. Theoretically if the Goldscan is capable of doing this in his shop, then it should be able to do the same in the field. However, targets were located including a short .22 shell which was recovered at four inches.

The Gold has just got to be there to find it. I have decided to dispense with discrimination tests, because the Goldscan is so unlike any other detector. Also, as 2 discrimination modes are available it is best left to the individual to experiment for themselves. The manufacturer's claim however the Golsdcan can detect a 0.5 grams nugget in a matchbox filled with mineralised soil at the same time as ignoring a 2" nail placed in the box too.

Personally I never ever use discriminating metal detector's, most of the time I use a P.I. in the water, where you must dig every target if you want to find gold. The same applies to the guys on the goldfields, you must dig it to claim it's yours. The Goldscan 2 is no beginner's machine on the goldfields, but the beach is another matter. Pulse Induction has always been noted for its sensitivity to iron which has been partially overcome with the discriminator.

However, it will detect small pieces of wire as fine as the smallest fishhook. Many of these signals can be ignored with practice. Deep junk iron can be a problem, but the size of the target area being so big should indicate junk, if in doubt dig it up. If you have the patience to forget everything you have learnt about VLFs and learn to master the Goldscan you will find the deepest finds you have made with any discriminator.

The 11" coil supplied with the Goldscan is buoyant and unsuitable for use in the water. However a special 11" open search coil has just been added to the range which is fully submersible and is supplied as an accessory, for an additional fee. This coil allows the goldscan to be used in water as long as no water comes into contact with the control box. And allows the user access to where all the goodies are lost initially.
The manufacturer's have already built another detector that will even surpass the incredible Goldscan.

It's called the Super Scan and is not much bigger than the Goldscan, but because of the number of NiCad's used, is a bit heavier too. This machine works on 24 volts and has an additional 8 NiCad's. It is a more complex unit designed for professional treasure hunter's or archaeologists trying to locate pirate treasure chests for example.

It is also worth mentioning, that they are also the manufacturer's of the world famous Aqua-Pulse 1B that was used by Mel Fisher to recover treasure from the "Atocha" and is currently being used in Guam, by the South Australian treasure consortium working on the "Espirito Santo" Although, Eric Foster, might sell off his obsolete technology, you can bet your life, he replaces that technology with something more superior, that he keeps and markets himself. He is after all one of the Worlds leading authorities on Pulse Induction technology.

 

[Glenn-RI]

I'm not that familiar with the Minelab explorer 2. Is installing a different coil on the Minelab an option to obtain added depth? If so, that be a less expensive route to go.

 

[chipmonky]

Thanks for the info.
Have been researching beaches that have had gold coins recovered from them.
Its amazing how many there has been over the years.
Cornwall is not full of hammerd coins from the soil like the rest of the country so I think our riches lie
in the sands which I am going to dedicate my time to plus what ever else has been dropped by tourists
in the last 100 years or so.
I am defiantly thinking a waterproof Pi is the way to go now

 

[USMCLion]

I have a Whites Surf DF PI, I've only had it about a week and a half but I'll give you a discription of it so far.

It is a turn on and go machine and the factory setting work great. 3 nobs with pre-set markers make set up easy and there is no ground balancing, turn it on and go. You said you like to dig, that is a good thing because this thing finds everything. The first night out I dug a hairpin at 14 inches in dry sand. I have heard people say you can tell the difference between the beeps, as to what kind of item it is. That has not been my case. The anwser, dig everything. Like I said its easy and it finds everything, I like it. Found some gold on the 8th day of owning it.

The Bad, the coil floats. I fixed that by zipping a small sand bag on the end of th eshaft and its been working better.