Please help me decide on a metal detector!

[chaselarkin123]

Hello everyone,

I am completely new to the beach metal detecting world. I have met some cool people that hunt for treasure in Florida(where I live), so I decided that I am going to purchase a PI metal detector tomorrow before my first metal detecting outing this weekend. They are avid divers and treasure salvagers, and use aquapulse aqb1 units. I had originally debated going all out and also purchasing since this is going to be a lifelong hobby for me. After reading some information from forum members, it sounds as if the aqb1 is not as adequate for smaller targets or lower karat rings(commonly found from 1715 fleet). They mentioned that the higher (delay?)wont pick up lower karat and smaller items, but will detect larger and deeper objects. Can anyone confirm or deny this allegations? After reading this I'm wondering if I should just buy a entry level such as the Tesoro Sand Shark, since I will be searching wet sand and surf in florida 75% of the time and diving with it mayne 25%. Is anyone familiar with the specific units that work best with the specific mineralization of south florida waters? Thank you and any advice would be great as I am completely new and I'm only basing this off of what I've read. Thank you!!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[mnruxpin]

i guess i dont think of the sand shark as entry level, pretty good from what ive seen on here. im sure some fl people will have good info for you. welcome to the hobby. fill in your holes and dont leave a mess

 

[G.I.B.]

[h=1]Minelab CTX 3030[/h]
You won't be happy with anything less. Just go for it.

 

[MrMikeJackie]

Whites Surfmaster Dual Field PI. GL HH Mike

 

[chaselarkin123]

Haha thanks. The minelab unfortunately is not waterproof past 10 feet which would be a problem if i wanted to dive with it. MrMikeJackie, so the dual field by whites is superior in your opinion to the sand shark? I had heard a couple complaints about having the open the whites unit to adjust controls as well as leakage issues. Have you had any of these problems? Thank you very much for your replies!

 

[MrMikeJackie]

Haha thanks. The minelab unfortunately is not waterproof past 10 feet which would be a problem if i wanted to dive with it. MrMikeJackie, so the dual field by whites is superior in your opinion to the sand shark? I had heard a couple complaints about having the open the whites unit to adjust controls as well as leakage issues. Have you had any of these problems? Thank you very much for your replies!

No issues since whites switched to the orange gaskets. It's a great machine. You will never hear me say one machine is better than another. I will say the Dual Field likes small gold and goes deeper than I liked at times. With enough experience you will even be able to distinguish some iron targets.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Hello everyone,

I am completely new to the beach metal detecting world. I have met some cool people that hunt for treasure in Florida(where I live), so I decided that I am going to purchase a PI metal detector tomorrow before my first metal detecting outing this weekend. They are avid divers and treasure salvagers, and use aquapulse aqb1 units. I had originally debated going all out and also purchasing since this is going to be a lifelong hobby for me. After reading some information from forum members, it sounds as if the aqb1 is not as adequate for smaller targets or lower karat rings(commonly found from 1715 fleet). They mentioned that the higher (delay?)wont pick up lower karat and smaller items, but will detect larger and deeper objects. Can anyone confirm or deny this allegations? After reading this I'm wondering if I should just buy a entry level such as the Tesoro Sand Shark, since I will be searching wet sand and surf in florida 75% of the time and diving with it mayne 25%. Is anyone familiar with the specific units that work best with the specific mineralization of south florida waters? Thank you and any advice would be great as I am completely new and I'm only basing this off of what I've read. Thank you!!

Sent you pm.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Chase, have you ever used a PI? There are a lot of tiny pieces of iron on beaches in South Florida.....

 

[chaselarkin123]

I have never used a PI before, nor have I metal detected the beaches in florida. I am completely new to this, but want to buy a detector I wont grow out of too quickly.

 

[Boatlode]

How much digging do you like to do? If you're lazy, the Sand Shark is not for you. It finds everything, but you have to dig everything. Some people don't like digging a 2 foot deep hole in the sand to find a nail.

 

[chaselarkin123]

I would prefer to be able to discriminate if possible. I'm getting the feeling that a PI might not be as useful in florida. I am now leaning toward the excal II. It sounds like its a great machine with the ability to discriminate pesky iron. Any thoughts?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I would prefer to be able to discriminate if possible. I'm getting the feeling that a PI might not be as useful in florida. I am now leaning toward the excal II. It sounds like its a great machine with the ability to discriminate pesky iron. Any thoughts?

You would love the excal, it tells you when it is iron and will tell you when there is gold by the iron........ If you get one, call me, we can meet up for a beach hunt and I will give you a test drive on yours, answer any questions you got, show you how to set it up and how it works. I'm always up for a beach hunt...[emoji106]

 

[chaselarkin123]

Absolutely! Thanks again for your help, and I'll be giving you a call tomorrow!

 

[CASPER-2]

And I'll say it once again ...I hunt with CZ21 in all metal and hunted with no less than a dozen guys up here and down in Fla. ...veterans and many that are known here .. and I get stuff behind next to and all around guys using Excals and other machines that use discriminators - I get gold many times under iron that others passed up - ive cleaned out troughs full of pulltabs and came up with gold under them - if you aren't trying to get it all - good and bad - then you'll never know if you got it all - granted I would agree with most that a PI is not fun in overly iron infested areas - but Ive hit some spots with one - once again after others with every brand out there have hit and said they cleaned out - and came away with a large haul of gold - one beach I got around 50 old golds from that others had given up on (except for fresh drops in season) - in the last 3 yrs Ive gotten over 70 gold (and like 90% were old gold) on the Cape
from spots that have been pounded over the yrs and I live 2 1/2 hrs from those spots - imagine what Id do if I live there - and a lot of those are excel users
- if youre happy with it - that's all that matters
if you plan on peppering a certain few beaches in your area - then go with the PI and just take out everything - if you have old iron - the more you go - and more you take it out - eventually you will get less and less of it and you'll only have to worry about the new junk - if you are lucky and get on to some gold with it and hopefully you can buy an excal or other machine to take to other spots or on trips where a Pi may not be as fun to use
thing is there are pros out there that kill it with Excals - ones with Tesoros, Garretts,,Whites with Fishers etc. and can all show you piles of treasure with their machine - they are all made to find metal - and I believe that if you put any machine in my hand - and I learn to use it - every thing Ive found with machines I used over the yrs - I would find with another machine too
that is the question I have to ask most that keep buying every new machine that comes out - I have literally met 100s the last few yrs that have the 3030 and a few of the other new machines - that were previously old excel users and swore that those machines were the best in the world and now their new machines are the best in the world but Ive asked many that have found a real nice find or awesome multi ring hunt that they attributed to their new machine
"so do you think you would not have found with your older machine.." and most have said "well ...I guess I would have.." If you think you only got a foot with an older machine and your new one is going down 2 feet - then that's great ---but I see guys going to beach like this past winter where a storm tore the beach down to the rocks - took off 2-3 feet of sand and they hit with a 3030 or other new machine and then brag that it was cause of the machine they killed it
think some are fooling them selves - many will post "My Excal came thru again..." or "My CZ21 came thru again..." or whatever machine - I don't believe that
I believe YOU came thru again - I still believe its the man/woman + machine + timing and yes many times luck that = the treasures
you take one of those items out of the equation and many times your not gonna have a good day
continued good luck to all with what ever machine you use

You would love the excal, it tells you when it is iron and will tell you when there is gold by the iron........ If you get one, call me, we can meet up for a beach hunt and I will give you a test drive on yours, answer any questions you got, show you how to set it up and how it works. I'm always up for a beach hunt...[emoji106]

 

[CASPER-2]

I will PM you link to some articles I wrote that might help - in them you may see me with one machine or another in pic - but I don't like telling anyone to get what I got - cause if you don't like it - then you will blame me for telling you to get it
I know some like what I use - know others that use them and moved on - I know many that used them wrong and that's why they failed with them
I think your choice is a personal one and I always try to recommend that you try and test a few - just like you would buying a car and see what you might feel comfortable with - some dealers will have test models - some members here are great people and will let you try one of theirs if you were to hook up
good luck in whatever you choose

 

[Sandman]

You would love the Excel II as it will null on iron and still sound off on gold under the iron. Treasure Hunter is right. I have also dove with the CZ-20/21, Sand Shark, and Excel. None of them ever leaked even past 100 feet. The Sand Shark is not entry level by any means, but I now would get worn out digging to China for a bread Wrapper. Casper also has a lot of experience detecting and his articles are informative.

 

[Sandman]

You would love the Excel II as it will null on iron and still sound off on gold under the iron. Treasure Hunter is right. I have also dove with the CZ-20/21, Sand Shark, and Excel. None of them ever leaked even past 100 feet. The Sand Shark is not entry level by any means, but I now would get worn out digging to China for a bread Wrapper. Casper also has a lot of experience detecting and his articles are informative. You may also find this useful. The Golden Olde

 

[frogmaster-riviera]

[h=1]Minelab CTX 3030[/h]
You won't be happy with anything less. Just go for it.

Q: Just had my driving licence, Help me to decide for a new car please

A: Ferrari 458 Italia convertible, you won't be happy with anything less. Just go for it.....

 

[CASPER-2]

I will give one example - though I have many - (I do mention this in one of my stories) -
at South Bch Miami - out from one of the lifeguard stands maybe about 15-20 yrds - for yrs there was a large piece of cast iron
many guys that were local hunters knew about this piece - but no one ever wanted to take it out
guys would ask me if I got the large blast out in that spot and some would say "I was getting a lot of quarters..." or whatever near
the man hole cover - so it was a point of reference for some . I myself on one of my first trips down there - had gone over it a few times
one trip I hit it - I decided to just get rid of it if it was not to big . I dug down and pulled it out - threw it up on shore. I went back to the spot and
gave it a quick check - and got a faint signal. dug down a few scoops and came up with one of the heaviest 18k gold rings Ive found - I got to wonder how many had passed it by . I know a bunch of guys and have a few friends that use Excals down there and that went over that iron - and they did not read the gold under it. On another trip down there - I hit in the shallow trough (which I usually don't because so much trash gathers in it) just within a few feet from shore at low tide - I was right it was loaded. I saw 2 guys working it together farther north of me. I went out in deeper water but it was sanded in - eventually I caught up to them and decided to turn and head back but work the area they did - I was getting tons of pulltabs and some newer bottle caps - they had been cranking their discrim. to plow threw the trash . I was going to be there all day - I had a room right on the strip - so had to make the best of it
I was pretty much just getting zincs they left behind. I decided to just clean out as much junk as I could and in all metal just starting pulling everything out
had about 40 pulltabs and a dozen caps along with some other junk - in one spot after pulling a bunch out rechecked and got a few greenies down deep under the junk - so I would clean out a 5 foot by 5 foot spot and then recheck and started getting faint signals down real deep - most were greenies - some were caked older caps - one of the spots I cleaned out I got a faint signal and pulled a nice 1/3 carat diamond ring from - they both were using Excals and who knows how many others passed that target and the other deep greenies from there. Ive got many other stories similar of finding silver and gold deep under or with iron and aluminum and places that were rumored to be cleaned out and they pretty much were except for what I found under junk.
Don't want people to get wrong idea - my machine is not better - Im not saying that Im better
what Im saying is they may have used to much discrim. - they may have got the large junk hit and could not pck up the good under the bad because of their settings - thing is with a PI or hunting in all metal - if you dig it all - you hopefully will get it all
in my cases - digging it all - Ive gotten a lot of deep gold that was missed or masked because of hunting in all metal or using a PI
and it was worth it

You would love the Excel II as it will null on iron and still sound off on gold under the iron. Treasure Hunter is right. I have also dove with the CZ-20/21, Sand Shark, and Excel. None of them ever leaked even past 100 feet. The Sand Shark is not entry level by any means, but I now would get worn out digging to China for a bread Wrapper. Casper also has a lot of experience detecting and his articles are informative. You may also find this useful. The Golden Olde

 

[frogmaster-riviera]

Casper I totally agree with you.

On land, when I am detecting on roman sites, poteries are behaving like iron, you just can't detect what is under or just next to it. It sound siron and you hav eto digg it first and check if there is nothing around.

Some detectors might help you a bit to ditinguish some targets next to iron or poteries, but it is amarginal help, 95% of the time tou need to clear the rubbish to be sure...