Underwater detectors

[Yarrder]

Hi. I've been reading this forum for some time now, and as I'm seriously considering buying a UW MD I'd like to hear some things I still haven't found out.

On the other topic someone pointed out, that few MD's find gold chains. I noticed that myself, my Garret Ace 250 definitely didn't pick those up. Getting an UW detector costs a lot anyway, so I'd like to get one that picks up gold chains too. Some said that Tiger Shark or Sand Shark would be the one to go, but what about Garrett Sea hunter MKII or Infinium LS? In fact, I haven't seen anyone here having those, recommending those or pointing out if they pick up gold (chains) or not. Still bot of them are more expensive than either of Sharks, so what's the deal with Garrett UW detectors? Can you go wrong with getting one? I think I can't get Tesoro detectors here, so if they are somehow way better, I'd have to get one abroad. White's Surfmaster pi Pro is also available, but that wasn't good with gold chains, or was it?

And sorry about my bad English

 

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[COTTON]

I had a friend that had the sand shark an he said it does pickup chains, Don't know about the others,I use only the excall, they say it will not pick up chains,I hope they keep on saying that, I have a lot of chains thanks to my Excall. ..................Cotton

 

[davest]

I have the mkII but am still on the learning curve. It's a PI machine and for some reason I've found more broken crab trap pieces than jewelery, although I did find a silver ring in dry sand with it. I've also found a bunch of hoop earrings in the water with it, but no gold rings or chains. I chalk that up to not swinging the coil over them. Last week it took 8 scoops to finally pull up a hot wheels car (toy) but pull it up, I did. The mkII does have a discreet trash elimination mode, but I dig everything when I'm in the water, you can't believe how many destroyed aluminum cans are out there Am I gonna continue to use it..........................you better believe it, in fact in 30 minutes I'll be on the beach and into the surf.

 

[Keppy]

I had a friend that had the sand shark an he said it does pickup chains, Don't know about the others,I use only the excall, they say it will not pick up chains,I hope they keep on saying that, I have a lot of chains thanks to my Excall. ..................Cotton

I don't know about that i really don't think so..I am saying that the Excalibur will not pick up chains..........The sand Shark & tiger shark i never used one.But heard that it could pick up small chains.....I ..........

 

[Dixie Digger]

of all the many detectors iv had...the Tiger Shark was the only one to pick up Gold Chains if it had Tone ID and worked better in salt water id buy 3 of them! and sell my Excal.

 

[midnightmoon]

Yarrder,
Just like you, I am trying to pick a water machine. At the beach, my ACE 250 cannot detect anything deeper than 4". I find clad, bottle caps, fish hooks, and a lot of nails. In 8 months, I have not found a single piece of jewelry, not even an earring nut!
I, too, am wondering about the Garrett water detectors...why no one here seems to own one!

 

[Sandman]

The Garrett water detectors, the Mark II and Infinium LS are PI detectors and many use them as do the guys that use the Whites PI Pro. I have not found these to be good on small gold chains unless they had a larger clasp, pendant, or cross. If the links are flat you have a better chance of picking them up. The Tiger Shark is good on even the small thin chains, but it also can sound off good on lead birdshot. If you play around digging the tiny scratchy sounds most detectors make on chains, you waste a lot of time not swinging for the larger sounds of gold rings. Most small chains have very little weight and are broken too.

I have two Excals and one will find earring backs and chains while the other one is very iffy on chains of the same kind for some reason. The addition of a pendant on the chain increases any detectors ability to respond to a chain. Then again you need to be careful in scooping so as to not cut it in half.

You can't go wrong with either of the Garretts. If you have the cash, spring for the Infinium LS as the better of the two by a long shot.

 

[midnightmoon]

Sandman...

I have a Sand question...
Is black sand at every beach, just really extreme in some places?

I am in S. Cali, and after a day of digging through so much beige-to-black stripped sand, I'm hungering for a piece of marble cake!
Yarrder doesn't say where he lives/detects. Would the amount of black sand cause you to choose a Garrett over a Minelab...or vice-versa?

 

[Sandman]

You need to understand black sand http://www.arizonagoldprospectors.com/blacksand.htm

In some places it is heavier than others. This is why some detectors get unstable in the wet saltwater sand mixed with black sand. The Minelabs handle the minerization better because of being able to choose a better frequency and the DD coil. PI's like the Mark II and Infinium by Garrett do even better, but because of the PI circuit they love longer iron things, like hairpins. Whites PI's are in the same boat. I've seen places where you'd swear you were trying to find a dime on a car hood.

 

[El_Bandido]

Gold chains are so diverse in the way that they are made that you are not going to find a machine that finds all gold chains. Add to that the way that they end up laying when they are dropped in the sand and you have too many variables to say that a particular machine will find a gold chain. I believe that they all will find a gold chain but here is why you can't rely on most machines to do that repeatedly.

A small fine gold chain balled up in a wad near the surface will register on most machines if they are set to a reasonable low discrimination. Take that same chain and lay it out flat in a line two inches deep, and you have probably eliminated most machines if not all from finding it.

A large chain with heavy links balled up in a wad would be found by most machines at a respectable depth if the discrimination is set to a reasonable level. Lay that heavy chain out flat and bury it about 6 to 8 inches and you have probably again eliminated most machines from finding it.

PI machines and VLF machines will all pick up small gold rings, small earrings, stud earring, etc. Fine gold necklaces really in the grander scheme of things are not worth a ton of money anyway and the likelihood that you would find enough of them to make a difference in your total outcome would be remote.

The operator of the detector is a huge wild card in this mix also. Watch other people when they are hunting and you will see what I mean. Very few hunters take their time and very few have good control of coil discipline, etc. You will see water hunters and land hunters flying along with the coil going so fast it is a blur. You will also see hunters with the coil at least 6 to 8 inches above the surface strolling along getting their exercise too. You would have to assume that every person you are seeing post here is using good technique m
most of the time that they are hunting to come to any conclusion about buying a machine based on their posts. Most people here are better hunters than me or your average hunter but still, they will admit that they have lapses in technique and consentration.

I would say that you should just figure out what is important in what you want in a machines features, operation, accessories, reliability, etc. Also make sure you go with a company that has great customer service and you will be happy. You clearly can't find everything and you shouldn't expect to. Get you a good machine and one you can live with given the features you are looking for and go water hunting. You will find plenty of gold if you are good disciplined hunter with a good machine.

 

[Yarrder]

El_Bandido, you've got a point, but still, people who have used those MD's, even with worse than great technique, can provide broader information than if I only read what manufacturer tells about the product. Now, I know that in the end it doesn't matter if I find a couple of thin gold chains or not, but the thought just crossed my mind

The more important thing was to figure out if Tesoro's UW detectors were somehow superior to Garrett's, because seriously, every time someone asks which one to get for surf and sand, people are pointing to Sand or Tiger Shark, and never to Garrett SH Mark II, and I began to wonder why is that. I live in Scandinavia, and as I said there are mainly Garrett's and White's detectors available in my area. Water hunting season (at least without a dry suit) would be approx. 1-3 months a year, so I have to think trough how much I'll be willing to put in the detector.

 

[midnightmoon]

You need to understand black sand http://www.arizonagoldprospectors.com/blacksand.htm

Lots of great info there, I bookmarked it ... that site is a treasure in itself!

And

Yarrder -- just 1-3 months of hunting ... I don't know what I'd do! ... probably keep my fingers crossed that I'd find a shipwreck before frostbite sets in.

 

[stevemc]

I have a Whites surfmaster PI, and prior to it getting tuned faster by Mr Bill, I got a Whites PI Pro. I did a side by side test on dry land(PIs work better in salt water and salt water sand than in the air) with a thin broken gold ring, and a thin (very thin) gold chain braclet. The regular PI because of its slower pulse rate could not find either, but the PI pro did find both, but still at not much of a distance, but this was because of the faster pulse, which picks up better the gold alloy, which is like stainless steel. I had my regular PI tuned faster, and it is basicly the same as the PI Pro now. I dont know if Mr Bill can do his stuff on Garretts, but they are better as just diving PIs, as they dont pick up gold jewelry as well as a fast pulse PI. At my metal detecting club years ago, we also did a test with a whole bunch of water detectors. I had a Tesoro Stingray for a while and also brought that. It would pick up small gold chains and even a very small piece of foil. It wasnt good in salt, and wouldnt detect deep either. One PI that was good way back then, I guess that was 10-12 years ago, was a Fisher PI. For some reason it would pick up a thin gold chain, and others wouldnt. Maybe it was faster than the Whites or worked better than a Minelab excal. PIs go real deep. Most others dont go 1/4 as deep.

 

[DaChief]

My dad hunts with a Garrett Infinium. I have talked to him about it. He seems to like it alot. He also talks about others. We both own Tesoro Land Machines too. Tesoro and Garrett probably have the best customer service departments that there are. That is important. I know that most of the big time treasure hunters like Mel Fisher and others of his level used Garrett Machines and you will see Garrett on most of the serious dive boats where Spanish Gold is being sought after.

Check out stories about them and you should find that is what they use.

Good luck on your choice. The good thing is that if you choose a good quality machine and end up not liking it, you can usually get most of your money back out of it if you sell it to buy another. Just take good care of it.

 

[Yarrder]

Yarrder -- just 1-3 months of hunting ... I don't know what I'd do! ... probably keep my fingers crossed that I'd find a shipwreck before frostbite sets in.

Yeah, well that's when it gets to the water detecting. I don't know what temperature you guys require to go there waist deep or snorkeling, but as I don't yet have even a wet suit, i don't even go swimming if it isn't 68F° at least. And here it's not that long of a period of summer that the water is this warm. I'm learning to snorkel for next summer, as it might be I'm not buying the new MD this summer. On the land you can of course detect all you want but on the winter the ground is frozen at least 3-4 months.

But well, I was thinking of getting an Mark II in the first place and might be I still get it and see if it's the right for me I hope it will pay, cause MDing is quite a new thing around here, not that many people doing it, and nearly everyone is a beginner with a cheap land detector, so all the beaches should be untouched, when it comes to the water. Hope to be the first to hit 'em!