Beach detecting help

cinematick · Aug 4, 2017

I recently moved to Florida and it seems detecting on the beach is a bit more tricker then I thought. I have a Garrett AT pro and when I detect by the water my detector always goes off. When I dig about 8-10 inches down I get to... surprise surprise, the water. What am I doing wrong and what settings should I use?

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pa-dirt_nc-sand · Aug 4, 2017

Lower the sensitivity down to a point you can still hunt without too many false signals or move to drier sand. Every beach is different.

cinematick · Aug 4, 2017

pa-dirt_nc-sand said:
Lower the sensitivity down to a point you can still hunt without too many false signals or move to drier sand. Every beach is different.

Thank you. I will try that

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s.c.shooter · Aug 4, 2017

Agree with Pa. Also might want to try manually ground balancing. It should be more stable in the dry sand. Good luck !

CASPER-2 · Aug 5, 2017

ask here - you'll get more help
Beach and Shallow Water

The_Piratess · Aug 5, 2017

CASPER-2 said:
ask here - you'll get more help
Beach and Shallow Water

You sure will! I did and I did!!! :icon_thumright:

cinematick · Aug 5, 2017

s.c.shooter said:
Agree with Pa. Also might want to try manually ground balancing. It should be more stable in the dry sand. Good luck !

Thank you, I understand the dry sands are easier, but I find more by the water. That's why I was asking for help in that area. I will try the manual ground balancing.

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dts52 · Aug 5, 2017

I'm no expert by a long shot, more of a noob. I also am not in a position to upgrade to a PI machine for beach hunting, so I'm stuck with my AT Pro. My advice is to either hunt the dry sand or get into the water. Hunting that section of the saltwater beach where the water is just a few inches under the surface, even as deep as 8" is going to give you constant false hits at the water table... very annoying. If you have to hunt that strip in between, turn the sensitivity WAY down and hope for something relatively close to the surface. Good luck.
HH
dts

redcobra8u · Aug 5, 2017

The ATP and salt water is not the ideal combination. That machine is not made to hunt salt water

cinematick · Aug 5, 2017

Can you give me a recommendation on a good detector for that type of area?

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Treasure_Hunter · Aug 5, 2017

cinematick said:
Can you give me a recommendation on a good detector for that type of area?

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You need a multifreq detector or pulse detector to work our salt beaches. Best salt water detector for Florida beaches is the Minelab Excalibur or Minelab CTX 3030.

cinematick · Aug 5, 2017

Awesome! Thank you.

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cinematick · Aug 5, 2017

Follow up question. Is the minelab Excalibur just as good in parks? Or should I keep my at pro?

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tcornel · Aug 5, 2017

The excalibur would be considered a water machine. It would be a good compliment to the ATP which is a good machine on land or fresh water. The CTX handles both.

By the time you are done buying an excal you might as well sell off the ATP and use the $ along with the excal to buy a ctx with warranty left. Be prepared for a learning curve though.

cinematick · Aug 5, 2017

Just making sure I understand you correctly...you recommend I should just save and get the CtX and there will be no need for the other 2?

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redcobra8u · Aug 5, 2017

cinematick said:
Just making sure I understand you correctly...you recommend I should just save and get the CtX and there will be no need for the other 2?

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I own all three, ATP, Excal, and recently bought the CTX. I have years on the first 2 machines and couple months on the CTX. The excal is far easier to learn vs the CTX. The CTX offers more versatility (beach & dirt) vs the excal. I guess to answer your question, it depends on what type of hunting you are going to do and if money is no object. I hunt primarily the beaches and money isn't an issue for me (thanks to the excal finds lol).

If you have budget concerns, keep the ATP as it's an awesome dry sand and dirt machine. No question. Save $1000 vs the CTX and get the excal and use it on the beach. With the 17 in coil, you'll need a harness to help with the weight and they are not cheap. Excal is much lighter.

Hope this helps.

GibH · Aug 5, 2017

cinematick said:
Can you give me a recommendation on a good detector for that type of area?

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Are you actually going into the water? If you just want to hunt the wet sand, a Minelab Sovereign, Explorer, or Safari would work well. Also a used Whites DFX, or Fischer CZ series would be a fairly cheap option. If you are going into the water, then look at the options mentioned, as well as a CZ-20/21.

cudamark · Aug 5, 2017

cinematick said:
Just making sure I understand you correctly...you recommend I should just save and get the CtX and there will be no need for the other 2?

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Unless you plan on going deeper than 10' in the water, that is correct. The only downside the having just the CTX is not having a backup machine in case it needs to go in for repairs.

Corey Shadler · Aug 5, 2017

I had the same problem in Cape Cod with my At Pro. Very frustrating. I had to lower my sensitivity and manually ground balance until the noise was gone. I think I'm going to save up for a duel frequency machine for salt water beach hunting for my next vacation there. Good Luck.

tcornel · Aug 5, 2017

You will spend 1000 or so on a used excal, more if new. Your ATP probably brings 450 or so used. You can buy a used CTX with a couple years of warranty for 1500 to 1600.

The ATP is salt water only goes maybe 5" deep (in Myrtle Beach anyways). If you are hunting the beach you do not want to restrict yourself to just one sand condition. The ctx automatically adjusts for differing conditions and will allow you to move from dry to high tide wet to surf easily. Buy the 17" coil and it is a killer setup. Many hunters now use the ctx as primary and the excal as backup or if they are going diving. As far as the 17" coil weighing too much a 29 dollar detecting buddy takes care of that nicely. You do not need the Minelab harness.

I sold off my ATP when I went over a spot in wet sand with no signal and another detectorist went over it, stopped and dug a gold toe ring at 11". A single frequency machine is not designed for salt water environments.