Help Me Make A Decision...

[Smudge]

Ok folks, here's the situation:

I want a detector for the salt beaches here in Florida. I also plan to spend a lot of time in the surf and on the dry and wet sand. I will be hunting almost exclusively on the east coast of Florida.

I cut my chops using the Sand Shark so I know what I'm in for with pulse induction machines, especially in trashy areas. In my area, the iron/bobby pin/ twisted wire pieces makes up about 20% of my day's finds with the Sand Shark, so it wasn't a terrible ratio. Bottle caps are my biggest nemesis!

I sold the Sand Shark and am ready to buy a White's Dual Field, mostly because of the greater depth and the sensitivity to small gold. I'm not worried about the "neutral buoyancy" (read that: floating) coil at all. I have a way to work with that.

But I hesitate. There are a lot of folks out there who love their Excals, in spite of some reported malfunctions and a long history of terrible Minelab customer service (maybe that's starting to change?).

I realize I'm comparing apples to oranges, but neither of these detectors are cheap and while I imagine one day I'll own both, for now it has to be one or the other.

I know of the Excal's superior iron masking capabilities, but like I said, iron makes up only about 20% of my finds on any given day. I wish the Excal could do something about all those blasted bottle caps without knocking out all the other targets, but I know I ask too much.

I can't help but feel that the Dual Field might trump the Excal on depth and small gold sensitivity.

I'd really like to hear the thoughts of dedicated Excal and Dual Field users out there. There's a lot of people who post on this section who opinion I respect greatly.

If anyone thinks I'm ignoring another good beach detector, let me me know too!

I'm going to buy one or the other come Friday.

 

[gravediggermax-vabeachva]

u have answered your own question

" I know of the Excal's superior iron masking capabilities "

how deep to u want to dig........china?

how can u beat a machine that will find tiny studs and such at depth and sound like beer cans.....attached pic......see tiny stud holding back piece...........unbelievable what it will find..........so what will it do to any ring size target..........simple answer.
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[firstbiggestmost]

When I bought my Sand Shark(didn’t quite have the cash for the Duel Field), I went through my wife's jewelry box testing gold. I was so surprised at what I discovered testing small gold that I visited Bill Jackson's in St. Pete and Kellyco in Orlando to test the Duel Field on the gold pieces that the Sand Shark wouldn’t pick up. I was relieved to find out that the Duel field is not more sensitive to small gold than the Sand Shark.

The gold that the PI's could not pick up were easily detected by my VLF Whites classic II in air testing. Problem is that the Classic doesn’t work in the salt. Bottom line is (and you can test it for yourself) the Duel Field is not going to be a step up in small gold performance over the Sand Shark. The advantage will be extra depth on rings and larger size gold.

 

[Keppy]

To bad you can't wait a month to try out the Garrett AT Pro.

 

[Smudge]

Ok, so that's one vote for the Excal, one vote for the Sand Shark I apparently shouldn't have sold , and one vote for an as yet unreleased detector.

Gravediggermax, your point is well taken. I guess that Excal is more sensitive to small gold than I previously believed. This is why I posted the question.

Firstbiggestmost, I have no complaints with the Sand Shark. It is a great PI detector. Your post though does conflict with several reports (and not from novices like me) that the Dual Field is more sensitive to small gold. Air tests, especially on PI detectors, are notoriously inaccurate. I'm glad to hear your contrary opinion though. I guess even experts can disagree.

Keppy, as to the AT Pro, you know I'm looking forward to that detector, but the reports are strangely silent about its use in the salt beach surf. Yes, it may well perform well in the dry and wet sand, but there's still a big question mark about taking it into the salt water. I'd love to hear more about that if anyone here knows.

Thanks for your replies guys. All this helps!

 

[birdman]

The excal is amazing! I hunted for 10 hours this weekend and dug 0 iron. This machine is all that and a bag of chips! Since I have had it I have pulled gold with iron in the same hole. It is a bit heavy but a hip mount saves the day.

 

[CAPTBEACH]

I am very interested in this topic...I live here at VB VA and have read every thread GDM has posted and watched a video of him too...he is the MASTER...LOL...but seriously...if a guy wanted to start beach hunting and didn't want to break the piggy bank what would he start with? Are there any decent machines in the $250-500 range new or used that would get a guys "feet wet" and put a little shine in his pouch? Seems like the consensus is Excalibers and a couple of Whites...

Seems like I'm coming up short of my budget...

I've looked local and out to 275 miles on Craigslist and come up with this...

http://norfolk.craigslist.org/ele/1977267325.html

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/ele/1983851437.html

http://norfolk.craigslist.org/ele/1978592674.html

http://wilmington.craigslist.org/for/1976506338.html

http://cnj.craigslist.org/ele/1947064011.html

Comments?

 

[Jack Straw]

the guy on craigslist in new jersey originally put that excal up for $850 now he has it up to $950. guess he got alot of response at $850 and got greedy.......

 

[seeker41]

http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,7356
lots of good info here!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bigscoop]

Smudge, I'm in the same boat, moving down your way to the east coast on about a month and I can't decide which new detector I want to count on? Lately I've even been considering an infinium. So I'll be following this thread with the same interest.

 

[birdman]

Used CZ 20. I have seen older ones go for around 400.

 

[Silver Surfer]

All I can say is that I love the Dual Field.... I already paid for it through finds.. BUT.... I get lazy and use the Excal to save on some diggin.. But when I feel I need the depth, I wont hesitate to put er back in action...

 

[KEYSHUNTER]

i almost bought an excal....i may if it was the right price,knowing the WHITES PI that i use does not sit in the mail for turn around ,yada yada..thats right ..i may dig 125 bottle caps but it never fails to find something special,all so deep

 

[Smudge]

Part of my hesitation with the Excal is that I owned a Sovereign GT and didn't like it.

Perfomance wasn't the big problem, I know its a quality detector. it was more the design that I didn't like.

But I know the Excal is very different from the Sov in a lot of ways.

I guess I'm also spooked about Minelab's quality control problems with the Excal right now.

It just seems if you pay that much for a detector, you ought not to be worried about the kind of things that, well, I worry about with Minelab right now.

Am I making a mountain out of a molehill?

 

[S.S.Tupperware]

I love my DF, I have used an Excall, they were ok, but I wouldn't buy one just due their service record. I don't have much of a problem, but there are differences that let ya kinda know what your diggin...

 

[Smudge]

I want to thank everybody for their advice and input.

I have done a lot of research on this topic as well and I know this is a decision I need to make by myself, but more seasoned opinions are always appreciated.

I guess it finally comes to this wrestling point: Do I want to discriminate out iron and bobby pins (if so, get an Excal, CZ-21, or BHID) or do I not want to run the risk of not digging a really good target and maybe get a little extra depth in the process (in which case I'd buy a PI detector).

Whichever I buy, I know for certain I'll be digging those $&@X* bottlecaps. which get more boring than bobby pins!

 

[Tony in FL]

Whichever I buy, I know for certain I'll be digging those $&@X* bottlecaps. which get more boring than bobby pins!

Actually with Excalibur I often bypass digging bottle caps. With a little practice it is fairly easy to learn to discriminate them out with your ears. The range of sounds Excalibur produces is amazing.

I have not used a Sovereign but on paper it appears VERY similar to Excalibur i.e. using the same BBS technology and having many of the same features. While the Excalibur is waterproof the Sovereign has some additional whistles and bells such as manual ground balance, notch discrimination, and the availability of a digital meter. If you really did not like the Sovereign then I am not sure you will like the Excalibur. Of course perhaps after finding lots of goodies with the Excalibur you may change you mind. Either way good luck with your choice!

 

[Silver Surfer]

Yes, many times I can tell a bottlecap with it's "waaaaah waaaah" tone, but there are a few exceptions to that.... Corona caps, Bud Light caps, and Heineken caps, very often produce a really sweet low tone... Sometimes deep, corroded caps also give a slightly broken, but nice, low tone too...
The only way you will get past digging a LOT of caps is if you want to spend the $$ on an Aquasound... And even then, you can only detect beaches with low, or no, mineralization..
I just wish they could make the PI Dual with multi-tones, then it would be the only detector I would need...

 

[artyfacts]

I spoke to Garrett's through emails and asked what settings would you use in neck deep salt water with the AT PRO? I hope the sensitivity setting is still partial to the lower numbers, (gold). I would like a discriminating machine for those rainy days even so. Arty
First response,

Emailed Garrett, This is there response,


Hello Art,

The AT Pro is a VLF detector so it is not designed specifically for saltwater operation like a Pulse Induction detector is. However it works very well on the wet beach and in the salt water when it is adjusted accordingly. It will work better than most other VLF detectors because of the DD coil and the ability to ground balance to saltwater.

The AT Pro is going to be a detector that you can used in just about any environment. I can’t wait until I can get one myself.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns

Brad Keel

Customer Service - Tech Support

Garrett Metal Detectors

Second response.

Hello Arty,

If you are going to use the AT Pro in salt water about neck deep. You will just need to make sure you adjust your sensitivity accordingly and also if needed you will need to ground balance the detector to the salt in the saltwater.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks, Brad Keel

 

[47thelement]

Smudge

As mentioned by earlier posters, when using the excal, you will be able to hear the difference between bottle caps and gold. Bottle caps and pulltabs have broken and irrritating sound. Gold has a sweeter, pleasant sound.

I suspect a talented hunter such as yourself should be able to decipher these tones quickly and dig less than 50 bottle caps,