how much depth and stability for a CZ21 in salt water?

[The-Bone]

What kind of depth can i expect on the CZ with a 10" coil in the saltwater surf(specifically NJ beaches)? Also how stable is the unit, how high can i run the gain and how often will i need to ground balance it? I know this is a lot of but i'm on the fence here about this and an Excal..i really like the silent search feature on this unit but would like an auto ground balancing unit and a double D coil..i always want something that doesn't exist!!!!
Thanks
TB

 

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[Sandman]

It is hard to compare the two as they work differently. I like my CZ because it has manual GB and I know it is right for the area I am hunting. Conditions can change within a few feet and I never trust Auto GB. Fisher used to advertise the 1280 had auto GB when they meant it was factory set. They called that Auto. The CZ has 3 tones to the Excls sounding like a strangled duck. With the Excal you don't really need to learn the tones, as if it made any change in tone you scooped it as it wasn't iron unless it was big... The Fisher has an overload tone for surface or large targets. It really wakes you up! I thought the Excal was deeper till I dug a white gold ring from near 16 inches and it didn't fall from the side of the hole. I prefer to hunt with the Fisher most times now. The Excal's main advantage is it can respond to a gold ring very near or under iron without the masking effect unlike the Fisher which would not respond at all.

Everyone must remember that salt and black sand concentrations can vary beach to beach and even on the same beach.

 

[GreenMeanie]

I had a CZ-20 awhile back and liked it.
It ran Stable and finds things deep enough for me. But I drank the EXCAL Koolaid and liked it too. I still prefer the excal multi tones that is why I just got one again.

As far as masking goes you have to remember you have to crawl with the excal.

 

[bigscoop]

The Excal and the CZ are both excellent machines, aside from their basic coil differences/coverage they both have about the same depth, which is good. The Excal advantage is the null feature and it's ability to find small gold, other then that, both machines are right up there in performance. However, the CZ isn't the best machine on iron heavy beaches, which is where the Excal really excels because it not only has the ability to discriminate, but it also has the ability to separate the iron (null it out) and still read the good targets. The CZ can't do this. The CZ takes four 9v batteries and hunts about 40hrs, the Excal uses 8aa batteries and hunts about 20hrs (all of this depending on the quality of battery). The CZ can be hip mounted, which is really nice on all day hunts. But here's the big one for me...."Service and turnaround"........Fisher has always been very good in this department whereas Minelab..well,...just too many complaints to coax big $$$$ from my pocket, but I do like the machine when it's running good. With stock coils the CZ is a tad bit deeper. However, you can change coils on the Excal, either by hardwire or through the use of sealed aftermarket connectors.....I have a WOT on mine and really like it.

 

[The-Bone]

thanks for all the replies!!! My CZ21 arrived today so hopefully will get a chance in the next couple of weeks to get to the shore and put it through its paces