My new Whites/Minelab Excal.

[Dirt Fishin Dale]

Well I received my Excalibur 1000 yesterday. Took it out of the box and assembled it. Right away I understood why it’s best to go with a hip mount or a straight shaft. However I did try it out in the back yard between thunderstorms. The depth seems quite good and doesn’t look to have much of a learning curve after using the DFX.
I will miss the VDI read out, but I look at it this way. I got so used to seeing a 24 VDI with the DFX and it was a pull-tab, that I wouldn’t even dig them. Ya I know dig everything. The beaches I hunt on have millions of them.
Now I will have to dig them and possibly some rings I passed up before with the same VDI.
I hip mounted the Excal first and wasn’t too happy about the pull on the wires. (I’m kind of rough on things)
So I decided to try the straight shaft setup. Didn’t want to shell out any more cash so I started looking around the house. I had an old Whites Liberty 1 (God knows where that came from) I don’t think I will be using that any time soon, so I took it apart and with some other whites parts I made my Hillbilly Florida Straight Shaft.
So now if only the thunderstorms would stop I can go try this out at the beach. I never hunt during a lightning storm because it might harm my machine.
And the YELLOW headphones got to go.

HH
Dale

 

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[gallileo60]

Nice job.....

 

[-Jones-]

Hey Dale,

Love that idea you created, "hillbilly FL straight shaft".

I just got from 5 days in southern FL swingin my brand new excal 1000. IMO, it's a dream machine. I purchased a straight shaft through kellyco. In the water submerged, it drove like a sports car. On the sand, I had no prob swingin it for a 2-3 hours at a time. 8)

Good Luck.

Keep the viewers posted.

 

[Sandman]

Hi Dale, the straight shaft you made is nice. However I would have a larger loop at the bottom of the coil wire to lessen strain at that point.

I hang my wading Excal around my neck and let the cord hang free to the shaft near the handle where it is then taped straight down the side of the shaft instead of wrapped around. This gives you more length, less strain and takes even more weight off the arm plus makes it less water resistant sweeping it for hours.

Good Luck,
Sandman

 

[Birdman1]

Dale,
Great job, looks store bought. I was about to tear apart my Stihl weed wacker for the shaft, but gave up and just ordered a straight shaft on Ebay. I like the yellow headphones, makes me look even more like a dork, that way maybe people will leave me alone while I am on the beach

 

[MoTwister]

Dale, congrats on the new detector, now tear up the beach behind the Holiday Inn at Cocoa and let me know what we missed at the treasure expo. Norman

 

[Dirt Fishin Dale]

Thanks for kind words.

Sandman:
Ya, looks a bit tight at the loop I will slack it up a bit. If you ever hunt the Cocoa Beach area look me up, we can go dig some pull-tabs.

Birdman1:
Ya I thought about using an old weed eater but I didn’t want to leave and oil slick behind me.

Hey Norman:
I haven’t been over by the Holiday Inn since the Expo. Might take a trip south this weekend and stop there on the way back.

I think I’m going to send in the DFX for repairs. I don’t see me taking this Excal thru the woods. But the M6 is still working great.

Dale

 

[John (Ma)]

I have the DFX and Excal and both machines are great and cover all areas. Great job on the shaft.

 

[Mike in Fla.]

Dale, great idea with the modified shaft.....You're gonna love the excal.


Mike

 

[Dirt Fishin Dale]

Well the shaft was well balanced, but my swing appears to be too much. The controls attack me and the headphones pull away from my ears. I have always done a wide swing and can’t stop now. So until I find another way to mount the control box on the shaft I went ahead and hip mounted it again. The only thing I did different was I mounted it to be vertical at the hip instead of horizontal. I also left a lot of slack for the cables. Still using the straight shaft, just took off the extension for the controls. I only had it out about an hour and it was going deep. Now all I need to do is learn those sounds.
The waves were crashing right at shore but it didn’t scream at me like the M6 and DFX did when the coil went under water. So I found a lot of pull-tabs and about a dollar in change. I will be going out tomorrow afternoon to try the vertical hip mount.

HH
Dale

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Get the Florida Straight Shaft and neck mount your controls, both work great for me.

 

[Dirt Fishin Dale]

Treasure Hunter:

Does the shaft extend past the arm cuff? Mine was jabbing me in the side. Like I said I swing wide. I didn’t notice it in my backyard. I guess I wasn’t in my usual hunting mode. I didn’t find these problems until I got to the beach.

Thanks
Dale