newbie looking for a good, inexpensive salt water beach detector

[bugsybrown]

Subject really says it all. I have not purchased a detector yet, but when I do, I will be using it on the beach in South Florida. I am truly at a loss with all the different makes/models that my head is spinning with what I need. Any help and advice on a good detector would be greatly appreciated.

 

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[Zincoln Miner]

last time I checked (some years ago) a p.i. (pulse induction) would be the cheapest bet
for a salt water machine.they go deep but no discrimination.I think some units might have
a non ferrous disc (non iron metals) but I forget.if I lived near the sea the cheapest choice
for me would be a p.i. or a minelab excalibur (non p.i.) being the more expensive choice.
check out white's and tesoro's water machines.get some feedback on them from users on these forums.

good luck

p.s. white's and tesoro also have vlf water machines more suitable for fresh water but may
have some limited function in salt.

 

[Sandman]

The deepest detector for beach hunting is definitely a Pulse Induction type. All that I know of are waterproof. A new Whites, Garrett or Tesoro runs around $600.00. You will dig deep holes for nails and bobby pins too since PI's have almost no discrimination, but in the sifting sands of the coast, this is maybe what you need. PI's are not effected by salt water & black sand.

Good Luck,
Sandman

 

[BioProfessor]

The Sandman is right on the money. A PI machine is what you need to hunt the beaches. The salt water, black sand, and other mineral contamination will drive other machines (VLF) crazy. I hunt the beach with a Garrett Infinium LS and although it does have an iron discrimination mode much of the metal stuff that winds up on a beach is from either people and is somewhat easy to check accurately with the iron check, metal items from boats, docks, etc. is usually "marine" type metal meaning it has some sort of corrosion protection (zinc is common) and an iron/steel item will still sound off in the iron mode check. Same thing with chrome plated steel, like fish hooks, staples, paper clips, or other plated steel/iron. The iron it seems to get rid of is iron without too much corrosion that has spread into the sand. All in all, on the beach most metal will give a sound even with the iron check. In my experience, if the sound volume goes way down but is still there it is, most times, a very corroded copper clad penny. Be prepared to dig. The PI machine has no trouble finding very small items 12" down. Buried crushed aluminum cans will have you digging holes deep enough to hold a small child if you don't ignore the very strong signal they give. I have found it very hard to walk away from those strong signals and have dug more than my share of beer cans.

The real problem you face is that PI machines are not the cheap ones. I have also found it difficult to tell quickly which machines are PI when I look at the list of models sold by the various companies. Maybe some other members of this forum can direct you to a place to find an inexpensive PI machine but I don't know of any.

Used PI machines on places like Ebay are a crap shoot. The circuitry in these machines is complicated and if it develops a problem, you may buy a machine that is not working properly and not know it. If it is a faulty machine and you do discover it (probably by talking with someone on the beach who is using one and knows what a PI machine should and shouldn't do and having them take your detector for a quick spin) you may pay more to have it repaired than you paid for the machine. So a cheap machine all of a sudden becomes a used machine that costs you almost as much as a new one or a used one from a dealer that comes with a warranty.

This probably didn't help you find a detector but maybe it will help convince you to wait until you can squeak out a little more money for the right type detector.

At least the digging on the beach is fun, easy, and for some reason I ALWAYS get a good signal I need to dig close to the pretty girls in bikinis. :-) The smaller the bikini, the deeper I need to dig. Just weird. Somebody should do a study as to why these people chose a place on the beach where there are good items to dig. Any volunteers? LOL

Have fun and let us know what detectors you find.

Daryl

 

[dahut]

The Holy Grail...

...looking for a good, inexpensive salt water beach detector

Aren't we all?!

I for one will digress a bit and NOT jump into the PI camp.

Why? As already said, they have little DISC and will signal iron just as well as anything else. They go deep, true, but aside from digginbig holes in the presence of bikini sirens, I am not enamored of moving heaps of sand - just to find bobby pins and fish hooks.

What I would prefer is decent iron discernment and acceptable depth. I say "acceptable," because Im too old and fat to be excavating beaches, even if I wanted to.

So what do I mean by discernment? Something that alerts me to the presence of iron, as opposed to masking it with discrimination. Iw uold also expect such an instrument to remain sensitive to other low conductive targts like gold and the usual stuff like coins and pulltabs.

Right now, only the Whites BHID and Minelab Excaliber seem to soundly offer these traits. Tesoro claims its Tiger Shark offers them, too, but I know little about them at the salt shore. The Sandman swears by his, but uses his Excal more, it seems....

Are these units I mention, "good?"
Without a doubt.

Are they "inexpensive?"
Thats relative. At 600-1000$ per copy, only you can answer that.
I'd say no, so you better start saving.

The truth is, anyting designed to work well in the tough environment at the sea shore and hold up long enough to be useful aint gonna be cheap.

 

[TonyinCT]

You are on the right track. The cheapest water detectors "new" go for around 600.00 as was already stated. Give me a call and we can discuss it further and I'm sure I can help you into a unit that will do great for you.
TonyinCT
860-623-1153

 

[Eu_citzen]

Yeah, give Tony a call he know his stuff.
It's hard to find a "Good" detector for a cheap price if you don't buy used detectors.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

There are cheap water detectors and there are good water detectors, they are just not the same detectors.

Since I am still a newbie and I remember being in your position a year ago, my humble advise is if your really serious about hunting salt water beaches, bite the bullet and get you a good unit to begin with. If you buy a cheap one I can almost guarantee you will either be frustrated or you will want to trade up real soon. Get you a unit now that you grow into, not out of.


If you want to be chest deep in the water hunting the good stuff, just get the ML Excal and truly enjoy water hunting like we do. Yes it's a little expensive, but it's top of the line, and you get what you pay for. You can trade it in or sell it 5 years from now and get 60-70% of your money back. Check Ebay and you will see it's true.

Here is how good I think the ML Excal is, my back up for my Excal is another Excal.

Talk to Tony, he can help answer all your quetions and give you a great deal. I got my Sovereign GT from him and am very happy with both the deal and the unit.

You just cant beat the beach for hunting, a nice breeze off the ocean, nice cool water to cool off in when your hot and oh yes the bikinis.

Bio is correct, it is truly amazing how many good strong signals suddenly appear when your by a pretty girl in a bikini, only to suddenly disappear when they move off down the beach. I usually have to circle my target to get the best view of the babe in the bikini errr, I mean angle on the target to dig....