OK ALL-Tell me about the ex-cal...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mr. Steve from Mich.
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Mr. Steve from Mich.

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8)Seein as I am not gettin a motorcycle this year;I am thinkin of gettin a new Minelab Ex-cal the end of this year...The Big K down Florida way has it advertised for $1095.00 for the 8 or 10 inch coil...Is that a good price??How is the preformance??How deep can ya go in the wet with it??Let me know,Mr.Steve from Michigan....
 

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Steve , I to hunt with a 1280. I love it in fresh water. In salt water it realy sucks though. I'm defenetly getting an Excalber for this summer. The iron mask feature sounds great. Imagian hunting in close where all the junk gets washed up. No nails to bother with. Plus it will pick up fine gold chains. I hunt in the 0 disc. mode, with my 1280 and I have only a handfull of gold chains to show for it. Good luck Mike.
 

That price sounds about average for what i've seen them going for new. As for how deep you can get it wet... 200' or so is what they advertise. I've had mine down around 60' with no problems.

As for how deep you'll find targets... that depends on how you run the settings, ground, etc. But you'll be happy with it.

steve
 

Hi Steve, the Excal's price of $1095.00 is the list price that dealers have to sell it at. Anyone sells it cheaper, they could lose the ability to sell that brand. Used and demo's are another story, but they usually don't tell you it's a demo. The only detector I've found that is deeper with the same size coil in fresh or saltwater is a PI. It does have a little slower sweep speed, but that is no problem in the water anyway. What is fantastic about the Minelabs is the Iron Mask. There is no ground balance, it just ignores mineralization. It is the ONLY detector that will report on a gold ring under a piece of iron while other detectors will mask out the iron and just null out everything. You hear no beep with the other detector so you have no idea a ring or coin is there. It is waterproof to 200 feet for diving too. Is that wet enough? I like the larger 10 inch coil for covering more ground per sweep.

It is a rare Fisher 1280 that works on chains. It must have something to do with the coil as I have one 1280 couldn't find a chain and was given another that could sound off on them after I had Fisher change the coil. This is all in fresh water for the 1280. It makes one tone on a ring or hair pin. The CZ20 now will make a middle tone on pull tabs and nickels and gold rings. You can skip the many coins and concentrate on rings. Same with the Exca when you learn the sounds.
 

Sandman has stated it quite correctly. :)
The Excal 1000 is a great detector overall. It can also be used on land.
 

I ordered an Excalibur from K--- in Florida a week ago. I have not received it and I only live about 95 miles from them. I called them and they said they were out of stock and it would be dropped shipped from the manufacturer. I asked for a tracking number from the manufacturer and they put me on hold and then came back and told me that the factory did not have any and it would be 2-3 weeks before I could get one. What's up with all this?

Kelly-- sent me 2 emails stating that my machine had been released to shipping and gave me a confirmation number. When I called them, they said "well since it was turned over to the factory for drop shipment, that constituted "releasing to shipment". How could that have happened since "the factory was out of them".

Also, when I called, they told me that there was a problem with my credit card. I PAID THROUGH PAYPAL. I got all the emails from PAYPAL indicating that they were paid. I don't have problems with any of my credit cards.


They also told me that the "accessories bundle" that was to be included actually came from the factory and not from them. If that is the case, why don't other sellers offer the bundle with the machine?

If you want the machine right away, DO NOT order from these people. I am being jerked around and I don't appreciate it. Plus, they have my money and I don't have a machine.

So much for their "Free Same Day Rapid Shipping" statement on their website.
 

Mike Silver -gold said:
Steve , I to hunt with a 1280. I love it in fresh water. In salt water it realy sucks though. I'm defenetly getting an Excalber for this summer. The iron mask feature sounds great. Imagian hunting in close where all the junk gets washed up. No nails to bother with. Plus it will pick up fine gold chains. I hunt in the 0 disc. mode, with my 1280 and I have only a handfull of gold chains to show for it. Good luck Mike.

Don't get your hopes up to much on the fine gold chains. They are extremely hard to detect and my Excal would barely even beep if at all when rubbed against the coil. My Stingray II which is know for finding small gold is not much better. A gold ring is seen as a solid object just like a gold coin of the same size. If the ring broken(the way a necklace would be) it is just as hard to detect. Most chains I have found was by detecting the clasp. You can experiment with a small copper wire by making it into a ring and straightening it back out.


As for why the Fisher 1280(same with CZ-20)does not pick up small gold as well is due to these machines being locked into a salt mode which was suppose to make them work better on saltwater beaches. Some fisher land machines had a switch where to toggle salt mode on and off.

As for the Excal. Great Machine. Good sensitivity, Tone ID, One of the few non-pulse underwater machines that performs well in saltwater. Has all of the controls on the outside of the machine for easy access. Can't change the coils so you have to choose which you perfer, Smaller coils are more sensitive to small targets while larger coils cover more area and get a bit more depth on larger targets. DD coils come on minelabs and they take a bit of getting use to on pinpointing, however they do cover more ground per sweep.
 

excal...

I grabbed a 15" coil from coilteck with the waterproof connectors for my excalibur 800. I can swap between a 15" and 8" coil now. haven't had any problems whatsoever... and it seems to work exactly the same (just with a bigger and deeper footprint).

We'll see how it works when i get it underwater this summer

steve
 

ToyMan,

Got my Excal from Kelly and also had to wait 3 weeks for them to get a shipment.I picked it up at their shop and the people were helpfull. Overall had a good experience with them. Wanted an extra rechargeable pack but had to settle for the standard battery back up which is not guaranteed to the same depth.

tek
 

If u buy your detectors from knowledagel dealers who go out into the field like u and i do, u will find out life is much better than dealing with kellyco..............regardless to the junked up packages...................no deal there anyway

support the detector shops that have knowledge and nice guys.
 

I have to agree with Sandman.. I have hunted next to the machine with my cz70. We compared depth to a gold ring and my machine would not pick it up whereas the ex-cal gave several more inches in depth. Also the black sand was no obstacle to the machine.

I also have to agree with Max. I tried K.......co, and was assured I would receive my product in a couple of days. After a week, no product. I called and they said it was sent. several days later, another call. After that call, they said it had to be ordered and was not sent as they earlier stated ........
I cancelled my order and called Dixie. In 2 days I had my product and they have come through several (every) time since.

Please don't' get me wrong, this is only my opinion and preference. I have a good friend that will only by from Kelly-co and no other company.
 

What I think K does is hold off on ordering till they get enough orders to do at once. This way they are not stuck with extra stock that might not get sold right away. Seems like everyone else has the machines or will get them in a day for you to pick up. You also don't have to worry about some dude with spikes in his hair an a pin in his nose dropping your detector while playing catch in the store room.

If anybody here feels dissed by the discription, I'm sorry you had a sorry childhood.

Sorry everyone, I's in a good mood. ;D
 

I just game back from San Juan P.R., I used a 1280 for many years, and lately use a cz20 Anyway, I met a guy on the beach with a ex cal, We campared signals, He went down 12-14 inches for a dime, The same dime I did not get a whisper. To make a long story short, this happened 3 times, After the third time, I wanted to crawl into a hole along with my cz 20 !!!
P.S. Will be in touch with my local dealer, Whom is always there for me and my questions .....

Regards Simon
 

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