Saltwater Machine

[BuffaloHunter]

Hello all. I bought an AT Pro a year ago, I like it a lot. Problem is, it doesnt do well with saltwater.. Since I live on the Oregon Coast, a good saltwater machine is a must. I know the Deus is a good one but it costs a bit much for a newer guy like me. Any recommendations for a good machine ( Preferably under $900.) That does well in mineralized soil and salt water? I could bump up the budget a tad if there is nothing in that range. Thanks!

 

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[Evilpope]

It is a guy on YouTube he's from new Zealand all he does is beach detect I'm like 90% sure he uses a mine lab not sure model or cost

 

[1KBlueTuber]

I can recommend you get yourself a Minelab multi frequency machine. If you're not going to get in the water and don't need a waterproof machine you can easily get into the Explorer line of Minelab. I use the Excalibur in the water and an Explorer SE Pro on land or wet salt sand. Here on the east coast in NH a lot of guys use the Explorer II or XS with a 13" wot coil and they find their share of gold and silver coins. You can find a nice used Explorer from about $350 up to $600. You definitely need a multi freq. or a pulse induction machine to handle the salt and minerals to get anything deep. Good Luck and Happy Hunting!!

 

[Terry Soloman]

Pulse Induction: Whites Dual Field $800 Tesoro Sand Shark $600

Multi-Freq: Fisher CZ 21 $1,300 Minelab Excalibur $1,500

 

[WaterScoop]

Wait and see what the Minelab Equinox will do. Minelab does amazing in saltwater and it’s gonna be cost effective.

Cheers

 

[BuffaloHunter]

Thank you all for the help! I think I will wait and see if the Equinox is good, until I make the purchase. Cheers!

 

[BuffaloHunter]

One question, what is the difference between the Equinox 600 and the 800? I know the 600 has wired headphones but surely you arent paying $250 just for them to be wireless on the 800?!

 

[WaterScoop]

One question, what is the difference between the Equinox 600 and the 800? I know the 600 has wired headphones but surely you arent paying $250 just for them to be wireless on the 800?!

Here is a discussion on a blog regarding 600 vs. 800

Minelab Equinox 600 and Minelab Equinox 800. NEW 2017 | MD-Hunter Blog

 

[Wrecka]

My AT Pro works fine in Salt water with the Nel Snake coil , cheaper option than upgrading to another brand

 

[smokeythecat]

Do these two things before your buy: Test drive the machine you want to use and I would not get a pulse induction machine unless you want to spend endless hours digging iron garbage, and I guarantee there is a lot on every beach.

 

[against the wind]

The Excalibur by Minelab.
I had an AT PRO,, wonderful machine and works flawlessly in fresh water. Not made for saltwater.
The Excalibur by Minelab is a salt water machine.

 

[flgliderpilot]

Fisher CZ-21, Excal 1000, or a brand new Minelab Equinox. My two main machines were an AT Pro for land and dry sand, and a CZ-21 for water. I've now purchased the Equinox 600 which will definitely be better than the AT Pro, and might even be good enough to match the CZ-21. I'd love to be able to do both with one machine.

My vote would be for the equinox at this point but we probably won't see them until March.

 

[BuffaloHunter]

Thank you all again!! Wrecka, you have my attention .. what is “ fine?” Barely gets by, or does quite well?

 

[Wrecka]

Thank you all again!! Wrecka, you have my attention .. what is “ fine?” Barely gets by, or does quite well?

I have run it with 2 bars from max on the sensitivity and there is only chatter when you scrap the sand with the coil , obviously being a smaller coil you wont get the same depth

 

[Tom Slick]

Just because a VLF detector runs quiet on the wet saltwater sand doesn't mean it gets good depth. There isn't any VLF single frequency detector like the AT Pro that will get anywhere near the depth of a simultaneous multi-frequency detector like the Fisher CZ20/21, Minelab BBS or FBS machines. Rumor has it from the testers that the soon to be released Minelab Equinox will also work excellent on the wet saltwater sand. By excellent I mean quiet with good depth. I'm a fan of both the Makro and Nokta detectors and the each have models that perform better than any other single frequency detector for both being stable (quiet) and having good depth (for a single frequency detector) but neither can get any where near the depth of my Minelab Sovereign on the wet saltwater sand. I'm talking like twice the depth on the Sovereign over the single frequency detectors. And IMHO (and 43 years experience detecting) the Makro / Nokta detectors will spank the AT Pro on the wet sand.