Are PI machines relevant anymore?

[CalReg]

Greetings All!

It's been a while since I posted anything. COVID and work have conspired against me getting out and hunting. I did, however, get out yesterday. I have been following the advice of Tom out here around the Monterey area (thanks Tom!) and found some free time to hunt the beaches during the King Tides. First off, no jewelry, just a bunch of clad and junk, but just getting out was good enough for me. Now here I am sitting at my desk, waiting for my last zoom meeting of the day and have been thinking about Pulse Induction MD'ers. Does anyone use them anymore? I've read several books on beach hunting and they all refer to them one way or the other. Since I started back in this wonderful hobby in April, I've run into a few fellow detectorists and none of them have PI detectors. What's your opinion?

 

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[smokeythecat]

I have owned a few. If you like digging junk, go for it.

 

[Ccarson]

I use a Whites pulse dive every now and again when I plan on digging everything. It goes deep but I dig a lot of trash.

 

[ARC]

No serious detectorists should be without one. IMO

There is an old adage... "There is a right tool for every job".

And this also applies to the art of metal detecting.

Take tools in general for example...

You can fix your car with a pair of vise grips... but is it ideal for each bolt ? ? ?

 

[CASPER-2]

If you dont mind digging trash- and are not trying to work the beach out in one day and you want
to get the most depth at your older spots and hopefully clean your spots out completely and get it all
then PI is for you
I used PI in mid 90s to about 2005-6
I did great hitting spots that others said were cleaned out = lots of deep gold and silver others passed over
or could not reach - around 2000 a handful of guys decided to follow my lead and went out and bought
PIs and went back and hit old areas they thought they had cleaned out and also pulled really deep gold& silver
I got many a thanks for showing them what was still out there and down there and inspiring them to try
a Pi - slowing down and going for whispers (very faint) signals helps too

 

[CASPER-2]

you might be able to pick up a cheap PI Pro off ebay if you look around - not a bad addition to
your arsenal
I always thought newbies should start with one and learn to dig it all then move on up
I started detecting in 1975 with a non discriminating machine so dug it all
I dug it all with PI and mostly dig it all now hunting in all metal with my cz21
TRASH -PICKING IT UP | DON DEFORRE' | Flickr
click twice to enlarge each page

 

[ARC]

you might be able to pick up a cheap PI Pro off ebay if you look around - not a bad addition to
your arsenal
I always thought newbies should start with one and learn to dig it all then move on up
I started detecting in 1975 with a non discriminating machine so dug it all
I dug it all with PI and mostly dig it all now hunting in all metal with my cz21
TRASH -PICKING IT UP | DON DEFORRE' | Flickr
click twice to enlarge each page

Or if you are real serious... you could shell out about 2.5k on a really good one.

:P

<-------

Then spend over another 1.5k upgrading it.

AS mine collects dust... heh

 

[Eagleman]

We use the Whites PI here in the Oregon searching for gold an yes there are a lot of miners still using PI's. The new VLF machines are great but they don't go as deep an that is what we need. Stay healthy Jim

 

[CASPER-2]

Im almost positive that this pick of silver & gold
is 90% Pi and 10% XLT
1995 - 2005

 

[CASPER-2]

Or if you are real serious... you could shell out about 2.5k on a really good one.

:P

<-------

Then spend over another 1.5k upgrading it.

AS mine collects dust... heh

 

[Rad1sh]

I want a Cscope badly!

 

[Irishgoldhound]

Im almost positive that this pick of silver & gold
is 90% Pi and 10% XLT
1995 - 2005
View attachment 1893622

That’s an impressive 10 yr stash of booty! I would bet that pile today is worth over 10,000 just the gold alone.

 

[billb]

Casper-2 thanks for motivating me to keep on doing this

 

[ARC]

Bill... Picture was deleted... it was misleading... my detector... someone else's finds... Errrr.... don't get me wrong... I DO find other things from time to time.

Thanks for the msg though... and keep it up... treasures await you.

For me... bottle caps and pull tabs with no caviar dreams... Lifestyle of the tan and sandy for me... :P

 

[CASPER-2]

That’s an impressive 10 yr stash of booty! I would bet that pile today is worth over 10,000 just the gold alone.

Way over $10,000 back then (Id say there might be $50,000 in that pic by 2005 prices - Ive sold gold found almost every year - I have like 75 rings still (most having diamonds or other precious stones and many antique that i dont plan on selling...yet) starting selling a lot when gold hit like $800 - except for like 5 coins - everything before 1995 was gone
i sold a lot of relics and collectibles also in my first 20 yrs 1975-1995 too
i have probably 99% of non jewelry items since 1995
wish i couldve saved till now

 

[cudamark]

With the advances of multifrequency VLF detectors, PI machines have become less relevent , but, not worthless. They have their place in the tool box.....mainly for deep targets and relatively trash free sites.

 

[billb]

AARC,,Hi,,Thanks for wishing me good luck my friend..and also wish you many successful hunts too..

 

[Bully1970]

I use a TDI Beachunter, I had the choice of a Nox but stuck with PI as I had a C scope before. As said, PIs are deeper...even than the Nox...VLFs don't work well where I am, highly mineralised sand and you have to back off the sens on most machines therefore losing depth. When my old PI was getting fixed I used my Deus and nearly snapped it in a temper it gave so many false signals &#55357;&#56883;
I dig everything BUT I don't hunt top or mid only low, we have a huge tidal range and I hunt for history therefore I actually want Iron etc (cannonballs, shells) so the PI suits. If I was hunting rings then perhaps I'd go Nox as they seem to work well from seeing friends use them.

So, the PI suits me and the conditions I hunt in, I think you need to figure out if it will suit you &#55357;&#56397;

 

[Slimpickins]

I have used a Whites Dual Field for several years. I've only found 5 or 6 gold rings rings so far. One chest deep in salt water the rest on wet salt sand. It's not much fun to use it waist to chest deep deep because the coil floats. I found a size 12 Tifanny Platinum 950 band that retails for $2000.00 at around 16" deep in the wet sand. That and the other rings gave a loud solid signal so I only dig those loud solid signals. Double beeps are small wire usually. It's unbelievable how much iron is under the sand. It is a lot heavier than the Equinox but will find stuff that vlf detectors can't especially if there is Black Sand. And if you have a Stealth scoop you will get a good workout

 

[rykroll]

I love my sea Hunter might use it again