BHID300 and Excalibur II for the beach

[Moe (fl)]

Has anyone had a chance to compare the BHID300 with the Excal II on the beach?

The BHID300 has a 12" concentric coil (dual frequency). The Excal II has a 10" DD coil (17 frequencies).

Will the excal go deeper because of it has more frequencies and iron rejection? Should I go with the bigger coil?

 

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[GuerillaBill]

I have both the Excal II and the new whites BeachHunter ID 300.

I used the Excal II for a year before I got the Beachhunter and found plenty of things with it. But one day I visually found a thin gold chain on the surface, and the Excal didn't even detect it - even right on the surface.

So I decided to try the Whites BeachHunter ID 300.

When I first got the BeachHunter, the heavy control box and larger coil on the Beachhunter felt clumsy.

But then I belt mounted the beachhunter control unit, and things started to feel right.

I've used the Beachhunter for 3 months now, on the same beaches that I had been using the Excal ii, and I've found more jewelry with the BeachHunter than I did with the excal.

I am digging deeper targets with the Beachhunter, and am finding smaller items that I didn't find with the Excal.

Digging deeper is not necessarily always better, but sometimes thats where the better targets are.

With the Beachhunter, I search in all metal mode, and use the lights to tell me whether I should dig or not. Unless the lights show that it is iron, I usually dig.

The Excal II does better at picking up items outside of the coil sweep area, while the Beachhunter seems to go deeper and pick up smaller items - directly under the coil.

Learning to use the BeachHunter is easier than learning the Excal, because you don't have to learn to interprete multiple tones like you do with the excalibur.

I won't say the Beachhunter is better than the Excal - because both are great detectors. But they have different strengths and weaknesses.

I'm taking both detectors to the treasure coast later this week, and will be using the Beachhunter as my main detector, and the Excal II as the backup.

Bill

 

[therover]

I agree with Bill. I have both, and both are great units, but I find I am using my BHID300 more. After a few hunts with it, I now only use it in all metal mode unless there is TONS of iron junk around. It goes deeper and is more stable in all metal, and with the visual ID from the lights, shallow iron and iron junk is identified. I ground balance twice before starting, and then every so often, bob the coil and fine tune the GB as you go. Very easy. Plus, I feel in all metal you can run the sensitivity up a lot more and it does not false like when in discrim mode.

Anything deep that causes a rise in threshold without any lights flashing should be dug...could be iron or could be a deep coin or ring. You have to dig those. I even dig the deeper, faint targets that flash a red light in all metal. Several times they have been corroded coins....even found a gold plated toe ring that flashed red, but it was a faint target and very 'small' sounding.

One last thing...the BHID300 can be swept a lot faster. That is a plus when there are not many targets on the beach and you want to start cruising to find the hot spots.

I have mine mounted on an Anderson shaft, but I am thinking of belt mounting it to see how that works since after about an hour or so, my elbow and shoulder start to talk to me ! It's balanced great this way, but with my tendonitis I want to hunt longer and the belt mount configuration may be the ticket.

JC

 

[Moe (fl)]

Thanks for the replies.

Bill - wouldn't the Whites Dual Surf Pro PI be a better detector for the Treasure Coast? Do you find the Excal II iron mask feature valuable on the beach?

Does the Excal II multi-frequency allow you to find more targets than the BHID300 with dual frequency?

Do targets emit different frequencies depending on their composition? What is the value of having more frequencies above dual for the beach?

 

[GuerillaBill]

Q. wouldn't the Whites Dual Surf Pro PI be a better detector for the Treasure Coast?

A. I don't know.

I've used the BHID300 on many beaches, including those with black sand, and never had any problem.

I will be using the Whites Beachhunter on the treasure coast later this week and will report back.

Q. Do you find the Excal II iron mask feature valuable on the beach?

A. The iron mask is very useful, but the excal has a slow recovery after masking out iron. If there is a coin or something near the iron, you may not get a signal.

Often, the iron masks kills the threshhold tone, and the tones doesn't come back. I'd have to touch the detector to the metal scoop to get the threshhold tone to return.

Q. Does the Excal II multi-frequency allow you to find more targets than the BHID300 with dual frequency?

A. My experience has been I find more with the BHID300. With the Excal, I tend to get more falsing and interference from cell phones, towers, electrical lines around fishing piers, and other unknowns.

But it may be that I swing the larger coil on the BHID300 slower because of its heft, and the slow swing on any detector will usually produce more targets.

Q. Do targets emit different frequencies depending on their composition?

A. On the excal II, every target produces a different tone. With a lot of practice you can learn to tell from the tone what the target might be.

But for me, with over a year of experience with the Excalibur, the only tones I knew for sure where those from a beer can or those from a coin.

Q. What is the value of having more frequencies above dual for the beach?

A. You'd probably need to check the Excal website for that answer. I don't know.

Again, the excal II is a great machine. I have found many things with it.

Right now, I prefer the simplicity and depth of the Whites BHID300.

But I'm not going to sell my excal ii, because there may be instances where I'll prefer it over the BHID300.

Bill

 

[miket]

I'm taking both detectors to the treasure coast later this week, and will be using the Beachhunter as my main detector, and the Excal II as the backup.

Bill

I just came back from the treasure coast using my beach hunter 300 and all i found was 14 cents , 2 large lead weights, a barret(hair thing),bottle caps/tabs and a toy motorcycle.....it is pretty clean over there...was out for 2 days at 5 different parks along A1A..total about 7 hours..good luck on your hunt there. never know!

 

[Moe (fl)]

I am still wondering if the Excal II with 10" coil will go deeper than the BHID300 with 12" coil because of having more frequencies.

In my area some guys with minelabs always seem to find old coins at the beach where guys with other brands don't. I wonder if this is because the minelab has more frequencies or because it goes deeper. But I do like the simplicity of the whites.

 

[erikk]

The Excal has a DD coil and the BH300 has a concentric coil. The deeper U go with a concentric the narrower your search field becomes as opposed to a DD which has the same depth along the whole diameter of the coil giving U better coverage at max depth.
I do not own a BH300 but my hunting partner does and he does well with it
An Excal will read a gold ring right next to a big iron spike and I have found gold chains with it but not real thin ones. If I want to go really deep i use my Infinium LS PI . Probably the best thing is to know your machine and be lucky