Depth question for Florida TDI owners or other pulse users

[gary s fl]

This question can probably be answered only by experienced PI / TDI users in Florida because of it's unique low to non- mineralized sandy soil in the interior. There's no doubt that a PI will go significantly deeper in the wet salt sand but with significant loss of target ID. The question is, will a TDI, TDI pro, or TDI SL, or any PI get appreciably better depth with similar size coils than the top of the line VLFs in FL's sandy soil?

From viewing some youtube videos, it appears that the TDI air-tests significantly better than my ML Exp II does with similar size coils. If you have done some detecting in Fl's interior with the TDI or another PI, please chime in or send me a PM.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

 

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[arizonaames]

I have similar sandy soil where I live in MI. With a 14 inch Razorback coil I am looking at 12 to 15 inches on a silver dime depending on soil conditions (wet, dry, layered wet and dry). I posted a url for more information and where to go here for more information on the TDI:
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,425361.0.html

 

[gary s fl]

Jim, thanks for the info. I found that website last night while looking for some answers. I also found this site, http://metaldetectorreviews.net/detectors/216-1-whitestdi.html It's somewhat dated but a couple of the reviewers said they got great depth in low mineralized ground with the regular TDI.
How was the target ID on that deep silver dime with the 14" mono? What is the deepest coin you've dug with the 12" DF?
Initially I was convienced that the SL was the way to go but after a couple of nights of reading posts from the forum you mentioned and few others I've started leaning towards a standard TDI or the pro because it sounds like the SL may not have the depth as the other two for deep coins and relics.
Getting feedback on this question has been surprisingly slow, probably because few if any hunters use PIs in FL except on the beach. Perhaps someone with a TDI or other PI will chime in that detects the dry sand at the beach. Gary

 

[arizonaames]

There is no such a thing as a target ID on a TDI. One has to listen to the sound to know if it is a good or bad target. The USERS GUIDE TO RELIC HUNTING in the FIELD GUIDE is the best source of information on setting up and using the TDI. A TDI is not a VLF machine and you will have to relearn how to hunt with a PI machine. A PI machine is not for everybody and requires a long learning curve. It is not a turn on and go machine and must be manually ground balanced as there is no auto ground balance like some other PI machines out there. The SL is permanently attached to a fixed shaft and is in a MXT or DFX box. The TDI and TDI Pro can be chest mounted or worn on your belt so in point of fact, swinging a shaft and coil without the control box is lighter than swinging a MXT or DFX type unit. It also has AA batteries, like the MXT, but because of it's design requires more power. That translates to less run time, about 3 hours. Because of less power, it is not as powerful as the standard TDI or Pro. That translates to less depth and sensitivity past 3 inches on even a one gram picker. The SL is priced $200 cheaper than a standard TDI. However, one Li-ion battery pack for the standard TDI or Pro is about $200. The standard TDI or Pro comes with 2 Li-ion battery packs so if you added approximately $400 to the price of a SL, the SL would be more than the standard TDI and would be closer in price to a TDI Pro. Here are some pretty good videos showing what I have just described. Hope this is helpful.:

 

[gary s fl]

Thanks again for the info. I've been researching the tdi for a couple of months and have viewed Jason's youtube videos which is one reason why I started leaning towards the standard or pro.
The target id on the dime was in reference to whether or not you could tell with some certainty that it was a non-ferrous target and/or could tell if it was a high or low conductor. I'm curious to know how much target depth effects the tdi's limited target id (ferrous vs non-ferrous, and/or low vs high). All vlfs lose target id accuracy with depth. Is it the same with the tdi? If so, at what depth do you think the tdi's limited target id would be effective on a dime in your MI soil with average moisture content?
Lastly, do you know which aftermarket carbon fiber shaft is most popular among tdi owners that aren't detaching the box?

 

[arizonaames]

Those would be questions that Jason could answer better. Soil conditions....wet....dry....layered wet and dry...affect depths of a target with a PI. Only practice will tell you if you have a good target or not. The Relic guide that I mentioned will get you started. One can discriminate most small iron, pulltabs and new bottle caps but will lose depth by doing so. One can hunt at the greatest depth setting and then there are checks that you can do to determine if it is a target you want to dig or not. Practice, practice, practice. A PI detector is not for everyone and takes a long learning curve. Good luck in your journey....jim

 

[stevemc]

I have several PIs, live in Florida, and have used them all on dry sand, inland sand, etc, and they will always go deeper than any VLF I have or have used. My PIs dont have any discrimination, I never heard of such a thing. I can turn the pulse rate down, but that would make it lose gold jewelry, which I wouldnt want to do. I wouldnt trust it much anyways, disc that is. How can it tell if it is something very deep, thus making it have less conductivity? Dig it all. The only disc I use is on my Excal it has an iron mask, which nulls the threshold when over iron. I can clean an area out with my excal, then go over it with my White's Surfmaster, and find stuff deeper that I could not hear before. I have never used a TDI. Depth isnt everything, you do dig a lot of trash at deep depths.

 

[gary s fl]

Steve, thanks for the input. Eric Foster (UK) made the Goldscan and Deepstar PI models. I'm still learning about the various PIs available but I believe both of the above models could disc out some iron and had two tone ID for low vs high conductors. Several years back, Whites hired Foster to help them engineer the TDI. Not sure if Foster is still making detectors himself, but his detectors seem to be held in high esteem from the forum posts I read. This link has some good pics of his Goldscan 5 which is according to one commentor, basically a waterproof TDI. http://goldplacer.com/goldprospectors/eric-fosters-goldscan-5/
Several guys on the forums having been asking Whites to make a waterproof TDI but I wonder if Whites made an agreement with Foster not to.

I'm glad to hear that you've had good success with depth in FL's interior. I'm hoping to detect some old sites in N FL this winter if I can locate the sites.

Have you had the chance to compare your Surfmaster to the Surfmaster dual field? One well known east coast FL hunter uses the DF and really likes it.

 

[arizonaames]

I have several PIs, live in Florida, and have used them all on dry sand, inland sand, etc, and they will always go deeper than any VLF I have or have used. My PIs dont have any discrimination, I never heard of such a thing. I can turn the pulse rate down, but that would make it lose gold jewelry, which I wouldnt want to do. I wouldnt trust it much anyways, disc that is. How can it tell if it is something very deep, thus making it have less conductivity? Dig it all. The only disc I use is on my Excal it has an iron mask, which nulls the threshold when over iron. I can clean an area out with my excal, then go over it with my White's Surfmaster, and find stuff deeper that I could not hear before. I have never used a TDI. Depth isnt everything, you do dig a lot of trash at deep depths.

Steve,

You should try the TDI. Both the ML GPXs and TDIs have some discrimination with the TDI having the most. I can discriminate all pulltabs, modern bottlecaps, and most iron with the TDI ( not hear them ) and it will discriminate up to about 8 inches. However, that is the depth of discrimination by machine. If one wants to discriminate at greater deopths then one has to listen to the target. Nails make a particular sound and so too wire. Once the target is identified by sound then one can further discriminate the target again by different settings on the TDI. The TDI is light years ahead of the Dual Pulse PIs with more power, better discrimination, and better sensitivity. This is why there is currently a clamor for an underwater TDI. The Dual Field coil that you are using was designed by Eric Foster. The TDI was also designed by Eric Foster. The TDI is not a GPX 5000 but then it does not have the price tag of a GPX 5000, However, it is closer in depth and senstivity than any American PI machine to the GPX 5000 and has less problems with EMI than a GPX 5000. I have owned and used a Whites Dual Field PI. I had to dig all targets with the Dual Field. There was little to no discrimination with it.

 

[stevemc]

I would like to try a TDI, sounds interesting. Yes, I remember Eric Foster, he used to have a PI forum years ago. He is quite the PI expert.

 

[U.K. Brian]

I would not assume the Goldscan in the picture is waterproof as the Goldscan's I've used haven't been, though he might have produced some. Aquastar II is waterproof model and similar to the TDI in circuitry.

Goldscan's had the discrimination, Deepstars didn't. The cheap and cheerful Beachscan could be used with the "dropped gold" method of discrimination, Deepstar could not.

Use of the Deepstar's SAT control helps me ignore much rubbish/iron but with the Whites Dual Field I just have to dig almost all signals which I put down to the coil design. Having said that I'm happy to use my TDI in non discrim. and find I.D. better than with my Dual Field.