Excal deal went south, but ended up good...

[Silver Surfer]

I found a used Excal, that had just been gone through by Minelab for a minor issue (but they went THROUGH it), and was going to meet up with the guy in Miami... Booked a cheap room that was non-refundable, and then about 8 pm the night before we left, he called and said that he was making sure all the machines were good to go, and the Excal had a problem.. I guess when he would turn his head to the left, the headphones would go silent... Sounded like a short somewhere.. I was bummed... BUT, I just happened to check on another board (where I am not even registered), and a guy had just posted he was selling an Excal.. I posted that I would like to be considered if he hadnt sold it yet, and we went to bed..
Got woke up at 1:40 to what sounded like a Tornado hammering down on us, and I got up to close up the back of the house... Could barely get the sliders closed, the pressure was UNBELIEVABLE!! Rain was coming in through the screenroom and 10 ft inside of the house...
Anyway, we left at around 3:30 and we didnt get to Miami until 9 am... Wrecks, slow driving due to tropical storm rain, etc..
Started detecting the beach at Crandon park, and 20 minutes later it hit there... Waited for 2 hrs in the truck to see if it would quit, and it didnt.. But the guy called me and said he had the machine..
It is an EXCAL II, and only a year old.. He has an extended warranty that goes for another 2 yrs, and just had a yearly "check up" on it, which I guess he does with all his machines.. Threw in a straight shaft... $900 bucks...

But man, it is gonna take me a bit to get this thing down... I am used to the MXT and only one tone, and this thing can sure be chattery with all the frequencies it sends out..

Hit South Beach the second day, and after a while I thought it was just me, or the machine, or both, because I couldnt find ANYTHING in the water, not even junk...
Got on the dry sand and found about $3 in clad, even dimes down a good foot... So the machine is working... I guess it just gets MD'd too much for a lot of garbage to add up... Saw two other water detectors, they said "it's way too clean" and said they werent finding anything either...

Went to a local lake by my home today just to try it out again, and found 4 dimes and 5 pennies in 5-8 ft of water no problem.. I even found two of the dimes so deep that it took 3 scoops to get them (out of the same hole)...

I think I will like this machine, but I will need a lot of practice I think getting the tones and pinpointing down...

Oh, and not that I know the difference, but this machine has the yellow "new style" of headphones on it as well... So I got an Excal II instead of the Excal I, and with updated phones, and for $25 less than the other guy wanted for his Excal 1000!
So the story ended up with a happy ending!


HH

 

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[godisnum1]

Great deal man! Glad to hear you got a water machine... you'll get the hang of it eventually though! I keep telling myself that about my Explorer. But I've decided not to go out with my IDX Pro anymore until I get well acquainted with my new machine.

Oh, and it sounds like that beach was heavily hit. I had a feeling it would be like that when you went down, 'cause many people seem to hit the high traffic beaches and leave little behind to be desired.

Anyway, hope you end up finding some awesome finds with your new Excal!

Bran <><

 

[Silver Surfer]

Hey Bran!
Funny thing is, when we were leaving, we decided to take a sunset walk... A young guy was swinging an Excal in the dry sand... I asked him why he wasnt in the water.. He said "you cant find anything out there anymore... I found 5 rings in a week working this dry sand"...

Gotta get over there and do a beach hunt with you!

 

[godisnum1]

Hey Bran!
Funny thing is, when we were leaving, we decided to take a sunset walk... A young guy was swinging an Excal in the dry sand... I asked him why he wasnt in the water.. He said "you cant find anything out there anymore... I found 5 rings in a week working this dry sand"...

Gotta get over there and do a beach hunt with you!

Well that's somewhat comforting, because that's ALL I detect!!!
Let's detect soon! I fly out for the hunt in Kansas this Tuesday...

Bran <><

 

[steve from ohio]

The main reason why there is not much in the water is because the water has been so darned cold. The wind was terrible all winter long and the people were not going in the water.

Usually in March, the water is closer to 70 degrees in the Gulf. Mid 60's on the Atlantic side.

This year, the Gulf water was in the high 50's to low 60's and the Atlantic was 58 degrees almost all winter long.

Air temps were the second coldest on record in Miami and in many Florida areas it was the coldest winter ever.

The economy also has hit hard as there were fewer people at Daytona this year for Bike week. The weather also had a lot to do with that.

Most folks were just sitting in the sun on the sand trying to get warm and get a tan. That is why the sand may be a better bet to find things.

With the economy in shambles (thanks for nothin GW , BO and the bankers) and with gold almost $1200 an ounce, a lot of people are metal detecting the beaches to supplement their incomes with their finds.

So the beaches have been hit really hard almost every day. But don't give up as there are people who are making some really nice finds. You will just have to work harder to find the bling.

 

[Silver Surfer]

Good info Steve.. Thanks..
I figured things werent "normal", my wife even made the comment "I thought everyone in Miami walked around with all this bling on".. We didnt see many people wearing it at all...
The "uppities" maybe dont like it when it is cold...

Gotta keep trying...

 

[Silver Surfer]

Thats why I need to go to the "left" side..
At least until a couple storms blow on the right side...