Excalibur 2 Auto Sensitivity in Hawaii?

[KapHI808]

Aloha,

A long time lurker and new Charter member here. I have found a few gold rings and some other silver jewelry for 2013 but would like to be able to get the most out of my Excalibur 2 with 10" coil. Although I prefer to search in Pinpoint and Reverse Discriminate, some of the beaches doesn't allow me to do so due to the mineral content. Even with my sensitivity turned all the way down (full clock-wise), my threshold chirps and crackles a lot where I have a hard time telling deep targets from the snap, crackle, and pop of the threshold. I actually find that the threshold is steadier in discriminate mode, even turned up to 6. I am wondering if I should use the Auto Sensitivity feature instead of going the manual route? I have also tried a hunt or 2 without the coil cover to see if the trapped sand had anything to do with it, but no luck. Some may say that I should just hunt in Discriminate mode, which I may very well have to, but their are times that I want to dig everything just to practice my pinpointing and target recovery with my Stealth 720i. Having that option would be nice. I guess another option might be to change to an 8" coil after the warranty ends. Any tips would be appreciated.

Mahalo

btw. I have 6 of CJC's books on order

 

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[Sir Gala Clad]

Thanx for the thread OBN, it was quite interesting to go through the post(s) by the old masters on how they exploited the Pin Point (All Metals) capabilities.

I have not been able to determine what function(s) Erric is responsible for at Mine Lab. From a management standpoint his response, is what I would expect, as most treasure hunters pay the big bucks for the Excalibur's and Sovereigns discrimination capabilities and nulling on Iron.

It is hard to justify the premium price paid on hunting in Pin Point (All Metal) alone as there are less expensive Pulse Induction (PI) detectors which can detect at greater depth.

I have not done any relic hunting, if I did and only had an Excalibur, I would definitely use the All Metals Mode to hunt for Iron relics. I would think that would be a good reason for hunting in all metal as the Excalibur nulls on iron in Disc.

It is appears that you and old masters are using Excalibur and Sovereign detectors outside of their normal design envelope envisioned by Minelab to exploit capabilities not obtainable in Disc. Plus you have modified your detectors to make it easier to switch between Pin Point and Disc to facilitate hunting in reverse discrimination.

Similarly, I suspect that the faster sweep used by Big Scoop to detect deep or small targets which tone but cannot be identified prevents the detector from nulling as there is not sufficient time to process that target.

I usually pin point in Disc, which appears to work better where I hunt than Pin Point?
.

 

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[OBN]

SGC..here is one from the OldMasters....

 

[bigscoop]

Question: Over a flat surface, can coil motion, either horizontal or vertical, distort the search field frequencies? In other words, can these frequencies be bounced or thrust deeper?

 

[OBN]

Bigscoop
Question: Over a flat surface, can coil motion, either horizontal or vertical, distort the search field frequencies? In other words, can these frequencies be bounced or thrust deeper?

Good question, And remember my hunting area is different, I have used a few tricks to bring up deeps that I knew were there in PP, besides clearing sand away, the famous wiggle-wiggle of the coil over the target, then the up and down, like ground balancing...but the WW is the best that I know (this is in discriminate)(PP, sweep speed is the best). And I don't think these distorts the field because no one really knows a way to measure/test the fields in the hunting area. Only thing I know that distorts the fields, and I'm guessing, is the minerials/matrix of whats under or near to the coil.

The two best ways of improving the depth of the excalibur that I know of is more raw power, beyond stock, to the coil and headphones.

Re: The Sovereign Wiggle

 

[bigscoop]

Good question, And remember my hunting area is different, I have used a few tricks to bring up deeps that I knew were there in PP, besides clearing sand away, the famous wiggle-wiggle of the coil over the target, then the up and down, like ground balancing...but the WW is the best that I know (this is in discriminate)(PP, sweep speed is the best). And I don't think these distorts the field because no one really knows a way to measure/test the fields in the hunting area. Only thing I know that distorts the fields, and I'm guessing, is the minerials/matrix of whats under or near to the coil.

The two best ways of improving the depth of the excalibur that I know of is more raw power, beyond stock, to the coil and headphones.

Re: The Sovereign Wiggle

The reason I asked, and this is really effective/obvious with the CZ even in disc. On intermittent target responses, place the coil flat to the ground and then slightly bounce it up and down over the target as you slowly move the coil around and you will usually start getting a repeat response every time once the target nears the center of the coil. What is odd about this is that once the target is located you will often revert back to intermittent responses if you try sweeping the target again under the center of the coil. I believe this same effect is played out with the quicker swing speeds as well, the forcing of the frequencies a bit deeper into the matrix, or perhaps, the bouncing/distortion/acceleration of the send and return? It's also interesting to consider those responses that we can't hear without amplification, as if perhaps the bounce or swifter swing speed is increasing this capability in some way? I do know that these faints/deeps appear to grow a bit loader as well when applying the bounce and/or swifter swing speeds. I think my next area of experimenting with this will be an amplifier.

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

Maximum depth is obtained when the search coil is parallel to the ground. Several types of harnesses can be purchased to take the load off your arms and keep the coil at a near constant height while searching for targets. It is especially helpful when using larger coils, which are heavier, such as a 15"DD WOT, or a larger SEF butterfly search coil.

Also, a loop support can be purchased to permanently keep the coil at the exact angle needed to keep the coil parallel to the ground. It will prevent the angle of the coil being altered when you set your detector down to recover a target or when you bump on the ground, a tree or a rock. It also can be used to prevent the seach loop being flipped up by wave action while shallow water hunting.

 

[OBN]

Bigscoop
I think my next area of experimenting with this will be an amplifier.

Been using them for about 4 years now, some places I get 6 extra inch's, florida around Boca, I got 2 extra. Been working with a friend who has come up with some smaller types.

 

[bigscoop]

Been using them for about 4 years now, some places I get 6 extra inch's, florida around Boca, I got 2 extra. Been working with a friend who has come up with some smaller types.

View attachment 748336

Water tight? There's no doubting that there a lot of signals being missed simply because we can't hear them. I'm learning more all the time and slowly edging my way deeper & deeper with improved sensitivity, and this includes disc mode. I am convinced that these machines are hunting a lot deeper then we first realize but we're just unable to hear those returns with the stock setups and traditional methods.

 

[OBN]

I have 2 that are 99% water tight, except the battery. They are good for dunks, but not a diving. The other (3) I just recieved from OTLewis and checking to see if they can match the power offered by Doc's Treasure Screamer. Also working on a Amped excalibur that tranmitts more power to the coil, (afterburner), I tried it a few years ago, had great results on land but at the beach the minerials of the area I was testing were just to much for the setup I had. Now that I'm on vacation the rest of my life and buying a town house with in a few miles of the beach I'll be in the right location with plenty of time to dabble and hunt...

 

[OBN]

I am convinced that these machines are hunting a lot deeper then we first realize but we're just unable to hear those returns with the stock setups and traditional methods.

Hoping Skullies can open up some of the unheard targets, I know it does in PP..but Disc...not sure...That's were you come into the program BigScoop, your the Florida Based Skullies Disc research department, Very soon...........

 

[Can Slaw]

You didn't mention where you were hunting in HI, but I have a very good friend that has been hunting the Honolulu area for years. He fight interference from the Navy base constantly. Everyday they seem to be putting more radio signals out that raise havoc with metal detectors. Are you hunting in areas of large resorts that could be putting out electrical interference?

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

Can Slaw: The interference which I constantly encounter while beach hunting in Hawaii comes from one or more one or more buildings in a large resort complex such as the office or an or open bar. This is easy to deal with as all you have to do is walk away from the source till your detector stabilizes.
There is also minor interference from mobile communications which is not predictable.

As I don't hunt close to military installations, I have not experienced the severe EMI, your friend has.

Occasionally I get interference from metal detectors(s) who at too close (less than 20 feet away).

Most often, it is from the pin pointer, I carry which uses pulse induction. You just have to be aware that you will get falsing in your VLF and pin pointer when both are on and pointing at each other( sort of like dualing banjoes) .

 

[bigscoop]

Interesting on the EMI. There are a couple of condo complexes here that I couldn't even get close to with the CZ yet the Excal had no problems. Had this same situation at a county park up north. The county park was just fine until they installed a lot of florescent lighting near the beach and buried the cables, drove the CZ absolutely batty except in PP. In PP it was a lot more stable, at least to the point that you could still hunt with it.

 

[seeker41]

joe, how do your latest amped machines/headphones compare to the amped excal that was beat by a stock cz in that video you and a couple others did?

by the way, bigscoop said i could get my headphones before him!!!! isnt that right bigscoop?
chuck.

 

[OBN]

joe, how do your latest amped machines/headphones compare to the amped excal that was beat by a stock cz in that video you and a couple others did?

by the way, bigscoop said i could get my headphones before him!!!! isnt that right bigscoop?
chuck.

Seeker, all skullies will be shipped next tuesday looks like..just need your address..On the Amped excal, should be no problem smoking most. It's so sensitive to conditions, in the saltwater it is useless. Now wetsand, fresh water it can get a quarter at 22 inchs, rings are alot less..16 to 17 on a 7 gram and it has alot to do with conditions, and this is a stop for signal... Alot more testing is need.....I'm retired now...Nothing but time..

 

[seeker41]

thanks joe, sent you a pm!
chuck.