My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

[FloridaTreasureFinder]

My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

I posted a Wanted post in the classified area of treasurenet also. I am looking to put both my detectors as a trade in, plus additional money, for a Garrett Sea Hunter II.

I want a Garrett Sea Hunter II. I think that would be a great overall detector for underwater & land as well.

I have a Aquavision pro underwater detector (new, not used, still in box) and a Bounty Hunter (works great).

My detectors would be great for kids, as a gift, wife, friend, etc.. and are not expensive.

Thank you in advance for any info you can provide.

Susan.

 

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[GuerillaBill]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

Susan,

I recently owned a Garrett Sea Hunter II, and kept it for just one month.

The problem is the detector is a Pulse Induction (PI) detector with no discrimination.

Yes, it does have a 'trash elimination' knob, but it doesn't really do much.

So it sounds a tone at any metal in the ground - and you have no way of knowing whether it is trash, treasure, coin or bobby pin.

Which means you end up digging everything - bobby pins, bits of iron, and lots and lots and lots of trash.

After getting tired of digging so much trash, I sold my Sea Hunter II, and bought a Whites Beach Hunter 300 which has proven to be a great detector for beach, water, and land and does have excellent discrimination features.

The Whites Beachhunter 300 is easy to use, has selectable 'all metal' and 'discrimination' modes, has lights and different tones which give you a good idea of whether to dig or not, goes about 40 hours on a set of batteries, can be belt mounted, and with the 12" coil, detects deep and wide.

If you look at these, be sure to look at the Beachhunter 300 ID, as it has the larger coil, and the better sealed water-proof control head.

Bill

 

[davest]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

I use a Garrett Sea Hunter mk II and have for the past year and a half.. I've found many, many, many items with it, and you can bet you'll be diggin till your arm looks like the hulkster. You'll find needles and pins, sparkler wires, many of them 1/4 inch long 20 inches down, pull tabs that have reverted back to their ecological beginnings, hell, one time I had a Chinese guy give me a load of stuff because he said I was messing up his yard. Occasionally, you'll find a ring or something that makes your day but I attribute that to being in the right place and passing the coil over it more than the machine. In fact, on the dry sand/moist sand here in sunny floriduh, I 've found more with my Titan xd3000 than the seahunter.

Take Bills' advice, get a whites unit. I have to add, I had problems with my seahunter falsing etc, I sent it back, got it back and I hunt with it because I haven't come up with 600.00 recently to buy another detector. Trust me on this. If I could do it all over again, I'd wait another month and save another 200.00 and buy an Excal or a Whites beachhunter.

Good luck.

 

[sandsifter]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

Get a minelab ex-cal 2, or a Sov GT my 2cts

 

[FloridaTreasureFinder]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

Thank you all for your advice. I was thinking maybe just use the sea hunter in the ocean and lakes, rivers rather than on dry land. And if I wind up keeping my bounty hunter, I can use that for land only. I like my little bounty hunter and it works just fine for me so far.

I am looking for something in my budget. Anything around $1,000 is a bit hard for me to come up with that much money. I see some sea hunters for around $600 or less.

Have you had good experience with sea hunter underwater in the ocean?

Thank you again, Susan

 

[davest]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

I use mine in the gulf of mexico. It does find metal, every little piece of it, which can be a good thing but after digging 65 pieces of broken up crab trap in assorted colors, it gets tiring. I had some folks tell me to listen for "whispers", that they would signify small pieces of treasure, but in whatever mode I hunt, the "whispers" are usually loud "wooomps". and they vary from silver rings to pieces of crab trap in assorted colors.

I bought it from that metal detecting superstore and was in the same predicament. Didn't want to spend or save $1K and thought, "hey, those Garrett guys make the seahunter, it's waterproof, has discrimination, and is slightly above $535.00 with tax" so I bought it. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was after 5 weeks of hunting. In fact, the guy I hunt with thought I was going to break it in pieces after spending 4 hours in the water digging assorted pieces of crabtraps in different colors 5 weeks running, but I surprised him. I still have it.

I run it at zero discrimination, barely audible threshold, and I have it chest mounted on a homemade harness that works for me.

I have found no gold with it as yet. I blame that on not being in the right place at the right time, more than I blame the detector.

 

[FloridaTreasureFinder]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

I use mine in the gulf of mexico. It does find metal, every little piece of it, which can be a good thing but after digging 65 pieces of broken up crab trap in assorted colors, it gets tiring. I had some folks tell me to listen for "whispers", that they would signify small pieces of treasure, but in whatever mode I hunt, the "whispers" are usually loud "wooomps". and they vary from silver rings to pieces of crab trap in assorted colors.

I bought it from that metal detecting superstore and was in the same predicament. Didn't want to spend or save $1K and thought, "hey, those Garrett guys make the seahunter, it's waterproof, has discrimination, and is slightly above $535.00 with tax" so I bought it. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was after 5 weeks of hunting. In fact, the guy I hunt with thought I was going to break it in pieces after spending 4 hours in the water digging assorted pieces of crabtraps in different colors 5 weeks running, but I surprised him. I still have it.

I run it at zero discrimination, barely audible threshold, and I have it chest mounted on a homemade harness that works for me.

I have found no gold with it as yet. I blame that on not being in the right place at the right time, more than I blame the detector.

Thank you very much for your feedback. I live in Florida also, and I am thinking, at most beaches that are public, where people swim, there may not be crab traps?? Don't they need a permit to have crab traps? Your finding pieces of crab traps all over the place sounds so maddening. I feel for you!! I would like to avoid the same fate by doing my best to avoid places that allow crab traps, as much as possible.

I have been doing a lot of reading and many people tell of their gold & silver finds, and they show photos' too. So I am hopeful that I will find some good stuff out in the water, where people swim. I will go from wading to snorkeling, to do my searching. Ocean, rivers, & lakes. I plan to stick to the main swim areas.

Another thought on the crab traps, I wonder if what you found was placed "way" before they may of required people to have permits (that's if permits are needed for them).

Again, thank you all for your feedback.

Susan, and my dogs Kelly & Tinky

 

[davest]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

oh well, I tried to tell you. Good luck

 

[XT18000]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

Lets stop bashing the Sea Hunter for being able to find any and everything: THATS
what it was designed to do. All underwater detectors were designed to be used
to find underwater wreck sites not coins on a beach. Put on a wet suit and Scuba
gear; go find a VERY old wreck and you will be glad it find any and everything!
It's a story of using a very good tool for the wrong job. And yes I own and use
one, also an EXcal.

 

[FloridaTreasureFinder]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

Lets stop bashing the Sea Hunter for being able to find any and everything: THATS
what it was designed to do. All underwater detectors were designed to be used
to find underwater wreck sites not coins on a beach. Put on a wet suit and Scuba
gear; go find a VERY old wreck and you will be glad it find any and everything!
It's a story of using a very good tool for the wrong job. And yes I own and use
one, also an EXcal.

The sea hunter sounds like a very good and capable detector. It seems to me that's it's mainly designed for underwater use. Hence, less trash like beer cans, etc.. out where people swim. But I am sure that I will find much trash in the water as some boaters, etc.. may throw their cans & trash overboard, and the current takes it and then dumps it all over the place. I am looking forward to getting in the water with my Sea Hunter. I am not too worried about finding trash out where people swim. I will find out when I get there! lol.. And if I find some metal or iron objects, I'm not too worried about it. Didn't they use iron, metal in those old ships that sank & spread Spanish cobs all over the place?? lol..

skt

 

[JP]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

The bits of crab traps are everywhere from the crab traps that are just off shore. Clearwater has its fair share of pieces, just like was said in every color known to man. I even find them with my Excalibur when I hunt in all metal.

The SeaHunter will go deep. You will be digging everything, but isn't that what the experts say, you have to dig everything to find the good stuff. There are places you won't want to take the machine, places that are bombarded with junk metal, but these places stink even with a machine that can discriminate out unwanted "stuff."

Actually for scuba I prefer the SeaHunter sometimes.

I don't remember his name right now, maybe he will jump in here, but there is a gentleman that hunts at Clearwater Beach with an older Tesoro, a Stingray. One day several of us were out there with Excaliburs. We ran into him, our finds almost nothing, he had a full bag of "stuff." In the mix of junk were several silver items and a gold charm (If I remember right).

Basically what I want to say is that a good hunter who knows his or her machine will do better then someone who doesn't know their machine, even one that costs big money. Also factor in there knowing "water science" and other conditions for water hunting.....and there you've got it.

The thing is to start and over time make changes if you don't like your choice in the machine you bought. Also, check craigslist, there are some good deals sometimes on there. I bought and tried many water scoops before I found the one I liked. I did a lot of trading and selling and then buying....and on and on.

 

[Diver_Down]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

Susan,

Let me chime in. Being that you are from Gainesville, you'll probably be heading for St. Augustine at some point. Some will say that the SeaHunter can't discriminate. I run mine in standard not the "discreet trash elimination". You can discriminate out some items by playing with the sensitivity without sacrificing the depth. Iron is easy to tell the difference. The target will "echo", even the smallest sparkler wires and twist ties. One thing to note, there is a lot of iron off Vilano. 3 years ago, there was alot of erosion destroying the resident's staircase/walkovers. Bunch of nails are littered amongst the sand. Also, you will want to look into chest/hip mounting the control box. Swinging the SeaHunter with the control box on the shaft will give your shoulders a workout. It is like swinging a cinderblock.

 

[GibH]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

I had and sold a Sea Hunter. I think it's a great PI myself. As was posted, use the standard disc as opposed to the discrete or depth REALLY suffers. If searching dry sand search perpendicular to the water. The only reason I sold mine was because at the time I had a Surfmaster and a PI Pro. The PI pro was stolen, so now I wish I had kept the Sea Hunter.

 

[FloridaTreasureFinder]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

Thank you all for your great advice. I will follow your advice about the settings, etc..

I do plan to cover both coasts here in Florida. Taking some day trips, and 2 day trips, etc..

And there are some nice rivers near me too. I look forward to getting to know my Sea Hunter and it's tones. I thought about practicing with some metal I have here at the house, and throw in the odd gold item, and listen to the tones.

I also have the manual that comes with it that is full of good info.

Thank you again,
Susan.

 

[erikk]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

I have excals, Infinium & a Sea Hunter MK2 There are beaches for PI machines & some for the excals U just have to match the machine to the beach. All are good machines & Bill: U dont have 2 push on the shaft 2 keep the coil from floating 2 the surface!

 

[GuerillaBill]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

I agree with the idea of having the right tool for the job.

That's why I have an excal II, a whites beachhunter 300, a Sovereign GT, and a Ace 250.

Today I'll be using the Sovereign GT on the beach.

Tomorrow maybe the excalibur - depending on the tide level and water temps.

Bill

 

[OBN]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

Sea hunter is a good machine, but you will dig junk. If it is your first PI you will need Patience to learn what it is telling you when you get a signal. I have to agree with erikk and Gurbill. Each beach requires a different strategy and machine. The excal will cover most but a Pi will be needed at times when the targets are few, and deep. My advice is to save your money and get one of the best, the Excalibur...maybe watch ebay for a used one, because there is a backorder on new excal II's because of the move of minelab's from Ireland to Malaysia, I've heard 2 months delay from above. Good Luck, you look young from your avatar...your time will come..........Joe/Obn

 

[FloridaTreasureFinder]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

Sea hunter is a good machine, but you will dig junk. If it is your first PI you will need Patience to learn what it is telling you when you get a signal. I have to agree with erikk and Gurbill. Each beach requires a different strategy and machine. The excal will cover most but a Pi will be needed at times when the targets are few, and deep. My advice is to save your money and get one of the best, the Excalibur...maybe watch ebay for a used one, because there is a backorder on new excal II's because of the move of minelab's from Ireland to Malaysia, I've heard 2 months delay from above. Good Luck, you look young from your avatar...your time will come..........Joe/Obn

Hi Folks, I love all the good info you all have to offer. For my budget, I'll have to go with the Sea Hunter first. Plus, I do want to get out in the water & hunt. And if I wait until I save up enough money for another model, or wait till I find one at a good price, it may be months. And I see that as time gone by and missing opportunities. I'll have to learn to live with digging lots of junk. I know I won't be alone. It seems we all dig our fair share of junk. And many of us find the good stuff too. We find good stuff because we stick with it. We hang in there. Through all the junk, and frustration. Dedicated. etc..

I like this hobby. I like the exercise, beach, hunt, comaderie, etc..And I will take it with me on the road at work (I am a truck driver). This hobby gives me something fun to do with my spare time, besides going to the movies, relaxing at home, etc..

I'm hoping I'll find some nice goodies that can help finance a different, more expensive model. I will move up the detector ladder. With all the junk metal I will find, I'll add it to my scrap metal pile, then take to recycler!! lol....

About my Avatar, I am actually a female, and I like this photo of actor Paul Walker. He played in the movie "Into The Blue" which is about treasure hunting. It takes place in the Bahamas. And they swim with real sharks in the movie too! It's one of my favorite movies. Action packed. Cute guys, beautiful scenery, etc..

Thanks again for your info. I enjoy learning from you all.

Susan, and my dogs Kelly & Tinky

 

[FloridaTreasureFinder]

Re: My 2 detectors (underwater & regular)

After much thought & research, and trying out a friends excal...., I am going to buy a excal. I should have it by mid march if all goes well.

ttyl, hh, susan and my dogs kelly & tinky