Trading in a V3 for an Excalibur II?

[Trokair]

So I currently have a White's V3 and I have some issues with it and am considering an Excalibur II as a replacement. Here are my issues:

- When I take the V3 to the beach I have to constantly be on guard for sand and water as the device isn't water proof
- Haven't gotten really decent depth in sand or ground. Most finds around 2-4 inches, nothing much beyond that
- All of the graphs/charts/settings don't add anything to my hunt. I mostly dig anything outside of the ferrous range so i don't miss jewelry (although I haven't found any)


Also, I have a very old site that I am allowed to dig on at will however it is full of trash and the ground is filled with iron. So far with the White's I've pulled some clad and recent relics out of the ground. Most interesting piece was a 1937 license plate. The Excalibur II looks like a much easier machine to pick up and operate. So here are my questions:

1. How is it on solid ground in general?
2. Would the descrimition be enough to search in high trash/mineral areas?
3. How does it handle bottle caps on the beach?
4. Has anybody gone from a model with a screen to one without?
5. What are your overall thoughts on going from a V3 to an Excalibur II?

 

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[cudamark]

Those are really two different kinds of machines. The Excalibur will be a much better water machine but not near as good as the V3 on land except for depth. The Excal has no depth meter and the audio discrimination leaves a lot to be desired. Unless you do a waterproof connector conversion, you can't easily change coils or headphones on an Excal either. The Excal does go deep.......water or land.... and is very stable. The recovery time is a little slow so in real trashy ground, you'll have to go slow so you don't miss good targets masked by iron. It ignores iron in the form of a null threshold. Both are excellent machines but they have their niche and shortcomings as you can see. I've found that the E-trac works great in both environments quite well as long as you don't go out into the water where the control housing might get wet. If I had to choose one machine to do both, that would be it or if you have the extra cash, the CTX3030. The Garrett AT Gold is a good third choice and a bit cheaper.

 

[cahil_2]

I never owned an excal, but was interested in getting one, so went to the dealer and tried one and it was heavy. Way heavier than my etrac. Something you might want to consider.

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Those are really two different kinds of machines. The Excalibur will be a much better water machine but not near as good as the V3 on land except for depth. The Excal has no depth meter and the audio discrimination leaves a lot to be desired. Unless you do a waterproof connector conversion, you can't easily change coils or headphones on an Excal either. The Excal does go deep.......water or land.... and is very stable. The recovery time is a little slow so in real trashy ground, you'll have to go slow so you don't miss good targets masked by iron. It ignores iron in the form of a null threshold. Both are excellent machines but they have their niche and shortcomings as you can see. I've found that the E-trac works great in both environments quite well as long as you don't go out into the water where the control housing might get wet. If I had to choose one machine to do both, that would be it or if you have the extra cash, the CTX3030. The Garrett AT Gold is a good third choice and a bit cheaper.

Great post. Two very different machine your comparing.

 

[GreenMeanie]

Night and Day difference.
If you only hunt the beach then the Excal.
I went with a CTX for beach and land use.

 

[OBN]

1. How is it on solid ground in general? Like a Sovereign, without the meter. Would I use one onland...not after using a metered.
2. Would the descrimition be enough to search in high trash/mineral areas? I would say possible but no fun.
3. How does it handle bottle caps on the beach? Once you have used a excal for awhile, you will know bottle caps very well, but small gold rings are very close in sounding similar. I can tell Bottlecaps and pulls, and I do alot of cherry pick'en skipping them, and I'm sure I have missed a few gold.
4. Has anybody gone from a model with a screen to one without?Yes, when I went to beach hunting only...Gold will pull you toward the water. One thing about the beach, less trash.
5. What are your overall thoughts on going from a V3 to an Excalibur II? I went from the SE to the excalibur, both great machines..but ment for what they were build for....As far as weight, there are several ways to hunt with the excalibur, strait shaft, chest, side, body mounts which take the weight off the S shaft. And she is a turn and go machine but to get the most out of it just like all machines...knowing, adjusting and being able to understand what they are telling you is best. My xcal has a few mods to make it better for hunting, cherry picking...

 

[Sand Gnat II]

I own a whites DFX which I have used for several years and I have found it to be a great machine for inland hunting. I started using the DFX for beach hunting and it produced fairly well however on one trip I was in the water about knee deep and dropped it when trying to recover a target. Fortunately some quick action on my part and I was able to save the DFX. At this point I decided that I needed a dedicated water detector and after a good bit of research and discussions with other MD'ers I opted for the Excalibur II. The Excal II has proven to be absolutely deadly on the beach on dry sand as well as wet sand and in the water. I have had many great finds with it and it has more than paid for itself. I have gone behind others on the beach and recovered items which they had passed over. I was experiencing some fatigue using the Excal II with the factory supplied shaft and subsequently purchased an Anderson shaft which puts the battery and electronics unit on the shaft behind the users arm. I have found this arrangement to provide for better balance and has solved the issue of fatigue. As others have said, the two detectors have their own unique place for use and as with any detector there's always going to be the learning curve to deal with. I highly recommend the Excal II for beach detecting. Happy hunting and I hope this information proves helpful.