Water detecting advice...

[Bavaria Mike]

Hello water detectors. Looking for some advice about shallow water detecting swim lakes, chest deep. About to order a Fisher 1280 Aquanaut for the following reasons, Price, Fisher good name, (just sold my CZ7A to get a water detector, wife thing, why do I need 5 detectors, I really need 10), long life battery usage, ease of use and setup. I have waders and just bought two wet suits, short and long. The questions I have are:

1) What kind of shoes do you wear with the wet suit or just plain water detecting without a suit?

2) The non detachable headphone cord will wear out, I am an Electronics Tech and should be able to replace it easily, or not due to seals?

3) I don't want to start a detector war but, I am open to advice on water detectors around the $600ish price range and want to place an order by the end of the week. I will not use this machine much, just a time passer until the fields open up as I prefer relic hunting and do not have many lakes to go to.

4) I made a scoop out of PVC pipe and a wood handle that works OK, I have water detected several times with my land machines about waist deep but need to get deeper for the good stuff. Should I splurge and buy the nice aluminum water scoop?

Thanks and HH, Mike

 

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[Dixie Digger]

i also use the 1280X and CZ20.Tesoro Tiger Shark . in the $600 price range id go with the Tesoro Tiger Shark.it has a salt mode and is better on small Gold than the others. iv owned many scoops but i like the aluminum best..pic below.

 

[spez401]

Mike... I have that same wife problem... she just doesn't get that each detector is for a specific thing. It doesn't matter that I can only use one at a time.

good questions...and I'm sure you're going to get a lot of good answers.

1. Shoes - depends on the water temp for me. In colder water, I wear a set of dive booties, but ones with a decent sole to them. In warmer water, water shoes, or even sandals (teva or the same). It does depend on personal preference. If it is rocky, I stick with the water shoes, or dive booties... less chance of scraping your toes on something

2. You can replace the headphones yourself on most machines. Usually there is a type of compression fitting that clamps down on the wire. If the machine is still under warranty, though, just send it back. Usually opening up the cases on the machine voids warranty.

3. you've picked a good machine from what I know about it (never used one myself). If its a dedicated beach machine (saltwater), you may want to consider the WHites beachunter ID or surfmaster, or any of the other PI machines. They deal well with mineralization in the sand, and they go deep... but you'll be digging everything as there is little or no discrimination (except on the beachhunter id). The excal is a bit beyond your price (at around 1000), but you can always try to find a used one.

4. Spring for the good scoop. the pvc's will break under the strain of wet sand. A decent scoop is literally worth its weight in gold. It will help you recover targets quicker, and easier. check out
www.nuttallenterprises.com
www.proscoops.com
www.treasure-scoops.com/
www.rtgstore.com/
and my favorite - http://sunspotedm.com/beachscoops/index.htm

good luck
steve

 

[dahut]

Ive use the 1280X and I like it - it's a goodie. Hard to go wrong with it, but I like the Tesoro Tiger Shark better because it lets me know Im on iron - the Fisher just eliminates it. Good choice either way.

1) What kind of shoes do you wear with the wet suit or just plain water detecting without a suit?
I wear strap on sandals to allow accumulated sand and gravel to escape. Where there are rocks, I wear in-expensive hiking boots. Get to know your lake bottoms, Mike!

2) The non detachable headphone cord will wear out, I am an Electronics Tech and should be able to replace it easily, or not due to seals?
When you get it, you'll see you need the correct seal at the entrance. Once you get it, do a little looking and find a suitable replacement to keep handy. But I dont know many people that complain about that with the Fisher.

3) I don't want to start a detector war but, I am open to advice on water detectors around the $600ish price range and want to place an order by the end of the week. I will not use this machine much, just a time passer until the fields open up as I prefer relic hunting and do not have many lakes to go to.1280X, Tiger Shark, DetectorPro Diver.

4) I made a scoop out of PVC pipe and a wood handle that works OK, I have water detected several times with my land machines about waist deep but need to get deeper for the good stuff. Should I splurge and buy the nice aluminum water scoop?
ABSOLUTELY! A good scoop will never let you down, when anything less will. Spend the money on a good.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I can't comment on the detector since I have never used it.

On shoes I use WaterMOC sold in Basspro shops. It is a waterproof tennis shoe with drain holes on the bottoms and sides to drain the water and sand. I use to go barefoot, but after pulling up so many broken bottles and other hazzards I wear shoes now.

Wife problem I also can relate to. I just purchased another Excal, still waiting for it to arrive. I will then have 2 Excals, a Sovereign GT with WOTcoil, and a Whites 6000 Pro XL. The 2nd Excal is back up for the first Excal.

I tried to explain to her that different detectors are better for different enviroments and hunting types. Not sure if it worked though. I tried to relate it to her "shoes". Different shoes for different occassions, different detectors for different occassions.

 

[Monty]

I have a Garrett Sea Hunter II and it is probably more machine than I will ever need. Although I am only hunting freshwater, it it a PI machine and goes very deep and probably works best as a dive machine. The headphones are detachable as are the coils if you want the versatility. The Fisher machine you are thinking about ordering is very hard to beat for the purposes you stated. I see a lot of them around our many freshwater lakes and everyone seems to be pleased with them. A really good scoop will make or break an outing, so by all means spring for one. I found a pair of zip on rubber booties at Wally World that works fine for protecting your feet from sharp objects in the water. They have a thick rubber sole and are light weight and a real bargain at about $20.00! If you get into any mud at all, those moccasin or oxford type rubber water shoes will be sucked right off your foot! Sounds like you have a good plan, so stay with it. Monty

 

[kaptainkosmic]

2 cents worth

detectors: i have both 1280-x & cz-20 and i prefer the cz.

shoes: i use what ever beach shoe is on sale as long as it has a good sole

wife: i just put them all in a corner, if she notices that the numbers are increasing i tell her they're just like rabbits.

scoop: i've included a picture of the scoop i use

added subject: sifter, i wouldn't go water detecting without it. completely eliminates time spent looking for targets in bottom of scoop which adds to time looking for targets in bottom of lake!

second picture is what i sort thru for my targets

hh kapt. kos

 

[Sandman]

The 1280 is a good detector and built like a tank. I still have my first two both with 10 inch coils which I advise getting due to area it covers. I never had any trouble with the wires.

I use the Excal 1000 with the Tiger Shark as a back up detector. The TS is the only water detector that you can change coils yourself. Tesoro's have a live time warranty and are sensitive to very small gold.

I used to wear dive booties but now have settled on wader shoes fishermen wear with stocking foot waders. They are more rouged than booties and have a thicker sole for the rocks.

As Steve said, a good scoop is worth it. I too like the Sunspot, pic below.

I have way more than a doz detectors, but then I don't have a wife traveling with me to claim all the gold rings either.

 

[Bavaria Mike]

Thanks all for the great advice and comments!!! I will probably order the Fisher 1280 w/10.5" coil tomorrow. Should be here before I go on vacation and I will be more than ready to go. Thanks again for your time and HH, Mike

 

[finderzzs]

Remember, that 1280-X won't work very good in Salt water, not sure you stated where you were going to hunt.

 

[Bavaria Mike]

I will be freshwater detecting as I am too far inland in Germany. Only have 5 local lakes and a few farther away. Two of the lakes get lowered every year, very nice and they have produced! Saltwater would be a rare occasion to hunt and that probably will not happen. Thanks all and HH, Mike

 

[finderzzs]

I will be freshwater detecting as I am too far inland in Germany. Only have 5 local lakes and a few farther away. Two of the lakes get lowered every year, very nice and they have produced! Saltwater would be a rare occasion to hunt and that probably will not happen. Thanks all and HH, Mike

That's super, I to use the 1280-X in the freshwater with the 10" coil and get awesome results, Good luck and can't wait to see your results.

 

[FLauthor]

I once owned a 1280X and its a wonderful freshwater machine but it will give false signals in Saltwater. To minimize the falsing, turn the sensitivity down to zero. Try this simple test, take a gold ring and a large nail. Place nail through gold ring and pass it under the coil when Discrimination is used. Did the detector respond to the gold ring? Usually to both will be ignored, that's why I have a Excalibur. 1280X will have to be hunt in all-metal to get the gold when iron is present. Good luck.

 

[srmoore]

8) Hey Kaptainkosmic: I was just wondering where you got your sand scoop that you posted on line. I am looking for one, if you or anyone else could give me the address and cost of this one I would appreciate it.

Thanks Alot!

SRMOORE