What technology works at a salt water beach?

[J_Player]

Help... I can't figger it out...

I want to buy a metal detector to search for coins and jewelry that people drop in the surf and wet sands of the Califronia beaches.
I have been reading lots of forums on beach hunting and what I am hearing is that most of the east coast folks prefer the Minelabs Excalibur. But I also hear a lot of talk about the PI detectors finding deeper treasures, at the expense of digging up a lot of nails and trash. Then I read about the goldscan5 PI detector suposedly can discriminate the iron. There are a lot of conflicting reports, and I suppose a lot of the talk I hear comes from folks that don't really know how to use their detectors to their best advantage.

But now I am trying to decide what detector to buy to locate coins and jewelry in shallow California ocean water. I will take the time for the learning cuve in listening to the detector sounds. My feeling is I would like to find some of the small wedding bands that others missed, but I don't need to find every last tiny grain-of-rice sized piece if it means I will be digging 3 times as much trash. I plan to dig everything from the size of a pull tab up that has a possibility of being gold. I have heard reports of beach hunters who retired their Goldquest Aquasearch in preference to an excalibur because they were tired of digging nails.

Are there any seasoned detectorists who have used the different high-end beach machines and can tell me what to expect based on their experience?

[Carl-NC]

I use basic PI's... yes, you will dig trash. I have no experience with the GS5, so can't comment on it's disc. ability. About the only waterproof VLFs that work well in salt surf are the Excalibur and CZ20.

- Carl

[Unregistered]

Multifrequency

As Carl said and as you already know with PI's you have to dig everything which depending on where you live can be a bad thing. Here in NJ there are a minimum of 100 pieces of iron for every good target that you dig so a PI is bad news. If I used a PI I would end up stuck not being able to cover more than a 25ft square section of beach in any 4 hour period. But if you live in an area where there isn't much iron then you might want to try a PI. Personally I use a multifrequency machine on the beach. I personal choice is Minelab but Fisher CZ series or a Whites Beach Hunter ID work well too. There are a couple of PI's out that say they can reject iron but they don't do it very well. On the bright side there is a new PI called the Pulse Devil that is supposed to come out in the next couple of months that supposedly really can reject/ID iron very successfully. So we may just have a the best of both worlds soon. Good Luck whichever machine that you choose. Beach Hunting is a lot of fun!!!!

PS You mentioned California so I might suggest that you post this question on the other Carl's Forum as well. There is a person who posts there under the name "Paul Ca". He is a very knowledgeable California Beach/Land Hunter and would know what machines work best on the California Beaches.

Here's a link to that Forum:

http://members5.boardhost.com/MetalDetecting/

Hope this helps!

[Sean Goddard]

Try the Minelab Sovereign, Best machine on the beach BAR NONE!!

[J_Player]

Thanks for the help guys. I will look into the other forums.

From what I heard here, I should consider PI detectors if there's not too much iron trash, otherwise use a multi-frequency detector like the excalibur, CZ or sovereign. I am starting to think maybe I should have 2 detectors, using the PI where there is not too much iron trash. I suppose a PI detector would also be good for nugget hunting in the desert.

I have 2 questions:

1. I have heard that salt water is a problem for certain type detectors, yet I hear recommendations for both PI and VLF detectors in the saltwater sand. I presume there heve been recent advances that allow these units to work in the salt water. Am I right? And what about for diving? Is there a problem when a PI coil is submerged in 30 ft of ocean water? VLF?

2. Rather than spending big cash for a PI, I would rather wait till the dust settles after Pulse Devil is released. Until then, I may opt for a used PI or maybe even build a Hammerhead. What I am wondering is how the Hammerhead sensing properties compare to commercially available PI detectors? I am talking about it's ability to find small targets the size of a BB or bigger, sensing depth, and ground cancelling. I am talking about general usability, not about advanced functions. Has anybody tried a Hammerhead alongside some of the garrets, whites and other PI detectors?

Thanks again for the help

[Unregistered]

VLF

The only VLF's that work well in and around the saltwater are the Multifrequency VLF's. The single frequency VLF's have the same problems today that they had 30 years ago around saltwater. PI's that are deigned as waterproof units should have coils that can withstand the pressure at 30ft without any problem. But it's always best to check with the manufacturer to be sure The same with VLF's!

As far as needing both a PI and a Multifrequency VLF it depends on the ground conditons where you live. If it's a Low Mineral area the multifrequency VLF's are the equal of the PI's for depth unless you are using something a Minelab SD or GP series. The PI's shine when you get into areas of high mineralization that cripple the depth abilities of the VLF's.