Beache Hunter ID

[desmond]

I've already posted my frustrations with the Beach Hunter ID. So many false signals in fresh water, at least at the beaches of Lake Erie. This is frustrating because these beaches are packed in the summer, has to be lots of rings. Should I sell it? About 9 months old. What would be a fair trade in value? I know the Excal 2 is the machine to have in these onditions, at least i think. Desmond in Buffalo.

 

[therover]

Des,

Are you falsing in both all metal and discrimination mode ? Where is your sensitivity set ? There is a beach here in NJ that is loaded with black sand and iron. On that beach, I run my BHID300 in all metal and on the preset sensitivity. I ground balance 2 times to make sure I am in the correct range. Also, I continue to check the GB every so often as conditions change pretty quick on this beach sometimes.

I have found that 90% of the time, I am using the unit in all metal. There are times when there is a small rise in the threshold, and no lights go off. These are deep targets....sometimes very small. They could be anything, but I dig them. Found a small gold plated toe ring at about 6 inches as one of these targets that did not make the lights go off but had a rise in the threshold.

I feel I am getting better depth and can even determine the targets better in all metal.

If you cannot ground balance the detector, try the GB setting right in the middle, all metal and sensitivity at preset ) possibly a little lower. Also, a very low audible threshold.

Just so you are aware...I am hunting salt water beaches.

JC

 

[desmond]

Yeah, that might be the problem. Most of the salt water beaches I have hunted, the machine runs fine, hot rocks here and there. But these fresh water beached on Erie might be different. Unfortunatley, those are the beaches where I'm now living. Thanks for the advice. Des in buffalo

 

[pistolpete]

Des, dont know which part of the lake you're hunting on, but I can tell you, there is black sand on Erie. I live right accross from you in Fort Erie. One of my favourite beaches is Crystal Beach. The black sand is not noticeable when I hunt with my excal or pulse machine, but it sure shows up with the Tiger Shark. The Tiger becomes very unstable at a certain point on this beach and close attention must be paid to ground balancing. There may be other minerals/iron where you are hunting on the lake also. From what I've heard, the bhid is a pretty good machine. Might just have to get used to the conditions where you're hunting?

 

[desmond]

Could be. If you want to go sometime, I'd love to. Send me a e-mail if you're interested. I'm a big coin shooter as well. Thanks for the advice. Des in Buffalo

 

[R-n-R Magnolia SpringsAla]

When I got mine I was not impressed with the unit in disc mode, I was spoiled by a HH PI, but AFTER I figured out how to run in AM mode it's wonderful. In the salt it was as good or better than the PI. I too now live on one of the big lakes. Too damm cold/frozen to try up here yet though. I wish I could be more help cause in my exp it's a great unit.

 

[diggindirt]

Des, are you using the 9.5 coil or the Super 12"??? The BHID 300 runs hotter and you have to turn the sensitivity down a little (won't affect depth). I run mine at N.E. salt beach locations with super amounts of "black sand" and if the sensitivity and the ground balance are setup correctly mine runs great!!!

I'm not familiar with the area you're having this issue with, but I run mine in some lakes Upstate and have had very good results with the machine! I wonder if you could have a defective unit??? It's possible that a hairline crack in the coil or connector has allowed some water in to cause falsing issues???

Did you purchase the machine new??? White's has outstanding customer service!!! You might want to have them make sure everything is working correctly before throwing in the towel!!!

I hope you get this issue resolved!


Thanks and happy hunting!!!

 

[BeerHunter]

Desmond,
Are you hunting out in chest deep water, shallow water or wet sand? The reason I ask is that if you are hunting in water that is around knee deep, a strong current or small waves will make the BHID coil flip up a bit causing falsing. I normally either go out deep with a wetsuit or stay on the wet sand because as soon as I go out just a bit into the water the wave action causes falsing galore. Out a bit further and the problem goes away, at least for me.
Cheers,
Jim

 

[Wet and Dry]

I own BHID with 9.5 coil and hunt Lake Erie on the Canadian side. Yes mineralization is a little high but by no means as bad as Southern California,where I spent 3weeks on Holidays last December. I own a DFX and learning to run the BHID took a little long to get use to , but now I really enjoy my machine. I hunt in both modes and it is a great machines. I suggest that you use it for a full summer before you jump to any conclusion about getting rid of it. I think in a little time you will learn to love this m/d.HH

 

[Bling]

n/t

 

[desmond]

Thanks for the input. The salt water beaches the machine runs very well. The fresh water beaches, at least the ones i've used it in on lake Erie, the machine works well on the dry sand, but when i enter the water, it seems to false alot. Could be a defect to the machine, but i don't think so. i too have used a DFX for 6 years. Know this machine well, thought the Beach hunter ID was a water proof version. I have the ID with the new 300 coil.

 

[DonNWF]

I used an Excalibur in the salt waters of NWF for three months. From knee deep to past my waist. In calm water and rough.
The good. Good depth and discs out iron- the best. Good on small stuff and deep.It rarely gives false signals.
The bad, stock rod sucks and earphones have poor sound. Next to my GT with grey ghosts they sound like tin cans. The Excal is to be used in Disc mode only - A/M will ruin your day.

BHID . I have used one for 16 months.under the same conditions.
The good - If you run it at max sensitivity in A/M I believe it to be more sensitive then Excal. But you have to set it up right in A/M mode.
I believe in A/M deeper than Excal in Disc, on the beach and wet sand. . In A/M you can use the lights to disc out junk and iron. The lights are very accurate.
The bad - The rod really really sucks. If you swing in deep water a lot you soon will need wrist surgery.
The headphones beat Excal hands down. However they have no volume control and are LOUD to the point of deafness. (put some sponge rubber and covers on them. In A/M It will false some both on the beach and in the water.

For my money these two are the ones for salt water. I have had no trouble in fresh with BHID, but I have not used others. I can't see a four hundred price difference advantage between them. To make either one what they should be requires a rod/headphone upgrade. I like my BHID much more since I put a straight rod on it and chest mount.

HH Don

 

[desmond]

Thanks for the input Don. I'll give it more time over the summer. Where to you detect? Des in Buffalo.

 

[BEACH HUNTER]

Set up right in all metal...the B.H.ID is one H@$% of a detector....deep and hot on small gold!!

 

[desmond]

Beach Hunter, is your guess m prblem is the beach Im searching? I haven't tried all metal. Des in Buffalo

 

[BEACH HUNTER]

are you using the 12" coil? Have you tryed other spots on the lake?

 

[Andy Sabisch]

The beaches along the shore of Lake Erie . . . especially on the south eastern section, have a good deal of iron slag, coke and cinders . . . from both factories and ship traffic. A few years ago when I was working in NE Ohio, I had issues with falsing on several beaches using both a Fisher CZ-20 and an Minelab Excalibur 800. Sometimes there are simply conditions that hamstring ANY detector out there . . . . . and you either live with the effects or find another beach.

I used the BHID 300 on the beaches of Myrtle Beach and Charleston with excellent results . . . . . . depth that really surprised me. No issues hunting some of the freshwater sites in NC & SC either with the exception of one swimming area that has some strange "concretions" . . . .black lumps of something - rock hard - that cause anything I have tried to beep as the coil comes off it.

Hope this helps

Andy

 

[desmond]

Thanks so much, everyone. Sounds like it might be the beach I was at. Will try other spots along Lake Erie and Ontario. I use the 12 inch coil beach hunter as i have the newest 300. I'll keep every one posted. Love this site, everyone is so helpful. Des in Brooklyn PS, Haven't used all metal much yet.

 

[R-n-R Magnolia SpringsAla]

The AM mode is like having a diff machine! Works as good as a PI without all the nails!!

 

[DonNWF]

I live in North West Florida between Pensacola and Destin. I water hunt the beaches all the way to Panama City. Down here we hunt all year. We have little mineralization and the sand is mostly clean but theres plenty of metal junk.. I like my BHID with the straight rod upgrade just fine. But I must add that I never hunt in Disc mode only A/M. If you search through past posts on the general White's forum you will find the trick setup for A/M use for the BHID (it is covered in detail). Its the way to go and I believe that the BHID will produce for you.
Your in the deep of winter up there and I feel your pain . Keep smiling. and good luck. Don