excal for silver and Explorer ll for gold

[s1u2r3f4]

Thank you in advance!! I hunt a beach that supposedly has Spanish silver and gold. I have an Excal and an Explorer ll. I'm trying to get proficient at both. Without getting submerged, what are the strengths and weaknesses of each detector?? Thanks to whoever answers!

 

[s1u2r3f4]

n/t

 

[Critterhunter]

I suggest you do a search for "BBS, Sovereign, Excalibur" (ANY WORDS) in the Explorer forum and see what those who own both in that forum have to say about beach hunting and go from there. You might also do the reverse of that and search for "Explorer, Etrac, FBS" (ANY WORDS) in this forum, but that's the flip side of the coin in some respects. To really get an balanced view I'd do the searches in both forums and then weigh opinions from there.

 

[dewcon4414]

You have it backward IMO. I use an Explorer and Xcal. Ive used an explorer for several years now. The Exp is a silver killer.... it picks up the tinest of pieces it is deeper than the Xcal no doubt. However when you start hunting say small 14K items you start loosing depth on any machine. I get a LOT more nickels with the Xcal than the SE.... thats an indicator that i hear them better. On a beach its dig everything but iron and bottle caps. Bottle caps are very distinguishable on the Xcal at the depth you would be finding small gold items, but you have to pay attention on the SE for those because its a higher tone that doesnt BONG like the Xcal. Also, that small gold sounds a lot like the mineral falsing you get on the wet sand with the Exp., not so on the Xcal. On the larger gold.... both do a great job with the edge going to the Exp on the really deep ones just because targets like large class ring hit up there around a penny. I do better in the dry sand with the Exp about the same in the wet sand because the Exp picks up a lot more mineral noise, at the surf.... the Xcal in PP, and wading the Exp settles down pretty good and as VA Max has proven it does a good job.

Dew

 

[Critterhunter]

I've found that my Explorers chattered too much in my mineralized beaches (fresh water though), and that the audio of the Sovereign is way easier for me to hear a target more "robustly" at depth, and that goes for silver or gold on land or on the beach for me. As to which has the edge, a large part of that comes down to coil choice for either machine IMO.

 

[s1u2r3f4]

I meant that I know the Explorer is good on silver and the Excal is good on gold. But can they do the opposite metal just as well. And if not, why not?? Yes, the Explorer is quite chattery near the water. Killed it on the fishing weights today with both

 

[Critterhunter]

I can tell you that at least for me it all comes down to coil choice as to which has what edge on what. I've seen what a good coil can do in both depth and separation. There are many excellent aftermarket coils for the Explorer, and there are many for the Excal (or Sovereign), but if you don't have a waterproof plug on your Excal to change coils but you do have some good aftermarket coils for your Explorer, then right there is your answer probably.

Just the same, don't take the advice of others when you have both machines to play with on that beach. Test them both on gold and silver yourself to see how they do against each other for what you're after in that sand. Nobody better than your own eyes and ears to tell you which to use for what on that beach, because nobody has your soil or sand, and that could make the difference between which does what for you.

Take a few gold rings (or better yet gold coins since that's what your after) and a few silver coins to the beach and bury and also tip a few on edge and then start to play with both machines and see if one's coil or it's unique traits handles your sand minerals better than the other on those targets. Just tie a string to all of those targets so you don't have to worry about losing them being buried too far. Keep sticking them deeper until one machine can hit them and the other can't. That's when the edge of which will do what in that sand will tell you which machine might be better than the other in that particular beach on those particular targets. All this stuff can change from beach to beach IMO. Also, try your Excal in PP mode and see if that pushes things even deeper. Who better to give you the final word then you and your particular beach with both machines?

 

[dewcon4414]

To answer your question ive not found anything AIR TESTING that both machines didnt pick up with the edge in depth going to the Explorer. BUT.... the edge goes to the Xcal on tones for smaller gold you just recognize them better.... not to mention nickels are easier to recognize than pull tabs. I use the Xcal most of the time just because dragging the Exp along and leaving it in a Jeep isnt smart. I do hunt with the Exp more during winter when no one gets in the water much and targets get slim. Like critter said dont take my advice do your own testing..... ive found over 16 ounces of silver and 40 gold rings this year so they both work IN MY AREA.

 

[dewcon4414]

Sorry.... i had to come back and add. Try manually setting you channel to 11 then ground balancing in the wet sand it seems to settle the chatter on the Explorer.

Dew

 

[Critterhunter]

Dew, without getting into specifics, I'll just say in my mineralized land and sand sites, I found one was deeper for me than the other on both silver and gold. That's all I'll say, because I know minerals can change things for people. That's why my advice is to test them both on that beach and see which gets deeper on gold or silver. The very minerals can impact which machine's different frequencies run on do best.

 

[s1u2r3f4]

Great input!! Thanks. This is a terribly great addiction