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excal question
- Thread starter pi pro
- Start date
mattockman
New member
If there are coins or rings amungst the iron, I would think no matter what, the detector will see the stronger signal and let you know....be it the iron or coin....depends on the size and depth of each, and which one is stronger.....if you scan around and find it everywhere.....try turning down the sensitivity and pick out some shallower good targets.....if the iron is deep then you have a good chance of hitting some coins that are shallower....if Iron is shallow, then maybe keeping sensitivity high is better....as long as the detector is not falsing too much, you should still be able to find some coins or rings as long as you have the patients.....if you are new to using the Excal....I suggest not to torcher yourself and find a cleaner area....
Martin(Qc)
New member
Have you tryed lowering sensibility to half or less than that ? If that doesn't work...well a smaller coil maybe ?
If it is not falsing keep going. Your Excal will null over iron, a lot of iron gives a lot of null, but if it is falsing you need to lower sensitivity a little. Don't use automatic sensitivity unless you have to to keep your sanity. Even though it nulls a lot in a very trashy site, it will still pick out targets. Swing your coil slow in such places, extra slow. The Excalibur likes a slow swing anyway, and in a lot of iron even slower is better. In such places it also is sometimes worth covering the bottom twice, once at right angles to the first pass. Keeps iron from hiding good targets.
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guys thanks for the info, the place is a inlet, build from old bridges, pilings and who knows what else, has a lighthouse from the 1800's
i worked the beach just fine, but got near the picnic area thats were the fun started. so what your saying is when it nulls the iron, then if i pass a good target it will still sound
off while it nulling the iron.i thank you for your help and info
i worked the beach just fine, but got near the picnic area thats were the fun started. so what your saying is when it nulls the iron, then if i pass a good target it will still sound
off while it nulling the iron.i thank you for your help and info
Just go slow and let it null over iron, that is the best you can do with the Excalibur. There is argument whether it will ring while in null, but I think if you are going slow and the iron is not right on the target you will hear it if it.
Null is when the threshold tone disappears. This I consider a nonevent and simply keep going. If it is nulling a lot, I go very very slow. If the detector makes a noise then something else is happening. You say ".... that's when the fun started." , usually I associate that with falsing from trying to run the detector too hot in bad ground. Sometimes the sensitivity control on the Excalibur confuses people not used to it, it is most sensitive right next to the auto setting then grows less sensitive as the knob is turned clockwise. Because of this layout you can be running as hot as possible when you might think you have it turned down and actually be turned down to as low as it goes when you think you are running max. We are used to turning up the volume clockwise, so that knob is counterintuitive. An Excalibur also gets freaky when water gets in the battery compartment and when the battery is almost dead.
If you are not an experienced Excalibur person, Andy Sabisch's book is worth it's weight in gold. It will help you sort through things like this ahead of time. Minelabs always go better with Andy. It should be a rule, if you buy a Minelab, the appropriate Sabisch book should come with it. You will find more good stuff and have fewer headaches if you follow my advice on this one.
What exactly is your detector doing when the fun starts?
Null is when the threshold tone disappears. This I consider a nonevent and simply keep going. If it is nulling a lot, I go very very slow. If the detector makes a noise then something else is happening. You say ".... that's when the fun started." , usually I associate that with falsing from trying to run the detector too hot in bad ground. Sometimes the sensitivity control on the Excalibur confuses people not used to it, it is most sensitive right next to the auto setting then grows less sensitive as the knob is turned clockwise. Because of this layout you can be running as hot as possible when you might think you have it turned down and actually be turned down to as low as it goes when you think you are running max. We are used to turning up the volume clockwise, so that knob is counterintuitive. An Excalibur also gets freaky when water gets in the battery compartment and when the battery is almost dead.
If you are not an experienced Excalibur person, Andy Sabisch's book is worth it's weight in gold. It will help you sort through things like this ahead of time. Minelabs always go better with Andy. It should be a rule, if you buy a Minelab, the appropriate Sabisch book should come with it. You will find more good stuff and have fewer headaches if you follow my advice on this one.
What exactly is your detector doing when the fun starts?
mattockman
New member
and just another added trinket to your answer, The original knobs tend to loosen up and you may be getting a false indication to your settings of all or some knobs.....make sure the set screws are tight and knobs are not split....if so then go to radio shack and buy some knew blue ones that work better....if you find they are a problem I can give you the part number for them....274-403, they come in a pack of 2....They are called1/2" Blue Capped Control Knobs......thats only if yours are slipping or are cracked....Good luck
The knobs have been a problem for sure. Minelab was good about mailing out some extra knobs for free and explaining how to fix the issue when it happened on mine. Supposedly this design flaw has been corrected, but it is still a thing to watch.
Minelab has always been a funny company. Especially with design and ergonomic issues. Still top of the line detectors for my money, but funny about some of the things they do and some of the things they refuse to do. As a corporation one would think they would be interested in making more money by selling even better detectors. They seem to be more interested in what they want to do than what the customer wants, an attitude shared with other manufacturers. The Excalibur II is out now, new paint on the same old thing. Still the best general purpose water detector I think, but why would they not take the opportunity to improve the design? You can spend $1600 - 1800 for a new E-Trac and they still want $15 for a dust cover, and even that doesn't help a lot because the face of the E-Trac scratches so easy. Best electronics in the business for the kind of hunting I do, but I wish they would use that in a better detector. I hear there is some new management in place, perhaps some of that will change in time.
Minelab has always been a funny company. Especially with design and ergonomic issues. Still top of the line detectors for my money, but funny about some of the things they do and some of the things they refuse to do. As a corporation one would think they would be interested in making more money by selling even better detectors. They seem to be more interested in what they want to do than what the customer wants, an attitude shared with other manufacturers. The Excalibur II is out now, new paint on the same old thing. Still the best general purpose water detector I think, but why would they not take the opportunity to improve the design? You can spend $1600 - 1800 for a new E-Trac and they still want $15 for a dust cover, and even that doesn't help a lot because the face of the E-Trac scratches so easy. Best electronics in the business for the kind of hunting I do, but I wish they would use that in a better detector. I hear there is some new management in place, perhaps some of that will change in time.
mattockman
New member
As Much as I love my Minelabs.....You are absolutly correct.....They are lucky I am not their Boss.....I would have the finest of machines coming out of my Factory. When ever they come out with a better erganomicly designed detector, I will buy a new one. Till then I am considering a Whites! 
thanks for the info, checked the knobs everything ok with that. i will tackle that spot again after bike week, spring break, and black collage reunion.
thanks to harold from florida for his tip to crank up the sens and turn the tres to were you cant here it . when you hit a good target you will know.
i will try any tip to better myself coming from using a whites pi pro for years and finding some wonderful rings, bobby pins, foil, wire, car hoods, i could go on for ever
but thanks to all.
thanks to harold from florida for his tip to crank up the sens and turn the tres to were you cant here it . when you hit a good target you will know.
i will try any tip to better myself coming from using a whites pi pro for years and finding some wonderful rings, bobby pins, foil, wire, car hoods, i could go on for ever
but thanks to all.
Mattockman,
I couldn't agree more. That White's TDI PI detector looks interesting, if White's would answer email questions I might have bought one. If they would waterproof it I might anyway. More of that good customer service. I am considering one of those new E-Tracs too even though they put it back in that poor Explorer design framework. A little lighter they say, looks like a great coil, spectacular electronics and software, deeper, great finds posted, same old package. I guess at a msrp of only $1800 you can't have everything. We should start our own factory, put the E-Trac on a white's pole and call it a Golden Lab.
PI Pro,
Another thing to try. There are those who hunt an Excalibur without threshold. Turn the threshold knob till the hum just disappears.They run quiet and only ring on good targets. A light threshold tells you when it nulls and might be a little more sensitive, but some days a guy likes a little peace and quiet. If you like quiet hunting better you will hunt longer and enjoy it more that way.
I couldn't agree more. That White's TDI PI detector looks interesting, if White's would answer email questions I might have bought one. If they would waterproof it I might anyway. More of that good customer service. I am considering one of those new E-Tracs too even though they put it back in that poor Explorer design framework. A little lighter they say, looks like a great coil, spectacular electronics and software, deeper, great finds posted, same old package. I guess at a msrp of only $1800 you can't have everything. We should start our own factory, put the E-Trac on a white's pole and call it a Golden Lab.
PI Pro,
Another thing to try. There are those who hunt an Excalibur without threshold. Turn the threshold knob till the hum just disappears.They run quiet and only ring on good targets. A light threshold tells you when it nulls and might be a little more sensitive, but some days a guy likes a little peace and quiet. If you like quiet hunting better you will hunt longer and enjoy it more that way.
i like to hear a little treshold for the nulling, i try to keep the unit running with a mid-pitch tone, if i hit a bottle top, ill dip the scoop near the coil to
change the tone of the treshold. is this right, i get tired of swinging after the bottle cap hearing that low tone treshold till another target changes it.
change the tone of the treshold. is this right, i get tired of swinging after the bottle cap hearing that low tone treshold till another target changes it.
The tone of the threshold makes no difference in how it detects. That bottle cap tone is annoying for sure, but I usually have the threshold at a faint whisper so it is not too bad. I never thought of changing the tone that way, but there is sure nothing wrong with it. Where I hunt the threshold changes back and forth a lot. Lots of iron in the freshwater sometimes.
postaldigger
New member
i have 2 dtrs an ex cal -dfx still having trouble getting a handle on x tones is that book really worth it
PaPa-Joe-Fla.
New member
If you have a coil cover on your unit and it gets mineralized sand in it, it will drive you crazy with all kinds of false signals. Good luck you got plenty of good advice. HH