Excelibur2 Disc mode or all metal mode?

[JOHNMARKHAM]

After reading these forums about running in all metal mode vs disc mode
my question is this; after doing some hunting in both modes in the dry sand and wet sand at the beach and in the surf,
why would you want to hunt in all metal mode with the Excalibur 2 1000?
All I was doing was picking up the same coins and jewlry that I would pick up in disc mode,
in all metal mode same stuff just more junk;Bobby pins,rusty nails,wire etc just more junk,
the guys on the forums say just switch to disc mode to check for junk, so why not just run in disc mode and forget about the junk?
If it mulls out or no tones it's been junk.
Somebody help me out here!!
Thanks
John

 

[#1RAMROD]

Well I have found some foreign coins that nulled out and to me a coin is a coin, if its there I want it.

 

[kered]

Usually in AM the detector is deeper(not in all areas) so the idea is to listen for the faint AM signals(deep targets), change to disc mode to check it out, quite often disc mode won't detect it so you have to take off some sand and try again till you get an ID one way or another, ie good or iron, theres's no reason to dig junk of any type other than the normal you would in disc mode.
Make sure you have the AM threshold real low(just audiable) and stable even if you have to turn down the sens, a slight backing off of the volume (maybe 80-85% of full), rather than full may help to stabalise the threshold without too much drop in sens, some places i run at 3-4 sens (excali2 numbers) and its still deeper than Disc mode at 6-7.
When i'm running low on sens in AM mode i turn up the sens to 6 to check in disc mode, it takes a bit longer to ID but the results are worth it as in Disc mode you would have passed over and left it behind not knowing it was there.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

kered is right. The reason people sometimes say to hunt in all-metal, and then switch to check targets in disc, is because the all-metal goes deeper. If you hear a deep signal in all-metal, it will cause you to stop and double check it, and "bring it in" (with concerted efforts over the spot), or to hear the null (iron), etc...

But you are right too: if depth is not an issue on your beach, and you're not worried about having to double check every signal, then just hunt in disc. to begin with. Sometimes after a good storm erosion, the targets are all shallow anyhow. And there is just so much to choose from, why should I worry about second guessing every fringe depth target? I actually only hunt in All metal (and then switch to check each target), when targets are very sparsely spread around. Otherwise I just always hunt in disc.

 

[Barry NY]

I have been hunting in AM (water/wet sand) then doing the checking in Disc for my last month's outings. Like Kered says above I listen for faint signals. Many times faint signals in AM bring no response when you switch to Disc until you remove some inches of sand. Today I picked up at least 3 good coin targets very deep that had no signal in Disc. John, you are absolutely right saying that any strong signal heard in AM will also be heard in Disc (so the switch and check routine could theoretically waste some time) but it's the faint signals we're after (and they are the signals your excal competition isn't hearing either). However, you really need to concentrate in AM as the ongoing drone of the threshold can lull your hearing into complacency - as opposed to the bugles blaring when you hit a target while in Disc.

Also, since AM sounds off with the coil being stationery, then coil swing can be somewhat forgiving when hunting AM - I sometimes hear a threshold break on the outer part of my swing and when I stop to check it out, sometimes the center of the target is 12+ inches further away from that outer swing - wow that's good territory coverage - you can move faster as I believe the target response is faster. So the combination of hitting deeper signals, hitting signals outside the realm of the swing and forgiving swing/faster sweep makes AM hunting desirable for some. I used regular Disc hunting today for a bit and I find that I am so used to AM that I keep thinking that I am missing targets by not hunting AM.

I really don't hunt dry sand, but just leaving the unit on as I head for the car sometimes, I can tell you there is zero reason to hunt AM in dry sand as the junk is just too prevalent and AM just makes you go nuts and you'd be switching back and forth for no reason every 2 steps...
Barry

 

[JOHNMARKHAM]

Update !!
Well thanks for info here
but I'm still not sure, I have noticed in am mode I do get tones deeper than in disc mode,
but again this weekend I found that some tones that were good and strong on am mode and then I went to disc mode and got a good tone only turned out to be junk iron or aluminum, now I did notice that if I got a good tone in am somtimes I got nothing in disc not even a null out but again it was just a deep junk or fishing hook !!
Now here's a first for all electronic techs out there, my first I.c. Chip was found on the beach last night,I just got a kick out of finding a chip on the beach.
So I guess I'm still pondering about am vs disc mode, I do have to send my machine in for service so I'll have to wait till I get my machine back to continue my intrest in this
thanks to all for the info
good luck to all you looting pirates !!
John

 

[kered]

Quite often those deep targets can turn out to be junk too, luck of the draw, but quite often they are the goodies we are looking. Good luck when you get your machine back, hope it don't take too long.

 

[OldBeechnut]

Beach's change from day to day requires different skills, It up to you to determine as a pirate which will serve you better that day, whether it be using a different machine or adjusting your style of hunting,..... that's what will make you a successful hunter.....Obn/joe

 

[terrywl]

I reverse hunt with my excal2 also. Yesterday a faint tone in AM and nothing at all in disc was a quarter. I have had this happen many times. I am still fooled by some junk but not as often anymore. Learn all metal, you will make yourself happy! I had to send my unit in for repair also. Came back with a new coil and new battery connector.