king-ghidorah
New member
I got my Infinium for $1067 (S&H includ.) It would've been $19 less but Kellyco charged to ship to a PO box which I had at the time so I could have gotten it for 1048.
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Infinium or surfmaster dual field
- Thread starter HawaiiMDer
- Start date
n/t
n/t
My first year with the INFINIUM.....Click elow:
http://www.photoshow.com/watch/ZT8SI9HY
"The Infinium does have some discrimination characteristics. It's not like an accumulative type or notch found on VLF type detectors. In fact, the Infinium is entirely different then any other type of detector. What the Infinium can do as far as discrimination is concerned, is give a tone HIGH-LOW for iron, aluminum and gold. It also gives off a LOW-HIGH signal for silver, copper and again iron. So iron and other junk is always the wild card in both types of signals, as it is a Pulse Induction type of detector. However, the Infinium also comes with an iron check, which again helps with getting a better probability of what type (iron or not?) target it is. Now the Infinium has a bit of a learning curve, and if you are new to metal detecting and lack basic theory on how the machines operate, don't buy one. It will be a lesson in frustration for you.
Now having said that, other little techniques are on your learning curve to be discovered. For instance, the smoothness/roughness of the tone gives a hint as to whether it is an iron rusted target or not. The "Sustain" length of time that the Infinium gives after reading a target gives you a hint as to its size. The Infinium gives a double bleep on bobby pins and wire. So......if you only want to dig gold, only dig the HIGH-LOW signals. That removes a lot of signals that you can leave in the ground. Also, use the iron check, which even cuts out more targets. If you want to dig mostly coins, including old deep silver, dig only the LOW-HIGH signals. Again....use the iron check.
Is the Infinium the holy grail of detectors? No it isn't. It's a PI and loves iron, like all PI's. Iron can not be discriminated out like a VLF detector. But it goes DEEP! It must be ground balanced and a proper frequency must be picked for maxamum performance. I have pulled rings out at over 14 inches with a nice strong signal. It is one of (if not the) deepest machines available. It was designed to get gold in some of the highest mineralized soils in the world. It works in all salt water/beach environments and is water proof too.
Is it a good coin shooter? Perhaps, but only in areas where there are few targets. It's not practical for park environments, as it picks up all metals, even those that your VLF will miss. I have had some success using it in the woods, digging only the LOW-HIGH signals. It should also perform well at relic hunting too.
Where it worked best for me was in hunted out beaches where most of the targets had been removed. The best beach hunters dig ALL targets. The Infinium isn't for everyone, and is not a do it all detector. But if you give it the time it deserves to learn it properly, and use it in its proper environment, it is a killer. I have my best gold ring year ever in 15 years using this machine."
John-Edmonton
http://www.photoshow.com/watch/ZT8SI9HY
"The Infinium does have some discrimination characteristics. It's not like an accumulative type or notch found on VLF type detectors. In fact, the Infinium is entirely different then any other type of detector. What the Infinium can do as far as discrimination is concerned, is give a tone HIGH-LOW for iron, aluminum and gold. It also gives off a LOW-HIGH signal for silver, copper and again iron. So iron and other junk is always the wild card in both types of signals, as it is a Pulse Induction type of detector. However, the Infinium also comes with an iron check, which again helps with getting a better probability of what type (iron or not?) target it is. Now the Infinium has a bit of a learning curve, and if you are new to metal detecting and lack basic theory on how the machines operate, don't buy one. It will be a lesson in frustration for you.
Now having said that, other little techniques are on your learning curve to be discovered. For instance, the smoothness/roughness of the tone gives a hint as to whether it is an iron rusted target or not. The "Sustain" length of time that the Infinium gives after reading a target gives you a hint as to its size. The Infinium gives a double bleep on bobby pins and wire. So......if you only want to dig gold, only dig the HIGH-LOW signals. That removes a lot of signals that you can leave in the ground. Also, use the iron check, which even cuts out more targets. If you want to dig mostly coins, including old deep silver, dig only the LOW-HIGH signals. Again....use the iron check.
Is the Infinium the holy grail of detectors? No it isn't. It's a PI and loves iron, like all PI's. Iron can not be discriminated out like a VLF detector. But it goes DEEP! It must be ground balanced and a proper frequency must be picked for maxamum performance. I have pulled rings out at over 14 inches with a nice strong signal. It is one of (if not the) deepest machines available. It was designed to get gold in some of the highest mineralized soils in the world. It works in all salt water/beach environments and is water proof too.
Is it a good coin shooter? Perhaps, but only in areas where there are few targets. It's not practical for park environments, as it picks up all metals, even those that your VLF will miss. I have had some success using it in the woods, digging only the LOW-HIGH signals. It should also perform well at relic hunting too.
Where it worked best for me was in hunted out beaches where most of the targets had been removed. The best beach hunters dig ALL targets. The Infinium isn't for everyone, and is not a do it all detector. But if you give it the time it deserves to learn it properly, and use it in its proper environment, it is a killer. I have my best gold ring year ever in 15 years using this machine."
John-Edmonton
HawaiiMDer
New member
Wow!!!! Very awesome post John. I really appreciate the info. I'm not worried about the amount of time learning the detector, i mean i had to learn the excalibur's suttle tone differences for different targets, I just want a detector that i can adjust to each site i go and get the maximum depth after making those adjustments. Great post man!!!
Thanks,
Ken
Thanks,
Ken
When it comes down to it you have to decide where your going to use the machines and how much effort you are prepared to put in.
The Garrett is not the worlds deepest beach machine by any means and the discrimination system combined with the slower than average sweep speed needed means you may well be coming home with less finds not more.
If you read the Infiniums instructions it all seems easy but to much is skipped over.
You may find as I did that military sites/power lines etc can cause interference that you can't deal with. A smaller coil will help or you could just keep away from towns and cities.
Its not designed as a beach machine so as with the old VLF/IB/TR designs you will have to apply some discrimination (say 2 or 3 setting) to balance out the salt. Any increase of discrimination means sensitivity to gold is starting to reduce.
Gold is low/high OR high/low with pure gold being high/low in reverse discrimination but this this mean you don't want lower grade gold rings ?
Silver (pure) is low/high but if its been alloyed as most many rings/coins have then its high/low
Larger nickel coins are high/low-low/high
So you have to start applying rules such as dig everthing thats low/high at zero discrimination that changes to high/low in reverse discrimination.
Or dig anything thats high/low in reverse discrim. if there's even a slight signal reduction.
Then go to another country with different coins with different alloys used and things change again.
Its a sobering thing to see someone with a more basic machine with less depth who is prepared to use a spade as the ultimate discriminator. Don't forget ALL pulse machines do have a degree of audio discrimination against longer iron such as nails and a relative insensitivity to small foil. Your there checking and re checking the target and they have dug and moved on.Its a little different on land where the digging can be very hard but on the beach its a different story.
The Garrett is not the worlds deepest beach machine by any means and the discrimination system combined with the slower than average sweep speed needed means you may well be coming home with less finds not more.
If you read the Infiniums instructions it all seems easy but to much is skipped over.
You may find as I did that military sites/power lines etc can cause interference that you can't deal with. A smaller coil will help or you could just keep away from towns and cities.
Its not designed as a beach machine so as with the old VLF/IB/TR designs you will have to apply some discrimination (say 2 or 3 setting) to balance out the salt. Any increase of discrimination means sensitivity to gold is starting to reduce.
Gold is low/high OR high/low with pure gold being high/low in reverse discrimination but this this mean you don't want lower grade gold rings ?
Silver (pure) is low/high but if its been alloyed as most many rings/coins have then its high/low
Larger nickel coins are high/low-low/high
So you have to start applying rules such as dig everthing thats low/high at zero discrimination that changes to high/low in reverse discrimination.
Or dig anything thats high/low in reverse discrim. if there's even a slight signal reduction.
Then go to another country with different coins with different alloys used and things change again.
Its a sobering thing to see someone with a more basic machine with less depth who is prepared to use a spade as the ultimate discriminator. Don't forget ALL pulse machines do have a degree of audio discrimination against longer iron such as nails and a relative insensitivity to small foil. Your there checking and re checking the target and they have dug and moved on.Its a little different on land where the digging can be very hard but on the beach its a different story.
king-ghidorah
New member
Cupajo said:
thebarnacle
New member
you cant beat the whites - if its working for you and not broke why change.
Toddy from Scotland
New member
The only Pulse that can handle the Magnetic stones under the sand on my Beaches is the Infinium. I have spent lots of cash on Pulses and they are a waste of money...........Deep rocks and bricks all day!!!! Not with the LS
OldBeechnut
Well-known member
Just hunted a beach in Naples with a friend...I was using the excal..hitting 10 inch's at the most..{ALMETAL}..Ron was hitting 18 with the Garrett INF PI...the excal would not punch thur the layer of clay/sand mix that has been used to replenish that beach...not sure about the Whites SM PI but I was impressed with the InFiniums power............Obn
Bottom line CJ is the skill of the hunter running the detector 
We all have our favorite detectors... all I can say is I know how deep my detector goes and honestly I am glad others don't use it... deeper stuff for me I run my PI full bore.. I never use factory settings and Clive gave me a setting to smooth out the tone... using the pulse delay and it works great...
We all have our favorite detectors... all I can say is I know how deep my detector goes and honestly I am glad others don't use it... deeper stuff for me I run my PI full bore.. I never use factory settings and Clive gave me a setting to smooth out the tone... using the pulse delay and it works great...HawaiiMDer
New member
Well everyone, thanks very much for your input. I've decided that i'm going to buy all three: excalibur 2, Surf Dual Field and the Garrett Infinium. That way i can make my own comparison on the two PI's for the type of mineralization here in Hawaii. This will all happen in April of 2010. I'll post my results after. Thanks again for everyones time and opinions.
Ken
Ken
grumpyolman
New member
Looking forward to your post. Maybe you could drop some 'impressions' you have during the course of your study. Jim
rgalan2003
New member
I have the deepstar v2.infinium ls,goldquest ss aquasearch v2 ,and hh pi pro.The best for wet sand th deepstar (the monster), second: goldquest.
Rafael
Rafael
saltwater jim
New member
i just bought the white s pi . after the last 15 years with excal lol 4 of them ive decided to change. a few reasons for me are the excal can be tempermental . my last excal is 6 years old and has stopped working. thats not 6 years of no problem with it its been to las vegas 3 or 4 times for repairs. anyways i called minelab about 2 weeks ago and wanted to ask the tech a question before i shipped it back to be fixed as it is out of warr. well after 3 calls in the last 2 weeks and no return call from tech well thats enough for me i wont spend another 1200 to minelab. idk what happened to their customer service but they have lost this customer. i still have the se exlorer and the best beach detector for wet and dry sand the good old sov. also have the old white s pi with the pulse delay . anyways the beaches are hit pretty hard here now (panama city beach) so i think i will be better off with the white s pi for depth. hopfully i will be able to tell wire from double beeps like my old white s. either way i will give up digging bottle caps and iron for added depth and knowing if i have a problem white s cs is excellent. i plan on the pi in the water only ) while i will fire up the sov for wet and dry sand. looking foward to see how this whites new pi works. hh jim
saltwater jim
New member
oh btw nothing against the Infinium just i dont need a groundbalance pi where im at there is no interference here on the gulf that i have run into hh
I use mine in the Atlantic ocean in Florida and was having similar problems; posted the same questions here and on other forums only to find most owners have had some type of problems with the machine.
Here is what I have learned after a year of owning the Infinium, It has been sent in twice for repairs that included the DD coil being replaced both times (shielding problems), a loose solider connection on the circuit board and recalibration on the second trip. The folks at Garrett were great , they fielded my questions and made the repairs at no charge as they were covered under warranty. Once I got my Infinium back I read posts where users did everything from turning the threshold all the way past max and back, to running the unit with the threshold at zero and a ton of other things. I decided to conduct my own test so I took my Infinium with the DD coil to my local beach dug two six inch deep holes in the dry sand tied a strings to a 14K ring and 10K ring buried each in a separate hole, ground balanced the machine set the threshold at 4 and listened (the 4 setting on my unit is just above silent) and I was able to run the discrimination at zero......as I increased the discrimination the obvious happened past 4 the unit began to give erratic signals and could not identify the rings . The below 4 the unit had no problem giving the HI/LO but as I decreased the threshold to zero the unit had a harder time identifying the rings and the tone seemed to give off echos. I then moved to wet sand and conducted the same experiment and had similar results but to get the unit relatively quite I had to move the discrimination to 1. That being said it still gave the HI/LO.... until the discrimination was turned past 4 the results were the same as the dry sand...I have never been able to get the unit really quite in the surf but it is better since the last trip in for repairs but still gives the HEEEHAAAW sound unless the discrimination is turned up to at least 3.5.
Here are some tones my machine makes on certain items: zinc pennies give an echo as the coil comes to the end of the swing reminds me of a door bell sound. Bottle caps give a HI/LO but the LO tone seems drawn out or longer , bobby pins have there own distinct sound. Clad coins LO/HI. There are times when the unit can't seem to keep up with the tones from a target and you can't tell if it is LOW/HI or HI/LOW ....These sounds are what I have found on my unit it may or may not be that way for others. MOST IMPORTANTLY SLOOOOOW DOWN THE SWING!!!!!!! I have used a Whites Pi for twenty years and could swing it much faster than the Infinium. I found that slowing down the swing has allowed me to find deeper items I was missing, as the coil approaches a target you will start to hear a tonal change even if you don't get a solid signal( HI/LO or LO/HI). If this happens I stop then go over the area extremely slow to check for a solid signal.
My opinion of the Infinium: it is a deep PI machine but I can't say it is any deeper than my Whites PI , with the DD coil it is heavy , not a machine for beginners,costumer service was great. Over all in spite of the problems I have still found clad coins, silver jewelery (really seems to like silver) and a nice 3 gram 10K gold medallion plus the expected ton of junk from using a PI machine. If I had it to do again I would have purchased the Whites duel field or the Tesoro Sand Shark but that's just me....
Here is what I have learned after a year of owning the Infinium, It has been sent in twice for repairs that included the DD coil being replaced both times (shielding problems), a loose solider connection on the circuit board and recalibration on the second trip. The folks at Garrett were great , they fielded my questions and made the repairs at no charge as they were covered under warranty. Once I got my Infinium back I read posts where users did everything from turning the threshold all the way past max and back, to running the unit with the threshold at zero and a ton of other things. I decided to conduct my own test so I took my Infinium with the DD coil to my local beach dug two six inch deep holes in the dry sand tied a strings to a 14K ring and 10K ring buried each in a separate hole, ground balanced the machine set the threshold at 4 and listened (the 4 setting on my unit is just above silent) and I was able to run the discrimination at zero......as I increased the discrimination the obvious happened past 4 the unit began to give erratic signals and could not identify the rings . The below 4 the unit had no problem giving the HI/LO but as I decreased the threshold to zero the unit had a harder time identifying the rings and the tone seemed to give off echos. I then moved to wet sand and conducted the same experiment and had similar results but to get the unit relatively quite I had to move the discrimination to 1. That being said it still gave the HI/LO.... until the discrimination was turned past 4 the results were the same as the dry sand...I have never been able to get the unit really quite in the surf but it is better since the last trip in for repairs but still gives the HEEEHAAAW sound unless the discrimination is turned up to at least 3.5.
Here are some tones my machine makes on certain items: zinc pennies give an echo as the coil comes to the end of the swing reminds me of a door bell sound. Bottle caps give a HI/LO but the LO tone seems drawn out or longer , bobby pins have there own distinct sound. Clad coins LO/HI. There are times when the unit can't seem to keep up with the tones from a target and you can't tell if it is LOW/HI or HI/LOW ....These sounds are what I have found on my unit it may or may not be that way for others. MOST IMPORTANTLY SLOOOOOW DOWN THE SWING!!!!!!! I have used a Whites Pi for twenty years and could swing it much faster than the Infinium. I found that slowing down the swing has allowed me to find deeper items I was missing, as the coil approaches a target you will start to hear a tonal change even if you don't get a solid signal( HI/LO or LO/HI). If this happens I stop then go over the area extremely slow to check for a solid signal.
My opinion of the Infinium: it is a deep PI machine but I can't say it is any deeper than my Whites PI , with the DD coil it is heavy , not a machine for beginners,costumer service was great. Over all in spite of the problems I have still found clad coins, silver jewelery (really seems to like silver) and a nice 3 gram 10K gold medallion plus the expected ton of junk from using a PI machine. If I had it to do again I would have purchased the Whites duel field or the Tesoro Sand Shark but that's just me....