MHirschmann
Member
I actually should be posting on the Excal forum as I ended up using my Excal but the pics show what I found in a 6 hour hunt in a spot that gets beaten to death almost every day. I got out there at 5:30am and hit it for almost 6 hours. I ended up getting one gold ring the is 8.3g of 14k.
The list of finds is as follows:
Pull Tabs= 83
Pennies= 11
Nickels= 7
Dimes= 6
Quarters= 6
Gold Ring= 1 (8.3g 14k White/Yellow Gold)
Stainless Ring= 1
Silver Rings= 2
Bracelets= 2 (Junk)
Earrings= 5 (Junk)
Keys= 3
Propellor Pieces= 25 (darn these sound good)
Batteries= 3
Screw Caps/Crown Caps= 25
Sunglasses= 6
Boat Hardware= 5
Foil Pieces= 8
Total Number of Targets= 198 Targets
So, for those of you wondering how often people hit gold, I would say today was a pretty average day so it comes out to about one gold ring per 200 targets dug. Of course this varies a bit but I think recovering 1 gold per 200 targets sounds about average for me.
Now, I have to admit, today was supposed to be my first water hunt attempt with my CTX, however, after 5 minutes of trying to dive (at 5 ft deep) on a local sandbar, I gave up because I couldn't hear a darned thing through my yellow Koss headphones. I have great hearing so that was not the problem. I cranked up all volume controls on the detector and that barely made any difference and I couldn't hear a thing over the sound of my bubbling regulator. I never expected my CTX to replace my Excals but I wanted to give it a try anyway. I took the CTX wading this week and it was great for that, but when it comes to fully submerged hunting, I still don't think the Excal can be beat.
As for the seals, I have not had a drop of water in my battery compartment on both of my water outings this week. I suspect that seal failures we have heard about at this point were the result of sand/grit getting between the seal and battery as I noticed a bit of sand in my seal after both outings. A quick rinse and the seal was good to go. I am loving the CTX but I certainly won't be using it for my underwater needs.
Another thing to note is that the screen is much easier to read under water than I expected. I noticed this both wading and diving.
Thanks for reading and I hope your all hot on the gold/silver/whatever it is your looking for. -Marc
The list of finds is as follows:
Pull Tabs= 83
Pennies= 11
Nickels= 7
Dimes= 6
Quarters= 6
Gold Ring= 1 (8.3g 14k White/Yellow Gold)
Stainless Ring= 1
Silver Rings= 2
Bracelets= 2 (Junk)
Earrings= 5 (Junk)
Keys= 3
Propellor Pieces= 25 (darn these sound good)
Batteries= 3
Screw Caps/Crown Caps= 25
Sunglasses= 6
Boat Hardware= 5
Foil Pieces= 8
Total Number of Targets= 198 Targets
So, for those of you wondering how often people hit gold, I would say today was a pretty average day so it comes out to about one gold ring per 200 targets dug. Of course this varies a bit but I think recovering 1 gold per 200 targets sounds about average for me.
Now, I have to admit, today was supposed to be my first water hunt attempt with my CTX, however, after 5 minutes of trying to dive (at 5 ft deep) on a local sandbar, I gave up because I couldn't hear a darned thing through my yellow Koss headphones. I have great hearing so that was not the problem. I cranked up all volume controls on the detector and that barely made any difference and I couldn't hear a thing over the sound of my bubbling regulator. I never expected my CTX to replace my Excals but I wanted to give it a try anyway. I took the CTX wading this week and it was great for that, but when it comes to fully submerged hunting, I still don't think the Excal can be beat.
As for the seals, I have not had a drop of water in my battery compartment on both of my water outings this week. I suspect that seal failures we have heard about at this point were the result of sand/grit getting between the seal and battery as I noticed a bit of sand in my seal after both outings. A quick rinse and the seal was good to go. I am loving the CTX but I certainly won't be using it for my underwater needs.
Another thing to note is that the screen is much easier to read under water than I expected. I noticed this both wading and diving.
Thanks for reading and I hope your all hot on the gold/silver/whatever it is your looking for. -Marc