I am still a beginner at this, only been swinging the coil for about a year. I understand everyone has different opinions on certain manufactures of detectors and brand loyalty. In "basic & general" terms, for those of you who hunt our beaches up and down the coast, which detector would you like to use or have in your arsenal? Now this isn't a "money is no problem" kind of question, but kinda like the best bang for your buck!
Thanks for any and all input and comments! :)

Depends on which beaches you intend to hit. If it's touristy clean beaches, then you can get various pulse machines on the market. But be forewarned that if nails are numerous, you might be wishing, at times (after erosion leaves targets numerous) that you had a discriminator. There's no doubt pulse has the best ability in the worst sands (black minerals) and is sensitive enough to pick up the finest of tinsel thin gold chains, earing studs, etc.... But the trade off is that on some beaches, you will spend all your time second guessing what is a staple, pushpin, bobbypin, coin, or jewelry.

If you want to be prepared for nail infested beaches (anywhere where industrial fishing type history was, and/or where beach bonfires are allowed) the best "bang for your buck" would be a 6000 Di pro. You can pick those up for pretty cheap on Ebay now. They're very veratile, handle salt well, etc... Also can switch over to land easily. If money isn't as much of an issue, and you want a tad more depth, and a water proof housing, then go with the Excaliber. But the Excaliber has a few downsides: Sounds take some getting used to (warbly orchestra to learn to interpret, but you'll eventually catch on), and is not a good land hunter. I mean, it can be used on land (as it is 2nd cousin to the Sovereign afterall), but the pinpointing is difficult, and it'll mask more in junky sites d/t the long drawn out booonnggs. Those long drawn out bongs are great on the beach, where targets are spread out (so you can't possibly miss hearing them :rolleyes: ) But on land, I prefer a faster recovery.

Hello-
I have a White's PI machine, and Tom is right about not having any discrimination. I find every bobby pin, nail, screw that's on the beach. I'm going to go for an Excalibur eventually because of the discrimination it has. I want a water proof machine also in case I want to get into the water and not worry if I drop the machine.
What do you think Tom, Excal or Excal II?

I dunno about the Excal II. I only have the original Excal. Maybe some added whistle or bell?

Hi SeaBee, I've been using a Garrett Infinium (completely water proof), and although I'm just learning also, it's like unearth say's, the PI's love the iron and bobby pins and wire. I have just started getting used to the Infiniums sounds of targets and it's helping out alot. It also has a little bit of discrimination built in (reverse discrimination) that also helps to determind if a target is low conductor or not (gold, aluminum pull tabs and alike). So listening for the High Low sounds and reverse discrimination can save you some digging. Learning to ground the unit properly gave me fits at the start, but it's just second hand now (this will fix any mineralization problems, and haven't found any hot ground that it couldn't be used to detect in so far). The PI's are deep. So get a good shovel.

About the Infinium:
1. You must ground the unit properly if your taking on excessive falsing (falsing at ends of swings) so re-ground.
2. Wire and Iron will give off a distinct double signal or warbling sounds
3. Long drawn out signals will tend to be trash.
4. Loud targets can be diagnosed by lifting the coil to determind target size, depth, and true conductivity.
4. Hard sharp report targets (quick response side to side) will more than likely be a good target
5. 8" coil is more sensitive and can be easier on the back for day trips.

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x100/Me...k/PICT00072.jpg

This is my example of what I found with the PI's when I first started. If you want to give it a try let me know. It's the least I can do for giving the parking spot at Santa Cruz. rdavison

Hey rdavison, when you say: "Wire and Iron will give off a distinct double signal or warbling sounds" How do you know for sure that those sounds aren't an elongated gold chain? bracelet that's not bunched up, etc...? Or a gold stick-pin shaped the same as a nail? (just curious)

Thanks for asking Tom, as with the Infinium you can use the reverse discrimination, a process of turning the discrimination all the way clockwise and if it's gold or a low conductive target, it will null the signal to nothing or almost nothing (if the signal dissapears, I tend to dig). If it's a high conductive target such as silver, the discrimination can also be used to test for Iron (which a PI hits as a high conductive target on larger irons). The target will make a change in sounding, and depending on the change can determind whether the target is worth digging or not (but most of the time if it sounds different, I'd dig it, nothings written in stone). As for coins they will null out almost or more than iron would null using this process, depending on there depth. The shallower they are the less they'll null out. The discrimination is only a tool to assist and nothings better than digging by all means. These are only my observations since I've only been doing this for a short while. If you own an Infinium and have any tips or tricks that could assist me, please don't hesitate to let me know. I can use all the help I can get. Oh and by the way I was talking with some MD'rs at Sunset and they mentioned you found some silvers laying on the rocks at the hotel. Were these collateral finds on the rocks, or were you detecting? I've only found one silver and one wheaty on that strectch of beach. Thanks, rdavison