Noobie Alert From Florida

[ragebot]

Need help selecting a MD to buy.  So far CZ-21 and the Equinox 800 are two I am considering.  Hope to get advice on how to get one that best meets my needs and I am not limiting choices to these two.  I am an experience diver but don't usually go deeper than 33 feet.  The CZ-21 can easily do that but my research makes me think the 800 is a more advanced machine.  I am not kidding myself about a learning curve for either of these choices.  If it was not for COVID-19 I would be on my catamaran cruising in the Bahamas, or maybe down island.  As it is I am limited to beaches in the Big Bend of Florida and the spring fed fresh water rivers.  There are also lots of historic places I kayak and hike to.

Any advice on the pros and cons of those two choices; but I have to say the claimed max 10 foot water proof limit on the 800 is almost a deal breaker.  I know Excilabur has a nice model as well that goes deep.  Thing is I really like the display on the 800 and wish it could go another 20 feet deeper; it would be a no brainer.

 

Bottom line is I am still confused about what to buy to put on my boat.

[Skull diver]

If you are a scuba diver, trust me, you don't want the Nox downthere.

You're right, is an advanced machine and if you think to the cz21 or the Excalibur we talk about 15 years old machines to say the least. We are a neglected race....

but....

What about depth rate?, What about easy battery operations?So there's unluckily only one winner and is an 8" Excalibur2...

That's it.

 

[2Valen]

Should you be looking for deep water MD I would not use the 800 at all.

Now that I have stated that, I will let you know that for almost any other type of MD'ing you can't go wrong with the 800.

It is great on land and in the areas where most people lose things in the water at the beach.

You really need to figure out where you are going to use your MD the most and get it for that reason.

You can always get a unit strictly for under water use at a later date.

Hope you make your choice soon and if you need any help there are some of the best people here waiting to help you.

[ragebot]

3 hours ago, 2Valen said:

Should you be looking for deep water MD I would not use the 800 at all.

Now that I have stated that, I will let you know that for almost any other type of MD'ing you can't go wrong with the 800.

It is great on land and in the areas where most people lose things in the water at the beach.

You really need to figure out where you are going to use your MD the most and get it for that reason.

You can always get a unit strictly for under water use at a later date.

Hope you make your choice soon and if you need any help there are some of the best people here waiting to help you.

Part of my learning curve in MD is learning the lingo.  As a general rule SCUBA divers view 33 feet as a cut off for shallow diving.  While I have several SCUBA certifications I carry a hookah on my boat, it is rated for two divers at 33 feet, but can support them at twice that depth with a greatly reduced run time.  Not to mention as long as you keep your dive shallower than 33 feet decompression is not an issue.  So when 33 feet is described as a deep dive I have to switch gears.  The thing is I have been in many situations where I am in an anchorage with 20-30 feet of water and someone drops something overboard and chatter on the radio asks for help getting it off the bottom.  I often am in beaches where crowds tend to be at parties at night and drink to excess.  I also am in remote places where finding treasure may be unlikely but still I would like the option to dive there.

When I am living on dirt it is in areas where there lots of springs which I know contain all sorts of things worth finding; both old and new.  I can easily put my hookah on an inflatable and dive these areas; but they tend to be deeper than ten feet; not to mention I have seen reviews about the 10 foot water proof models not really being that waterproof at 10 feet.

The thing is I know I will wanna go deeper than ten feet and everything I have read indicates the Excal is basically bomb proof at the depths I will be at.  I am also concerned about taking less waterproof models in what I call heavy surf where one minute it is five feet and when a wave hits it can be twice that depth or more.  I should also mention I do a lot of underwater photography and feel comfortable doing things under water.  Maybe more to the point my experience has been that it is easy to get in a situation where 10 feet turns into a little deeper.

On a little different topic I also have been to the Peace River which is one of the best sites around to find megalodon shark teeth; along with some of the areas in the Gulf just off shore.  Again many of these areas are not what I call wading at the beach type searching.  While I am not sure it is possible many meg teeth are mineralized and it may be possible to tune a MD to locate them.  Not to mention many of those areas are heavily searched and I am sure some of the shark teeth hunters have lost metal things.

Bottom line is the first thing I am looking for in a MD is being waterproof to at least 20 feet and hopefully a full 33 feet.

[Chase Goldman]

Excal it is, then.  As an alternative you can consider one of the handheld pinpointer/coil units from Nokta or Quest.  If you are just looking for metal dropped overboard and in springs, you really don't need all the fancy discrimination or displays at depth.   You just want to know if you have a small chunk of metal, recover it from the sand/mud and move on.

Nokta and Quest are recognizing that this niche market exists - and have come out with 8" coil options or "pro coil" options for these more powerful and sophisticated convertible pinpointer detectors.

Google "Nokta PulseDive" and "Quest ScubaTector" for more info.

Here is a forum link on the PulseDive.

 

 

[Joe D.]

Welcome "R",

  That's a nice Cat!

I would suggest following what the Treasure Coast "Fleet" salvagers use in their hunts! That's pretty much the depth range that they are using in, after they "Jet" the bottom! I don't know what forums that they follow, but I'm sure that many check in here!

And Welcome to Steve's forum!👍👍

 

[ragebot]

5 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Excal it is, then.  As an alternative you can consider one of the handheld pinpointer/coil units from Nokta or Quest.  If you are just looking for metal dropped overboard and in springs, you really don't need all the fancy discrimination or displays at depth.   You just want to know if you have a small chunk of metal, recover it from the sand/mud and move on.

Nokta and Quest are recognizing that this niche market exists - and have come out with 8" coil options or "pro coil" options for these more powerful and sophisticated convertible pinpointer detectors.

Google "Nokta PulseDive" and "Quest ScubaTector" for more info.

One of the biggest constraints I have cruising is lack of space.  While my boat may look huge to some folks it gets small in a hurry.  But I do think this is an option I will look into.  It is also why I went with the Excal, I simply don't have room for two big MDs.

[Steve Herschbach]

Can't go wrong with either the CZ-21 or Excalibur. I'm a big Equinox fan, but as a diver myself I'd never consider an Equinox for you. It is way to tempting to go "just a little bit deeper", especially if you are finding stuff.

I think the CZ and Excal are equally capable, more a style and preference difference detector nerds love to argue over, but I am very comfortable that I could do as well with either machine. Overall though no doubt that you see more Excaliburs in use than anything else, and there is good reason for that. They work.

[Tmox]

 to to add to what Steve said you can't go wrong with either the Excalibur or the CZ 21 one nice thing about the cz-21 is Fisher / First Texas is still repairing and upgrading those machines so you can send that thing in and they'll make it brand new.  I sent my cz-21 in 2 years ago to have a potentiometer replaced for $60 and they did a total upgrade to the machine for no additonal cost. Both the CZ and the Excalibur are armored tanks that are good to as deep as you'll ever go diving on air.

Tim

[kac]

For the pi side of things the Seahunter MK II is nice. The stock 8" mono is pretty easy to swing in the water, machine is rated to 200ft. Hip mount is really nice on the shore but it's discrimination is fairly limited. It is pretty much dig all machine.