Jump to content

Scuba Diving With The Right Detector


Rob

Recommended Posts

Have a question.....

I've taken up scuba diving and plan on doing some diving and detecting in Hawaii. I currently have a Whites Dual Field PI and just acquired a CTX 3030. Understanding that the 3030 is rated to only 10 feet and the DFPI hits on the lava, would an excal II be a wise investment? Can you notch out the lava with it?

Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and happy holidays!

Rob

 

Here's two recent beach finds...

The ring is platinum (3.9gr) with diamonds and the earring is 22K (5.0gr) with sapphire and moonstone.

GetAttachment.aspx.jpegGetAttachment-1.aspx.jpeg

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites


I did well in Hawaii with the various Surf PI models but they can bang on basalt cobbles. The older Surfs I think were actually better in that regard as not being quite as hot as the Surf Dual. The ATX finally fixed all that for me, but it is only good to 10 feet like the CTX.

There is a guy successfully beefing up the CTX for scuba diving and doing well with it at http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/minelab/447583-make-real-waterproof-ctx-3030-scuba-diving-experience.html I have to admit I am too chicken to do that with a $2K detector but it is an option.

 

The only time I ever really put an Excalibur to use was in Hawaii. The problem I had is it was gutless on the basalt and the tones were rather useless, so I felt better just running it in all metal (no tones) mode. The Excalibur is odd in that whatever the last tone was becomes the threshold tone until a new target is found, which changes the tone again. It takes some getting used to and would normally be ok but in the basalt it was just all over the place. There is no notching, just tones, and so going with no tones I basically had a gutless PI. I did find an 18K gold band with it but rapidly went back to the Infinium I was also using at that time. The Infinium would be the cats meow if it did not false so much in salt water. The ATX fixed that but again, only good to 10 feet.

I don't want to make the Excalibur sound bad. It is probably the most successful salt water machine ever made. It is just that Hawaii is as tough as it gets what with the salt water, basalt volcanics, and military grade EMI.

I wish Garrett had an ATX good for depth or Minelab a CTX good for depth. In your situation maybe just pick up a used Excal for the trip and sell it when you get back?

Nice finds! I do love the beach hunting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are heading to Maui. Dave's Metal Detecting will rent you a Excalibur at  a reasonable rate and help you with any needs you may have. Get in touch with him in advance as he can be hard to get a hold of rite off the go. He spends most of his day detecting himself. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...