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Reverse Hunting, Pinpoint Hunting At The Beach


scoopjohnb

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Allow me to enlighten my colleagues in discussion.

An Excal is an excellent wet beach hunter. However I’m not after an Nox 800 that is an Excal.

I’ve got an Excal!

That upper tide line when the tide is out can be worked with an 18 kHz Deus. You can get the machine stable enough it will hunt. All be it with very little depth. The 18 kHz picks up the small goodies.

Beach 1 has found me small gold and small targets an Excal has problems with.

I would like those same small gold and small targets, but with the audio of an Excal in pinpoint.

I really don’t need ID at the beach, it just a bonus. I just need to find 1 small dense target and then I simply grid that area. You are after thin gold rings with stones in. The bonus side of the ID is just that, You dig the ones you know,... you certainly dig the ones you don’t!

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I got out for a bit of a water hunt today.

Using Gold 2 in freshwater as a reverse pinpoint essentially works as expected.

-The good. I forgot all about peripheral targets until today. Running in the all-metal audio of the Gold 2 mode located me targets off to the side of my swing that I would have otherwise walked past.

-The bad. I have to run the sensitivity about 3 clicks lower then I would in Park 2, to help smooth out the threshold. Example 23 in Park 2 but I could only handle 20 max in Gold 2. I'm not sure how much depth I'm giving back if any.

It was nice having that threshold back to listen for faints. I usually run the sensitivity just high enough that I can hear the ripples across the top of the sand.
 

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2 hours ago, scoopjohnb said:

Allow me to enlighten my colleagues in discussion.

An Excal is an excellent wet beach hunter. However I’m not after an Nox 800 that is an Excal.

I’ve got an Excal!

That upper tide line when the tide is out can be worked with an 18 kHz Deus. You can get the machine stable enough it will hunt. All be it with very little depth. The 18 kHz picks up the small goodies.

Beach 1 has found me small gold and small targets an Excal has problems with.

I would like those same small gold and small targets, but with the audio of an Excal in pinpoint.

I really don’t need ID at the beach, it just a bonus. I just need to find 1 small dense target and then I simply grid that area. You are after thin gold rings with stones in. The bonus side of the ID is just that, You dig the ones you know,... you certainly dig the ones you don’t!

Were you ever able to get gold mode stable in the wet salt sand?

After running an Equinox  in Beach 1 and pulling Deep, Deep mid conductive targets (mostly nickels unfortunately) in the wet salt sand and shallow water at the tide line, I will NEVER go back to a Deus in wet salt sand.  I would rather poke my eyes out with a shrimp fork.

I think a bunch of us are saying the same thing, it would be nice to have the option of using the Gold Mode VCO pitch audio in beach mode.

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Some great info.  For sure a bit more fidelity to be able to run the best features of B1, B2 and G2 would be nice but there it is.  The testing Im doing is to run B2 in its rawest form--2 Tone.  This makes up for the low weighting a bit so you have a stable deep, LOUD (key point--hate the weak 5 and 50 sounds-- underwater forget it) salt mode.  Maybe it's just were I hunt but B1 was just bad--a "bittyness" to the signal that is very hard to work with.  The "problem set" is to stablize it--depends how optimistic you are about smalll chains and earrings but a slightly higher bottom TB works.  Gold 2 is an amazing thing.  Also the machine at it's rawest--it's a showcase for just how well this machine processes.   Where you have steel diverse alloys or something too big it stutters--great ID--kind of like higher standard of what a clean signal consists of.  Kind of tells you the density of an object in a way that no other machine does. Great tool--now I go straight to the junk in fresh water.   The tradeoff I make is to run up at Disc 6+.  Ya ya, but it's worth it to have this nice high foil cut off--chains and earrings be dammed.  (never found a no pendant chain  in 40 years)  This is also where the stabiltiy comes from--targets are assigned on one side or the other.  (1 or 2 might accomplish the same thing) If I were somewere high end B2 would be the mode of choice anyhow as G2 would never tune for salt.   Also try running B2 in 2 Tone with the 2 at Pitch 20--seems to be a good range for hearing gold. 

cjc

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2 hours ago, cjc said:

Some great info.  For sure a bit more fidelity to be able to run the best features of B1, B2 and G2 would be nice but there it is.  The testing Im doing is to run B2 in its rawest form--2 Tone.  This makes up for the low weighting a bit so you have a stable deep, LOUD (key point--hate the weak 5 and 50 sounds-- underwater forget it) salt mode.  Maybe it's just were I hunt but B1 was just bad--a "bittyness" to the signal that is very hard to work with.  The "problem set" is to stablize it--depends how optimistic you are about smalll chains and earrings but a slightly higher bottom TB works.  Gold 2 is an amazing thing.  Also the machine at it's rawest--it's a showcase for just how well this machine processes.   Where you have steel diverse alloys or something too big it stutters--great ID--kind of like higher standard of what a clean signal consists of.  Kind of tells you the density of an object in a way that no other machine does. Great tool--now I go straight to the junk in fresh water.   The tradeoff I make is to run up at Disc 6+.  Ya ya, but it's worth it to have this nice high foil cut off--chains and earrings be dammed.  (never found a no pendant chain  in 40 years)  This is also where the stabiltiy comes from--targets are assigned on one side or the other.  (1 or 2 might accomplish the same thing) If I were somewere high end B2 would be the mode of choice anyhow as G2 would never tune for salt.   Also try running B2 in 2 Tone with the 2 at Pitch 20--seems to be a good range for hearing gold. 

cjc

Agree Clive - B2 for salt (will have to give 2 - tone a go sometime) and G (unlike the other modes I think (i.e., a theory we have on the forum)  Gold 1 and 2 are the same just with different settings) for freshwater.  Would like VCO as an audio choice for the non-gold modes.

A little off topic, what do you think about Field 1 - 2-Tone.  I really have no idea what to do with that mode.

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1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

Agree Clive - B2 for salt (will have to give 2 - tone a go sometime) and G (unlike the other modes I think (i.e., a theory we have on the forum)  Gold 1 and 2 are the same just with different settings) for freshwater.  Would like VCO as an audio choice for the non-gold modes.

A little off topic, what do you think about Field 1 - 2-Tone.  I really have no idea what to do with that mode.

I'm still figuring out the Field modes too very sharp and clean did a great iron seperation test (crossed spikes over a gold ring) with F2 a while back.  Had it out today in iron but there was just nothing there to determine how well it cancelled iron inthe field.  Lot of info in that single tone VCO it would be great in the salt.   It's my beach go to.

cjc

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Also running at 6+ eliminates those pesty iron/mineral falsing that fall in that second bin if you arent running AM.   What i like about 2 tone is it can really be adjusted to your hearing as well...... the really high tones are a bit much for me.   Once you reduce the volume in the iron range you are just listening for targets.  F2 is a real good dry sand option.... but i had to do some tone adjustment over the default.   But depth is very good.   Here at least, if the sand is damp....... most of the modes will really talk to you.

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13 hours ago, dewcon4414 said:

Also running at 6+ eliminates those pesty iron/mineral falsing that fall in that second bin if you arent running AM.   What i like about 2 tone is it can really be adjusted to your hearing as well...... the really high tones are a bit much for me.   Once you reduce the volume in the iron range you are just listening for targets.  F2 is a real good dry sand option.... but i had to do some tone adjustment over the default.   But depth is very good.   Here at least, if the sand is damp....... most of the modes will really talk to you.

Glad someone agrees with me on the 2 Tone.  Kind of pulse like--gets rid of any warbling between bins. cjc

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Used 2-tone today in beach 1. And decided to drop the reactivity from 6 to 4. Suited the targets and iron just fine, depth was more than ample and just drawed out the tone on those deeper targets that little bit longer.

Gold mode was again a No-Go. 

She did an awesome job in the damp sand at the high tide line. Back in business.

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On the beaches here in Fl....... you cant run any of the modes except beach when the sand is even slightly damp without really doing some adjustments.   Clive ...... buddy you havent found any chains you said in 40 years without pendant....... but, you didnt have the Nox lol.   Ive  As far as the Xcal not getting chains........ i have one this year......   .4 grams and sounded good.   Thats impressive.   Im spoiled with the Xcal and its PP system.   Its a must have on any water machine IMO.   Id give a leg to have a gain button too...... having a little more modulation would end all that mineral noise.   I have to agree...... 2 tones isnt quit as soft tones.   50 tones ..... just way to much noise with the minerals for my ears...... id go into zombie mode.   You may not like to find chains or small gold Clive...... but its nice to have that option.  Kind of a nitch option within its self.  I take some days...... just to small gold hunt.   The Nox seems to do a little better on the small gold than the Xcal OUT OF TH WATER.   A lot of things change IN the salt water...... things get a lot more equal.   But....... id still rather pay $800 and get a multi use machine ..... rather than pay twice that for one ive had to modify.   Oddly...... i find myself going over a beach with the Nox first THEN the Xcal rather than the other way around. 

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