"Above all Others" Article - Question

Hiya Tom,

Thinking about adding a PI unit to my arsenal of beach hunting tools, and many folks are recommending their favorites but I after reading your article "Above All Others", I may be interested ion saving up and trying to buy a used Minelab SD2200d.

I have a few questions if you don't mind:

1. In the article you mentioned you tested it on Atlantic beaches. I have heard that our Western beaches (southern cal.) have quite a bit more black sand. Would you expect the same above par performance?

2. In your list of "downsides" I read that the coils are not water-proof. I found a copy of the instruction manual on the internet and confirmed that they are not. If this is true it sounds like hunting the wet sand could be a real risky business! Do you know if there are aftermarket for the SD series that can be submerged?

As always, you advice is very appreciated!

Best,
Tony



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2010 07:59PM by crabman.

Tony,

First............don't be affraid of the SD-2100 either. It's performance is identical to the SD-2200.
Second............your black sand should hinder nothing.
Third..........use the 11" mono Minelab coil only. Acquire some clear RTV and apply around perimeter of coil (you will see where).


And also important; your ears will teach you how to differentiate between iron vs non-ferrous!

Thanks so much for the info Tom. I guess it is time to start saving up. It looks like you can spend a small fortune on accessories for these units too. I have just a couple more questions for you specifically about your coil recommendation.

1. I tend to scrub the sand when I hunt at the beach. I'd be afraid of relying on RTV to protect the coil at the beach, since I think it could get rubbed off pretty easy. There are at least two other companies that I have identified (Coiltek and Nugget Finder) that make aftermarket coils for this unit some of which are water proof. Is there a specific reason to use only the Minelab coil (11" mono)?

2. Similarly, I was looking into Minelab coils for this unit last night and I notice that they had an 8 inch mono. The thought occurred to me that because the SD is going to be more powerful and deeper, a smaller coil (8 vs. 11) might be useful for target separation and what not. Would you say that is a good thought?

3. Just curious why it seems that the mono coils are the best at the beach instead of the DD coils?

Best as always,

The mono coil gives greater performance (depth) vs the DD coil. The 11" covers more ground vs 8".......and if you are strictly hunting only the wet sand..... targets are fairly sparce.....so 'masking' is hardly an issue.

The RTV would be applied around the sides of the coil (not the underside)......so it will not make contact with the sand. I do recommend scrubbing the coil. I remember trying a couple of aftermarket coils.....and found the factory coils to be much more (electronically) stable and deeper.

You can use the 8" coil on the SD........but this is somewhat defeating.....as you will lose some depth/performance............which is the real reason of why you acquired this detector to begin with.

Just curious. What advantages would the Minelab SD provide over a waterproof PI such as the Whites Dual Field or HH PI as an example ? Is the ability to ground balance the main reason ? I am not up to speed on the Minelab SD's but I assume they have a ground balancing feature. In addition, I am not sure how well sealed the unit is, so maybe it can hold up to a salt environment better than most ?

The reason I ask is, in a salt water environment, even if you are wet sanding/suds hunting, there is salt water spray and salt air everywhere. The ability to give a waterproof machine a fresh water bath would be a major reason, in my opinon, to get a waterproof unit. Plus, you can run em in the rain without worry.

And if the SD machines can't use waterproof coils, what's the point ? Are they going to provide so much better performance than the waterproof PI's on the market that the rewards outweigh the risk of getting the machine wet or exposed to salt water corrosiveness ?

I took my HH PI with the smaller 8 inch coil out to a highly black sand, hot rocked and iron laden beach yesterday (I just like the smaller coil better than the open 11 inch one because I can get the coil into the hole and search around a heck of a lot easier). Although I dug lots of deep iron, I dug DEEP sinkers (20 inch plus range on some) of all sizes along with deep, small brass fishing swivels and other accessories. No gold, but the HH PI performed flawlessly and ran super smooth. Running any VLF on this beach is tricky and depth suffers a lot so I took the PI with me. Once I got to the beach and saw the conditions, I knew that was the only machine I could run. I will dig deep sinkers and small brass junk all day long because I know I won't miss much of the gold if it's there.

JC

Hey JC,

I am really glad that you added to this discussion and brought up the HH PI. As mentioned earlier in the thread, I am ready to start experimenting with a PI machine at the beach and the HH PI also peaked my interest. Seems pretty innovative, and the Uniprobe attachment also has me curious. I have several questions about it's performance. I sent you a PM. If you have a minute or two I'd love to hear more about it.

Best,

One of the primary "key to performance" of a PI........is it's electronic "speed"..... measured in = microsecond (uS) pulse-delay. The faster (smaller number) the pulse delay...... the more sensitive the unit will be to ALL OF THE GOLD ITEMS THAT OTHER UNITS CAN NEVER SEE! I believe the Minelab SD.....is around 15uS. And the GPX-4500 is around 13uS. The GPX definately has a advantage over the SD on the bad mineral and/or wet-salt beaches......even over the HH-PI. The AquaStar-II is at 10uS; subsequently, even more sensitive to small gold.......and finally 'starting' to detect 'real' gold earrings (maybe only a few inches....unless it has a bit of mass......or is gold plated).

Yes, SALT MIST is deadly!!!!!!......... and a Ziploc bag (with extra rubber bands) should be employed!

Hopefully this helps.