Noob questions

I have a Fisher CZ-21, with 10" coil. When it comes to tones it has three tones low, mid and high. The low tone is iron don't need to dig. The mid tone is gold or a pull tab and the high is coins and silver.
So the tones help discriminate between targets. Since the TDI has tones you might be able to discriminate between trash and good targets.


The Pulse Inductive machines are usually a dig everything machine. I think the sea hunter says it can discriminate but if you use it you might actually be missing out on gold, since gold and a pull tab usually sound the same.

I was thinking about a Whites TDI, but more for gold country than the beach for me. And it isn't waterproof so you have to watch out if you wade in the water that you don't get the control box wet.

The VLF with help discriminate the trash so you can cover more of the beach.
Look at the CZ-21 and the minelab Excalibur two nice machines. Both are multi frequency VLF machines so they are good for salt water beaches and have tone id so you can discriminate with your ear. I got a good deal on the cz-21 used that is why I went with it over an Excalibur. But at the beach I notice more people running the Excalibur.

I would like to thank you for your suggestions and comments on certain metal detectors. As to my original post, I just had some general questions about some of different specifications they listed for each MD and what was the impact on the metal detector or the user . Some had Audio Tones and some did not, same with ground balance, if you don’t have Ground Balance or Audio Tones or you have them , what is the difference? And the number of Number of Frequencies, one detector had 1 one had 96. OK...96 sounds better than having 1, maybe not .Being new to this they may sound like silly questions but I don’t understand the difference between them.

I have been looking at the CZ 21 the more I read on it the better I liked it. That would be the only VLF MD I would consider Thanks

Try reposting in the beach and water section for more views and advice. Beach gear is a niche market because the different elements and terrain involved, and they can guide you toward the best bang for your buck.

And welcome!

http://metaldetectingforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14

Groot said:

I’m In the process of buying my first metal detector. After many hours of reading I have narrowed it down to the Garrett Infinium LS and I did see this is now discontinued but you can still buy them. Garrett Sea Hunter Mark II ,Whites Surf Dual Field ,Whites TDI SL. and the CZ-21 Being close to the beach made me choose them . I’m not going to ask which one is better but I have some questions about some of the things I read in their specifications . Audio Tones, Garrett does not have tones the TID has tones , I cannot find the difference between have them or not having them. The Sea Hunter does not have ground balance, The TDI has Ground balance I’m not sure if that is a big deal. Number of Frequencies, Surf PI has 1 one, Garrett has 96, is that important ? This will help me make my decision. Thanks

Click to expand...

Check out this for a list of all possible salt-beach machines... http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=248905

as far as your post, I've used all of the detectors you listed.

SH2 is a nice lil' PI. The discrimination settings only work in a controlled lab scenario and are not practical in the real world. If you disc out an object, you'll miss plenty of valuable targets. The advantage of the Infinium's ground balance comes into play when you encounter black sand. Heavy deposits of black sand are a struggle for most detectors and the SH2 is no exception, it can actually make the SH2 false.

The Whites D/F & TDI have an adjustable pulse delay so you can fine tune the PI to small or large objects.

All PIs will give you a slight depth advantage over VLFs with the same size coil.....with the exception of a Minelab Excallibur. The Excal has a P/P (all-metal) mode that turns off disc and gives you a boost in depth. Anyhow a big coiled PI is a great machine to find targets during sanded-in conditions or after you've run through an area with your VLF.

Back to your OP, the CZ21 is the only one on your list that is a multi-frequency VLF capable of handling conductive salt effectively AND discriminate unwanted targets such as iron. Considering many of your prime hunting areas (popular beaches) have a lot of competition and limited time due to tides, you want to make the most of your time by skipping junk targets on cherry picking. That is where the CZ21 gives you the advantage over PIs.