Surfmaster PI Dual Field

It works if,there is not extreme or highly variable ground mineralization, but not particularly well because it has no ground balance. Also why use it since something like an F44 or an ATX will offer discrimination and ground balance.

very nice machine

Be prepared to dig all, if there is a lot of trash & Iron around, it's not the correct machine to use , however clean beaches, with the machines depth capabilities are sweet, if you have the cash, only one other PI will beat or match it- the ATX with the big coil, happy hunting, Earl

Pi detectors work in fresh water,You just dig all iron too.

lytle78 said:

It works if,there is not extreme or highly variable ground mineralization, but not particularly well because it has no ground balance. Also why use it since something like an F44 or an ATX will offer discrimination and ground balance.

Click to expand...

Very simply - Not wanting to spend 2k+ on the ATX, and the F44 doesn't seem like it would handle wet sand, let alone salt water very well. Also, White's has the best customer service in the business.

Surf Master said:

Be prepared to dig all, if there is a lot of trash & Iron around, it's not the correct machine to use , however clean beaches, with the machines depth capabilities are sweet, if you have the cash, only one other PI will beat or match it- the ATX with the big coil, happy hunting, Earl

Click to expand...

metaladdict said:

Pi detectors work in fresh water,You just dig all iron too.

Click to expand...

It is safe to assume that where ever people gathered to generously donate their possessions to us that there will be lots of trash and iron around.

I have resigned myself to digging pretty much everything as it is. Fortunately, scooping sand isn't quite the same as digging in the dirt. I have started the practice of gridding a 10x10 area on dirt. I was shocked exactly how much stuff you dig in an area that small to make it "clean". Took about 2 hours or so to clean out just one 10x10 space.

And, in the fresh water lakes/ponds (non-wave forming fresh water that is), things do not tend to go too deep into the sand due to minimal water movement.

Thanks all, for your input. I haven't made a decision on a water detector yet - still doing research.

BottleCapKing said:

Does this work well in fresh water too? If I am going to get a water detector, I might as well get something that works in both.

Click to expand...

The Dual Field is similar to the Garrett Sea Hunter as neither have ground balance but the advantage of the DF is that is has an adjustable pulse delay (same feature on the DetectorPro-Pulse). As I understand it, the pulse delay enables you to tune the machine to gold vs iron. Its not one or the other but rather being more prone to say a shallow fine gold necklace vs a super deep cannon ball.

The DF's 12" coil is a manageable size that increases its depth over smaller coil size PI detectors. You'll find it easier to cover wide open beaches and yet, its small enough to use in the water.

Tesoro's Sand shark is a cheaper alternative (but with lifetime warranty) but it doesn't have the adjustable pulse delay.

Now for about two hundred more, you can look at the Garrett Infinium which has ground balance and a unique two-tone target id system that will enable you to hear the difference in some targets. This is a nice setup!

The PI design is much different than a VLF. Of course it is nearly impervious to the effects of conductive salt, but it also does pretty well in mineralized soil. If you know the area (even freshwater) has significant mineral deposits, than this is where the Infinium would be worth the extra few bucks.

BottleCapKing said:

Does this work well in fresh water too? If I am going to get a water detector, I might as well get something that works in both.

Click to expand...

It works great in freshwater... it will find all those wonderful 200 year old nails just waiting for someone with a PI to find them... how do I know? because I made the mistake of taking my DF into a freshwater lake and I promised myself never ever to do that again...

DaviDs said:

The Dual Field is similar to the Garrett Sea Hunter as neither have ground balance but the advantage of the DF is that is has an adjustable pulse delay (same feature on the DetectorPro-Pulse). As I understand it, the pulse delay enables you to tune the machine to gold vs iron. Its not one or the other but rather being more prone to say a shallow fine gold necklace vs a super deep cannon ball.

The DF's 12" coil is a manageable size that increases its depth over smaller coil size PI detectors. You'll find it easier to cover wide open beaches and yet, its small enough to use in the water.

Tesoro's Sand shark is a cheaper alternative (but with lifetime warranty) but it doesn't have the adjustable pulse delay.

Now for about two hundred more, you can look at the Garrett Infinium which has ground balance and a unique two-tone target id system that will enable you to hear the difference in some targets. This is a nice setup!

The PI design is much different than a VLF. Of course it is nearly impervious to the effects of conductive salt, but it also does pretty well in mineralized soil. If you know the area (even freshwater) has significant mineral deposits, than this is where the Infinium would be worth the extra few bucks.

Click to expand...

Thank you. Good information.

Cfmct said:

It works great in freshwater... it will find all those wonderful 200 year old nails just waiting for someone with a PI to find them... how do I know? because I made the mistake of taking my DF into a freshwater lake and I promised myself never ever to do that again...

Click to expand...

Dude, I totally collect NOTHING BUT 200 year old nails.

Gold? Silver? A Jedi craves not these things.

Cfmct said:

It works great in freshwater... it will find all those wonderful 200 year old nails just waiting for someone with a PI to find them... how do I know? because I made the mistake of taking my DF into a freshwater lake and I promised myself never ever to do that again...

Click to expand...

+1 After just a few freshwater hunts with my sandshark I quickly gave it up,
digging every nail, bottlecap, sparkplug, etc. gets old really fast.
Not to mention the depth that it will find some of this trash will have you working hard.

A waterproof PI detector with iron discrimination is what is needed. Sadly, nobody manufacturers one of these.

That may change in the future. The latest hint to emerge on that score is the hiring by First Texas (Fisher) of Alexandre Tartar. He is a French physicist who has immersed himself in PI detector technology for more than 10 years - not because he was being paid to do so, but because detecting was and is his passion.

In the process, he developed a series of prototype machines called "Manta" - or, because they were beach and water detectors - "Aquamanta"

All that work is now with First Texas. They have publically comfirmed that they will move to develop a marketable product out of this technology.

If you're not allergic to hearing French, here's a video demonstrating one of his prototype machines. First they operate it in "all metal" then they demonstrate the option for total iron rejection, then the option for iron iD by multitone. Also note how in both cases the detector "sees through" the nails to hit on the gold band. Also, it mostly does not react to black sand and in fact detects the ring through about 8-10 inches of the stuff. Bynthe end of the clip, they are detecting a large ring at what looks to be at least 18" while rejecting iron.

It looks legit to me - First Texas must have thought so - after using prototypes, they hired the guy!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G8sdp4RG73g&feature=youtu.be

Thanks everyone. After reading everyone's input and considering I will in all likely hood hitting fresh water more than salt (It is about 2 hours to the coast for me and fresh water is everywhere in Central MA), I decided to go with the White's MX Sport.

I haven't water tested it yet, but, I am pretty pleased with it so far. So much easier to operate than the V3i. Found a nice 7.5" deep 1845 Large Cent with it on the its first prolonged hunt. There is something to be said about NOT being flooded with data.

BottleCapKing said:

...I decided to go with the White's MX Sport....Found a nice 7.5" deep 1845 Large Cent w...There is something to be said about NOT being flooded with data.

Click to expand...

Congrats on the new heater! ...and scoring a Large Cent! Woo-hoo!!!