Whites Surf PI Pro - User Tips

hobbes_lives

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I have a Whites Surf PI Pro on its way, so I figured I'd ask for a few tips on using it.

I plan on working the wet sand and shallow water, to waist height, primarily along the east coast of Florida. I'd eventually like to dive with the machine, but it'll be quite a while before I'll be able to do that. BTW, has anyone tried snorkeling and metal detecting?

What I understand from reading the manual is that I should adjust the tuner control until I can hear a low hum, and I should have the gain cranked up as high as it can go without receiving false signals. Is that it? It seems pretty darn simple to use.

Do you have any other tips on using this unit, or even beach hunting in general?

TIA. :D
 
I have a Whites Surf PI Pro on its way, so I figured I'd ask for a few tips on using it.

I plan on working the wet sand and shallow water, to waist height, primarily along the east coast of Florida. I'd eventually like to dive with the machine, but it'll be quite a while before I'll be able to do that. BTW, has anyone tried snorkeling and metal detecting?

What I understand from reading the manual is that I should adjust the tuner control until I can hear a low hum, and I should have the gain cranked up as high as it can go without receiving false signals. Is that it? It seems pretty darn simple to use.

Do you have any other tips on using this unit, or even beach hunting in general?

TIA. :D

I used to crank up my gain to the presets but I noticed it was noisy and I like a smooth threshold so I put my gain to 9am and its nice and smooth and it allows me to have my threshold a little louder and I feel I haven't lost any depth and my finds can prove that. I love my PI its light it finds me the gold and its well balanced..
 
Thanks Kellyco!

Thanks for the tips. I receive my Surf Pro PI yesterday and now have it set up and ready to go for this weekend.

I've got to put in a good word for Wanda at Kellyco. I purchased the unit off of eBay used (not from Kellyco), but listed in like-new condition. It was a deal I couldn't pass up.

When I receive the unit yesterday, I opened the box and found that the center rod was missing! :mad: I called Wanda up this morning and asked if they had the center rods in stock and they didn't. I told her that I really wanted to go out this weekend and she asked me to hold on. She came back and said that I could borrow a rod from their rental unit until a new one came in! Wow, now that's great service! :yes:

Needless to say, I skipped out of work around 2:30 PM today and took a ride up to Winter Springs. I went ahead and bought a coil cover, coil bracket and new long-handled scoop. The center rod that she was going to loan me looked practically new, so I just went ahead and bought it. So, thanks to Wanda at Kellyco, I'm all set to go tomorrow AM! Most excellent! :D
 
The Surf Master PI Pro is one fantastic PI machine! I have had the Whites Beach Hunter ID, Treasuremaster PI 1000, and of course the PI Pro and can say from experience that Whites manufactures some of the finest machines around. Oh yeah, their customer service is AMAZING!

Regarding your question about gain, I place mine a bit below the preset arrow to keep the unit quite when hunting. I hunt most of the beaches here in the Florida Keys and up the coast as far as West Palm with the PI Pro. Most of the time I use a snorkel when hunting in the water up to about 5 feet. Beyond that it is all about the Scuba although I usually don't dive beyond 60 to 75 feet.

One thing you want to make sure of with the PI Pro is that you keep the O ring underneath the top cover greased with Petroleum Jelly, Vaseline, or any petrol based gel. This will help insure that no salt water gets inside the unit. Also, make absolutely certain that you fresh water wash the unit down after EVERY USE! this is sooooooo important and needs to be done religiously after using the unit in salt water. Pinpointing takes a bit of time to master with the PI Pro and there are many different techniques that people use. Depending on the kind of bottom where you are hunting you may or may not have an easy time using your scoop. If it is rocky, like most of the beaches in the Keys then you will need to start doing the fan thing. In fact, I haven't used my beach water scoop in quite some time because I usually just fan. Wet sand is heavy and it hurts my arms after a while. Try hip mounting the unit, it takes quite a bit of weight off the shaft of the unit making it much easier and in my opinion enjoyable to search in the water.

I hear ya about KellyCo, my experiences have been nothing but satisfactory with them. I know some people on this board that would disagree but hey, if it works for you, then all the better.

Happy hunting and I hope you find some great stuff!

PS: maybe I will see ya sometime down here on the East Coast of Florida sometime, just look for another guy with a PI Pro :)
 
The Surf Master PI Pro is one fantastic PI machine!

I'm sure I'll agree, once I get used to the machine.

Regarding your question about gain, I place mine a bit below the preset arrow to keep the unit quite when hunting.

I think between your recommendation, what Cfmct-PI said and my experience this weekend, I think I've got the gain and threshold figured out. In the wet sand, I was able to have the gain set a little above the preset, with the threshold set to hear a slight tone, and it was nice and smooth. In the mine, it was a different story. With the gain set at preset, as I would sweep the coil from shallow to deep, I would hear a tone, then when I would sweep from deep to shallow, the tone would null. I turned down the gain and adjusted the threshold to where I would get a nice quiet, steady tone as I would sweep. Does that sound about right?

Most of the time I use a snorkel when hunting in the water up to about 5 feet.

I may have to try that. I was having allot of difficulty digging targets when I was chest deep. Even using the suggested tips, I don't think I was getting the scoop in the right spot each time. (Additionally, I was getting pushed off of the spot quite a bit and couldn't get a good dig on the scoop once the hole was kinda deep. I couldn't get any weight on it because I kept floating up. Grrr, very frustrating.)

One thing you want to make sure of with the PI Pro is that you keep the O ring underneath the top cover greased with Petroleum Jelly, Vaseline, or any petrol based gel. This will help insure that no salt water gets inside the unit.

I read that somewhere else before. I sent an email message to Whites to find out their recommendation. I'll let you know their response too.

Also, make absolutely certain that you fresh water wash the unit down after EVERY USE! this is sooooooo important and needs to be done religiously after using the unit in salt water.

Yep. I used to be an avid saltwater fisherman. That was always part of the routine. Hose off, wipe down, hose off again.

Pinpointing takes a bit of time to master with the PI Pro and there are many different techniques that people use. Depending on the kind of bottom where you are hunting you may or may not have an easy time using your scoop. If it is rocky, like most of the beaches in the Keys then you will need to start doing the fan thing. In fact, I haven't used my beach water scoop in quite some time because I usually just fan. Wet sand is heavy and it hurts my arms after a while.

If I try the snorkel, I may have to try the fan technique. I used to do that in the freshwater springs to find shark teeth. I don't have to worry about rocks around here. It's all sand.

Try hip mounting the unit, it takes quite a bit of weight off the shaft of the unit making it much easier and in my opinion enjoyable to search in the water.

I'd like to do that. Can you, or someone, tell me how? I was really surprised at how difficult it was to sweep the coil through the water! What a workout! I should have known it would be tough.

I hear ya about KellyCo, my experiences have been nothing but satisfactory with them. I know some people on this board that would disagree but hey, if it works for you, then all the better.

Yep, they've been great so far, and really went out of their way for me this time.

Happy hunting and I hope you find some great stuff!

PS: maybe I will see ya sometime down here on the East Coast of Florida sometime, just look for another guy with a PI Pro :)

Maybe. I'd like to get down that way sometime. If you see a guy with a PI Pro getting thrashed around by the breakers, that's me. (I got thrashed good once on Saturday. I was not paying attention, ended up in the break line, and got hit by a BIG wave. Lost the scoop, almost lost the detector, the headphones and my hat went flying, and I ended up about ten feet closer to shore. :lol: It took me a few minutes to collect myself and get all my stuff situated. Isn't this supposed to be fun? :p )
 
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