More Whites Surf PI Pro Questions

hobbes_lives · Jul 16, 2007

I was able to use the machine weekend-before-last for a few hours in the water at Daytona. (I found a whopping 4? and a handful of trash.) I used it at Daytona again last Saturday, but got ran out by the storms after only 15 minutes. :mad:

Anyway, with my limited experience, there are a few more questions that I have about this machine and its setting. I want to make sure I am using the machine to its fullest capabilities, and that it is working properly. I will primarily using it in waist to chest deep water at the beach.

First, in the manual, it states that you should be able to adjust the tuner to hear a low hum. Mine sounds more like, for lack of better words, a vibrating buzz. I can only get a smooth tone when the gain is almost all the way down to the off position. At presets, it sounds like it's reverberating and buzzy. (Imaging a fly or gnat flying around your ear.) I can adjust the threshold until I just hear it, but it is still not what I would call a low hum, more like an intermittent buzz. Is that typically how this machine sounds?

Second, regardless of how low I have the gain turned down, when I am in the surf and am sweeping from shallow to deeper water, I'll hear the tone get louder. When I am sweeping from deep to shallower water, the tone gets quieter, and goes away completely if I have the tuner set to where I just hear the tone with no movement. I realize this is probably just the S.A.T. circuit adjusting for the changing conditions, but is this what you experience also? Is this normal? It seems like this could mask a target if you are not really listening carefully.

Thanks for helping out. For a machine with only two controls, I sure have allot of questions, huh? I really just want to make sure that I understand what I am doing with this machine, and that it is working properly. I know there is allot of good advice on this forum. :yes:

Thanks in advance.

FXDiz · Jul 17, 2007

Everything you described sounds like you have my Surf PI pro in your hands.

As you stated the tone coming up in deeper water is the SAT adjusting. You may be sweeping a little fast. Try slowing down a bit. It gives the SAT a little more time to adjust. Also, if you are carrying your scoop on the side where the sound is getting louder, it may be picking it up. I have found that if I keep my scoop slightly low and forward the PI will pick it up. I try to keep it up on my shoulder, but as you have probably found, that isn't always easy in the waves. It makes me long for a strong composite scoop and handle that the PI doesn't pick up.
As for masking targets, the sound could mask a really deep target I suppose, but with mine, when I sweep over a target the signal gets much stronger and louder (even when the target is down deep).
I set the gain as high as I can without it getting unstable, then adjust the volume with the tuner. On the gain knob, that is usually about a quarter turn beyond the factory mark, or as you are looking at the knob about the 2 to 3 o'clock position (I turned my control box around so I could see the knobs). As it says on the control box, "a little tremble is normal". So it will not be a steady tone.
The more you use it, you will notice different targets make a different sound. One thing that I did was put a few sample targets on the wet sand and listened to the different sounds they made. It helped some, but with the PI I dig all targets anyway.
You will also notice when there is a thunderstorm in the area, a flash of lightning will give you a quick crackling sound. I too was stopped short on Saturday due to a thunderstorm in St Augustine :shock:

Got 4 quarters, 4 dimes 3 nickels, 3 pennies and a pair of sunglasses along with the usual junk. Hope this helped some. I?m sure there are other PI users out there with more experience than I have that can add to or even take away from this. HH

FXDiz · Jul 17, 2007

Everything you described sounds like you have my Surf PI pro in your hands.

As you stated the tone coming up in deeper water is the SAT adjusting. You may be sweeping a little fast. Try slowing down a bit. It gives the SAT a little more time to adjust. Also, if you are carrying your scoop on the side where the sound is getting louder, it may be picking it up. I have found that if I keep my scoop slightly low and forward the PI will pick it up. I try to keep it up on my shoulder, but as you have probably found, that isn't always easy in the waves. It makes me long for a strong composite scoop and handle that the PI doesn't pick up.
As for masking targets, the sound could mask a really deep target I suppose, but with mine, when I sweep over a target the signal gets much stronger and louder (even when the target is down deep).
I set the gain as high as I can without it getting unstable, then adjust the volume with the tuner. On the gain knob, that is usually about a quarter turn beyond the factory mark, or as you are looking at the knob about the 2 to 3 o'clock position (I turned my control box around so I could see the knobs). As it says on the control box, "a little tremble is normal". So it will not be a steady tone.
The more you use it, you will notice different targets make a different sound. One thing that I did was put a few sample targets on the wet sand and listened to the different sounds they made. It helped some, but with the PI I dig all targets anyway.
You will also notice when there is a thunderstorm in the area, a flash of lightning will give you a quick crackling sound. I too was stopped short on Saturday due to a thunderstorm in St Augustine :shock:

Got 4 quarters, 4 dimes 3 nickels, 3 pennies and a pair of sunglasses along with the usual junk. Hope this helped some. I?m sure there are other PI users out there with more experience than I have that can add to or even take away from this. HH

hobbes_lives · Jul 23, 2007

Thanks to everyone that has helped me out with the Surf Pro PI. You suggestions, and a little more time in the water, have helped me out allot. Check out my weekend finds here...

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=11364

Thanks again!

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