Dry vs. Wet Sand Settings on Tesoro Sand Shark or any other PI for that matter

Jimb0 · Dec 23, 2011

Hey guys. Newb question. It doesn't necessarily apply to Tesoros, but PI detectors in general...

I've seen some posts about recommended settings on a Sand Shark, however I wanted to know if there was a different dry sand setting from a wet sand setting.

For instance if you are working wet sand right at low tide and decide to run up to the dry sand to check something, do you need to change your settings on the fly? Or will your current setting do the trick, but just not as good because of the better conductivity of the wet material.

Thanks all.

Cfmct · Dec 23, 2011

The thought of using a pulse in the dry sand makes me shudder... too much trash there get a nice VLF for the dry stuff

Jimb0 · Dec 23, 2011

But is a PI useable in dry sand? If I want to run over and check a dry area, will it still work? Sure its not as great as a VLF, but it still should perform.

Cfmct · Dec 23, 2011

Jimb0 said:
But is a PI useable in dry sand? If I want to run over and check a dry area, will it still work? Sure its not as great as a VLF, but it still should perform.

Yes you can... I did so years ago but digging up a rusty nail a couple feet deep turned me off pretty fast... I will say I have dug old silver and rings but in the dry sand garbage targets out number good stuff... I use my GT if I want to hunt the dry...

DualFieldBandit · Dec 23, 2011

Jimbo,

I've never used the Sand Shark how ever it should work with the same settings on the dry or wet sands. I would agree with Criag the thought of using a pulse unit for dry sand hunting would make me the shudder too! How's the audio on the Sand Shark is it like the Dual Field? The Dual Field's audio is like a VLF in the all metal mode. With practice you can tell if something might be good or not. I think Clive's PI books would be a good read for you being a newbie.

Crumble · Dec 23, 2011

I've used a PI in the dry sand (the day after labor day), but agree with Craig, it is a pain in the @$$. Just way too many bobby pins/rusty nails/pieces of foil/etc.

I did find gold that day though...

PI seems to lose depth in the dry sand, maybe it's the less compact sand matrix or something.

Terry Soloman · Dec 23, 2011

Great machine oon Dry or Wet Sand...

No, you do not need to change your settings at all. That is one of the beautiful things about a PI machine, no ground balancing! I have used my Sand Shark in Farm Fields, City Parks, Totlots - everywhere!

Jimb0 · Dec 23, 2011

Isn't the only benefit of a VLF machine in dry sand its discrimination abilities? For now, at least until I learn more about my unit, I plan on digging every target. Right now, due to my inexperience, I wouldn't know the difference between a bottle cap at 3" and a gold chest full of gold coins at 16".

So if I plan on digging every target, does it matter if I have a PI machine or a VLF?

Terry, I like your idea about not changing any settings. I plan on running some tests with some different items, different depths, dry sand, wet sand, VCO, Normal, etc until I figure out what I'm doing.

Crumble · Dec 23, 2011

Depends on the beach.

Some of my beaches the dry sand is somewhat clean so it's doable.

Other beaches there are thousands of bobby pins/nails that vlf users never dig, so they accumulate, so with a PI you hear multiple targets every swing. Tests your sanity... :lol:

I think when people say they dig everything with a vlf machine, they mean everything except iron.

Right Brain · Dec 23, 2011

In my beaches, the dry is so hunted out that you will hardly find a target in the dry, PI or VLF, it doesn't matter. I find more targets in the water (even in no-man's land) than in the dry.

I think a VLF will actually go deeper or just as deep as a PI in the thick dry, there's nothing for a PI to grab onto so it performs like it does in an air test, and the VLF doesn't have to deal with mineralisation.

flbeachguy · Dec 23, 2011

I tried my Sand Shark in the dry, but I don't even bother anymore. Too much trash, at least on the beaches in my area. For dry , I just pack along the X-Terra, and hunt wherever it looks promising. I don't see a need to change the settings if you did tho.

nittany1 · Dec 24, 2011

You can use a PI in the dry sand, I helped a tourist couple find their car rental keys and another one a ring. If I were going to the beach specifically to do dry sand only I'd bring my VLF with decent discrimination. But when I see the surf going up and all the depositors going in the water with their slippery suntan lotion on, I'm like, there's stuff in the water, and my Tesoro housing can't get wet or it'll bust.

Terry Soloman · Dec 24, 2011

Think again..

Right Brain said:
...I think a VLF will actually go deeper or just as deep as a PI in the thick dry, there's nothing for a PI to grab onto so it performs like it does in an air test, and the VLF doesn't have to deal with mineralisation.

Gosh, that is so wrong it hurts. Think about it for a second. Electronic pulses and radio waves are two different animals. A PI machine will punch MUCH deeper than a VLF machine - period.

Wet, dry - it doesn't matter. And you have this backwards - "..and the VLF doesn't have to deal with mineralisation." You only have to worry about high mineralization WITH a VLF machine. It does NOT affect the PI machine. :cool:

Cfmct · Dec 24, 2011

Terry Soloman said:
Gosh, that is so wrong it hurts. Think about it for a second. Electronic pulses and radio waves are two different animals. A PI machine will punch MUCH deeper than a VLF machine - period.

Wet, dry - it doesn't matter. And you have this backwards - "..and the VLF doesn't have to deal with mineralisation." You only have to worry about high mineralization WITH a VLF machine. It does NOT affect the PI machine.

Terry is correct.... A VLF will lose depth from minerals where as a PI will punch right through...

gin&kin · Dec 24, 2011

Terry Soloman said:
Gosh, that is so wrong it hurts. Think about it for a second. Electronic pulses and radio waves are two different animals. A PI machine will punch MUCH deeper than a VLF machine - period.

Wet, dry - it doesn't matter. And you have this backwards - "..and the VLF doesn't have to deal with mineralisation." You only have to worry about high mineralization WITH a VLF machine. It does NOT affect the PI machine.

I'm not arguing with that logic but I think ONE point Right Brain was getting at was that without the conductivity of the salt water or salt "mineralisation" the PI wouldn't punch as deep in the dry sand. Whether this is right or not I'll leave it up to the experts...

Cfmct · Dec 24, 2011

gin&kin said:
I'm not arguing with that logic but I think ONE point Right Brain was getting at was that without the conductivity of the salt water or salt "mineralisation" the PI wouldn't punch as deep in the dry sand. Whether this is right or not I'll leave it up to the experts...

A pulse is going to punch deeper than a VLF it doesn't matter what you are hunting over...

gin&kin · Dec 24, 2011

Cfmct-PI said:
It doesn't matter a pulse is going to punch deeper than a VLF it doesn't matter what you are hunting over...

Yes, agreed :yes:

I'll just clarify what I meant now..

"the PI wouldn't punch as deep in the dry sand as it does in the wet" :grin:

Cfmct · Dec 24, 2011

gin&kin said:
Yes, agreed

I'll just clarify what I meant now..

"the PI wouldn't punch as deep in the dry sand as it does in the wet"

Yes it will but the question is who wants to :lol:

Taking a pulse in the dry stuff is just as horrible as taking it in a freshwater lake... :yes:

Right Brain · Dec 24, 2011

You guys misread my post and Terry, you took it out of context, a VLF that doesn't have to contend with mineralisation will perform well, a PI that doesn't have to contend with mineralisation will still perform well, but when it comes to mineralisation, the PI will do better compared to a VLF unit... I totality agree.

I'm just saying that depth-wise, a PI wont have as much or no advantage over a VLF in thick dry sand.

Terry Soloman · Dec 24, 2011

Hit the Buzzer!

Right Brain said:
..I'm just saying that depth-wise, a PI wont have as much or no advantage over a VLF in thick dry sand.

Wrong.

Sorry RB, you don't seem to understand how pulse induction works. In ANY-ALL-EVERY soil, sand (wet or dry), a pulse induction detector is deeper. Alabama clay, Arizona calichie, New York overburden - DEEPER. Wet, dry, thick, thin - it means NOTHING to an electronic pulse. Radio waves are completely different.

Dry vs. Wet Sand Settings on Tesoro Sand Shark or any other PI for that matter

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