Excalibur question

atrain17

What do you all think of the Excalibur metal detector? I'm considering a trade for one but wanted some feedback from you folks.

Thanks

pcgs69

It depends on how serious you're going to get with water/beach detecting. A lot of people love the machine, and for stability in salt water, it works very well.

I owned one for a few months and since I water detect only a few times a year, it was not economical to keep it. Some suggestions/observations on the Excal:

1) You will need some kind of aftermarket balanced straight/dive shaft. As stock, the detector is very heavy when detecting for periods of time. You need to modify it for easier usage. I purchased one of these shafts from ebay and it was 1000% better

2) The knobs can be a pain. Trying to adjust the knobs was a bit of a hassle. Maybe I'm just familiar with pushing the buttons on my e-trac

3) They say the e-trac sounds like R2D2... well, the Excal is a Star Wars lightsaber cutting through various materials. I suppose after a while you can discern the signal differences, but i had no idea during the few times I used it (figured out the e-trac signals tho). All I remember is hearing people say a "burping" sound is probably a bottlecap/junk!

4) Pinpointing will take a little time to master. You can try to figure it out with the DD coil, or you can turn a knob to pinpoint. That's a lot of knob turning in areas with a lot of targets.

Obviously hundreds and thousands of other detectorists have used it and liked it, so there must be something to it.

atrain17

pcgs69 - Thank you sooo much for your help. You guys on here are the best. Is it ONLY for water detecting or can I search the shore/riverbank and surronding river areas?

pcgs69

There shouldn't be any problem using it along the river banks and sandy beaches. It works well in both salt water and freshwater.

And, I'm not sure of its performance, but I think someone on one of the metal detecting forums even used it at a park.

Let us know what you decide and be sure to post some finds! And of course, let us know if you have any other questions. We'll try to help out.

atrain17

Awesome, thanks so much!!