There is excitement in the air concerning Pulse Induction (PI) metal detectors. It is said that a revolutionary model is about to be released by several manufacturers. The main characteristic of PI detectors is their ability to ignore both conductive and non-conductive mineralization in the environment at the same time, while maintaining high sensitivity to all metal targets. Another positive feature is their detection range is not affected by the medium between the coil and the target. Performance for the most part is not hindered by water, sand, silt, solid coral and generally speaking, the air. Some PI's I have used do not go as deep to locate a target in metal detectors the air as they do for submerged or buried targets.
I dug a 1957 Roosevelt dime at eighteen inches with my Fisher Impulse. It took more than forty minutes to retrieve that coin in the shallow water at Sunset Beach in Tarpon Springs, FL and that is a primary reason I do not use PI's for coin shooting. Another reason is the extreme sensitivity to all metal targets will mean digging about thirty junk items for every good target in most coin shooting environments. You will literally plow a field before you finish covering the ground. In doing a comparative test last year, I dug almost 300 junk items and retrieved only nine coins and three jewelry keepsakes. A third negative aspect of most PI's is the difficulty of pinpointing targets.
Pinpointing with a PI is a learned art. Most conventional detectors either the center of the coil or a pinpointing button or switch makes for an easy retrieval of finds. One PI I own the target centering point is to the left side of center and is very difficult to zero in on small targets. My primary uses for PI's are gold prospecting, Civil War relic hunting and bottle digging ventures. They go very deep! I have dug shotgun casings at nearly two feet, nails at fifteen inches and as mentioned above a dime at eighteen inches. Here is my positive thought for using a PI for relic hunting. The P in Pulse Induction stands "Power"! I feel empowered when hunting fields and woods for relics and an occasional coin is a great bonus. However, as a coin-shooter the P stands for punishment in most of my environments. I cannot use one in hunting a burned-out property lot, or on a sports bleacher area or on a ball diamond to name a few areas where a conventional detector with a small three to five inch coil will produce far greater rewards and not destroy the back or shoulders.
I have listed some of the PI's out there now and they are worth the time to go online and compare their specs and prices. Every serious treasure finder needs to have one as a part of their detecting arsenal. You might want to wait though and see what is coming soon before spending some serious cash. I cannot wait! Bring on those new PI's.
C Scope 7 UMD (UK) - Underwater Pulse detector
C Scope 4PI (UK) - All purpose land detector
Minelab GPX - 4000 (Australia) - Gold Nugget/Prospecting detector
Minelab GP 3500 - (Australia) - Gold Nugget/Prospecting detector
Minelab SD 2100 - (Australia) - Gold Nugget/Prospecting detector
Minelab SD 2200v2 (Australia) - Gold Nugget/Prospecting detector
Aurora Aqua Pulse (Canada) - Wrist mount underwater detector
White's Surfmaster PI Pro - Underwater/Surf/Beach detector
Tesoro Sand Shark - Underwater Detector
Garrett Infinium LS - Water/Land detector
Garrett Sea Hunter Mark II - Underwater detector
Fisher Impulse - Land/Sea detector
DetectorPro Headhunter Pulse - Underwater detector
When you hear the term 'metal detector' what comes to your mind? To many people, the thought of the TSA gateways where they scan you and all your belongings comes to mind. And heaven forbid you have something metal on your person that keeps triggering the alarm, and you can't find it because we all know or at least have an idea of how comfortable it can be to get frisked... Detectors have also been used in many industries such as construction, mining and many others. But the 'metal detector' I'm referring to has nothing to do with airports or frisking or big industries. I'm referring to detectors used in treasure hunting. These personal devices have grown to be quite popular for many treasure hunting enthusiasts.
Now if you are looking to buy a metal detector for the first time, or are even just looking for a replacement one as an upgrade, there are many kinds of metal detectors available to purchase. A few of the more commonly known name brands are White, Garrett, and Kellyco to name a few. You can also pull up Google and just search for 'best metal detector brands' or whatever other kind of search term you feel will turn good search results and from there you'll be able to do some good research for your next purchase. Just make sure that you're not going out, looking for the best and most professional grade unit you can find if you are a beginner or you'll just end up getting confused and frustrated at all the functionality it has. Find something that is good quality with discrimination settings to help you filter out various types of metal, and that is still within a good price range. You'll also want to take into consideration what you'll be using it for. Will you be searching on the beaches or under water or searching old ghost towns? There are many places and ways to search and having the proper setup is important.
Now metal detectors are somewhat limited in what they can do or find. Generally your machine will only alert that there is something metal nearby if it is within a foot or so (give or take) of your coil. And depending on the frequencies that your detector is able to transmit will determine what kind of metals you can discriminate against.