Best settings for Excal 1000 in fresh water

Hello,
 Picked up the older blue headphone Excal 1000. It is my first BBS machine. Where would you start with settings while using it in freshwater? I have seen and read a lot of stuff on using it in all metal, and others say to leave it n disc mode. Where would you suggest to  set the knobs for starters? Much appreciation in advance!

Best Regards,
Steve

Just my opinion, when I hunt fresh water I set mine as follows.

Sense is set to Auto (No salt minerals to worry about)
Disc is set at 1, lowest setting possible. (Disc out pull tabs you disc out some gold)
Volume is set to highest setting.
Thresh is set where is sounds like faint buzz, like a mosquito in my ear.
I hunt in both all metal and in disc mode. When I hunt in all metal (pinpoint mode) I switch to disc when I find a target, if it nulls I ignore it and move on, if I have a good signal I continue digging, if I have no signal I dig till I have a signal, if it nulls I move on, if not I continue digging..

I switched to larger scalloped knobs, this makes changing the settings easy.

Good luck hunting....

Treasure Hunters settings are what I use too.  My difference is I rarely hunt in All Metal (pinpoint) mode as it wastes time switching back and forth between Disc and all metal.  Sometimes I use auto and most times I set it around 11 o'clock but this depends on the beach where it is stable.

Since the Excal and Sov ignore small iron like bobby pins you don't need to disc out anything else as some of the white gold rings fall into the foil range with that low growl sound.  It is best to use the settings Treasure Hunter gave and wave the coil over various rings and stuff to see how it responds.  Don't forget to use a nail pushed inside a gold ring.

Take Care and have fun,
Sandman

what works for me is.vol as high as you like it,disc on but set to 0....sens as high as your area will allow without falsing.dig everything that doesnt null!

The reason I started using pinpoint to hunt sometimes is I found some targets did not register at all in disc mode, but did show up in pinpoint as a faint signal. It appears the Excal goes deeper in pinpoint (all metal) mode. Just my guess to why it appears that way, but heck, I'm a newbie compared to most and I could be off base by a mile.

I mainly hunt in all metal when targets are few and far between because the beach is sanded in and I'm trying to get that extra inch or two to reach the deeper targets,

I disagree with the recommendations for AUTO, it is a lousy mode and would not recommend you use it AT ALL. I believe I went about 25 straight gold-less hunts while experimenting with AUTO, when I switched back the gold came back? I primarily hunt the gulf coast of Texas(we are LOADED with black sand), but hunt fresh some too. Set to Disc, Volume about 3/4-wide open, Threshold at audible to just above audible. Sensitivity at a starting point of about noon(arrow pointing toward the coil), but you will more than likely need to back off counter clockwise to about 1-2 o'clock. What you want to achieve is an unwavering threshold. Discrimination NEVER leaves 1. The others may disagree, but that is my take and you can take it to the bank.

GH is 100% Correct. No Auto, You will miss targets , The only time I use Auto is in Very difficult grounds..which is rare. GH's setting have worked for me when I hunt in Discriminate on beachs from florida to Conn.......once you have learned your machine , go for AM/PP {reverse Hunting} 75% of the time it is deeper in most areas...Some say it is a waste of time switching between PP & disc..my solution is to turn your pod around , and tether your Headphone cord to reduce fatige on the cord. Then switching between modes is just a matter of letting go of the handle, reaching a few inchs back to the PP/disc knob and switching..less then a second.  Check out my video's on youtube, they will help I hope...................http://www.youtube.com/user/OldeBeechnut...............Good luck....Joe

I disagree with the recommendations for AUTO, it is a lousy mode and would not recommend you use it AT ALL. I believe I went about 25 straight gold-less hunts while experimenting with AUTO, when I switched back the gold came back? I primarily hunt the gulf coast of Texas(we are LOADED with black sand), but hunt fresh some too. Set to Disc, Volume about 3/4-wide open, Threshold at audible to just above audible. Sensitivity at a starting point of about noon(arrow pointing toward the coil), but you will more than likely need to back off counter clockwise to about 1-2 o'clock. What you want to achieve is an unwavering threshold. Discrimination NEVER leaves 1. The others may disagree, but that is my take and you can take it to the bank.

The trick is to set it where it is the most stable, too many people worry about losing depth by adjusting it down. I set mine where it is the stablest, Any where from auto to 3 pm, when it becomes very stable, I back it off just and a hair (make it hotter) and hunt from there....I hunt salt water 99 percent of the time and my settings 99 % of the time are between 11-3 on the sense settings, depending on the black sand found in that area that day.

Good luck and good hunting.

Hello folks,
 Thanks for all the great replies! It has helped tremendously. I like all your perspectives. OBN your videos are one of the greatest learning aids I have found for the Excal. Thanks!


Best regards,
Steve