Minelab Excalibur 1000

Great Beach Detector

Wayne in Florida -
I live close to the beach in Florida (East Coast) and have been detecting on and off for 10 years.I have owned several Garretts and since I only do beach hunting I was dissapointed with the Garretts false signals in the wet sand or shallow wading.I took the $$ plunge and invested in the Minelab Excalibur 1000 and WOW what a difference!!I have found SO many rings,coins and other jewelry with the Excalibur that I could never have found with the Garrett Detectors.The Excalibur made me feel like,, what was I doing with those other "toy" detectors.I highly recommend the balanced shaft to displace the weight of the Excalibur.I'm NOT saying that Garrett or other brand of detectors are junk but if you are a serious beach hunter you cant go wrong with the Excalibur.

Aug 11, 2005

77 Yes
5 No

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Excalibur 800/1000

Steven Goodman in Virginia -
Probably the best surf detector available. The 800 has an 8 inch coil and the 1000 has a 10 inch coil and reads 20% deeper. No matter what- "Go with the 10 inch coil!" The coils are hard wired and the units are not designed for interchanging coils unless you send it to Minelab.

The standard shaft supplied with this unit is poorly designed by mounting the head unit below the grip and above the shaft. It is recommended that you get the upgraded "Balanced Shaft" with the "Lightweight Aluminum Guard" that protects the knobs. This mounts the head unit under your forearm making it much lighter and easier to swing. The extra cost is about $130. I would seriously recommend this shaft and getting a "hip mount kit" to anyone who plans on using this in the surf or lakes.

Those who complain about the weight of this unit are probably using the factory shaft. Your gripes are understandable but if weight is an issue for you, consider that a 6 x 12 sand scoop full of wet sand almost weighs 20 lbs and the waves usually break right where the good finds are. Surf hunters must be able to take a beating from the waves, at times, and develop the ability to pinpoint and scoop their target blindfolded while standing in one spot of turbulent water.

Sound like fun doesn't it? It is!

Aug 04, 2005

36 Yes
3 No

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At First I Hated It! Now I love It!

Minelab Owner in Michigan, USA -
The Minelab Excalibur 1000 is not for everyone. This machine is for the serious treasure seeker only.

When I first got my machine about 3 months ago, I was amazed at how easy it seemed to work. Then as the ground thawed and I started to hunt I soon became dissatisfied. It seemed to have poor depth and very unstable. The tone would bounce all over the place and I dug as many as 10 holes to 1 real target. I got to the place where I wanted my money back! I thought it was a piece of junk!

A friend who also owned the Excalibur convinced me to calm down and begin to learn the machine. I took his advice and made a "coin garden" and began studying how the detector responded to different targets. I then went into the field with the attitude to learn and not gripe.

Today after about 60 hours of practice I love the Minelab Excalibur 1000! It's a great land hunting machine, the best I've ever owned. And I've owned the best of other brands.

The secret to using any Minelab detector is to learn the machine. It does give a distinct tone for coins, jewelry, and artifacts. In fact, for the price, it's probably the best Civil War relic machine in the world. It's also a killer in high trash areas.


Now I just need to see how well it does at the beach.

Thank you Minelab!

May 24, 2005

28 Yes
2 No

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Excalibur 800 & 1000

Darrell P. in Honolulu, HI -
I bought my fist Excalibur 800 in 1996. I liked it so much that I got the 1000 a couple of years later. In 2001 I got my third Excalibur again the 800. The 1000 I found to heavy even in the water. The 800 is much easier to mover through the water with and much easier on the arm out of the water. I thought the 1000 would go deeper but that was not my experience. Service with Minelab has actually gotten cheaper (Out of warranty service.) My wife was using the Whites PI but now has adopted my first 800. The 1000 is back up if I have to send a unit in for service.

I prefer to search in the all metal mode and use the discriminate to use the Iron-Mask feature. My discriminate level is 0 otherwise. I prefer to dig everything. I've found that if you don't register nickels then you can't find platinum and that a diamond ring is seen as a pull tab.

I usually use auto sensitivity or lower it if I get a lot of interference. I prefer to tune my unit by first selecting discriminate and have a very slite sound and then turn it to all metal. The discriminate setting under good conditions has a very smooth threshold but if close to a radio station or if the Navy decides to play with their electronics it can get so erratic that all metal is your only choice. Even under these conditions you can use discriminate to check if the target is iron.

I've had a lot of detectors but I prefer the 800 over the rest.

Apr 14, 2005

37 Yes
0 No

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Excalibur 1000

Gary Bear in Southern Cal. -
I have owned mine for aabout 6 months now. Took some getting used to as I had a viewer on my previous machine. It takes some getting use to. The threshold does bounce between quiet and loud but I that is just the machine resetting the automatic threshold.

At first I thought I was not using it right. No major finds when others were finding stuff. I started checking their finds (while in ground) and sure enough, I heard each of them. Conclusion, if I move over it, I will hear it.

Only complaint, the knobs loosen.

Feb 15, 2005

10 Yes
0 No

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Excalibur 1000

lee ivester in Mooresville, NC, USA -
I have problems with this detector maintaining a constant threshold tone. It continually changes from high background tone to low and in between. Although it hunts well on the beach it was a disappointment when hunting relics in nothern VA. Could not detect a Minie ball only a couple of inches in the ground. I returned the machine to Minelab and although they said they found nothing wrong with it they replaced the circuit board just to make me feel better about it (they are very nice people to deal with). I'm still not comfortable with it for relic hunting and will probably reserve it for the beach, relying on my Nautilus DMCII and Fisher 1266 for Civil War relic hunting. Would appreciate hearing from others on this machine.

Jan 10, 2005

12 Yes
2 No

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minelab rocks!

johnny t in lincroft nj usa -
Everyone has there own "OPINION" and thats ok but from my "REAL LIFE" experience the excalibur 800 is the best beach detector that i have used. AND remember before you can give an opinion on any detector you have to use it,some people talk bad about different brands without even using them and thats wrong.I love my excal 800 and proud of it. I also use a DFX and an ace 250 wich cant be beat for the price.

Jan 01, 2005

11 Yes
3 No

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Minelab Excallibur 1000

Dave in At the BEACH ...silly. -

I have owned this detector for 5 months now.

Took a little getting used to since my first had visual ID.

Used objects from previous finds to "fine tune" my ear before getting wet.

I hunt mostly in the salt water with this unit. So far have had NO problems. I've been wiped out by more than my share of waves and the Excalibur just keeps on finding the good stuff.

Has good depth, finds at 10 - 12 inches, and if you invest the time to learn the detector before rushing out expecting to find the big one, you'll be impressed.

Discrimination is great. Leaves the bobby pins(I can still hear them however)but finds the chains with a nice tone.

If your looking to the water, this is the unit. Spend some time ear training, knob adjusting to ID targets etc.

Treat it with a little TLC at the end of the day and it will reward you time and again.

Dec 16, 2004

21 Yes
0 No

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Minelab Excalibur 1000

Mary in USA -
I bought my Minelab Excalibur 1000 approx. 2 years ago. Took it to Hawaii and after endless searches on the beach and in the water, I finally gave up. Every one around me was finding jewelry, and this unit just did not. I sent it to Minelab and they replaced the motherboard and some other things. and .....it still does not work. I am ready to get rid of the unit.

I will take it to Hawaii again, and if it does not perform in 1-2 days, I will look for a local metaldetecting store and buy something else. Not sure yet what it will be, but not a Minelab. It has been a totally frustrating experience. I had lots of static in the unit while in Hawaii, Oahu. The local dealer who I met on the beach told me that this happens frequently with the Minelab.

If you are looking forward to spend a nice vacation in Hawaii metal detecting on the beaches, it is very disappointing that the unit is just not performing what the ads tell you.

Oct 27, 2004

14 Yes
7 No

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Minelab Excalibur 1000

Don in USA -
I've had my EXC 800 for about 2 weeks now and I love it. I have owned several other brands. I've had the Surfmaster PI which worked very well but has no discrimination. You will dig a lot of small DEEP iron targets. I also have a CZ-70 which I love as well. But it won't go diving.

Something that most of you folks appear to be overlooking is that the Excalibur is designed as an underwater unit. I get the feeling you bought it as a beach unit. Yes, it's heavy. Try using a waterproof unit underwater and you will complain about it. Why? because it will float. The Surfmaster floated and was a pain to use underwater. The Minelab doesn't float. That's the way it should be. Yes, there is a problem with the wiring when you hipmount. However, I've seen the Fisher CZ-5 wiring break several times on the same unit after hipmounting. This problem isn't isolated to Minelab. The discrimination works very well. You don't need the pinpoint function. It pinpoints just fine in discriminate mode. I guess if you are digging ferrous material maybe the pinpoint mode would be helpful. The depth is fine by me. I've dug targets 12-14 inches deep. Battery life is good. I thinks folks are being critical here. I haven't run the batteries dead yet. Here's why. I charge it up each time I'm finished with it. Average time is around 10-15 hours. Come on folks, I doubt that there are many of you are out there swinging a detector for 10 to 15 hours non-stop. Price?? A little high but what isn't besides a Bounty hunter. You get what you pay for.
I would rate this Excalibur as a top of the line unit. That's just my opinion.

Aug 04, 2004

25 Yes
2 No

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