Fisher Impulse AQ Discrimination Explanation

[Joe Beechnut OBN]

41 minutes ago, Roughwater said:

Things have been weird lately.  After a long time away from Metal Detecting I suddenly get real interested in collecting coins and have been buying some. So I think again about detecting as maybe I could find a few good ones this way.  Of course I gotta go to Prospecter/Detector to see what the latest greatest is.  Unfortunately I can't get on the website?  I'm thinking what happened? I try for a few days in a row to get on and I'm starting to wonder if somehow I had been banned or something from the website.  I did see something on Face book about Steve going to Alaska for a while but I never heard of him shutting the site down while he was away before.  I was so relieved when I got a message today about the site being down and now back up.  First thing I come across at the website is about the new Fisher Impulse AQ.  I start reading about it and watching a couple youtube videos and think this looks great!  I see there is a lot of discussion here about it over a year ago so I'm thinking this thing must be for sale by now.  I check and see none at Gerrys website and none for sale on ebay so I came back here and start reading up on this thread through all 14 pages where it kinda dies on May 14 2020. But then again that's about the time Covid started hitting hard so I suppose that could explain the delay?  

Lets say it is still evolving. I believe the Limited is available thru Fisher now but I would advise waiting for the final version.  

When? I have no clue.

 

[Badger-NH]

On 8/10/2021 at 10:13 PM, Roughwater said:

After a long time away from Metal Detecting I suddenly get real interested in collecting coins and have been buying some. So I think again about detecting as maybe I could find a few good ones this way.  

I think most would agree that the AQ would not be the best choice for coin hunting.  You'd be much better off going with a Minelab Equinox.

Even if you were set on buying the AQ, it may be years before it is released if ever. They made 100 prototypes over a year ago which are still being offered. Apparently they have not yet decided whether to put a final version into full production or scrap the project. Hence the silence.

 

 

[Roughwater]

On 8/10/2021 at 11:07 PM, Joe Beechnut OBN said:

Lets say it is still evolving. I believe the Limited is available thru Fisher now but I would advise waiting for the final version.  

When? I have no clue.

 

Joe, I appreciate the info.  I imagine this detector wouldn't be the most ideal coin detector.  I've been completely away from detecting for a while.  I didn't think I missed it that much but when I heard this detector in operation it took me back.  It has the sound of a GPX and I've owned a couple in the past. Strangely I miss that sound!  

This detector even if not perfect seems to have some redeeming qualities.  It doesn't cost 5 or 7000 dollars like some of the minelabs.  It doesn't even cost as much as a 3030.  Someone using one on youtube could see a nickel at 19" in beach sand.  I don't see a lot of other machines that could make that claim at twice the price point.  It does have some ability to discriminate but hasn't proven it's self and almost for sure doesn't discriminate as well as a top end coin machine.  But for the money not bad and seems to be a step beyond the Whites TDI.  But if Fisher won't fully field it then I would have to think there are other issues with it that haven't been revealed which could even be things beyond function like patents etc.  But of course only the top dogs at Fisher know for sure. 

[NENAD]

👎

[NENAD]

👇

 

[Steve Herschbach]

On 8/13/2021 at 2:17 PM, Roughwater said:

Joe, I appreciate the info.  I imagine this detector wouldn't be the most ideal coin detector.  I've been completely away from detecting for a while.  I didn't think I missed it that much but when I heard this detector in operation it took me back.  It has the sound of a GPX and I've owned a couple in the past. Strangely I miss that sound!  

This detector even if not perfect seems to have some redeeming qualities.  It doesn't cost 5 or 7000 dollars like some of the minelabs.  It doesn't even cost as much as a 3030.  Someone using one on youtube could see a nickel at 19" in beach sand.  I don't see a lot of other machines that could make that claim at twice the price point.  It does have some ability to discriminate but hasn't proven it's self and almost for sure doesn't discriminate as well as a top end coin machine.  But for the money not bad and seems to be a step beyond the Whites TDI.  But if Fisher won't fully field it then I would have to think there are other issues with it that haven't been revealed which could even be things beyond function like patents etc.  But of course only the top dogs at Fisher know for sure. 

Actually there is no mystery about the AQ, with tons of information and reports on this website, including this thread on how the discrimination works, which is not really much different than a properly tuned TDI, but with more depth. The Limited version was due to an unfinished physical design more than anything else. But for depth you can get a used GPX that will do as well or better for coin and relic detecting. With all the limitations as far as digging trash as one should expect using a PI.

I always thought the discrimination aspects of this detector were oversold, which is why I wrote this thread, to bring people back to earth. Nothing in my use of the machine makes me think I was wrong in any way. The original power user of the prototypes used all metal and the typical PI audio tells for max performance, which should tell you all you need to know. The machine is not tuned for silver, but gold, and a GPX will outperform it on silver.

Fisher has the makings of a great beach PI in the AQ, if they can fix the bugs that caused failures, and complaints in places like Hawaii, and get the physical package right. Even then all we will have is a great beach PI, and I still question that the market there is anything but a niche market in a niche market. The AQ has you digging tons of trash, just like any PI, and so it will not put a dent in the VLF market. The gold prospecting version was always going to be the big winner for Fisher, if they can get it done, than the AQ was ever going to be. With all the things Fisher has needed to do, the emphasis on this niche PI beach detector has puzzled me, and it may be the folks at First Texas have come to that realization also.

[Roughwater]

Appreciate the reality check Steve.  I owned a TDI years ago.  I liked it but I felt the discrimination was pretty poor compared to a VLF detector.  Doing some basic testing with it, I initially thought it would discriminate pretty well but real world use proved me wrong.  

I happened to break out my Eureka gold today that I hadn't used in several years. No gold around here but I was looking for my property line stake.  This will sound like a crazy story because it is. This past Sunday morning at 3 AM someone knocked on my door. I woke without my glasses and had no idea what time it was and answered the door.  A 30ish man was at the door and asked if he could please come in, that he was shot and to call 911.  I did, and long story short got him help and the Sheriff and squad out to our place. He had two bullet wounds so I thought he was shot twice but apparently one wound was the entrance and the other the exit.  The sheriffs went next door and found another man wounded even more severely and life flighted him to Duke hospital in Durham NC.  Well, the property line stake I was looking for with the Eureka was along the property line where the shooting happened and I happened to see a spent 9mm casing on the ground while looking for the stake so I gave it to the Sheriff today and they ended up borrowing my Eureka for a few minutes to look for whatever. I probably should have offered to operate it as it's a bit touchy with that AA battery pack.  The man who shot the two men was staying next door with his mother and is a convicted Felon and I learned today from the Sheriff the mother is a convicted felon too! This used to be such a quiet place to live.

As to detectors, I'll probably sell the Eureka, skip the AQ and pick me up a Equinox 800 to look for coins and who knows, maybe spent shell casings too?  In the meantime I'm keeping my 10mm Glock close and will be more reluctant to answer the door at 3 AM.  However doing so might have saved at least one person's life so I have no regrets.  Sadly, there were several people next door where the shooting took place and no one called 911? Not even the shooters mother. I imagine they were too busy trying to hide evidence so it's very fortunate that one man escaped.   

[Roughwater]

I don't see an Edit button so for accuracy's sake, I should mention the shooting happened Saturday morning, not Sunday. 

[schoolofhardNox]

7 hours ago, Roughwater said:

I don't see an Edit button so for accuracy's sake, I should mention the shooting happened Saturday morning, not Sunday. 

The edit button is on the top right hand side of your post. Just click on the three little squares and the edit function along with other options appears.

[Roughwater]

8 hours ago, schoolofhardNox said:

The edit button is on the top right hand side of your post. Just click on the three little squares and the edit function along with other options appears.

 Schoolof hardNox, I've been to that school quite often.  I see the three little dots, thanks for the tip!