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Somebody Out There's Going To Be Happy Today :-)


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Companies do not survive selling dozens of detectors, and people willing to pay extreme premiums for marginal performance gains are a tiny market. The price does matter, and can’t be explained away by pointing at the rarest of oddball detectors. But if you guys are happy to line up for a $3000 Impulse, I’m sure FT will be happy to accommodate you.

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I lost interest in the Limited as the design flaws became apparent. The low life battery and poor wiring were a turn off. I also don't like having the control pod on top of the handle. With no screen to look at, I'd prefer all the electronics to be contained in a single box under my elbow.

I have my doubts about whether the non-ferrous ID feature will go any deeper than a VLF in actual saltwater sand conditions. If that's the case, I would only be buying it for the all metal depth. I wouldn't mind having a super deep all metal machine but not this one for $2000.

 

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I believe fisher was going to do it in a box..... we saw pictures of the proto type, but opted to go to an option which could be used i believe when they do the digital.  Thus a delay of the limited.  Those boxes do tend to float a bit out there in the water very deep too.   Even the CTX does.... which had a pretty hefty price tag.  Fisher has a tendency to do an MSRP higher than we pay..... so im still guessing its going to sell at $2200 with an MSRP of $2900.  I do find it difficult to buy a NEW machine for a little depth which in a lot of cases that same depth could be made up with a coil option.

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On 4/3/2021 at 12:14 PM, Steve Herschbach said:

I’m a little surprised anyone still wants an Limited, when a vastly improved version is said to be right around the corner. Everyone must be taking the threat of a big price jump seriously. Frankly, I’m not. They can try and charge a ton of money for the final version, but that does not mean people will pay it. Right now the average price paid for a beach detector must be awful close to $900. The Ltd is $1500. Would I pay $1999 for one that is done up properly? Sure. $2500? Not so sure, it’s still just a PI, maybe a powerful one, but a PI, and it’s not twice as deep as a $1200 Beachhunter TDI. And that non-transferable warranty does not help. $2999? Good luck, no way.

So might a new final Impulse AQ Unlimited cost $500 bucks more? Sure, and I’d gladly pay that to get it right. But if Fisher goes for more than that then it seems to me it will be going against creating an affordable option, which was one of the early promises, with plenty of snark aimed at certain companies that charge through the nose for their detectors. That being the case, I just do not see it being worth it to get a Ltd at this late stage of the game. But that’s just me obviously, and there will always be a few who want to save that buck.

Hi Steve, I look at it differently than you. I do not think the five possible changes I am aware of is a vast improvement warranting an additional $500. The single most improvement is the battery life. We all know there is an aftermarket battery for under $200 with nearly twice the run time of the new battery set up. The other changes are window dressings and can be done at home. If and I say if the new version comes with a transferable warranty then that might tip the scales. So for me, an aftermarket battery and a cam lock swap for $1700 is the way to go and I did say for me. Wish everyone lots of luck, good weather and virus free spins.

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I applaud Dan for making his choice.  If I would have done the same thing back in November I would have saved myself some grief and $$.

When I got my AQ I went straight out to the beach the same day I got it.  I used all the presets and just went out and found junk on my local beaches in wet sand.  Two days later my wife gave birth and I had to wait a couple of weeks before I could use it again.  I got similar results on my damp sand beaches.  I tried some different settings and tried to get used to the wired headphones getting in the way of my digging targets.  A couple of days later I went out again and noticed that I could not hear a threshold.  I never had one.  On my 4th try I took 5 rings to the beach that had moderate black sand but had not been a problem for my EQ800 and I did some testing.  I was very surprised at the results which were poor in my estimation.  I have pictures of each of these trips and of the tests I did.  I still didn't get a threshold.

I did find one Ruth Bader Ginsberg gold plated charm that was only about 2 inches below the surface.  I could have bought it for less than the $300 loss cost me.

It was time to call Rick who had me call Fisher.  A couple of days later after some phone tag I was told to send the unit back to El Paso.  At the end of the week I got it off and I was told that Christmas and New Year were coming and there were too many in front of me to expect anything before January.  Like I said I have other detectors so I wasn't in a hurry but I was also reading and Steve puts his up for sale.  I'm reading more and other people have problems with their pots and things and I've become a 'don't wanter' now.  I'm not going to be a water hunter any time soon and I'm thinking when this gets fixed why not just move this detector on to someone else.  Maybe they could offer the warrant to another user.

So I make a tentative deal with Rick and we wait.  We wait and hear nothing.  He's talking with them and hears nothing and its now over 2 months.  I'm not calling or saying much other than to a couple of guys here on the forum and I wait.  I hear more problems.  Then to my surprise one day in early March I have a package.  It is the detector.  We don't know why it was sent to me as it was to be sent to Rick.  I didn't get any calls and I have no idea what has been done.  Rick tells me to look at the packing slip.  The only thing is says is 'Replaced PCB Board.'  Well, as far as I know there is only one board on this detector so they replaced the board.  It said it was tested.

I DON'T WANT IT.  What else could go wrong?  I have no way to talk to Fisher.  They explained nothing to me and as far as I know Rick.  I also don't want to publicize my misgivings about a prototype and detail my test results.  I didn't advertise it for sale but I sold it.

I didn't even try it when I got it back.  I hope the user finds it more usable than I did.  

We still have a Fisher Gold Bug Pro.  As far as I know Steve still has it on one of his recommended lists.  As far as this detector goes I'd now have to concur again with Steve.  It needs to be better than it is for me to keep it.

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Supposedly the only part of the AQ that was 100% vetted and complete was the circuit. It’s was said no changes were forthcoming. Yet we already know they changed the pulse delay, so the longest setting is longer than that marked on the controls. These circuit board failures do not point to a completely tested and vetted circuit board, but one undergoing continuing revisions. FT is famous for putting machines into production, and then applying numerous “revisions” for up to years afterward. This machine can’t be updated over the internet, and as an analog machine, any updates and revisions would need to be done at the factory. There is a tendency to downplay or even conceal revisions as they occur, as they hate to get flooded with requests from people seeking updates. See T2 and F75 update and revision history for reference; in some cases, there was a charge to return and update.

This all reeks of the same thing and then some. There has also been a real reluctance for people to rain on Ricks and FTs parade, and I sense people have not been as forthcoming about issues as I might have expected. FT has certainly not been nearly as transparent as Rick was promising. No coordinated collection and reporting of issues, no polling of all owners for suggestions, and lots of stuff is obviously going on with nothing being said. This was supposed to be a managed, interactive effort, but rapidly devolved into secrecy amongst a chosen few. And now sounds like Rick is washing his hands of the situation, and is fully out of the loop. It’s enough now to make me back gingerly away from all this, but I do wish FT, and the faithful, luck in getting this machine finished and to market some day.

fisher-impulse-aq-discriminating-pulse-induction-jewelry-metal-detector.jpg

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(I'm not here to advertise other's guys work, but to share my personal experience being a potential buyer for the AQ and as detector.mod big fan).

I was so happy when here I found the way to write straight to Rick and to have finally a human contact with FT.Not to mention the engineer and creator of the AQ project writing between Us!

At that time FT was like offline and the only link to the factory was a decade old website...

Just the time to write to Rick and the first bad news was there for me...No machines outside the USA borders...

After that, I've seen dozens of Joe Beechnut's posts with amazing mods and dreaming to have even a slightly similar setup on my machine...

Months later, a barely appearing doubt regarding the real value of the shell and the juice inside too...

I mean: is it possible that a supposed beach and water detector still is to the point to be water fragile and without a simple TDI like pcd box?

Is it possible that to obtain one reasonably, effective and well priced machine I still need to wait for......? For what? For how much more time?

Can I find a place for it, between my TDI Beachunter and my brand new Excalibur2 (cause I bought it again bored to use a CTX in a "non CTX friendly environment")?...

I'm a diver and maybe I'm asking too much, but the evidence here is clear.

I'd never buy a 2.500USD machine from Texas, to be fooled in Italy without a way to have further assistance for it.

There's still no trace of a sales manager to have an idea of what will be the further evolution of the limited.

Alexandre is been like neglected by FT and cause of this poor details care, his platform is already to be done again, entirely.Maybe his project would have been better in other hands.

I can only say thanks to Steve for keeping me and others constantly updated and to Rick for the prompt answer, even if negative....

Deeply sorry for Mr. Tartar too.

 

 

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Maybe FT will scrap the entire project and sell/give the patents to another company more willing to put in the effort.

The detector needs to be completely redesigned from the ground up.  I'd love to be on that team.

 

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On 4/4/2021 at 10:10 PM, mn90403 said:

I also don't want to publicize my misgivings about a prototype and detail my test results.

My last post on the subject of the Ltd, I swear, as I do not want to be a negative nellie. :smile: The Impulse AQ Ltd was not supposed to be a prototype, though it should be obvious to everyone now that’s exactly what it is. At the same time, people were supposed to be reporting tests and misgivings, so the machine could be improved on. People might want to review the original statements. From the AQ Launch Thread:

“Fisher is offering the Impulse AQ to a select group of experienced early adopters who want to experience design and technological innovation in real-time, as it unfolds. The Impulse®-AQ Limited is not a prototype or pre-production metal detector”

I’ve actually used prototypes that were more finished than this, so that statement really is kind of a joke. And again, I went into this with open eyes, so I am not complaining. Mitchel obviously thought it was a prototype, in spite of what was said. Like I say, we all should have been in this with open eyes, and I was. But I also think this was said to be nearer to completion than has actually proven to be the case. And very hard to experience design and innovation in real time, when the company involved has clammed up, and is saying almost nothing about said design innovation as it occurs. We only find out via leaks now about things like 8" coil availability.

But again, my wish is for FT to be successful in all this, and that some lessons were learned by all involved. Hopefully some people will stay involved, and post now and then.

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The silence and secrecy over this machine is starting to make me lose faith in the company. So many questions just go unanswered leaving everyone to speculate.

Some might need reminding that this isn't Fisher. Fisher went out of business a long time ago. This is First Texas Products, a completely different enterprise trying to cash in on the Fisher name and doing a very poor job of it. Okay, we'll give them a break due to COVID but a little honesty and public relations skills can go a long way in maintaining a good reputation.

 

 

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