Steve Herschbach

What’s a MLF? No dirty jokes please. As far as PI detectors go it’s mostly a choice between models that do not ground balance, and those that do. On the West coast in particular ground balancing models like the Garrett ATX or White’s TDI Beachhunter are fine for coin size targets. The Minelab SDC 2300 costs a lot more and may actually be TOO sensitive to tiny stuff for what you are doing. For PI models that do not ground balance I would now avoid the Tesoro Sand Shark so that really only leaves the Garrett Sea Hunter Mk II or White’s Surf PI. I like the White’s of those two personally but the Garrett is worth consideration due to its ability to change coils. That could be good for river use, where the White's coil could prove too large.

No, pinpointers are not sensitive enough to detect your hand. Neither are most detectors running under 13 kHz. Nearly all multifrequency models are also not troubled in that manner.

Welcome to the forum! What are you trying to detect? You already have the VLF side covered in my opinion.

Actually there is a huge amount of brand loyalty in detector land. You just have not been on the forums long enough and missed the “detector wars”. Brand name loyalty is so common amongst detectorists it was tearing the community apart. Thus you have forums like this where such behavior is not allowed and gets you banned. Just because you are not seeing it does not mean it does not exist.

It’s more like driving a car me. They are all different but I can rent anything and drive off the lot without crashing. The fact many people own multiple brands with no issue pretty much proves the point. Sticking with one brand is in my opinion counterproductive to being a successful detectorist. Any brand can come out with a new machine that’s better than what’s out there. People who limit themselves to one brand automatically limit their options. I can’t imagine limiting myself to one brand. As a marketer I always chuckled at brand loyalty. As if the brands are loyal back. They just want to be your “friend” while slipping your wallet out of your pocket!

“Scientists say they have discovered a "stunning" trove of thousands of fossils on a river bank in China. The fossils are estimated to be about 518 million years old, and are particularly unusual because the soft body tissue of many creatures, including their skin, eyes, and internal organs, have been "exquisitely" well preserved. Palaeontologists have called the findings "mind-blowing" - especially because more than half the fossils are previously undiscovered species. The fossils, known as the Qingjiang biota, were collected near Danshui river in Hubei province. More than 20,000 specimens were collected, and a total of 4,351 have been analysed so far, including worms, jellyfish, sea anemones and algae. They will become a "very important source in the study of the early origins of creatures", one of the fieldwork leaders, Prof Xingliang Zhang from China's Northwest University, told the BBC. Details of the findings were published in the journal Science on Friday.” For details and photos see the full article at BBC

The WM12 is easy to disassemble - four TT10 Torx screws. Click for larger views... From http://parts.minelab.com/category-s/146.htm

It takes on average around 3 - 5 years to get genuinely new platforms to market. Not counting rehashing the same old thing or making most VLF detectors which is just sticking old tech in new boxes. This has been on the radar since 2015 so the time frame is not unusual. It’s just been visible and like a watched teapot that makes it seem forever. But I agree First Texas has been stuck too long on single frequency VLF. Why no digital CZ in the last ten years will always be a mystery to me. Nothing new, just convert the analog version into something more compact with a modern target id system. Same performance would have been just fine. Just update for the 21st century.

There is a thumbs up button under posts to thank people. They then get forum credits for good answers when you do that and it keeps the thread clear for more answers.

My Racer 2 was great. Sorry to hear about yours. Unfortunately wanting great depth on very thin and tiny stuff is not the same as being able to get it. You could try a Minelab Gold Monster 1000 or White’s Goldmaster 24K. If money is no object the Minelab SDC 2300 is the machine of choice for many people wanting maximum performance on small gold. Gold Nugget Detector Guide

Yes, eventually we will figure it out on our own since no answers are forthcoming. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. Just lay out your $2000 plus and cross your fingers. It may be that I am trying to hard to think of what this machine can do “outside the box”. It may quite literally have a single tightly focused use and that’s it. To quote Rick Kempf “single minded pursuit of one thing - gold jewelry in salt beach environments”. The repeated emphasis on salt makes me think Tahoe is going to be a real gamble. Anyway, still loving it, moving in the right direction. I guess just watch and wait now.

The main question I have is... does it work with the provided Minelab headphones? If so the plug works as designed. It is pretty tight on the tolerances and some aftermarket plugs can’t seem to get seated quite right. They can’t push down far enough to seat properly, like a hair too much plastic. I have to push the Minelabs in quite firmly to get them to seat. I actually never use the Minelab wired phones. Why would you not go wireless? The only time I plug phones in is if the head is submerged, in which case I use the Minelab waterproof adapter cable and Sun Ray Pro Gold CTX version headphones. Like Trailryder42 mentions above shaving a hair amount of plastic off where it envelopes the metal may make all the difference.

I have no idea. I use Duracell rechargeable NiMH batteries.

I am sure somebody does. They are great pinpointer but reliability has always been mediocre. To drop in your package would have to be exactly the same size as a 9V battery. Both Fisher and Whites have pinpointers that use AA batteries for those that want to get away from 9V. I imagine the vast majority of people just don’t care.

I hear you. I hate the bloody things. I went 9V rechargeable but mainly have tried to get rid of anything using a 9V. I think the only thing I have left that uses one is my Garrett Pro-Pointer AT. Which may be why I grab my F-Pulse now. None of my detectors use a 9V now.

Mine first run F-Pulse has worked properly since day one. Still have it and still use it. Others were not so lucky. From what I hear they have sorted it out in the latest versions.

Welcome to the forum! I highly recommend getting a pinpointer. It makes finding stuff way easier and helps protect the hobby by reducing turf damage. There are many options but the Garrett is probably still the most popular.

Another interesting question will be in clean white Florida sand. A pulse excels over a VLF mostly as regards the intensity of the mineralization. There are plenty of people who have this much money wrapped up in a CTX 3030 with 17” coil, and I suspect in Florida a CTX 17” with unquestionably great discrimination will give this machine a run for the money. The real market for this is the west coast, volcanic islands, or anywhere else mineralization is an issue. In my gee I barely know anything really about this machine opinion!!

You won’t find a patent covering the Equinox processing methodology either that I am aware of. What’s novel for me is the package. All I ever wanted was a subset of the GPX 5000 packaged up like this or an ATX packaged similarly. I am not looking for power that does not already exist, just that power in something more ergonomic. No matter what this will be a pleasure to swing. I much prefer the ATX control panel however over all these knobs. Some will love the knobs I am sure so that’s just me. However, from a practical standpoint it would have made for a less expensive, easier to clean, and more durable design. I think they have a better shot at getting a high price for this machine than the prospecting version. Right now the GPX 4500 puts a solid challenge out there at $2699. I have to believe that if challenged Minelab could bring that down. They recouped all the engineering etc on the GPX ages ago so it is purely a manufacturing cost issue at this point.

It's a neat concept for tracing larger areas looking for patterns but I don't see the utility really for finding normal coins, jewelry, and other smaller items. It is more efficient I think to get a beep and dig it up, and move on. It looks like this would lead to more "paralysis by analysis" than anything else. Looks great for serious treasure hunting types and archeologists though. Thanks for posting Shelton.

The Fisher Impulse AQ is clearly aimed at beach hunters. Specifically saltwater beach detectorists. It is a PI and as such is being billed as able to handle thick black sands. Pictures have been posted showing just that - saltwater beaches with heavy magnetic black sand content. Yet at the same time we are being warned this detector has a ground balance with limited range, and that it can't handle extreme ground and hot rocks i.e. gold prospecting. 2020 Edit: The Impulse AQ has been revealed - see details here So what's the deal? Can it handle intense mineralization or not? I also wonder about the discrimination. The machine is clearly based on the Eric Poster/TDI in some regards but is also being billed as multi-channel, which TDI is not. I suspect just as with TDI that the discrimination is tied directly to the ground balance, and that in order to be effective as far as discrimination the ground balance is very limited. It has been mentioned that the all metal mode might be better for prospectors, which makes sense given what I am speculating. The discrimination is said to be "gold only" with high coin signals eliminated. That makes sense again as coin and nail signals are in the same GB range with the TDI. If they are going dual channel it may be employing two ground balance points as the limits on the discrimination range, something I suggested ages ago. It should be obvious that the TDI can use ground balance to establish one range limit - a second channel defining another limit seemed a no brainer to me. I always wanted to get an SD2100 to experiment with the concept since it allows the two ground balance channels to be set manually. Never got around to it though. Any PI can deal with relatively homogenous ground. Even the non-ground balancing White's Surf PI handles black sand beaches well, as long as the coil is kept at an even height over the bottom. I therefore think the machine will do well on relatively homogenous beaches. Given that it is said to not handle hot rocks well, how does that translate into Hawaii as a location? My main issue there with the Surf PI was basalt hot rocks embedded in blond non-magnetic sands derived from reef erosion. I have to question whether the Impulse AQ can handle those hot rocks given what has been said about it. What about freshwater? The is no difference between a freshwater Tahoe beach and some of the worst prospecting ground. Thick black sands plus hot rocks. Is the ground balance range tied more to saltwater operation? I would like to run this machine at Tahoe, but given what is being said I am questioning whether it can handle the hot rocks there. Not a bit of this speculation is a knock on the Impulse AQ. It is a machine targeting a subset of a niche market. In other words, a machine with very limited application and they are telling us that up front. I am not one to ever complain when I get a detector and it does not work when I try to make it do things it was not made to do. And there is always a catch, always limitations, always unexpected things that pop up in widespread use that can't be captured in limited prototype testing. I get all that. The bottom line is I am just airing the thoughts that are bouncing around in my head. I don't worry about it because I am perfectly capable of getting all the answers to these questions on my own. It's actually these types of questions that makes me want to get detectors because I love pushing detectors outside the envelope and finding the limits.... and then doing things with them others might not think of. It's kind of my detector super power. They sure seem close to having a finished product. I hope so as once end of October hits I will have to wait until spring. Well, I don't have to, I just will. I may wait for the prospecting version anyway. We will see. Fisher Impulse AQ Detector Data & User Reviews

The key might be “cheap headphones”. Just a reminder... even on Amazon for quite some time counterfeits were common. They have been trying to clean it up but they give space to third party outfits and not all can be trusted. Bottom line I suspect your headphones more than the detector.

No, I have not had any problem pairing aftermarket headphones. Bluetooth is Bluetooth. There is nothing special about the Minelab phones. They are in fact aftermarket phones with the Minelab logo on them. Are you doing a full factory reset to clear the machine between trying different headphones? Prior thread on same subject....

Great post and finds! The 15" coil is remarkably sensitive to small items. I really do like this coil. Almost all oversized VLF coils have disappointed me as not really adding much if any depth and really screwing up the ergonomics. In fact it seems the only other large VLF coil that I really liked was the CTX 17" coil. But I like this even more, and have no problem swinging it all day long without a harness. That's not going to happen with the CTX and 17" ?

Nice mockup of the controls from the Detector Database page for the Fisher Impulse AQ... Fisher Impulse AQ controls