Tony

I don’t find much in calm water…….pretty sure that the sand has had time to settle and bury the gold. I have one of those neoprene headbands which works well in securing the phones or use the bone-phone (Sea Hunter) if it’s not too windy. I like to sit behind the 2-3 foot breakers and then duck in behind the whitewater……..with one eye on what’s coming in next 😖 The “impact zone” is where the gold is…..either lost there directly from swimmers or moved/uncovered there by Mother Nature. Love it……have that area to myself as no one else is crazy as me. The Nox’s get munched up as well and leak from water impact 👍

Thanks Clive…..what sort of salt “conditions” are we talking about. You know I like to have 3 foot waves breaking over me and with headphones stripped off my head every minute or two…….and then go looking for my scoop in the whitewater 🙂 None of this boring millpond conditions for me……..gimme fast water any day . Maybe I could take my surfboard next time and mix the two hobbies together. HH Tony

JPS……I replied (again) to your PM. I did extensive testing and field use with my TDI BeachHunter…..there’s plenty archived for you to read about this subject. Essentially, I achieved between 10% and 15% depth increase moving from the 12v pack to 14.6v. Not much of a real gain. The heat increase on the PCB was unbelievable….I opened the case to check things out and one part of the board left a small red mark when I put my finger on it for just a second or two…..that’s hot. Amps to the coil has a far bigger result than voltage when it comes to coil “depth”. A capacitor may be able to handle the extra voltage but I can assure you that not all parts on the PCB will enjoy the extra heat. Maybe you can add a heat sink? Stick with the stock battery and let Mother Nature take off the extra 10% to 15% of sand. An example of volts v Amps is my GP3500 which I use at the beach. Now it’s only running on a measly 6v battery but it’s drawing about 0.75A from that battery…..that’s where the power is.

You know Slim will come home with five gold now……🤬

I guess the Axiom is that good after all….🤔

If they are using silicone in order to achieve a depth rating of 5 metres then Minelab repair centres are in for a workout. Surely there must be a decent gasket or “O ring” in there somewhere……silicone has no purpose being anywhere near a 5m rated machine…….leave the stuff for the bathroom. Are Minelab completely clueless 🤬 Remember the days when Minelab took pride in the quality of their machines……now they look like hack jobs.

If you fancy some German engineering then the Ebinger/Secon pinpointers are probably the best there is. The UWPP10 runs about 300 Euro but less if you take off the VAT. I’m thinking about grabbing one for my underwater detecting. https://www-polizeibedarf--dagdas-de.translate.goog/alle-kategorien/polizeibedarf-kriminaltechnik/sicherheitstechnik/unterwasser-handsonden/13575/unterwasser-metallsonde-uwpp10-pinpointer?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc They do a coil one as well but very pricy.

Thanks for that information. Fisher finally makes a smart decision with the design but as you mention, it may never reach production which would be a great shame. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a detector introduced to the market that shows such potential but falls down in so many areas…..who knows, maybe something can be salvaged as the hard work has been done and the problems recognised as fixable.

Joe, Are the numbers in red actual delay “values”. I have to admit that the delay range on the AQ is bewildering. How could a designer/engineer have a full control rotation only providing such a short range. Having 0.5 increments is pointless…..I’d be surprised if a user would be able to hear much of a difference in the “green” range……just as you suggested. This AQ has me scratching my head on a regular basis 🤯

In my opinion, the delay range of the AQ is way too narrow (assuming it is even performing to spec). Eric (RIP) personally told me that the AQ defaulted to minimum delay when the detector was turned on and off, regardless of what the control said. I cannot fathom how the delay setting cannot modify the AQ’s performance unless there are issues at play. The pulse delay on every PI detector that I have ever used was always the single most “obvious” controllable function available. What did the max pulse delay finally end up being. I know the dial says 11.5 but did Fisher extend this 15uS ?

Joe…..I’ve been saying it for years that higher karat gold doesn’t demand a lower delay. That’s why I’ve never been enthusiastic with US Nickel tests when testing a detector for “gold performance”. Lower delays will definitely hit Nickels deeper but that means nothing to me in my quest for higher purity gold. Now when you combine a moderate pulse delay with a longer pulse width then those bigger high gold content rings can start to show themselves from the depths. Less can often be more. Additionally, delays of around 20uS make for relaxed hunting…..noise from fast salt and churning black sand and signals from decomposing iron are a thing of the past. Just for reference, my modified Garrett Sea Hunter XL500 pulse gets these results operating at 20uS delay and with a 350uS pulse width (10” coil) US Nickel: 11”-12” 18K gold smallish wedding band (see pic): 15”

It’s a powerful beast for sure…..give me an AQ “Lite” in a tough clear case you can open…..rated to 200 feet. Max of three controls is all I need 👍 Happy days…..

I’ve got a local beach that is rarely hunted by anyone but I know there is a lot of gold deep down……targets are likely to be buried 2 to 3 feet under the sand. The only way to get to the gold is hunt where breakers “break”….. not for the faint hearted. Position yourself just behind the breakers and then dash in and sweep the impact zone on the sea floor……you gotta be in and out and before the next wave rolls in. Very hard work on the body and gear but can be great hunting with targets everywhere. XL500 does well here……detector strapped tight to the body and often with a bonephone tucked under a dive hood….regular headphones are destroyed in no time. All the gold gets buried when it’s calm…..gotta have unbroken water hit that sea floor and then work the white water. Two foot waves is all you need……and a good breakfast. Looking at the AQ design……control pod and those rear cables would be severely tested in these conditions. Cuda would do well for sure. is it just me but have the toughest and arguably best performing water detectors disappeared forever…..Aquastar, Barracuda, XL500…..tough Ikelite cases and connectors….beefy cables and pots.

And I have visited it many times…..damn if I had the money back then I would have bought 2 Cudas and 2 Aquastars. Having said that, Eric has “souped” up the XL500 with more TX and RX power and in his words “is comparable to the Aquastar on all but the lowest conductors”……which is because of the 20uS starting delay on the XL500. Gotta love that 20uS in churning white salt water with some black sand thrown in 👍

I wonder if Alexandre can “up” the pulse width on the AQ. Better potential to capture not only 22K but bigger gold in general. I believe the AQ is running a pulse width less than 100uS. I think designers focus on pulse delay too much. The other part of the PI equation is the pulse width…….up around 250-300uS will help light up those bigger and higher grade gold rings. My modded XL500 runs a pulse width of 350uS (Eric was adamant this was needed)…..and I agree completely. This was also attainable as the detector runs on 3 x 18650 Lithium cells so can still run 10 hours with the increased pulse width. I hope the AQ didn’t go the wrong way with the limitations of the stock battery pack (as an increased pulse width will naturally draw more juice from the battery). Damn that AQ…..it’s a rough diamond that could easily be a polished Bobby Dazzler.

Alexandre……thank you for adding these great photo’s. This one above on West Bay Beach is a great one of Eric after modding his Vallon detector. Also…..wishing you the very best on your own pulse detector journey and development. Tony

All good….straight from Minelab’s engineers as well 👍

Minelab Australia just got back to me regarding coil cable length. Shortening the cable is fine and has no adverse effects on the Excalibur.

Joe…..I’ve been meaning to ask is coil cable length critical to the functionality of the Excal? The stock cables on the Excal are crazy long for me because I always shaft mount and don’t need the extra mile or so of cable length ! Thanks Tony

The most resilient cables seem to have the PVC outer jacket unlike other cables that have a soft rubber outer jacket which are vulnerable to dry-rot. I have three (new old stock) 8” Tornado coils that I got cheap. The cables look fine but I plan to cut and replace them all with decent PVC cables. Knowing what I know, my current Excalibur coil cable is treated with 303 Protectant spray and silicone grease after every outing. A bit of research on cable jackets tells me that TPE jacketed cables are the gold standard for all round durability.

OBN has extensive posts on what you need. I don’t recall bonding issues with epoxy if the surface is lightly sanded and prepped.

I have added the Zoom details on one of the other detecting forums. That was where Eric posted quite a lot from about 20 years ago when he first introduced some of his first detectors…..Beachscan, Aquastar and Deepstar. I used to drool over those machines back then……never had the money at the time. I did purchase the Goldquest SS around 2004 and found plenty of gold with it too.

Photo 1: Eric in fine form with an early Aquasport PI detector ( early 1980’s I’m guessing) Photo 2: Eric in his mad scientist laboratory making something awesome Photo 3: Eric in Australia testing something (about 10 years ago) Photo 4: Eric down at West Bay beach in Dorset UK. I think he was using his modified Vallon VMH3CS Feel free to add more photos if you have them. I have one more to find in my archives which is Eric enjoying a pint of beer at an English pub. Tony

Thank you…..I kind of assumed things weren’t going well and I didn’t want to intrude too much. It really saddens me that his final weeks and months weren’t comfortable for him. He has peace now.