Tony

Thank you all for these replies........I’m beginning to appreciate the scope of the AQ’s abilities. Sounds like you can hunt using it like a precision scalpel or just go in like a sledgehammer........this is a good thing 👍 I sure would hate to miss this though......52 grams solid white gold at 18K

My question is in the description. Does the AQ see all gold as low conductors. I have some big 18K and some mid sized 22K rings that give high numerical numbers on my Whites MX7 and from memory a high tone on my CZ21 (no longer have). I also recall a high tone on a pure gold nugget on a gold chain with the CZ21. I understand that golds conductivity diminishes as more alloys are added to the mix. Will these bigger and higher karat gold rings be “low conductors” ? And finally......how does the AQ see platinum rings. I’d hate to miss any of the items described above. Thanks for any replies or first hand experience.

Eyes closed when detecting.......not a chance.....too many nice things to see on the beach or in the water.... 👙 But yes......repeatable one way signals have gotten me good gold......must be the angle of the ring that shows itself from one direction and hides itself from the other.

........or the signal could be a piece of crab pot 😎 Hope you are well Joe....... 👍

Too quick a delay for the sand/saltwater or other settings relevant to sensitivity.

The AQ has power, no doubting that but a true depth test must; 1. Be a blind test where a targets location is unknown to the operator 2. Have no “false positives” in the general search area 3. Preferably not have a one way signal 4. Have a sweep speed that represents a realistic hunt

Me too......been using the 14.8v pack for over two years with no problems so maybe I’m being over cautious ? Having said that, the performance of my 11.1v Lithium pack sits in between the stock battery pack and the 14.8v Lithium pack so not a bad compromise.

No problems at all........the last thing I wanted was to be leaving a smoke trail behind me. Personally, the extra depth of 1” to 2” by running at 14.8v just isn’t worth it.

For those that PM me regarding the battery setup.....very easy but remember this is for a 3 cell @ 3.7v (nominal per cell) for a total 11.1v nominal. The 3D printed 3 cell packs do not fit the TDI BeachHunter or BeachHunter ID 300 battery compartment. Parts needed are the Whites AA battery holder and an 18650 3 cell battery holder. The 18650 holder has to be trimmed down in height on both short ends (seen in photo) and the Whites AA holder has the floor taken out to accommodate the 18650 battery holder. Very easy and then solder up +- leads. Just support the whole setup with your hand and she slides in perfectly or maybe tape the 18650 holder flush with the bottom of the Whites battery holder.

I know plenty who have had their Equinox / CTX leak when subject to prolonged submersion (control box maybe one foot under).....what scares me is the Nox and AQ are both rated to 10 feet 😬

I suppose I could wedge the detector inside of my wetsuit and be very happy with the inbuilt heater 🥵

I’ve never owned other TDI models so can’t make much comment regarding that. So the board was seriously hot even completely exposed to the outside air so I can only imagine with it all sealed up. My electronics is quite basic but the spot behind the 4 big caps was the area of concern. There is no discolouration or noticeable problems on the board in relation to the heat and the detector runs just fine but I weighed up my options and decided to err on the side of safety by throttling back to a 12v setup......with the serious heat and 4 Lithium cells.....well you know where I’m going with this 💥

I opened up my TDIBH the other day for some fiddling around and checking out a few things. I powered up the detector with all of the guts and board opened up and had it hooked up to the 14.8v (4 x 18650 cells) battery pack. I had it going for just a few minutes when I gripped the circuit board as part of my “fiddling” around......well I dropped the board and swore a bit in response the burn I was expecting on my fingers. Well it turns out that on the opposite side of the board behind where the big capacitors sit is some sort of heat sink and I can tell you the heat from this spot was something else. The detector has and runs just perfect but the hotspot really surprised me. I decided to hook up the 12v battery pack and let it run for a decent amount of time and it never got past a mild warm on the back of the board. That extra couple of volts is generating some serious extra heat.....bit like on the heat sink area of the CPU chip in your computer. I honestly don’t know if the detector can handle this extra heat long term but I’m not taking any chances. I’ve moved back to the 3 x 18650 battery pack which I knocked up when I first got the detector. There is a slight loss in depth but surprisingly not too much. I feel the performance of the 11.1v Lithium setup is maybe 1 to 2 inches behind the 14.8v “hot pack”. You can see in the photos the big caps on the detector and where the heat comes from. The other photo is my 11.1v pack which packs some punch and lasts much longer then the stock NiMH pack.

And there’s probably $40,000 profit on that ring......😗

A big yes to this ⬆️

I was 13.......the rich kid down the road had a Whites and a Compass detector. I had this piece of junk (Micronta?)......but I loved it. Cost me $19.95 back in the day. A couple of years later I bought the Compass from the rich kid for a great price.....I think mainly due to the fact that I was a solid kid for my age and took care of a couple young punks who liked to beat up the rich kid. A couple of years later I “discovered” beer and girls and it would be another 20 years before those novelties wore off and I rediscovered my real passion of detecting again 😗

TVR.......you are spot on when you refer to the AQ as a “niche” detector. The problem for Fisher is niche detectors don’t pay the bills 😳

I haven’t posted in some time but my feelings toward the AQ (assuming it makes production) are very mixed..... The price is to be expected but certainly at the higher end of what most of us expected. The depth rating is UNACCEPTABLE at this price point. It will certainly be a matter of “when” the detector leaks and not “if”. A 10 foot rating will not support prolonged submersion ! As I have mentioned before......Fisher needs to bring in a bare bones straight PI model for $2000 maximum......in a rated enclosure for > 100 feet.

Yep.....Minelab GP3500. Spend some time looking for a pristine unit and I finally did. Managed to pick another one up a few months ago and it’s in even better condition......it’s a keeper this time.

You can send it to me and I’ll “restore it” with my hammer......🤬

I’m going to hold back what I really want to say because it will probably violate every rule in this great forum. I will say this though....knowingly buying a fake known brand detector only gives the incentive to make more and is another potential nail in the coffin for genuine manufacturers.

I’m glad someone recognised the value of the White’s brand and to let it wither and die on the vine would be unforgivable......Garrett/White’s will be a force to be reckoned with and I’m guessing a lot of consumers will appreciate this loyalty and will be showing their “thanks” via their wallet.

Come on ......It’s the 16th down here.....👍

Yep....1998-1999.......building a house, getting married, first child on the way. The “Cuda” was definitely circling but if I had cast out some bait and snagged one then my wife to be would have taken an even bigger chunk out of my azzz 😂

Jim, I wonder if the fish below would snap up an AQ......👍