Tony

Now that was just plain mean of you Jim 😜 I couldn’t get a Barracuda back in 2000 and now can’t get an AQ in 2020 It’s a good thing that my Excalibur has been so good to me 👍 Enjoy your AQ.......or should that be AQ’s Tony

Apologies.....I mistakenly thought the AQ battery was a Lithium chemistry.

That battery needs to be stored well away from anything that could ignite.......outside somewhere safe. Remember the scene in one of the Terminator movies....Arnies battery becomes damaged and very unstable.......

In these photo’s.....you can see Aquaseal over the endcap connection, thread tape for the headphone connection and reinforced headphone cable to spread any flexing load from a sharp angle to a softer angle. My coil has at least 8 coats of Plastic Dip and hasn’t had to be recoated after 3 years....detecting I the water over rocks and reef. Come on summer !

I ended up using plumbers thread tape for the screw connector as it perfectly seals (as it would a tap) and then a small amount of Marine Grease over that general area. I’m trying to avoid constant mating and unmating of the headphone 8 pin connector and your very nice endcaps for the Excal. I’ll probably inspect once a month to check on integrity......somewhat overkill as its designed for submersion but as you well know....you can’t over maintain anything in a saltwater environment.

Agree with the Simon......the Quest Wirefree works perfectly with my Whites MX7 and XL Pro.

Thanks Joe.....I’m thinking of making the connection and then coating with Aquaseal or PlastiDip the whole of the outside connector....making it completely sealed from salt and sand as well as only needing to disconnect if required to. Thanks Tony

I’m sure I read somewhere that all of these common connectors (typically for headphones) such as the 8 pin style have a limited amount of mating cycles. Connector integrity cannot be assured after this. I guess there is a small amount of wear and tear on the male/female metal contact points as well as the plastic/rubber moulding that keeps water out. Any views on this? Thanks Tony

Thanks for this reply......👍👍

Might be easier if everyone dropped the reference to 11.5.......I wasn’t sure if it applied to all released AQ machines......hence the question 👍

When AQ owners says a delay of 11.5........this is 15uS right?

Ahhh...Barracuda......if only I had the money for one 20 years ago 😩

And an extended range for the pulse delay to maybe a maximum of 20uS 👍

I just posted on another thread asking why the delay range can’t be extended further. It removes capacitive problems plus a lot of fast salt noise as well as keeping in the zone for the majority of decent size gold targets. I applaud the development of he AQ’s circuitry to allow such fast delays as well as the crucially damped coils to allow this BUT at what cost. 15uS to 20uS is the Goldilocks zone for all other PI’s.......is the AQ any different? Asking because I don’t know and don’t have an AQ. Sure would Ike to try one DownUnder 👍

I was curious to know why the slow end of the pulse delay is 11.5uS. Could this range be extended to maybe somewhere between 15uS and 20uS.....for those that need it when required or really enjoy a quiet threshold ?

11.5 uS......Wow...my TDI BH would be screaming and squawking like a flock of angry seagulls. That is my setting for the low tide beach areas.

The audio “problems” sound like normal PI hunting in my typical ocean conditions......Delays need to be increased to 20uS for any sort of normality but I can’t make any judgements as to whether this applies to the AQ or not. What is the AQ’s slowest delay ?

Hello Jim, That size coil will be okay if you’re not going too deep. The more of your body that is not submerged generates more weight onto the coil so coil flotation won’t be a problem. Are you hunting rougher water on a regular basis.....if so, then a smaller coil might be the way the go. Moving away from a Dual Field coil will certainly calm the detector down in any mineralised areas and will subdue some of the salt signal if running lower delays. To me there are no obvious cons by moving to the Aussie style mono coil based on the targets you’re after. Tony

Hello Clive.....yep still at it more than ever. Discovered a way where my wife never complains when I buy a new detector.........cashed in all my gold and bought her a new fancy Subaru. Now she asks when I’m going detecting again....😂 I will always have a PI but used very site specific......I used to play golf a lot and the powerful PI is like the #1 Driver......easy to get into trouble and out of bounds. The VLF is like a 3 Wood....good power and accuracy but easy to stay on the fairway. Enjoy the rest of your summer 👍 Tony

The day I started worrying less about a quick delay and more on a smooth threshold was the day I started finding more gold. Yes, the smaller/finer and lower karat gold rings respond better to a quicker delay BUT only if you can hear them above the salt response in moving salt water. The bigger and higher karat gold rings will still respond very well to delays above 15uS ! Absolutely use the quickest delay possible if salt signal isn’t a problem 👍

Hoping it performs as well as possible for your conditions. The gasket is difficult but looks like it is all seated correctly. I don’t think the cable glands will give you any problems.....it forms a good watertight seal when tightened and Whites seal the connection where the cable gland meets the control box.....you can see the black adhesive. Fingers crossed that the heavy salt is manageable.....keep the Gain down if not needed especially if you know targets are in range. And finally, don’t get too concerned about low delays......even at 20uS you will capture most gold and the higher karat gold responds very well to higher delays. 👍

Perfect for me......just work out the best size and weight for your coil size in order to just submerge it. The one I had was bright yellow which made it very easy to see in the water.

I used a rubber discus....they come in various sizes and the leading edges are streamlined so minimal resistance in the water. Just drill some holes and zip tie to the coil.

Surely one of the many Minelab technicians at their computers would have been busted playing Call of Duty.

And maybe, just maybe, someone, somewhere can legally “purchase” the V3i platform, along with all the codes and IP rights.....and take it further...much further? We can all hope, right 👍