Tony

I recently tried out my TDIBH on some fairly mineralised ground and it was a disaster......no setting of the GB or Gain would calm the machine down.

My question is what sort of coil might work well......Mono....DD....concentric......and what size?

The stock 12” Dual Field is sensational on the beach but that’s all it’s good for.

I’d like to try a large DD to see if it could tame the bad ground...but the single turn GB may still not be enough?

 Love to hear from the experts

Thanks

Tony

Thanks Gerry.....Will PM you.

Tony

PS.......I have that very nice TDI Beach Hunter that you sold me in 2018. It sure has found me some nice gold on the beach 👍

On 10/29/2019 at 11:02 PM, Gerry in Idaho said:

I still have a couple older SD and GP detectors.  Good to see some gold finds recovered with the older PI.

Let me know if you want to shift an SD or GP.......looking for one in nice condition if possible. A 3500 would be nice !

 Thanks 

Tony 

On 10/31/2019 at 1:14 AM, 1864hatter said:

Thanks for your comments guys. I've promised myself that once I've found enough gold to cover the cost of this detector and coils I'll upgrade to a later model PI. Or a dredge... 

Let me know if you decide to upgrade.....what sort of condition is the 2200 in ?

 Thanks Tony 

At the 2:00 mark..........I couldn’t help but think that it could “flat line” 😳

Tarsacci was badly falsing in between the targets so sensitivity was way too high.

Other machines were nice and quiet which means they probably had some power to spare ?
 

Good test really especially swinging in between targets to gauge falsing.

5 hours ago, pinpointa said:

Well for me i would not sell my v3i . It is an absolute dream of a detector once you master to program it to your liking. Mine is the original v3 updated to the v3i. bought in 2009.

And here’s me swinging my XL Pro...........and loving it 👍

3 hours ago, locator said:

Thank you all for your time and effort to help.

Knowing that I'll keep my VX3 for sure as it became my grab and go machine.

May be there is a V3i added in the future. (a man can never have enough detectors 😉 )

“A man can never have enough detectors”..........obviously you haven’t met my wife 😳

You are welcome......how’s the ground in your area ?

If it’s quiet then the TDIBH might be viable ???

Okay....results are in.....and it was an ugly experience for sure.

No matter what setting I tried, even with low gain and increased pulse delay, the old girl screamed her head off. The ground was quite mineralised so in benign soil then things might be okay but in traditionally mineralised goldfields then it is a futile exercise. The GB didn’t stand a chance and I think I scared off most of the wildlife In the area......time for a cold beer to steady my nerves.

Now in parts of the USA, a lot of gold bearing ground is in much, much milder soils so that might work out. Do your homework before venturing to new ground......if it’s anything but benign ground.......don’t take the TDIBH 👎

Yep.....that was some years ago !

Keep well 

Tony 

What I will do is take my TDIBH to an area of high mineralisation.....it’s not too far from home, maybe a 20 minute drive. Just waiting for the weather to cool off first.

I will put it through it’s paces and we’ll see what happens....stay tuned !

Separating high and low conductors when looking for a wide range of nuggets (sizes and purity) is risky as the crossover point ties in with where the GB is set. The TDIBH has the power but the GB range/resolution will be problematic in highly mineralised ground.....which down here is very widespread. In milder ground then it might be okay but if you are serious about nugget hunting then there are much better options out there. 

And this is why I got the Whites TDI BeachHunter almost 2 years ago. An actual unit in an actual box with actual performance. I feel the performance of the AQ probably wasn’t going to surpass that of the TDIBH but was going to “have to cost” at least twice as much.........and that would have dire consequences. I just have this bad feeling about the whole AQ project.
...............and I genuinely hope I am completely wrong with everything I have just said !

In the mean time, my TDIBH is sniffing out gold way down in that lovely deep layer of compacted shell and fine limestone. Don’t sit on the fence deciding or waiting what to use......get the best you can today

22 hours ago, Tony said:

With the extra voltage pack, the TDIBH is a good 3” to 4” deeper than the SH MK2. 
The hardwired TDIBH coil helps get some extra punch over a removable coil cable. 

Only deeper if conditions allow for the TDIBH to be maxed out.....in surf and waves then it has to be detuned and then you have the 12” coil to deal with. The SHMK2 is a better choice in these conditions. On the lower beach and hard pan then the TDIBH is probably the best there is.....for now.

Checked my records from my previously owned SHMK2 with the big coil..... my wedding band was detected at 14”. The TDIBH running at the higher voltage (14.8v) detects the same ring at 18”......I also found that the bigger coil was only slightly deeper than the 8” coil with about 1.5” depth gained on coin/ring sized targets.

The SHMK2 is one of the few detectors that I regret selling. The toughness of it and the confidence in the (leak proof) battery area and that little powerhouse 8” coil in the surf and waves is the best in the business. I remember that the male pins on the headphone connector are quite delicate and I broke one off. I had a spare set of headphones which I swapped out.....another SH strength in its overall design.

In rough ocean conditions, the TDIBH with the big coil is a bear to use and has to be powered down via Gain or Pulse delay.

I can see myself acquiring another one of these great Garrett units.👍

On 2/13/2020 at 12:13 AM, kac said:

I have the SeaHunter too and with the larger 10x14 coil it hits close to what a TDI Beach Hunter does. Big turn off for me when I was looking at pi machines for the beach was the TDI Beach Hunter has a hard wired coil so you can't change it out and if it breaks the machine has to be sent in for repairs.

I use the hip strap on my SH and can swing it all day with the larger coil.

I would sell the Nox 600 and get the Nox 800 and snag the larger SH coil.

Lastly when beach combing or wading I use the M2 headphones on the SH, audio is so much better. Much easier to hear the tiny targets.

With the extra voltage pack, the TDIBH is a good 3” to 4” deeper than the SH MK2. 
The hardwired TDIBH coil helps get some extra punch over a removable coil cable. 

Thanks for that......so this one (4S2P) from Batteries Direct would suit the TDI Pro.

I have the 4S1P for my TDIBH.......half the one pictured.

Ouch...they want $166 for the pack !

And I’m hoping you don’t let any smoke out of the TDI........👍

Tony

PS....is the TDI PRO powered with those standard barrel connectors and the SL the standard Whites AA holder?

On 2/5/2020 at 1:36 PM, uncle Scrooge said:

Business is only interested in profits , and that's exactly why we will not see soon a really good detector on the market . So far we see a snail crawling -improving parameters , and cheetah jumps - in terms of advertising and customer brainwashing .Good ideas will wait a long time to be marketed…

Respectfully disagree with all of that........although the video was good.

Decided to hold off on the TS.......you can buy new units but in reality there is no warranty as such. Well there is, but no one can do the repair work if needed. I would have thought that dealers would be selling these off cheaper than they are, which is to say the prices remain unchanged since Tesoro’s demise 😔

Tony

9 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Thanks Tony. I think in a beach setting the TDI gets the edge due to the ability to turn off the ground balance. You can minimize the GB on the ATX but not actually shut it off, so the filter is always in place. Once you engage the ground balance of the TDI the differences largely disappear. Anyway, that all jives with my experiences, so thanks for confirming. I’ve generally considered the TDI to be better for beach detecting but prefer the ATX for gold prospecting due to the dual channel processing, which helps eliminate the huge depth hole that exists on the TDI on approximately 1/4 ounce gold targets when the ground balance is engaged. You will lose over 50% of your depth or entirely lose targets that fall near or in the hole the TDI creates with ground balance engaged. This does happen on a range of gold rings for people who are using the TDI on beaches with ground balance engaged. Pick the right rings and I can create an ATX versus TDI test that would embarrass the TDI. All machines have a weak spot, and that GB hole is the TDI Achilles heel. GB off eliminates the problem. The ATX is using dual channel processing which is more akin to what Minelab uses in their gold prospecting detectors to address the issue.

Couldn’t agree more Steve with all of the above......I’ve tested some big gold and platinum rings and depending where the GB point is set, some of these rings are only picked up at 3” to 4”😳

GB Off is sensational though and that is all I run (and all I ever will) with the TDIBH on the beach. I’ve seen the results with GB engaged and it isn’t pretty. With the GB on then you will absolutely miss some gold and platinum, big and small. Personally, I just can’t accept that. Additionally, our $1 and $2 coins are high conductors and they really add up.......I detected over $1000 alone last year In just these coins that people drop everywhere on the beach and in the water. So at the end of the day, I have to dig the whole range of conductivity from low conductors to high conductors so the two tone GB on is pointless if I’m going to dig all targets......and with the dreaded “holes”.

 Tony 

18 hours ago, kac said:

Have you tried your TDI and do some crude discrim on it using the gb?

I did try the TDI......worked very well BUT the amount of iron targets of all sizes was crazy.....couldn’t separate easily with the 12” coil. Also the range of iron and iron alloy targets and their sizes means probably missing some good targets. There is gold and old silver to be found which gives a nice spread on the conductivity range so I need to be digging all low and high tones if I do GB. Thanks Tony 

Thanks Steve,

I think I might have to pick up one of the last remaining stocked Tiger Sharks from the USA.........otherwise I’ll never truly know..........😋

Keep you posted if I get one

Thanks

Tony

Hello Steve,

TDI was GB off.

The guy running the ATX was quite experienced, mainly prospecting but knew how to set it up for beach work. The ATX needed the Sensitivity turned down in order to get a  smooth threshold. We agreed that all detectors had to have sensitivity set at whatever level provided a smooth threshold and didn’t false in the general target area. Initially the ATX was set with sensitivity too high which lead to multiple false signals. Once the ATX was adjusted then the threshold was smooth and all falsing stopped.......but the signal depth was about 3” below the TDI which ran smoothly at max Gain and 10us pulse delay. 
Tony