Tony

MX7........very nice detector. I feed mine standard AA alkaline as I can buy a 30 pack of quality cells for less than $10. I always take them for proper recycling/disposal when they are dead. I get 30 to 40 hours of run time on one set.......so that costs me about $2.50. I’m okay with that 👍 Toany

As mentioned in one of my earlier posts and as much as I love my TDIBH........the coil at 12” diameter is just too big in my generally rough ocean conditions....the swell and waves knock it around too much and with zero visibility due to stirred up sand and white water.......anyhow I have managed to secure myself an unused (outdoors) Whites’s Surf Pi Pro that a very nice person called Eric Foster currently owns. It’s had a few changes too by Eric. The unit will be outfitted with a recently hand made coil by Eric......a 10” centre mount / 3 spoke coil (Full epoxy fill so no buoyancy problems) with an inline waterproof connector to be able to swap out coils if needed. The coil is in the style of the old Aquastar detector. Centre mount coils are awesome and are very physically stable. I think the AQ will have such a coil. Eric has tweaked the internals of the detector for better gold response.....I think similar to the mods done by Mr. Bill on the Surf Pi Pro. It will be powered by a 10 cell NiMH battery pack or a 3 cell Lithium pack. I’m not going crazy with extra voltage such as the TDIBH so the standard 12v nominal will be more than adequate. I plan to keep the headphones stock.....I’ve always liked White’s 🎧 Pictures will be added as soon as possible. I was thinking if the Surf Pi Pro is good enough for Steve in Hawaiian conditions then its good enough for me 👍 Tony

Hardcore beach hunting........I like it when sane people are at home with their detectors 👍

If I ever get the AQ then I will “let it off it’s leash”........no discrimination or any setting that will adversely affect performance or run the slightest risk of missing any gold and that includes 24K............why...... because I regularly see large men wearing big gold nugget pendants around their neck and boy or boy that clasp looks flimsy 👍 Many Australian nuggets run over 22K in purity. Fortunately, my local beaches don’t have too much pure iron junk targets so I don’t need to worry about chasing millions of these ........bottle caps and booby pins are an acceptable problem. Tony PS........AQ has to detect my own 18K wedding ring deeper than 18”.......this is the current benchmark with my TDIBH 🏖

That looks like a pro job ! I actually close up my unit with the battery compartment right in front of the cars AC outlet. This way you are getting very dry air blasting into the detector as opposed to a more humid air. I thought why not, especially on those warm and humid mornings down at the beach. You cannot have too much Preventative Maintenance when it comes to the beach and saltwater detectors. Tony

Plasti-dip.........end of story. Apply several layers, whatever colour you want. Very tough and provides a rubberised barrier against anything. It can be cut and peeled off if you ever need to. Buy it in the half litre TIN and paint it on....avoid the aerosol spray version as too much gets wasted. Tony Yellow is my colour of choice.

Yep....I have about 50 silica gel sachets. Self indicating which means they change colour as they absorb moisture. All kept in an airtight container until needed and baked in the oven as required and then reused.

......... I just realised that I left the silica gel pack out. 🧐

I had my first bit of fogging today........it doesn’t bother me at all and is very unlikely to cause any electrical issues within the unit. The weather was warm and humid when I closed the rubber clamp. Maybe next time I will close it up in front of the AC and see how it goes. Another alternative is get a 12v hair dryer and blast some warm, dry air inside the unit before closing it up.......and then style my hair before hitting the beach 😂 Tony

Completely agree with everything you have mentioned Steve. Manufacturers mustn’t get too cute with a PI.......let them be raw and powerful as they were designed to be. I will never detect having the knowledge that I am walking over a nice fat gold ring and that is why I run my TDIBH with GB Off........no “holes” and better depth. The beach version of the AQ should be a straight PI...... and it would be cheaper to buy. Don’t let the AQ try to be all things to everyone. If Fisher plan to develop other versions then the case for a simple, powerful, straight PI for the beach is even stronger. White’s did a very good job on the TDIBH......Fisher could learn from them. Tony

Or maybe they compared the AQ to a 14.8v TDIBH..........and collectively cursed in English and French 😳😳😳😳😳 Tony

Yikes........I paid $90 Aussie dollars including charger. That’s about £50. Someone in the UK is “charging” too much....😂 Tony

Gerry I can put the silica gel pack in because I use a 4 cell battery pack and not the slide in Whites battery holder. This is my battery pack. All details are in earlier posts. Just as an FYI to anyone who is reading this......battery manufacturers may specify a battery voltage as either 3.6v or 3.7v per cell. My battery is therefore 14.4v (3.6v x 4 cells). A 14.8v pack is 4 cells of 3.7v. There is no difference in the overall performance of these packs. These are all nominal voltages. Final charging is about 4.2v per cell or 16.8v for the overall 4 cell pack. I thought I’d add this bit as some people get confused and want the “higher 16.8v pack” which IS the 14.4v or 14.8v pack (assuming 4 cells). Tony

That is some seriously good results with the extra voltage and consistent with my results on the beach 👍

I’ve recently had a few emails regarding my TDIBH so I thought I’d hammer out a response. I’m going to try and summarise with some dot points; I have close to 500 hours on this machine and run the 14.8v (nominal voltage) Lithium battery pack. Details in my earlier posts. The detector has found me quite a lot of big and deep gold. I don’t use it much in the water as conditions down here are generally quite rough. The 12” coil is physically too big in waves and white water. Also, digging 18” targets when you are being swept around by waves and swell is almost impossible even with 30 pounds of lead. The detector is now mainly used on the lower beach and low tide areas. I have had no issues running the 14.8v pack. I charge overnight and let the voltage settle down before using the next day as this avoids the off the charger voltage of 16.8v. My run time is about 6 hours before I swap out for a fresh pack. I have had no condensation issues within the detector. I do have a large silica gel pack in the battery compartment. The detector is quieter than other PI’s with the low delays when used in the shallow water and saturated hard pan. The SAT is very good in keeping things quiet even at low delay settings. Maybe it is the new Flux Capacitor that White’s now use 😉 I have several layers of yellow Plasti Dip on my coil to keep it well protected on the coarse shells and exposed reef areas. My ultimate power setting is minimum Delay and maximum Gain, threshold a fraction below audible with volume up high. Frequency is usually at the 12 o’clock position. I have only ever needed to change this once. My deepest ever finds have come from this machine. GB is always OFF unless I hit a rare patch of black sands. You need a BIG and STURDY scoop..............Tony

And I have you to thank for getting me into this great hobby......especially the water and PI machines..........😀 I hope you are keeping fit and well ! Regards Tony

Thanks Jim.........probably my most satisfying find ever. Nearly walked away from it too.......😳

Thanks for the update Steve.......big mistake if they go cheap on headphones. I don’t think the addition of “expensive” headphones is much in the overall price of the detector. It might add another $100 to $150. Glad I got the TDIBH when I did........14 months ago 😃 Tony

I recently unearthed a large 18K gold ring with a substantial / quality diamond embedded into it. My TDIBH with the 14.8v battery pack just managed a tiny break in the super smooth threshold to let me know something’s there..........the ring was lodged in the limestone layer of an old beach at an exact depth of 19”. The stock 12v battery pack will get this ring at about 16”. The ring is appraised at $7500 and would probably fetch about $4000 if sold.........enough to buy 3 TDIBH’s should my unit blow up on me. I estimate that I have over 500 hours run time on my detector with the 14.8v pack 👌

I don’t need to drop the detector in the water.....I hold onto it. i never said it doesn’t float....I said the buoyancy has never bothered me.

I use mine underwater and to be honest, I don’t notice the positive buoyancy.

I don’t normally revive old threads but I thought I’d chime in with my recently purchased MX7. Pros: Consistent Target ID, especially with the 6” concentric coil. Lovely crisp audio that White’s does so well. For me, really well balanced. Great menu layout and sharp display. Solid build with no creaks or wobbles. Strong performance in different ground types. Cons: Nothing so far. The MX7 is a killer unit on our Australian $1 and $2 coins with a TID of 69 and 65 respectively. Most screw caps were 70/71 (which are our nemesis down here). Yes I could have purchased the Equinox (which I have tried) but the MX7 just felt like it suited me better. I will report back if I discover anything I don’t like. How does White’s make detectors sound so good! For me, this is one of the most important aspects to any detector purchase. Tony

I like it.....well thought out.

..........And GB off

Plus Whites state that the hardwired coil gets more sensitivity.........They may well be right on this one.