Tony

Strange indeed......even with shipping, the NZ price is cheaper to the tune of $400 on that "awesome" sale price of $1800 Aussie dollars....🤑

And then take another 15% GST of that NZ price....might get a backup Excalibur.

No GST into Australia if it's under $2000 Aussie.....

Better be quick though.

Might see what their Black Friday sale will be like 🙂

Here's the Excalibur II on "sale" for $1800...down from the "normal"  $2000 price.

The problem is the Excalibur could regularly be purchased for between $1750 and $1799 until the new price jumped to $2000.

And then there will be those constant 10% to 15% "Sale prices" from dealers......buyers thinking they are getting a good price but forget the jacked up new base prices. Minelab really are clueless......or not ?? 🤔

And here's the rest of us mere mortals looking for ANY excuse to buy a new coil 🤑

Looking at your wash settings......next time I would use a gentle rinse cycle and maybe just a dash of fabric conditioner.

Get up at 1am......grab a coffee.....try and be in the water by 2am......swell and waves have been knocked flat by strong offshore winds....so strong that dry sand is blown 50 metres into the water......the feel of coarse sand and shells under my feet supercharges me......the Excal is finely tuned....I grip my steel sand scoop in eager anticipation........a few angry seagulls harmlessly dive bomb me......normal people are still in bed snoozing away.........the Excal jumps into life........the sand in my scoop melts away revealing another stainless steel ring.......I swear briefly....the gulls now decide to leave me alone........life is good.

She probably tried to kick old Paddy’s severed bronze head down the road which was probably razor sharp after being cut off……and it clearly didn’t end well for her. I think Paddy had the last laugh but would like to be reunited with the rest of his body.

Looks like one of the accomplices ended up in the emergency department in Perth……so there’s some good news to the story 😇

1 hour ago, cjc said:

Everyone wants this pushbutton detecting--there's an over reliance on tech that's a mistake.

As I reach for my 1989 Garrett XL500 pulse 🤣🤣🤣

An "unlimited" number of "Limited" detectors......🙄

I wonder how many of these detectors Fisher actually made ?

I managed to get this inside photo from the First Texas warehouse....this is the warehouse just for the AQ Impulse Limited.

Better get in quick before they are all gone.

"The less I find, the harder I work and the more I find."

Nice going Clive......I hope your Excalibur isn't feeling too neglected 😪

Summer on its way down here....I need to hit it hard 💪

HH

Tony

17 hours ago, phrunt said:

I wonder if KellyCo contacted Fisher and said we can see you're unable to sell your AQ's, no matter how hard you try, so if you give us a deal for the lot, we will take them.  Then, they go bang on a few extra hundred bucks to make some more profit and use their big website exposure to sell them rather than Fisher's lacklustre sales methods.

 

I'd say you're right Simon......I'm sure Kellyco got the lot for a lot less than 2K a piece. Still three left so you better be quick 🤣

27 minutes ago, schoolofhardNox said:

The worst part is the battery life. You will be very disappointed in it as it lasts about 3 hours at best. Originally a spare cost around $200.00 if I remember correctly. I don't know what it would cost today.

Yep, 3 hours run time is ridiculous but at least there are solutions to that problem with a DIY battery pack.

Same machine as originally launched.....warts and all. Still several available from Kellyco for "only" $2000. They can/do work but be prepared for potential problems.....all posted on this forum to see. Beta version at a premium price.....don't hold your breath thinking the v2 is on the way. I'd be gobsmacked if Fisher launched a "fit for purpose" AQ.....I'd be as happy as anyone but for now, my 1989 Garrett XL500 Pulse (Eric Fosters personal machine) does the job admirably.

Tony

1 hour ago, schoolofhardNox said:

I use a Detech 12.5 DD coil. I can get the most out of it while running it hot, but you will not get a quiet threshold in EMI. But the real signals stand out for the most part. Generally I can get 15" repeatable on a copper US 1 cent piece. Above that, you can find deeper coins, but maybe not consistently. I don't use any bungees or handles on the 5000, so my Detech 18 DD sits at home. Maybe others can, but I just can't use a mono coil on my beaches.

Nice choice of coil....and I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggled with a mono coil on the beach. I ran the Coiltek 14" DD Goldstalker but the flat pan coil really suction stuck to the wet sand and on the dry, the sand would build up on the top of the coil adding weight. The open 18" DD isn't overly heavy and performs very well.

Thanks for the reply.

I wanted ask what your coil of choice is for the GPX?
I have finally settled on the 18” Detech DD for my GP3500.

I persevered with a mono for some time but EMI and that slow salt groaning audio finally beat me. The big DD gives nothing away in depth to my 14” mono but with all the added benefits of running a DD.

Happy hunting 

Tony

Picked up these “new old stock” Tornado 800 coils for $50 each. They are brand new but at some stage I’ll recable them with new cable. The cable looks fine but I’m guessing they are 10 years old. I’ll also shorten them significantly from their standard six foot length.

Not taking the chance with possible cable degradation so Joe’s cable epoxy technique will be the go 👍

You're getting soft Joe......7am is early for a water hunt? 😁

Nice hunt though......early starts are soon forgotten when you find gold.....pull tabs and bottle caps not so much.

I'm semi retired finally so any early starts are now no longer for going to work but going for gold.

Keep well,

Tony

PS.....digging bottle-caps with an Excal ????

So Minelab set a stupidly high price just so they can offer it on "sale" almost immediately.......geniuses working at Minelab.

May as well price it at $658 and then offer the 50% off sale for a limited time.....bargain at $329.

If enough people held off buying then the price would soon drop.

US prices might be softened by the very weak Aussie dollar so on paper might seem somewhat okay.

1 Aussie dollar buys just 65 US  cents ☹️

14 minutes ago, phrunt said:

Save yourself the money and buy an Equinox 800 instead, you're not missing all that much, in fact in some ways you're gaining such as Target ID stability and having the smallest of coils available for prospecting.

I think you're right Simon....I'll have to give the 800 some serious consideration. It's a well proven platform and a bargain compared to the Visa melting Manticore / coil option. The Manticore price I can just accept but the coils are cash cows and I'm not going to be milked.

Who knows, if Manticore sales tank then Minelab might bundle an extra coil instead of their crappy pinpointer.

Nice combo for sure.......and sorry to hear about your sciatica as it's a miserable experience.

44 minutes ago, rled2005 said:

The coil should be around the price of the Eq 900 or 800 6” plus $30, would be agreeable. But at the price of an Axiom 13”, no way! If it is, then good bye Manticore!! It would be price gouging at its finest. 🤔 Don’t be a sucker. 🤪

 

Couldn't agree more. I was poised to get a Manticore but this is a deal breaker. This is not a case of "cutting off your nose to spite your face" type decision. I just simply refuse to pay these bandits their ransom money. I'm looking for an emoji with the balaclava but no luck yet 🤣