Tmox

Standard Issue California HippieGirl bracelet

The abalone season has been closed here for about 4 years. Red abalone is the primary species with lesser numbers of Pinto, Black, White. The reds were the only ones you could take. There is talk of some form of limited opening in a couple of years.

 Down in South California there are spiney lobsters.

What kind of abalone do you get?

2 hours ago, JohnnyRox said:

Has Minelab fixed the 600/800's issue of targets near the water's edge  disappearing when a wave washes over the coil?  

I’ve never exactly had that problem with the 800 or 900. Having said that I would say that the more turbulent the water the more “water” signal the target has to compete with.

 Your question comes at a good time  because I wanted to add to this post. Been on the beach every day, we had 25 ft waves on Tuesday and slowly calming seas for the rest of this week. Thursday was maybe down to 10’ and yesterday ( Friday) was back up to 13’ or so. 
- I would now say that the machine sounds the same in shallow “ slow” surf and May be more noisy in the real turbulent run up wave.

- I am convinced after this week the machine is a little more sensitive. I base this on those tiny pin head pieces of metal are are a little deeper. I know that is totally anecdotal information. It’s a blessing and a curse!

- I’m getting along better with the head phones but I would like crisper bass.

- I smile every time I use the telescoping shaft! It’s such an improvement.

Tim

That little Elf in Boise has been busy taking care of customers! Mine came 2 days ago.

 It replaces the 800 I backed over, I really like the 900. I’m sure you will love it!

I watched the Minelab 700/900 release video but unfortunately there was no audio of their engineer telling about the machine.

 Does anyone know if they put in a faster processor to support better separation etc?

 Thanks,

Tim

10 hours ago, cuniagau said:

I received the replacement lower rod today, three weeks after notifying First Texas of the breakage of the rod and sending pictures of it to them.  Anyone notice anything missing in one of the pictures below?  I guess I should have kept the button spring clip from the broken rod.  I kept the clevis bolts and nuts but not the spring clip.  Who would have thought that the rod would not come without the spring clip?  I used a piece of wooden dowel about the same size as the holes to keep the coil lined up and from rotating.  Just taped the dowel in place and it at least let me hunt this afternoon.   Thanks to all who help me get the replacement.    

Someone doesn’t like you!

Cuniagau,

 you are a calmer more judicious man than I. They are deciding what to do??? A bunch of us have had broken shafts and gotten them replaced. 
 

There is clearly a problem, they gave you a warranty. The response SHOULD be “we are so sorry, a new shaft is in today’s Mail.

i have been a long time fan of Fisher/ FT. Its pretty hard to be a fan anymore.

 Best of luck to you! If they don’t respond to you favorably tomorrow, send me a pm and I will send you the one I fixed so at least you can hunt.

Tim

1 hour ago, Lunk said:

Today found me deep in the Nevada outback, searching for those elusive gold nuggets with my trusty Minelab GPZ 7000. Towards the end of the day, I heard a nice, narrow double target response from the detector, just like the small and shallow sub-gram nuggets make. After pinpointing the target with the edge of the GPZ 14 coil, I plunged my plastic scoop into the loose soil, where it encountered a rock about 3 or 4 inches deep. Removing it from the soil, I immediately noticed that the rock was unusually dense; rubbing the dirt from the stone revealed the familiar rusty tin can color and smooth, regmaglypted surface typical of a weathered chondrite. The stone meteorite  had a couple of broken surfaces, so I carefully searched the area with the detector for more fragments and soon received another double target response that turned out to be another stone at about the same size and depth as the first, and around 8 feet downslope. The two fragments fit together perfectly, just like a jigsaw puzzle. This meteorite is my third  Nevada cold find since 2008. 

Area where the two chondrite fragments were dug, one at just 3 o'clock of the detector coil, and the other at the tip of the scoop handle:

The two fragments reunited, with a total weight of 276 grams:

 

 

That is freaking awesome!!!!!

Mine broke just like yours during the minus tides. I did a quick repair until the new one arrived. Wooden dowel, epoxy and nylon nut and bolt. Good luck hunting!

I feel for you!

I don't know if I need washers or not but I am damn sure going to head to the store and stock up before they sell out of Grolsch just in case I need some washers.

Tim

Mitchel, you are on the right track. Keep on "rasping" off the dry dead skin. Don't try to get it all at once. Every couple of days take some off. In the mean time use your favorite moisturizer. I do like bag balm. In short order you will be tripping the light fantastic. It sure hurts for awhile tho.!!

Tim

I hunt the beach up on the north coast and use the 15" coil and like it. I use it in the summertime but switch back to the 11" coil in the winter. I find that the black sand is more concentrated in the winter and the machine can be overloaded with signals at times.

It is a great tool to have at your disposal at times. Once you use it for awhile you feel naked when you switch back to the 11". 

I do use a counter weight with the 15" because it is so nose heavy.

Tim

It is! Sadly not that many people get it but the ones that do love it.

Tim

• Welcome, I have no idea why this photo inverted! Maybe it's a california thing.
•  

You will feel naked when you switch back to the standard coil!.

Tim

2 hours ago, Carolina said:

Has anyone removed the pins to see if the remainder of the clevis  is epoxied to the lower shaft ?

I did. It did not appear to be epoxied in but it did not come out easily so I left it in place, stuck a wooden dowel in, epoxied it and put nylon nut and bolt in as a field expedient repair.

I have not ordered a replacement yet.

Tim

22 hours ago, cudamark said:

Another upgrade that has already been done (according to Fisher) is the lower clevis that is riveted to the lower shaft. That wishbone plastic piece breaks easily where it attaches to the tube. I just had mine break and from what I heard when I called Fisher, three others have broken too, and it's been redesigned to where it's now a solid piece instead of thin-wall hollow tube. As far as I know, I didn't do anything to make it break. I was just walking along swinging the coil over flat wet sand, I heard a light "crack" sound, and the coil just fell off. I'll let you know what the new one looks like when I get it. My shaft lock was a little tight getting loose, but, not too bad. I always rinse the whole detector after each use, and I have collapsed the shaft a few times when I needed to shorten it for transport. So far, so good in that area. Might be a good idea for everyone to do that every now and then just to keep it from freezing up. The second photo in TVR's post looks like a Plugger clamp setup, one similar to the one I have on my Equinox. So far, that clamp has been working fine, but, I'm a bit disappointed that the bolt is not stainless, so, it rusts. The wing nut is stainless, but, not the bolt for some reason. The upper clamp has all plastic nuts and bolts, but, they're kind of wimpy. The ears on the wing nuts have all broken off, but, since I don't usually take that clamp loose, it hasn't been a problem yet.

Mine broke also. Same story, just walking down the beach and it fell off. I have no idea how I broke it..

Cheers,

Tim

Thanks Chase, I jumped on that $30 off. Good to have some spare since low latency seems to get harder and harder to find.

Cheers,

Tim

14 minutes ago, cuniagau said:

That sure looks a lot like a bull lead.

And the winner is Cuiagau! It was a fun day at the beach, at the end of the day I was comparing finds with my buddy and he pulls out his half of the bull ring. He asked if I had any idea what it was. I told him I know exactly what it is, it's half a bull ring. Here's the other half of it. He looked at me like I was crazy. I clicked them together and explained how they put it through a bulls nose and use it to lead him. The put them in any obstreperous bovine they need to control.

Lots of the locals wear nose rings up here also.

Tim

I found almost the exact same thing. I found the one on the left, my buddy found the one on the right.

Tim

Ps, do you know what it is?

Tim

26 minutes ago, Tmox said:

Beautiful ring!! This will work with patience, I use this on shipwreck silver coins.

 

Go to the store and get s gallon of distilled water, put the ring on the window sill in a little jar and cover it with distilled water. Every week you can top it off and rinse it with a little detergent. The black will dissolve and become a little slimy.

If you can get some lab grade 18 megohm water it works even better.

I've used my mineralized tap
water and it works well.

 

Cheers,

Tim

I forgot to add that the most desirable water is deionized water