ColonelDan

On 9 August, I posted my initial impression of Steve Goss’ latest offering---carbon fiber scoop handles for the T-Rex, Stealth and X-treme series of sand scoops. I’ve been using his product exclusively now for over a month and thought I’d submit a few follow up thoughts. Bottom line up front: Does his handle still impress me as it did when I first got it? ABSOLUTELY. A few descriptive words/phrases come to mind when evaluating this handle after many beach outings: Stout: This handle is indeed worthy of the term. It leaves no doubt that what you have in your hand is a very stout

Normally, very true. This spill however, was relatively shallow in the dry sand high on the beach near the dunes. My guess is that some fisherman unfortunately dumped his tackle box.

We've all seen, heard of or found coin spills...particularly if you primarily hunt beaches. However, throughout all the years I've been walking our Florida beaches this is the first Sinker Spill of this size that I've ever found. These sinkers came from the same 3x10ft area of Bicentenial Park beach and it wouldn't surprise me if I didn't find all that was there! 😁

Just a few words from my experience: Even in the low mineralized sand of central Florida beaches, Field 2 cannot compete with either of the Beach modes in wet salt sand or surf. I’ve tested the modes on my beach hunting areas just out of curiosity. Park 1 in 4kHz on dry sand does OK but again, I’ll stay with the beach modes in damp, wet and surf. just the view from my salty foxhole....

This Mackinaw boat anchor from the Second Seminole War circa 1837

Another suggestion is LS Pelso. I have these and they are indeed loud enough and waterproof. https://www.kellycodetectors.com/catalog/ls-pelso-underwater-headphones-with-long-cable

Aaron, " I should try to buy it back! " Most definitely!! 👍

I have two sunspots, a 720 and a 920 that I bought years ago while Chuck still owned the company and made them. I haven’t had any trouble with either one like you’ve described and I hunt both saltwater beaches and lakes with tough clay bottoms. They are holding up just like your old sugar sand scoop. Sugar Sand is what Chuck called that design. Having watched your video, my guess is the new owners have altered Chuck’ s process, design, materials or all of the above. Sad if they did that since Chuck’s scoops were among the absolute best on the market....as is proven by your original suga

I've been using the Quest headphones for well over a year now, they've worked flawlessly so far and meet all your requirements. https://www.questmetaldetectors.com/product-page/aptx-low-latency-bluetooth-wireless-headphones-for-minelab-equinox

I got my hands on a new product from Steve’s Detector Rods--a scoop handle for my Stealth 920! As we all know, Steve has a well earned and most deserved reputation for giving us top quality shafts for a variety of metal detectors and now he’s dedicated that same level of attention to producing carbon fiber handles for the Stealth, X-treme and T-Rex scoops. It really is a great day for the detecting world. As soon as I opened the box, that professional manufacturing and precise attention to detail was clearly evident. You can just tell it’s first class when you see and hold it. The fe

Okara, were I in your shoes and doing that much water hunting, I'd make that Excal my primary detector...for sure. Just the view from my beach hunting foxhole....

Thanks to all for kind comments. In my opinion, this update has improved the functioning of an excellent detector. I sincerely hope that future improvements will include more substantial coil ears, enhanced waterproofing and a better shaft and arm cuff. Just the view from my sandy foxhole...

Joe D A little "Joe" trivia; my Daughter🙋‍♀️ walked for the first time at Cocoa Beach!! Good thing i wasn't detecting back then, i probably would have missed it!!🤦‍♀️ 👍👍 A great memory Joe. Cocoa will be a place you'll never forget. 😃

A word of caution: The performance I saw at Cocoa Beach on 26 July may not be the performance you find on your beach.....beaches vary in characteristics significantly. I've found differences between Cocoa and Daytona and I've experienced differences in just a few hundred yards of the same beach! As I always say, these were the results on this beach on this day in question. Your mileage will most likely vary but you should see some degree of improvement in performance nonetheless.

Yes, I encountered EMI improvement...at least that’s what it appeared to be as the EQX ran smoother at higher levels of sensitivity after doing a noise cancel obviously. Not as much chirping for sure. Again, I wasn’t conducting formalized testing, just a normal run and reporting on my impressions. Future detailed tests will fill in the gaps I’m sure.