ColonelDan

I thought I’d try using a pedometer just to see how far I stroll along the beach on my hunts. The reviews I’ve read on many are not very complimentary. It seems the common complaint centers on accuracy and battery life. I’d appreciate your thoughts and recommendations. Thanks

😁 True!

Personally, I always use a cover on the beach. Why? 1. Beach Sand acts like sand paper on anything it touches. The cover provides protection against those scratches. Just look at your cover after a few hunts and you’ll see what the sand does. 2. Covers don’t degrade performance. 3. Yes, it requires you to remove it to clean the coil but the protection benefits far outweigh the small hassle of a little cleaning time. For me, why wouldn’t I use a cover? Just the view from my sandy foxhole...

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 piece of carbon fiber. There isn’t one hint of flex or weakness in this thing. Reliable: I’m more than certain Steve’s handle will serve me well for years to come. Professional construction: Steve’s handle is not your big box store, mass produced item. This man takes pride in what he makes and each one reflects his strict attention to detail. Conclusion: I’m even more impressed now than I was when I first posted my initial report. If you decide you’d like a top notch carbon fiber handle, you can buy this with the utmost confidence that you’re getting the best I’ve seen since I bought my first detector in 1970. Again, I have no financial interest in Steve’s business. I’m just passing along my personal opinion.

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 sugar sand scoop.

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 feel of this handle immediately tells you it’s ready for anything you can throw at it. The look of it tells you this is a professional piece of equipment...it’s simply a great looking handle. I took it to New Smyrna Beach, Florida for its 3 day maiden voyage and the bottom line: It proved itself to be a real beast...but a very light beast! There was absolutely no flex in this handle even when pulling out a 920 scoop full of very wet sand. This handle felt and performed like the extremely substantial shaft that it was designed to be and there were no exceptions regardless of the various conditions under which I used it. Fit, finish and texture: Like all his other shafts, Steve’s scoop handle is a work of art. The carbon fiber is top quality and the finish is truly professional in every way. The top cap is a perfect fit with no sign of twisting...no matter how hard I tried and the handle at the business end slipped perfectly into the 920s tube. It has a shark skin texture that ensures a firm solid grip regardless of how wet it was. Specifications: Overall length is right at 46.5 inches; the wall thickness is an impressive 2.5mm; the diameter of the handle is 35mm except at the point it slides into the scoop tube where it’s shaved down to 34.7mm. The weight is a scant 23.73 ozs (1.48 lbs). Even the bolt washer Steve uses to attach the end of the handle to the scoop is larger and thicker than others I’ve used measuring 1.25 inches by 0.050 inches! Simply put, Steve has built this thing for the long haul and the tough going with no detail being overlooked. Wet sand or dry, shells or surf, I found it’s all the same to this handle...tough as steel yet light as anything. It makes your scoop sing and a real pleasure to use. My “go to” set up is now 100% Steve Goss--both of my EQX shafts and 920 scoop handle are his creations. In summary, I’m convinced that I have the best of the best. Finally, rest assured that I have absolutely no financial interest in Steve’s business. My sole purpose is to simply share my views on what I consider great equipment. Another superb job by Steve Goss. Note: The two vertical grips shown in the photos are not part of Steve’s handle--I added those. www.stevesdetectorrods.com www.facebook.com/stevesdetectorrods

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.

I used the V3 update on Cocoa Beach last evening to see how it performed...I wasn’t disappointed! Let me begin by saying this wasn’t any kind of formalized test but merely initial impressions/observations based on my normal beach hunting routine. Any confirmation or dispute of what follows will naturally require more detailed testing. My general take away was that ML did more than just add a 4 kHz option. V3 seemed to be more stable throughout the frequency spectrum. I could run my sensitivity up to 23 on the dry sand in Park 1 and the 800 was stable and quiet where previously 18-20 was about the limit. Even when I switched to Beach 2 in wet sand and surf, I could run the sensitivity up to about 19-20 with no problem. My first find in Park 1 on the dry sand was a penny at about 12” deep with a hard unmistakable hit. In that regard, it seemed that the EQX was now sounding off with more authority than before when a target was detected. This was also my impression throughout the evening. I ran an informal evaluation using my test sticks (a gold ring and a ferrous bolt) and it seemed to me that V3 in 4kHz was more sensitive to the recovery speed setting as it relates to detectable depth. The lower I set the recovery speed, the greater the detection depth. The higher I set it, the less sensitive it was to my ring and bolt buried at a constant depth. I realize this is the way the EQX always behaves but with V3, it seemed the depth/recovery speed relationship was more accentuated. Again, other environmental factors play a role in detection depth but this was just my impression of V3’s maiden voyage at the beach. Admittedly, I was skeptical of the reason why ML provided a general update that focused on deep silver in Asia by adding a 4kHz option when we already had 5kHz. But after using this for a short beach hunt, I’m now convinced ML included more software capability in V3 than just that 4kHz frequency. It was more stable, less chattery throughout the frequency range, it hit harder than before and it was indeed hitting hard at a greater depth...or so it seemed to me as well as my hunting buddy who was also running V3. All in all, I’m glad I installed the update!

OK, I've installed V 3. I'll use it on Cocoa Beach this evening and report back. 😉

Like Steve, I fail to see the real significance of adding 4kHz vs 5kHz. If it's truly for deeper larger targets, especially designed for Asia, I don't see any benefit for me along the Florida beaches. Now if I were after a large treasure chest buried deep along the treasure coast, perhaps. The chances of that however are below zero. If it's to help with the 5kHz EMI why not just select one of the other available freqs? I haven't had any issues in that regard where I hunt however. I'm always leery about new updates that don't directly apply to or improve my situation. I'm of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp. I think I'll stay with what I have for now until I get more applicable information. What am I missing here?

I really like Steve's predictions! Whatever they come out with, I'm sure the technology will be ground breaking...it's the Minelab way. My request of them however would be to avoid being "penny wise and pound foolish" like they were with the original thin CTX gaskets and the thin coil ears on the EQX. My requests of Minelab: If they advertise WATERPROOF to 10 feet, I want it WATERPROOF. I also want to see much thicker, sturdier coil ears. Those two requests would save them many thousands of dollars in warranty replacement costs and many thousands of happy customers. Just the view from my dreaming foxhole...

I received a text message from a friend yesterday telling me that one of our neighbors up the street lost his wedding band while playing on one of those large inflatable water slides. He asked me if I could help. Of course I said yes and my friend picked me up in his golf cart and we headed to the man’s house. Our neighbor was standing by the water slide staring pensively at the ground--his face and body language told me the whole story. 😰 He pointed out where he was standing when he shook the water from his hands and felt his ring fly off. He and his young son had searched the area for over an hour...even using a magnet in desperation--not very effective on a gold ring. 🥴 Fortunately, the suspected area was only about a 10 foot square. I cranked up the EQX in Park 1, noise canceled, lowered the sensitivity since this would be a surface find and started to grid the area. I hadn’t gone 3 feet when I got a nice solid mid tone. I pulled out my Pro Find 35 and told him to look exactly where it was pointing. He parted the grass, which was about 3-4 inches high and there was his ring. The look on his face was one of total relief and incredulity. He couldn’t believe I found it that quickly (neither could I). I’d spent all of 1 minute at the most swinging the EQX before it sounded off. To say he was mightily impressed would be an great understatement. He then asked me all about my equipment and detecting since he knew zero about any of it. His wife came running out of the house and thanked me profusely saying her husband was no longer in the dog house! Quick find; quick return and all is well. 🙂

Good report! Your experience tracks what I’ve seen the few times I tried to use a PI on our Florida beaches... they just weren’t for me. Digging down 22 inches because a PI can’t discriminate well at all is not my idea of efficient detecting and at 72, I’ll stick with my VLF machines.

Steve is right. Beach and surf hunting is my life and I don’t care how convincing the advertisements are, you’ll experience a leak at some point during the life of that detector.