schoolofhardNox

On 2/11/2021 at 11:27 PM, Joe Beechnut OBN said:

Yes, I order my first M-8 4 pin power cable from them. Just like any other place I've ordered from.. Mouser, Allied Electric, Digikey and Newark. I did have a issue with Newark one time but they finally got the order to me. The others including automationdirect have been perfect.  

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/overview/catalog/cables/sensors_-z-_switches/pico_(m8)_harsh_duty_-z-_food_-a-_bev._q-z-d_cables

Thanks Joe, Do you off hand know of any that have a coiled wire 5 pin M8 female connector? If I have to go without the coiled cable, then that's what I'll do, but a coiled cable wire works better. Updated: Actually I decided to just go with the straight coil wire instead, so I should have a couple of cables in 2 days.

On 2/12/2021 at 1:11 PM, cudamark said:

You might also check with Tony Eisenhower to see what he can do for you. He upgraded my Impulse headphones for me.

Thanks,  I contacted him yesterday. He fixed the original ones when one speaker was cutting out. But now I'm hoping it's just the cable or plug that is broken. I'm really hoping that it is not the AQ that has the issue. If it is then the AQ will sit in the closet  for a while. I'm leery of sending anything in since we have not heard a peep about the AQ for some time now.  I'll probably buy one of his headphones and maybe have him repair the stock ones too, if possible. I always like to have 2 headphones for each machine. If I had that the other day, I may have been able to hit some gold in that silver patch I detected. It was the perfect day to see the AQ shine in those conditions....but that is left for another day.

Glad to see you in good spirits Joe. I think all of us that hunt alone are taking extra time to reevaluate safety for our hunts. You don't have to be in deep water to get hurt, as you can get hurt anywhere. Makes me think twice when I head out. I'm also glad you got your equipment back. That was a kind thing they did for you delivering it to you. Besides, you may not be able to get another AQ 😄 I hear it is limited after all.  Seriously, it is good to know you are better with no ill effects to your health.  Looking forward to seeing your adventures later this year.

Well all good things come to an end, but it was good while it lasted. I returned to that beach 6 days later, and found a completely different landscape. Even though it looked better with even more exposed rocks, conditions changed for the worst. Gone was the 6+ inch deep layer of rocks that was resting on clay. No more easy pickings, the clay layer was very deep now and with it was all that silver and gold. I detected all day long and was only able to get 5 silvers and the pile of mostly copper cents and clad. In an instance things changed, but I am grateful that I was able to get that many silver coins in just 3 visits. So back to reality for me and back to casual beach detecting until the next big break!

So I'm assuming that the detector is sold as a sort of package deal. Prices will have to be different because of the coil selections and # of batteries. So, is the price we think it is, the American version or the Middle East version? I wonder how hard it will be to get a second battery here in the states?

Beautiful ring. I bet they paid a pretty penny for it. That should have shaken the sand when they dropped it 😄 Great find

3 hours ago, Joe D. said:

Nice silver whopper!

My silver wedding ring isn't nearly as chunky, but is a size 15! I have fat fingers!🤣

. Here's a few similar agates i found! (On the internet)! Is the bottom of the stone open? It looks like its picking up some of your skin color due to it being translucent!👍👍

Those almost look like what they call moonstone. But Steve is probably right with agate.

I was wondering if anyone has ordered anything from this company before. I'm assuming my headphones dies on the AQ, so I wanted to get the cable and have someone build me a new set of headphones. This company has the 5 pin M8 connector needed for the AQ I think.  It also has the ones that are "L" shaped which would look to be a better way to have the cable come out of the battery. The video shown sounds promising and the price seems extremely reasonable. Let me know what you think. Will it work?

https://www.automationdirect.com/videos/video?videoToPlay=gV0yX9qSAds

Maybe there is some GPR included in the mix?

7 hours ago, mn90403 said:

I'm guilty of this also when I go back to my 'best beach' first.  The truth is when things are good at that beach they could be as good or better at other beaches but I sometimes don't know.  We just have to go with our instincts.  Sometimes they are wrong.

A few months back I hit my favorite beach and it was $$.  I was the only one one night $$$!  The next night there was one other $.  The third night I decided to go to another beach with 'similar' position on the coast but 30 miles away.  It was a bust and I hit my best beach again about 3 hours after I should have been there.  When I did get there a 'squadron' of lights was all over the beach.  There was a group of at least 4 (high, low, middle, blanket).  I didn't want to join in the fun so I left.

Was it an opportunity missed?

We just have to do the best we can.

Later I found out where I went to the far away beach someone had a killer night but they know their 'best beach' too!

Same here, Second guessing myself has not worked well for me. I always tell myself I am there to get some much needed exercise and the finds are a bonus. I stick with what works 😄 But what really surprises me is the fact that my favorite beach can be hit by so many people over the years and is not even close to being cleaned out. It really shows me the complexity of how beaches work and evolve and how they can hide targets so well.

7 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

Another great hunt for you, when can we expect the next one with a little more gold.

Good luck and happy hunting.

Gold?  I wish!!!! It's funny how gold works sometimes. There are times I can't find gold no matter what I do or how hard I try. Then on other days, I can hit 2 or 3 gold without effort.

2 hours ago, Rivers rat said:

Amazing always carry a few digging tools while exploring.........

 

 

RR

I just started bringing a flat head screwdriver to loosen the bigger rocks so that the spade can remove the sand/rock mix faster. Amazing how just a couple of jabs with the screwdriver loosens up the mix enough to make it much easier to dig. I'm all about speed and efficiency when I have a limited of time to detect.

10 hours ago, bklein said:

Did you try several coils on the GPX at the beach?  Curious which you liked best - mono or DD.

I got a BeachHog from Rick and its really nice on my GP Extreme.  Great coverage and as deep as you care to dig.  Great to pinpoint the target too.

I have tried a lot of coils, almost always DD coils.  I'm too stubborn to try various settings to get the mono coils to work better for me. Plus I only have Minelab mono coils and I find that Detech coils work better. I have a lot of EMI and a decent amount of black sand, and DD works so I stick with it. Plus time is limited, so trying out different options is limited to bad low tide days. Pin pointing with the 5000 is a breeze. It's not the best strategy, but it works for me.

10 minutes ago, mn90403 said:

That is quite a beach to be able to support so many guys.  As I say sometimes the targets are like the crabs on Deadliest Catch.  They move along the bottom together and you have to set your trap (detect) when they are there.

The silver on a beach is amazing.  I can find a ton of clad on certain days an NONE of it is silver.

Mitchel

Here in New England, some beaches were very popular in the 20's, and up. We also had a lot of very deep silver, mostly out of  range of early detectors. Now days, it's a different story, as pulse machines & multi frequency machines have given many more people the ability to get some of the deeper targets. But even with those targets, the operator still needs to understand how to get to those depths.  This beach is hard on anything short of a pulse machine, with multi layered black sand, lots of rocks and a clay layer that helps mask those deep targets. The other machines that were around that day were 2 EQ's and a ExCal. I think in very experienced peoples hands they would have done better. Also the digging is really hard and not a place you can use a scoop. It's a small pointed spade shovel that works best.  In Cal I'm thinking you have a lot more deep sand to deal with. There are no 3 foot cuts on this beach. You can get to clay at around 15"  But surely you have turn of the century beaches that should have deep silver, but it may be out of range of any machine. But I'm betting it's there somewhere. With this last hunt, I have found nearly 300 silver from that beach in just 3 areas. I just can't get to that silver layer in other parts of the beach. The bad part is, that I never want to try another beach up the road that is a bit older, because I'm afraid of missing something on this beach 🙄

Great finds. Plenty of gold to keep you busy.  a great variety of ring and some nice styles too.

6 minutes ago, Compass said:

Wow that's a lot of silver and the gold band is pretty sweet- congrats!!! Gotta love it when the beach conditions are just right.

Thanks, That gold band fits nicely on one of my other fingers 😄 I may just put it next to my wedding ring. If the wife asks about it I'll just tell her it's from my other wife 😂 I bet then I can go detecting everyday. I'll  just have to find a place to sleep. Beaches are funny... I was just there the week before and struggled all day just to find one silver earring. But I should have known things were changing, since the copper pennies started to show themselves quite a bit that day.

24 minutes ago, Jim in ma said:

Nice Haul!!

All them targets....  All that 50 year old silver and only 1 gold and very little jewelry.. 

Seems there should be more then that. But you still did Great on the silver. 

And hats off to you for being at the right place and right time!!

Jim

Thanks Jim. The other detectorists got there the day before I did and the day of too. I bet they got all the easy, shallow gold. I live too far to keep an eye on that beach, and they are retired and live close by. But they tire out after 2-3 hours, so I still have a chance 😄 I bet a lot of lighter jewelry was washed right out to sea. No pull tabs, bottle caps etc... but amazingly some hairpins survived there. I'm hoping it does not get sanded in before Friday. The GPX makes easy work of detecting in that condition.

51 minutes ago, CalReg said:

Greetings All!

Used to MD back in the mid-70's as a teenager with a Bounty Hunter BFO I got for Christmas. Hunted mostly parks and the occasional beach. Used it a lot for a couple of years, then discovered girls. Now I'm 60 with a wife and 3 full grown kids and got back into the hobby last year. Looking forward to hearing and seeing everyone's hunting success!

Welcome aboard. I too had a Bounty Hunter BFO in the 70's. I think it was called the Rebel. Next we got the original Bounty Hunter Outlaw with the huge Good/ Bad meter. Fun times when the parks still had a lot of silver in them.

I use the wireless when I can, and the direct wired for beach hunting when close to the water.

2020 was mostly my Minelab GPX 5000. Second was the Fisher Impulse AQ, and lastly was my Minelab Equinox 800. It's not that I didn't like the Equinox, it's more a "best detector for the situations" that made that list the way it is. Had I done more cellar holes. houses or parks, the Equinox would have been out a lot more.

Nice Spanish silver. I think that brass tusk is one half of a nose ring for a bull.

It's nice to see that many gold ones come to light! Great hunt.

Great find! Nice chunk of gold. 10K is that pivot point for gold leaching out it's copper for me.  That find helps pay for the AQ a little bit.

1 minute ago, abenson said:

Does this count? It's actually a small bit of a seated quarter. I figured it's from an 1853 with arrows and rays. Found it with the Equinox at a military camp in Utah.

Wow, I forgot about cut coins. Never see a more modern one cut, usually Spanish silver ones. Kind of a rarer and cool find. Must have been a poker debt. 😄

21 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

 Partial quote   ---   " I honestly if I were a shareholder would be quite happy. But as a end user and a businessman, I'd say the minute they have excess cash flow they are looking to use - set up that separate Minelab coil division with dedicated people that do for coils what they do for detectors. Which is generally to wipe out the competition over time."

 

So if they ever did that...... what would stop them from making coils to fit every other manufacturer's detectors??? That would be a bold kick in the pants to everyone 😲...😄