Rick K - First Member

Here’s what I posted on Dankowski a while ago... I have puzzled over this question for a while - what are these “steel” caps made of. After wasting an hour on the web I have concluded that it is likely that they are “Tin Free Steel” or TFS. This differs from “tin Plate Steel” or TPS by the use of metallic chromium instead of tin in the laminate. TPS is what most cans were made of - TFS is used because of its superior anti corrosion qualities and its suitability for painting or other decorative exterior finishes. Tin Free Steel Features TFS has excellent lacquer adhesion properties allowing use for food cans, beverage cans and general line cans. Excellent resistance to black sulfide stain makes it the most suitable material for making fish cans. Even when the same surface finish as TIN PLATE is applied to the substrate steel sheet, it provides the unique surface luster characteristic of metallic chromium.

The good news, if any, is that the tweaking of the electronics and software have been ongoing while all the other hundreds of details of getting the thing produced are being sorted out. For example, LE.JAG has posted about improvements to the depth in the iron ID modes so that now the depth penalty for using these instead of all metal has been reduced to a very small percentage. Since they announced long ago that a gold nugget PI was next in line, I would expect that this platform’s development has moved along so that the gap between the introduction of the “Aqua” and the “Terra” might not be so long.

Skate, The Impulse is on the whole slightly less “fussy” than the TDI (I have had two of those). The controls are similar, but there are differences. One big difference is that there is no huge depth penalty like is found in the TDI when the TDI is in GB on mode vs. GB off. Below is a photo which was released after Fisher brought a proto to the Huge Outdoor Expo in Germany. Here is my best shot at explaining how it works. Please note that l have only used a prototype and that only for a few hours per day over three days. Volume and Threshold are pretty self-explanatory. Likewise Sensitivity operates pretty much like on any other detector. The two smaller knobs at the bottom are - on the left, the on/off, Batt test, noise cancel, all metal and two discrim modes - mute and tone. The right hand one sets the noise cancel position when in noise cancel and the pulse delay when operating in all metal or one of the two discrim positions. The start up routine is turn on to noise cancel, then rotate the right hand bottom knob till you get the quietest audio - there is no stop, it’s just a rotary encoder. Turn to all metal and set comfortable level of sensitivity, threshold and volume. The Sat Speed works much like the SAT or recovery speed setting on a VLF, longer signals with more depth perhaps or shorter ones to enhance the discrim function if you are using it. The Iron Mask Knob increases the effect of discrimination in the Multitone or mute iron ID modes (selected with the lower left knob). The Pulse Delay control is generally used at the minimum which conditions allow. Some circumstances may require a longer pulse delay to compensate for salinity, running salt water or other factors. The shorter the delay, the more sensitivity to ALL targets, not just to small ones. The SAT and Pulse delay interact to some degree so adjusting the delay may make you want to tweak the SAT. Unless ferrous junk is a serious problem, all metal is the quietest mode and the most straightforward to use. It also has the max depth (although the sensitivity difference between it and the ID positions has been steadily reduced as the successive prototype revisions were developed). LeJag, who has been the chief development tester, hunts in all metal and finds that he seldom needs to cross-check in discrim. - but he has been using PI’s for a decade and is an ace. In my limited use of a prototype last October in San Diego, I found the all metal or the iron mute discrim mode to be the most comfortable for me. None of the settings are super critical. The

On the general topic of the Impulse/Manta not being ready for product launch, I think Olson Wells summed it up long ago OK - I swear the AQ ain’t no cheap California wine, but the classic Olson Wells commercial for Paul Masson, is probably in line with the thinking of the “gnomes” in El Paso. When it’s ready, it will be ready. Hope the "Finish" is as expected.

Leaky cases are always a critical failure in a waterproof design. I have no idea if the supposed case leak has anything to do with the slow pace of final pre-production development at Fisher - as Steve said, Fisher is “leaktight” (lol) on the subject of the Manta/Impulse! Here’s some stuff on leak testing waterproof items from a major supplier of testing services and hardware. Here’s some stuff from the biggest testing company in the area of leak detection of electronic devices. This shows the two-step test. A container with the device in it is pressurized to a given level. If that pressure decreases, i means the air has leaked into the device (the interior of the device is at ambient pressure to begin with - a pressure lower that the level the chamber is pressurized to. pic upload upload photo to internet for link [www.cincinnati-test.com]

It's simple. Gold is rare. It is incorruptible -never corrodes or tarnishes - eternal.

There’s always the possibility that they just couldn’t get the bloody things to work! Lol

If you read ML’s tech literature, you will find lots of stuff about the benefits of the digital link vs analogue between the coil and control box. I’m sure that there are a number of advantages, hence the presence of the chip in the coil. It isn’t ALL about blocking the aftermarket. None of this answers the complaint on the lack of original ML coils however.

In a tidy house like Steve’s, it ikely makes no difference. There is a reason however why the wearing of masks has often been agains the law. On the other hand, there was the Lone Ranger!! Lol So I-guess, however you choose to be known - you or I will sooner or later be KNOWN. And that reputation will be based not on our name but on our behavior. In a well managed forum, that’s probably good. This is a well managed forum, I reckon.

I chose Lytle78 as a forum name and still use it on most forums. For Steve’s place, I thought that we might be better served - on the whole - by using our real names - makes for a certain accountability. The funny part of the “Lytle78” handle was that I chose it because my Norwegian wife and I were married (by a strange set of circumstances) by a JP in Lytle, Texas. Only problem is that I was a bit confused about the date - we were married in ‘77, not ‘78!! Nice thread, thanks for starting it!!

Here's what Google translate makes of the above "I might try the new one from minelab, since equinox never worked, always talking about salt water, you know and sure it will be the understanding of AQ, I don't know what you think, but here something strange happens!"

Fair price - $200 - $250 each is about right - I have bought and sold some in that range.

Here’s a link to the black sand video, in French, but I have added some titles in English

The first one who gets to Tenerife with and AQ will clean up - it basically ignores that black volcanic sand. There are videos which were posted years ago of a Manta prototype picking up a gold ring beneath two large bags of black volcanic sand. As far as release to the market - Nobody who knows is saying anything. I know nothing about that.

As far as I could tell, the presence of iron near gold had no effect on the signal from the gold when the AQ was operated in the “Iron Mute” ID mode. In all metal, all targets are heard and the iron is heard as well as the gold.

I had a prototype late last year for a few days. At Coronado beach in San Diego, it hit a buried nickel at 17-18” with a strong signal with the iron ID on or off. My Nox managed 8” on the same nickel. The beach was striped heavily with black sand. The discrimination works in or out of the water. When the AQ is in the iron Mute mode it kind of reminds me of the Soverign because the iron goes quiet - however, unlike the Sovereign or Excal, there is no nulling. Any low conductive target like gold is still heard just fine, even under a few nails, the iron just sort of disappears.

first New Zealander I came across was in Saudi - 40 years ago or so. big guy - the ex-RAF Brits on the job had nicknamed him “Boot” Stupid me - I had to ask. Here was the answer...

MXT - S If anybody knows the answers to your questions, they aren’t able to answer them yet. It takes time to bring a design to market. All will be revealed in due course.

I tried them all at one time or another, I was finding aluminum scrap at this site - probably a result of the power line construction. I am pretty sure I was using either multitone or mute - I am not certain, I was not concentrating on the power lines, just trying it in the nice deep sand.. The machine I had for a few days in October was a prototype and the production version is supposed to be refined in many ways. All metal is inherently quieter than any other mode, it has to do with the way information from more than one channel is used. It is a characteristic of multi channel PI detectors.

I used an AQ prototype last October under huge transmission lines - quiet as a mouse in all metal.

We shall see. It is hard to see how there is room “under” the Nox 600 for a simultaneous multifrequency detector. All that X-Terra technology waiting for a new mechanical design and a software/hardware “tweak” to let the same coils run at both available frequencies (unlike the X-Terra - and it’s hopeless ‘buy a coil of each size for each frequency” mess). If I am right in my guess, then you are right as well - Minelab will have some fast explaining to do as to why anyone would want anything “obsolete” like a “singlefreaker”

Any citation for the information about multifrequency?

The Nox is essentially non-repairable apparently, there is no nondestructive way to open the control box. Any fault in the control box and you get a new one back. Makes for quick service turn-arounds. expect to see more of this in future machines from other makers - service is a money losing proposition, much faster just to replace.

There is a glimmer of hope. A fellow who not so long ago advertised mods on Tesoros has relocated and although he isn’t set up yet he expects to be able to offer mods and perhaps repairs in the not too distant future, I believe he has schematics for at least some of the machines. He isn’t ready to go public yet, but at least it is a glimmer of hope. I have been in contact with him but he has asked for no further disclosure till he is in a position to do something useful.

I think it might have something to do with that case a few years back in the Superior Court in Sanaa in Yemen. Two Yemeni brothers brought suit against NASA seeking to enjoin them from releasing technical data from the Mars Lander program. Their claim to the data was based on their ownership of the planet Mars. In court they produced a 600 - 700 year old deed to the planet and evidence supporting their status as the rightful heirs. It may be, of course, that this has nothing to do with your issue with your permit - after all, the suit was dismissed! Wallahi Inshallah! (“I swear that this is a true story - god willing” - these words are usually added at the end of a yarn by any pious speaker of Arabic, whether they are Muslim, Christian or Druze). If you ask how I know this stuff - check my profile pic - bad day in big sand - Empty Quarter - Saudi Arabia - a long time ago - it was a new ‘92 Suburban 3/4 ton capacity 4X4 with the 454 Cubic Inch “Big Block” engine. Funny about that - the 1/2 ton Suburbans and Pickups had a logo on the trim low one the side which read - “1500”, the 3/4’s had “2500”. Well, things are often different - one side of the Atlantic to the other, and we had a lot of Brits on the contract. One of them came up to me one day and asked (innocently) - “do you find that 2.5 liters is enough displacement for that size vehicle?” I smiled sweetly - “no, that would never do, of course - happily it has an iron block V-8 - 454 cubic inches - 7.4 liters displacement”. It was magnificent - as our pal, the Italian Cultural Attaché, Alessandro D’Maigret remarked when he first saw it “ Che Bella machina” ’Wallahi Inshallah”