Compass

21 hours ago, mn90403 said:

That is a great looking bracelet.  I wasn't able to hunt as long as you did but I used the 800/11 and it hits pretty deep in the damp sand.  I tried some long walks with Beach2 in the low tide areas and it produced very little.  It makes me wonder what a PI would do.

One night I was out and there were a couple of PI guys and they were getting targets but very far between.  That is the staging area so when the sand gets moving they are released and then thrown up the hill with the crusty quarters.

I agree on the best week this year.  I found a ring every day except today.  I'll post the hunts up after I get the pictures.

Mitchel

 

Thanks Mitchel, I've been checking some other videos and reports and it looks like some beaches got ripped apart while others pretty much stayed sanded in. I thought my beach was pretty good until I saw guys reporting tons of lead, old gold, blackened silver and silver coins from beaches stripped down near the clay. I am very happy with my hunts but it sure is fun to hunt an area packed with old targets. Looking forward to your reports!

8 hours ago, mn90403 said:

Well, I just couldn't let it go.

I had another ring 'disappear' from my car one day.  I knew it had been on the seat.  The seat had been cleaned up and it wasn't me.  I asked enough questions and searched enough spots to know it had been thrown away in the dumpster the night before!

We went out and searched it and there it was in the bottom.  We have people go through our dumpsters all the time for bottles and cans and many mornings they are dumped so that was really lucky.

Well, Don't feel bad Mitchel. I have had many finds disappear over the years. Some were given away, others were lost. A couple of one-of-a kind finds were stolen and I have also accidentally thrown some out. However, I think the biggest enjoyment I get from the hobby is finding the good stuff the first time- with the metal detector. 

On 7/6/2020 at 1:51 PM, Joe Beechnut OBN said:

I agree!!....100%...The AQ is a TDI on steroids. And while comparing both the TDI BH was not that far off on depth..3 to 4 inch's on most targets. I do think the AQ has some quarks that we still have to figure out.......... that will give even more information on targets but I believe many will be site dependent. When testing both I did like the AQ better but I felt the TDI BH was a very good machine for the price. 

Thanks Joe, Funny but I have often described the TDI as a Dual Field on steroids. 😉 A 3"-4" difference in depth between the TDIBH and AQ would be pretty significant in my opinion!

Welcome and congrats on the Nox 800! It's a great, versatile detector.

That's a lot of clad and not much trash- congrats!

Maybe by the time some of us get our Impulse AQ's you first owners will have all that trash cleared out of our way. 

Seriously though, every bit of information helps us better understand the machine's capabilities so thanks!

That's a good looking ring Mitchel- congrats x 2! 

"Has anyone else done this?"

I think that it happens to everyone if they hunt enough. Once I was scuba diving with my daughter and trying my hand at underwater metal detecting. She had the finds bag and I was handing her everything I found including a silver band, my first and only ring ever found while scuba diving. At the end of the dive we were going through the finds and I asked "where's the ring?"   We never found it and it was a bit humorous but I would have been crying on the inside if it was gold. 😉

"I'll finish with a rephrase of Monte's (experienced detectorist who posts here) trailer wisdom:  your eyes are your best discriminator."

Well, maybe not my eyes...especially at night!  

Welcome to the forum and hobby. In reading these posts I see a lot of good advice but realized that when people say to check a target in "both directions" that it might not be clear what that means. A beginner might think that means to swing around 180 degrees and check the target from the opposite direction when it actually means to re-check the target from a direction perpendicular to the direction you first heard the target. This can give you an idea of the shape of a target.

Most coins and rings are round, but certainly not all, and will sound similar approaching them from any direction but targets that sound different when detected from different directions are often nails, bobby-pins and other undesirable items. 

HOWEVER, there are exceptions so I'll often dig every signal depending on how tired I am or how many targets there are to choose from. As you may have already learned, some of the best finds are sometimes from the worst sounding signals. Good luck with the new detector- always an exciting experience.

1 hour ago, GotAU? said:

You know what though, the rake they show has many cut parts.  I would recommend making a base plate across the face of the rake, and put smaller teeth made of stiff wire sticking through them.  It will be expensive to cut out multiple parts  unless you design them in such a way that you can separate them... the expense for emachineshop.com is really the setup fee.

Thanks again GotAU, In looking at the video I don't see the value in the barbs since the rake would only be going in one direction. I believe I can simplify the design to minimize the cutting. I've already downloaded the software and watching the tutorials- pretty amazing possibilities with this stuff and I really appreciate the info about it. 

25 minutes ago, GotAU? said:

Go to emachineshop.com, download their free CAD design program and design your own.  Then upload it to them and they will ship your lasercut product back to you.  I built my own truck roof rack and the lasercut parts were about $45 each, but you’ll only need one and can bolt it onto the head of a basic rake. Its easy!

Wow GotAu...that is an option that I didn't know I had. I will definitely have a look. Thanks!

Certainly good to know- thanks Steve. 

51 minutes ago, Bill (S. CA) said:

Interesting.  I found that my Equinox 800 matched my TDI Beach Hunter for depth, or at least close enough that I prefer using it and not digging the junk targets at depth.  I will admit that I am not a PI pro, however, and may need more time on it to really appreciate its abilities.  I do want do some water hunting this summer and may use the TDI more because I am a little bit afraid of dunking my Equinox and having it flood.

Yes, that is interesting. Are you using the stock 11" coil? FWIW, I have had the Nox submerged in fresh water many times without any issues.

Hello, I am looking for a beach rake like the one in this video but will consider other designs. Thanks!

Added by Steve H, previous threads:

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/2544-coolest-rake-ever/

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/11582-raking-for-gold-on-the-beach-and-in-the-water/

2 hours ago, Joe D. said:

Hello again Compass!,

Excellent finds!! And excellent explanations!! I'm glad your doing well on the beaches!!

How's the canoe coming along?!👍👍

Thanks Joe, The canoe is coming along slowly. I am now stripping the bottom. Of course, I took the last few days off to metal detect.

6 minutes ago, Bill (S. CA) said:

Compass,

Nice results.  Maybe our paths have crossed, I'm sort of north from Santa Monica to Zuma.  I see that some of the guys hunting the southern beaches have done really well.  Unfortunately for me I got called back to work at the wrong time to take advantage of these unusual conditions.

Just curious since I see that you have quite an arsenal of machines, any reason why the TDI Beach Hunter was your detector of choice over either the Equinox of Excal?

Thanks Bill, I imagine so but it's been years since I've hunted around Zuma. I recently retired so it's nice to be able to go to the beach now whenever things look promising. That is a good question about my choice of detectors and I hope I have a good answer.

- My Beach Hunter is the best detector of the 3 for the black magnetic sand that I encounter on my beaches. It's not super thick most places but enough that it affects the Nox and Excal more.

- I believe that it is the deepest of the 3, especially, on the low conductor metals. The Excal is pretty deep in "all metal" mode but the target footprints seem small to me and the audio subdued whereas the Beach Hunter seems to belt out a tone on even small targets. I don't feel like I miss as much with the TDI BH. Now I do used a modified lithium ion battery pack that runs at about 15 volts but I would still feel the same way operating at the lower voltage. I use the Nox in fresh water where I can use the "gold" mode. It seems to operate more like a pulse with discrimination in that mode. Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of the "beach mode" on the Nox and with my hearing impairment I feel like I'm missing a lot. It might just be me but it seems like I have to concentrate so much more when I'm using the Nox in "beach mode" and I don't get close to the depth I need with my stock 11" coil. I could just need more practice with it though.

-  I used a Pro PI, then a Dual Field for several years with pretty good success. I think that the Beach Hunter is like the Dual Field but with a  stronger audio response, silky smooth threshold and greater affinity for low conductors. The 14 K bracelet I found yesterday really sounded good on the TDI BH but I tested it on the Dual Field and it had trouble "seeing" it. I think of the Beach Hunter as a Dual Field on steroids.

GL&HH!

5 minutes ago, Tony said:

Great hunt.....I love those all night hunts in the shallow water.......and I mean shallow water only !

Thanks Tony, Just to be clear- that picture were some of the better finds from 3 hunts, each about 4 to 7 hours long. Mostly in the wet sand but an occasional wave  would put me in knee deep water.

8 minutes ago, Skate said:

That is a nice haul. The beaches are a mixed bag this year due to closures. Glad you were able to take advantage of the opportunity.

Thanks Skate, Yes, surprising to find so many "fresh" drops but so much sand was moved that I suppose a lot of it was sitting up in the dry for some time.

I've actually had some pretty good weeks of detecting earlier this year mostly because of a drained lake I stumbled upon before the pandemic. However, this was certainly the best week of beach hunting for me in 2020 with my 4th hunt of the week this morning. It seems to be an unusual time of the year for significant beach erosion, a phenomenon usually experienced during our winter storms out of the northwest Pacific or in the late summer when hurricanes in the southeast pacific generate swells that make their way to the southern California coast.

I already posted about the first 2 hunts and hunt #3 came a day after a massive swell that I think even surprised the weather and surf experts. The lingering swell coincided with some extreme tidal swings so I anticipated that the conditions would still be ideal for detecting and I wasn't disappointed. It was a situation where I even had options on where to hunt as it seemed that pockets of targets were scattered over miles of wet sand, not particularly dense with targets but enough to keep me digging as many targets as I wanted to. 

One of these pockets yielded a nice sized silver ring that I thought was gold at first because it felt smooth and heavy and looked so clean in the moonlight. However, it was a fresh-drop silver and meant that other heavy metal targets could be nearby. Shortly after, a sterling silver cross made its way into my pouch and not long after that, perhaps, my favorite find of the year.

A nice coin-sized target was scooped out of the hole into a mound of wet sand beside the hole. Rather than taking a smaller bite with the scoop to retrieve the target I often reach down with my hand to feel for it and that is what I did with this one. In the darkness I love the feeling of a heavy unseen target in my hand immediately followed by the discovery of a hole in its center and the realization that I have a ring that is possibly made of some precious metal.

However, when I felt this target it took me a little longer to process what I had found. It felt like a heavy wet noodle and when I lifted it up I could see it was a clean, glimmering bracelet with gemstones! I turned on my headlamp and saw the golden luster and a stamp on the clasp where you would expect to find one on a nice piece of jewelry. Pretty confident that it was the real deal I thanked God for this wonderful moment that will be etched in my memory for the rest of my life.

Today's hunt was fun although not nearly as memorable. It seemed that the sand was beginning to return but there were still enough targets to keep me busy most of the morning. I did find a small, unmarked, gold letter "B" pendant that I'm sure is a lower carat piece and several small silver jewelry pieces and a pretty, wave-shaped, cuff bracelet that I thought was silver but turned out to be plated. 

Here are some of the better finds this week- actually all from the last 3 hunts as the first hunt yielded only costume jewelry:

The bracelet is 7" long, stamped "14 K" and weighs 8.5 grams.

Used the TDI BH with Ground Balance "off" on all 4 hunts

Thanks for reading,

GL&HH!

7 hours ago, Tony said:

Yep the TDIBH is a very good detector and will deliver when it can. The AQ has about 15% extra punch but successful hunting has a lot to do with confidence in equipment as the TDIBH does that for me........I’m sure the AQ does the same !

Thanks Tony- I agree- I really like my TDIBH. I did the battery mod and the detector seems more sensitive to small targets. I've had 2 more  good hunts since this one that I will post about later so yes, my confidence in it is pretty high. I don't see the AQ as replacing the TDIBH as my every day beach machine but I'll need to see more to decide. 

Welcome (again)  KOB, This is definitely a great place to get the latest news on the AQ.

3 hours ago, Jim in ma said:

I have 2 small fresh water beaches close to home,  They were both replenished in the 60s and through the years they have grown in size. I swam at these beaches before and after the replenishment I know the old section.   I have detected these areas first with the Xcal then the Xcal with a 15 inch coil moved on to the Infinium witch produced the most gold and silver.I detected until the area was quiet. Then I got the TDI BH started all over again with good deep targets silver and gold.    The TDI BH has the area is quiet again , Now it will be very interesting as to what the AQ will see beneath the reaches of the TDI.   Some of the targets with the TDI were getting down to the rocky gravel under the sand so I know there in more there just a little deeper.

Jim, Just curious. I usually opt for for a discriminating detector in fresh water because of all the trash. Do you hunt in "all metal" or with the Ground Balance "on" with the TDI BH? 

Congrats on that awesome ring Mitchel! I've yet to find a nice ring with a "14" TID. Yes, it was a beautiful evening to hunt- full moon, warm temps and (mostly) empty beach.

Thanks Seeker, I guess I'm used to digging lots of iron from my Dual Field and Pro PI days. At least there were some good targets mixed in with the iron. However, I was starting to think that I had brought the wrong detector with me for this hunt. It was sure beautiful out there wasn't it?

I've been thinking and posting a lot about the Impulse AQ lately as I patiently wait my turn to purchase one. Perhaps my TDI Beachhunter realized this and decided that it needed to put out a little more than it has during my last few trips to the beach with it. Same thing that happened to forum member, Seeker, happened to me yesterday. The news media had mentioned a particular beach being open on July 5th (that starts after midnight right?) but when I got down there there were signs all over saying that the beach was closed the 4th AND the 5th. Fortunately, I had a backup plan and, as has happened so many times before, the backup plan was probably better than my original one.  

Eventually, I found some wet sand to hunt in where the top of the slope showed indications of recent sand movement. It didn't take long to find pockets of targets but there was a fair amount of trash along with a few coins here and there. I typically hunt in "all metal" (ground balance off) with the Beachhunter because, after years of using the Dual Field, I'm more comfortable in that mode and like the extra depth when needed.

I followed the tide out and the number of targets dropped off considerably. During  the next couple of hours I searched all over for low-on-the-slope pockets occasionally digging that discouraging 1 foot deep pull tab or piece of can slaw. I only had about another hour left where I was parked when I started to get some promising targets in an area about lower-mid slope. First I hit a couple of coins, then a cheap ring followed by a heavy fresh drop silver ring, a neck chain and not long after that a lightweight fresh drop silver ring. 

I was "in the zone" when you can almost sense that the gold is near and time was running out on me. Suddenly, a nice loud tone rang out in my headphones and with one scoop the target was out of the hole. With my hand I grabbed the unseen target out of the mound of wet sand and immediately felt the unmistakable shape of a nice sized ring band! In the improving daylight I could see that it was stamped but I've been fooled so many times that I tried not to get too excited even though with the weight and feel I was pretty confident that I had a good one and my last target of the hunt.

The chain is stamped .925 but appears to be plated. The ring in the top left of center is stamped "750 Swiss" and weighs 13.3 grams.

https://www.furrer-jacot.com/us/wedding/gents-only/white-gold/71-28290-0-0

GL&HH!