cudamark

That's one good thing about the Excalibur.....put a brick on the gas pedal and hunt!

The targets that give me the hardest time are the cut coins at a turfed site. Those suckers sound like a GOOD deep target. They have the good target I.D., deep reading on the meter, and the faint signal that usually indicates a deep desirable target. It's only after popping the plug and chasing the sliver of a target with a pin pointer that you get your heart broken. Anyone know of a way of telling the difference between one and an actual good deep target? I have one old park I like, but, they have a real sharp lawn mower that has strewn coin shards everywhere. Makes it a real chore to hunt.

From what I've seen over the years, it's currently about a 10:1 ratio men:women, up from 50:1 years ago. This is for general metal detecting at parks and beaches. Relic hunters are more like 30:1, and prospectors even higher. When it comes to divers, I have yet to see a woman doing it. I'm sure there are some out there, but, just never ran across one.

Maybe Jeff Mc... and Gerry Mc... would be a good choice if Steve bows out.

Here's where using a different detector, such as a BBS machine, might hold the edge. In my area of the U.S., BBS machines do better with EMI than the Equinox. There may be others even better, but, when you need MF for salt water/sand, you're rather limited with choices.

You might also check with Nokta/Makro since they're in your country. Maybe they have something that will work for you or they might have a local referral. Just don't tell them it's for an Equinox! 😄

In salt water (especially with black sand) I need to sink the TRX tip into the wet sand, and then turn it on, to tune it properly. Otherwise it will false just touching the wet sand. After you do that, it works just fine for me at my hunting locations and with my mineralization.

Just for satisfying my demented mind......if a supposedly waterproof machine (of any brand) that is under warranty springs a leak, how do they know if it leaked at less than 10 feet, or, at more than 200 feet? A leak is a leak, isn't it?

Garrett who?....

Erik, it seems to me that the first and easiest way to see if your bone phones are working properly, is to have one of your mates with good hearing give them a go. If they report that they're plenty loud, like others have reported, you know it's your hearing situation, and not the phones.

I don't

I'm not saying that I haven't found targets with the AQ, it's just I haven't found anything good that my Equinox, Etrac, Excalibur, etc, wouldn't have found. Now, deep iron targets? Sure, I've found bobby pins and other iron junk 18+ inches down, but, so what? I usually hunt with all my machines set as hot as I can stand and dig everything except dead iron targets. In the case of the AQ, I dig everything. With my other machines, I average 1-2 rings every hunt. I have yet to find a ring with the AQ. Bad luck? I suppose, but, I would have figured the odds would have turned around by now having used this thing for over 200 hours. Since it's not a fun detector to use, I now just use it for specific hunts......mainly ones with deep targets in areas without much junk. Otherwise, I would rather use a machine that is fun to use and avoid the deep iron.

As a surface bobby pin, yes, but, in my experience, it doesn't double beep at depth.

The AQ tests pretty well in surface air tests and other tests using a brand new nail or similar. Do that same test with a rusty bobby pin down deep and see what happens. I don't find too many shiny new nails on the beach sitting on top of the sand.

Unfortunately, I think they're just the stewardesses.....