cudamark

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.

On 1/29/2022 at 2:47 PM, tvr said:

I don't think it is a rust thing. Bobby pins and hair clips that spring back in shape are difficult at times. I think it has more to do with the alloy than rust. They act similar to the crab trap and fence pieces that have a continuous conductive loop ... but the hair pins, if swept from the right direction, give a very distinct double beep.

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.

18 hours ago, Cal_Cobra said:

Perhaps they're fueling up their plane for their big splash at Detectival 🤔

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

I didn't have any luck with T-Rex scoops. Without gussets in the upper corners, they would break there after only a few months use. The ones without the upper plate-to-handle bracket support struts also developed cracks in that upper plate. I admit that I'm fairly hard on scoops. I tend to dig full scoops of wet sand, especially out in the water. In trying to be easy on my arms and back, I tend to lever the basket out of the sandy bottom instead of lifting straight up. That produces strain on any weak points and causes metal fatigue when there is some flex in those areas. The stiffer you can make these areas, the less flex and fatigue you're going to have.

I'd like there to be a variety of coil choices at the time I purchase the detector, and let ME decide what comes with it. If I plan to use it for the beach or open fields (like most of my detectors) I want a BIG coil....15" or bigger. There's just too much sand to cover with a smaller one. I also get smaller coils as the need arises for turf hunting or trashy areas. I just don't understand why the optional coils aren't ready at launch. They know good and well that people are going to want them. I'd order a Deus 2 right now if a big coil was available as part of the package, and not some mythical future date.

1 hour ago, midalake said:

NO, on the beach shovel.

 

My recommendation comes down to open scoop or more of a bucket scoop. If you are detecting in a rough surf, I recommend a bucket style that keeps the target in the scoop. Example:

RTG Pro Aluminum 6’ Water Scoop with Stainless Tip for Metal Detecting BB6TIP 9068004302 | eBay  

 

The ad says it's a 6 foot scoop. I assume they mean 6 inch scoop, as in the diameter of the basket. It also doesn't have a removable handle, which might not work for the OP.

Great to hear from you Gary! I'm not even an XP owner yet, but, I still enjoy your videos. I too am hoping for a BIG coil for the D2. I hope to see a package with that included sometime soon before shelling out the cash.

On 1/14/2022 at 12:01 AM, mcjtom said:

I got myself a cheap poly-carbonate sand scoop.  It's kind of sturdy, but I already found that it doesn't work particularly well, especially in wet sand, for at least three reasons: it's not as sturdy as stainless steel and digging the gravel is not easy, the holes are not big enough for the wet sand to fall through easily (I think I need a mesh at the bottom somehow), and, for compactness, my scoop doesn't have a long handle, which makes it pretty difficult to dig quickly and often...

I was hoping that somebody could point me out to a better scoop that I could either buy online (Amazon, Lazada - the latter is better as there are no import duties in Thailand) or that could inspire me to ask someone here to make for me.  The ideal one would be:

• small in size
• with the mesh that allows the wet sand to fall through (but, which would also allow or the scoop to be pushed into the sand with one's foot)
• with a longer handle, possibly removable (but not the full length as it won't be portable enough the way I do it - motorcycling...)
• cheap... (I know, but one has to start somewhere...).

Cheers!

I don't think you can find just one scoop to meet all your requirements.....especially both quality and cheap. When you say small, are you referring to the basket size? If so, most of the aluminum ones have smaller baskets, but, they aren't as easy to push into wet sand and much harder to push into shells, cobble, and rocks. If you just need something that will break-down to carry on a motorcycle, you can get a travel rod that comes in sections. Carbon fiber is the way to go here, both for strength and light weight. For wet sand, stainless steel works the best. If you go with an aluminum one, have a stainless lip put on the leading edge for easier penetration. As Steve mentioned, the size of the holes can vary between manufacturers. Measure your smallest coin there in Thailand and get one with holes a bit smaller than the coin. You get too small and it won't sift as well. Some manufacturers make a scoop with smaller holes in the bottom to help catch tiny objects. This can help with stud earrings and chains, but, it also slows the sifting process a bit. Speaking of which, no scoop is going to sift wet sand well unless you dunk the basket in the water. In wet sand, just dump the clump and spread it a bit to isolate the target. In the water or dry sand, just about any scoop will sift there okay. In looking at quality, ones with braces and gussets will hold up much better than ones without those features. If you're just dry sand sifting, they'll all work okay, but working in hard packed wet sand, shells, cobble, rocks, etc. is very hard on a scoop. Ones without these added supports will fail a lot sooner than the ones with them. I've tried and owned many scoops over the last 51+ years, and find that currently the Sunspot Stealth series and the Xtreme scoops are the best overall in stainless. There are some others that are fairly decent for the money, but, IMO, they just aren't in the same class quality-wise.

Having used a Gold Bug and a CZ, I was expecting a quality built Fisher detector that did what they said it would do. IMO,  I got neither with the AQ Impulse. Good luck FT trying to sell me another machine.

It seems to me that it would be in the best interest of both of them. If you piss off your customer base, those responsible will get fired, or the company goes bankrupt.

23 minutes ago, Cal_Cobra said:

This certainly could be the case with AQ, which I had high hopes for but as we've watched this dumpster fire flame out, it's been a tragic comedy of errors at best.  

Shill field testers could happen on other machines too, but I've also seen examples where the field testers made dramatic improvements to a detector (Equinox was delayed because of a highly qualified field tester find and we all greatly benefited from it).  I've worked with engineering and testing prototype electronics all my life, and the more I think about it, the more I generally disagree that people are just field testing for free detectors.  As you know, anyone that does a decent job field testing spends far more hours testing the detector then they could've simply applied those same hours to generate income and purchase one, so it's not really a "free" detector.  Couple this with the fact that 99.9% of the public has no idea what's being tested and what changes were made from prototype to general availability release.  Don't confuse field testers with YouTube personalities, a lot of the hard core field testers we don't even know about.

 

 

I may be all wet, but, I find it hard to believe that a detector manufacturer would knowingly use shill yes-men to test their gear if they really wanted an honest appraisal, but I've been wrong before. Paying for a professional analysis would be in their best interest to get all the bugs worked out. All the yes-men will do is give them a false impression of the detectors' performance and piss off all of us that are lifelong detectorists, leaving a sour taste in our mouths about anything that the company may produce in the future. Believe me, there's no way I'll jump on anything Fisher comes out with until it's been out in the hands of the public and thoroughly thrashed in real life....and maybe not even then if another company has a similar product. The old "shame me once....." adage comes to mind here.

23 hours ago, schoolofhardNox said:

I think it would have had some pluses with the mute mode when the beaches were ripped up, and all that remained were the heavy non ferrous and of course a lot of iron. I missed my first chance to use it during one time, when the headphones gave out right as I was getting to the iron patches. I would have dug low conductors during that time all day long if it let me. 😄 The second time It was the battery cable I believe (?). It's been so long now I forgot 🙄 But either way, I missed out on that feature (really the reason I bought it in the first place). Once repaired, the beaches sanded in and never returned to those conditions. Reliability is not one of it's strong points 😆 Seriously though, I realize it was a work in progress, but I wasn't expecting it to be that unreliable. That's not the way to drum up pre-production support for an upcoming machine. Joe solved the battery problem, and I'm sure that if the machine had hit the full 100 (or more) machines sold, someone else would have made batteries for it. They probably would have copied Joe's battery to a tee. 🤬

Yeah, I got one of Joe's batteries early on because of the pitiful 3 hours I was getting out of the factory battery. I too was hoping to use it for deep targets after some sand washout. That's pretty much what I use it for now....just areas with little iron and deep good targets. It's just too frustrating to use in areas with lots of junk targets, ferrous or non-ferrous.

31 minutes ago, King-Of-Bling said:

Didn't you read the micro fine print ?......" discrimination varies on one's hearing " 🤣

My hearing is actually better than my eyesight, so, I must have missed that! 😄

As bad as the design of the AQ limited is, with very limited battery life, I could live with all that if it had some reliable discrimination that was touted from the beginning. Sadly, it's just a slightly overpriced, poorly designed, and temperamental  dig everything PI machine.

You might also look into joining The Ring Finders .com. It's worldwide and might generate more requests for your service. 👍

Sorry, I couldn't resist! 😄 This is my gold finds since summer....1.20 ounces. It's about half or a little less of what I found for the whole year. My wife is wearing some of it and won't give it back for a weigh-in! It's a mix of 10, 14, and 18K and all found within a half hour of home. I hope everyone here finds a bunch more this coming year!

Cheers folks, Mark

I'm the same way Steve. I've used full tones for so long that using anything else sounds boring, plus I get ear fatigue listening to the same tone over and over again. I think I get a better idea on what the target is too. I still dig everything non-ferrous at the beach, but, I think I do a better job of playing "name that tune" before the target is out of the hole, than by using fewer tones.

Beautiful dug coin! IMO it would probably grade XF45 on the safe side. I has just a bit too much obverse wear, and I don't think it has enough mint luster to make an AU grade. I could be wrong though, depending on which grading service you use. I personally think PCGS is the best, but, NGC is not far behind. The scratches on the reverse will affect the value a bit though, so, I wouldn't invest in the expense to have it conserved and/or slabbed if it were me. Whether you are going to keep it or sell it online, it just doesn't seem justified financially.

My experience with air tests vs. ground tests with Minelab machines, is that they don't air test well. I get much more depth in mild ground (especially damp ground) than I do with an air test.