kac

I haven't tried the larger coil yet in the surf. It may go deeper than I can dig and may drag too much in the current. Underwater the 8" coil handles nice. I can't see digging more than a foot in the surf especially with my scoop that is only 5x7 round.

I seen the clr in the market here will snag some. Does the silver cleaner smell like ammonia?

How many volts is the TDI with the extra voltage pack? SH uses 8 AA batteries so it's 12v? Also 3-4" deeper that is the TDI 12" coil vs the 12"x14" or the stock 8". The 12x14 does go a bit deeper than the 8 but I never did any depth test in the field with both and hard to tell exactly how deep something is in sand.

CLR is the stuff they use to clean tubs etc right?

Clad coins I dump into a vibratory tumbler with fine walnut shell that doesn't hurt them at all. Do you check the quality of the vodka over ice prior to dunking the coins in? :)

That's what I thought. I wasn't sure because the machine has been broken since the dd coil cracked and I got the concentric to replace that. Garrett seemed to have not repaired the machine itself and only replaced the cover and updated firmware then shipped it back to me. I suspected something was wrong because after a few minutes of testing I noticed the audio was flat (all or nothing sounds on targets) and depth didn't seem right. I took my tejon out in the same snow and it gb's fine no issues. If I layout a series of targets and sweep the coil over them a few times to check recovery speed it works fine for about half dozen passes then will only pick up on one or 2 targets. I check the gb and sure enough the machine is falsing badly as if it was in the salt. Factory reset does nothing but if i leave the machine off for a while I can gb and soon it fails again. To me that sounds like there is a bad capacitor on the board. Got a message in to Garrett and hopefully they can make things right. If not I have a nel big and brand new concentric up for sale. Thanks

I have been using my SH more and yes you do dig a lot of iron but if you use the discrim on it and set between 3-3 1/2 you will drop much of the small iron. I have not had any issues with it sounding off in the surf, black sand or hot rocks at all. If your not dunking your knoggin then the M2 headphones are really nice and will really help on hearing smaller targets and deeper targets. Small iron may give you an inconsistent signal (sound off in one direction) had have a bit of a sour sound to it vs a coin which sounds good in different directions. I found it very hard if not impossible with the waterproof headphones to tell any difference on anything as the tones are simply loud or non existent and flat. I find it important to sweep the coil consistently and slow around 1-2 ft per sec. The small stock 8" coil is good in the surf as there is less drag but depth on the 8" coil would run about the same as any of the vlf's that have a beach mode for the most part. I find the stock 8" coil just too small to cover any ground. Larger iron like deck screws, entire lobster traps burried 2-3ft down and other bits you will end up digging. I use my SH in the mouth of a river that is loaded with iron and in spots it is just impossible to dig all. I don't really see how the Beach Hunter would do any better in those conditions. I also can't say about the TDI and how it is on small jewerly and chains. I know the SH is not nearly as good on small jewelry and chains as a vlf would be and certainly isn't going to pick up a tiny chain at 6" unless it's balled up or has a descent pendant attached. On damp and dry sand a vlf is the better choice unless you can't gb the machine. In the wet going super deep is a daunting task to dig anything as the sand just fills in. I think Chase is right, take that Nox you already have and give it a run. Might be pointless to spend the money as the conditions might not be that bad. Here on the east cost other than a few spots of hot rocks and black sand the majority of the beaches here a vlf will do the trick. I don't think the TDI is going be that much better than what you already have. I'm not knocking the TDI's capability but it could be just overkill with little or no gain.

The leaks reminds me the time I sprung a leak in my waders. My crotch was completely soaked and when I hit a local convenience store and bought some snacks with some soggy cash I pulled out of my pocket. The gal behind the counter gave me the nastiest look and took cash with the tips of her fingers in disgust.

I recently broke my stock dd and replaced it with the 9x12 concentric. For the life of me I could not ground balance the machine in snow, just an inch or 2 it would false out like crazy. I did repair my dd but it is slightly out. Sent the 2 coils to Garrett along with the AT Pro and they repaired the machine, put in new firmware and confirmed the dd was out of wack. Went to use the machine over the weekend and still can't gb it with the concentric. Does anyone have a 9x12 concentric on an AT Pro and can confirm the issue? Not sure if it is the snow or the machine is marginal and sensitive to the cold or not. Thanks

I have the SeaHunter too and with the larger 10x14 coil it hits close to what a TDI Beach Hunter does. Big turn off for me when I was looking at pi machines for the beach was the TDI Beach Hunter has a hard wired coil so you can't change it out and if it breaks the machine has to be sent in for repairs. I use the hip strap on my SH and can swing it all day with the larger coil. I would sell the Nox 600 and get the Nox 800 and snag the larger SH coil. Lastly when beach combing or wading I use the M2 headphones on the SH, audio is so much better. Much easier to hear the tiny targets.

I did a little digging, in Wichita there is an airforce base that was established in ww2. https://www.sheppard.af.mil/Home/Welcome/ There seems to be 2 memorials out for Edwin E Estes, one a Sr other Jr. So my wild guess those tags might be Korean war? Possibly WW2. Thinking someone dumped an urn and tossed the tags in the ocean and you were kind enough to recover them :)

Has the tooth groove on one end, I do believe it's a military dog tag. Maybe an Iraq war vet lost it?

Think you can find the owner of the dogtag? Wonder how old that is? Cool finds.

Audio on the pro is much better and annoying when people run them with the iron disc at 0 and iron audio on all the time then complain they can't hear anything hehe. I have used the Max and if you don't tone them down and run full blast they are noisy. Nugget that size he could have used his pin pointer 🙂

Did you ever get the machine back? How was the service?

I'm thinking the tiny silver must have been up in the dunes and washed down as there has been tons of erosion. Might take my Tejon out and hit the high sides just because there is so much iron and fencing it is hard to get through with a Pi.

The musket ball blindness could have been a bad user setting or maybe early firmware? Always wondered how a machine could miss something like that, seemed unlikely.

I was imagining you crawling around on the beach with a pinpointer LOL. I have a dedicated pulse induction machine I use on the beach and use my others on land. I do like my SeaHunter mk2 and depth is pretty descent, goes deeper than my vlf's in the salt without the hassle of ground balancing but it is weaker on small high conductors and small jewelry. Discrimination on it is pretty poor and you really need to keep your coil speed consistent to get consistent results. At best I can trim out the small iron but still find loads of deck spikes and big iron. Stock headphones are harsh so I recently tossed on a pair from my other detector and the machine is so much nicer. Lastly on the SH is the stock coil is great in the water but too small to comb a beach so by the time your done your in the $700+ mark. With that being said, a machine like the Vanquish I would guess would do really well. Be nice if someone with the 12" coil posted their results at the beach with it. My guess the elliptical coil on the Vanquish might be a bit better or more stable than the stock 11" round coil on the Nox 800. That would be a good comparison of machines.

Finally got out to the beach, lot of wash but wanted to give my seahunter a run and try out the m2 headphones instead of the stock waterproof ones. M2's make a world of difference in the audio on that machine, can hear the target much better especially tiny targets with the discrim kicked up. Dug much less iron as I can tell better what I am hearing. Anyways not much there as the storms ripped the dunes down and the banks are 9-12' up where they used to be only a few feet. Besides the wash I got all excited and thought I found another trime but instead it was a 1951 netherlands 10 cent. Amazing how it held up next to the other coins I found in the area.

That is a good take, well done! I had been eyeing the Orx or Deus for a while but wish they had a real waterproof version. How's the HF coil vs the X coils?

Did it work before? How good are the batteries? I try to shoot for the stupid stuff first, can't tell ya how many times I worked on a piece of equipment, hit the power switch and stared only to realize I forgot to plug it in.

You seemed to have done pretty good with a pinpointer! Those are used to narrow down the search once you come across a target and have dug it out with a shovel or hand digger. I don't bother with a pinpointer on the beach as the salt tends to make them sound off and I am a bit lazy and just use my scoop so I don't have to bend over. Detectors rang in prices are pretty wide. Usually the more expensive ones have more bells and whistles but not always essential. If your planning on hitting beaches, parks and fields a waterproof detector might be the better choice. There are couple of new models out that are targeted to the new guys and have many of the functions preset to make it easier. They also perform very well. Minelab Vanquish and Nokta Simplex. Next tier on all terrain machines by price would be Garrett AT Pro, AT Max, Minelab Equinox 600, 800, Makro Kruzer series and Nokta Amphibio series. After that your hitting the 1k+ mark in price. Best thing if find a machine that fits your budget, purpose and is comfortable to use. Big favorite out there is the Equinox 800 but it is on the upper range in price.

Epoxy used in coils is not flexible for a reason because if it was and was allowed to flex the coil would constantly go wonky and machine would sound off every time it was bumped. I didn't realize how little movement is needed to be out of balance until mine cracked.

Mine broke because I snagged it on a log in the woods and it was in the low 20's F out so I am sure the cold makes them bit more brittle. Tapping into things and scraping shouldn't hurt them.

Great find! I take it you don't practice catch and release :)