cuniagau

It took me 4 short hunts to finally run the battery down. Total run time was approximately 11 hours and 35 minutes. That sure beat the 3 1/2 from the factory battery. I ran about 95% of the time in AM and only switched to Tone or Mute to check targets. Running mostly presets on the other settings. The audio of certain targets is starting to become inbedded in my brain now. Nickels are easy to recognize now.

As you rotate the ring you see it is "silver" on one side and "gold"(ish) at 180 degrees. At 90 degree it is a transition from silver to gold. Kinda cool actually. I have never seen one like it. It has a makers mark inside as well as Tungsten and China. It rang up at 18 on the Equinox.

On re-examining the pictures, I will throw my vote to meerkats also. The front legs are to long and the tail not big enough for a roo! Thanks for the "poll update". But it is still fuggly! LOL

Great story. I think all gold is beautiful BUT I do have to agree, that "roo" is fuggly! LOL

Glad I opted for the 11 hour BBB. (Beachnut Big Battery) That will still give me 9 1/2 hours of run time!!! 🙂

I have done some comparison testing and can hear the differences but I think I need to get in a lot more beach time on the AQ and some longer hunts times. The 11 hour battery ought to keep me out there long enough that the sounds are etched in my thick noggin. LOL I think that the biggest problem is that each piece of the lobster traps is a different size and in a different stage of decomposition. There can be no "standard" tone as each piece will give off a slightly different sound. But I need to focus on the prize-the gold instead. The trash is just part of the hobby. That is why we call it "metal detecting". And the detector is only as good as it's operator. So my goal is to get more beach time and become more of a "Le Jag" with the AQ. 🙂

Congrats on getting over the dry spell. We all know how heavy that Monkey can get! And also congrats on having the knowledge to know when to get yourself out of harms way!!!

Got my BBB (Beachnut Big Battery) 11 hour (est) run time battery today. Hope to give it a spin tomorrow. This should help me from having to backpack extra gear around for 3 1/2 hours or until the first battery quits me. I opted for the standard headphone connector to keep things simpler. The standard FT hearphones seem to sufficient at this point. Although I have been reading a lot on some of the threads about adapting other headphone for the AQ. That may be something I need to address down the road but not for now. I am just now starting to discern one target from another and don't want to start the learning curve again. LOL Thanks OBN for such a nice looking addition to my AQ. 11 hours is something FT really needs to think hard about now. Or at least the 8 hour version. That would be very do able I would think. I will keep you posted on run times. Joe PS: I am not sure why my pics are sideways.

Congrats on the collateral digs! Bag of rice for the phone for a couple of days and then try to charge it. I have four that I got to powerup that way. Three had already been turned off from their carrier and the other was an old iPhone 5 with a cracked screen that would power up but not keep much of a charge. I put up "found" signs on the beaches but didn't get any responses and the signs had been taken down the next time I went to the beaches. I do have three returns this year though. So it is always worth the "try". Keep working on the Cartier, more collateral to find too!!!

Norm, I have been using Steveg's counterbalance rod on my Equinox for well over a year and a half. About 99% of the time with the 15 inch coil. It is a treat to use for sure. HH, Joe

While the spur is usually made of brass, the rowel was usually iron and rusted away over the years.

That sure looks a lot like a bull lead.

I hear ya Jim!!!

Disintegrating in the name of saving history. I have never quite understood that logic. Keep it off limits until it is gone so nobody can enjoy it. I guess it makes sense to someone. The historical community has the political pull to make laws but hasn't the funds to preserve the real history. At the end of the day, the "spot" where history was made is still just a piece of land and nothing else. And most of the time the "historical" landmark is in the wrong location anyway as it is someone's best guess location. LOL

Universal language of Metal Detecting!

KOB, I think that you and I are experiencing the same thing. Sounds like it as I may not have articulated it so well as I am relatively new to beach hunting. I am checking my beaches as you say every couple of days to see which one has had some erosion and which ones are sanded back in. I have one that the sand seems to move sideway as one end of the beach is sanded in and the sanded out. I have some theories about the slopes myself and will be working on proving them out and as you say the negative tide area simple suck in my area. I would find more in dry sand with a VLF most of the time. I do think that you are correct in that it is a timing thing, at least this year. I think I will as they say, "suck it up buttercup" and dig all until I find that setting that give me the subtle nuance that tells me "lobster trap piece". LOL HH, Joe

KOB, I am in So Cal also. Looks like it may be the nature of the beast. I keep digging and dumping them in the trash. I can say at least that nobody will step on it and stab their foot. I have been digging tons of tent pegs too but can tell them from the sound and loooooong tone or double beep. It's a job keeping these beaches clean but at least we are doing our part!!! thanks, Joe.

kac, That is not a stupid question. I think that I just have more sand movement here and there are very few constants that you can rely on. I am trying to finesse in between a lot of extremes in sand movements. When or if the sand moves out, it takes everything with it. The Lobster Trap pieces are either new or in a spot that didn't get sanded out for a couple of years. I think that most of these pieces would move more freely than a heavier ring. Gold is usually (or averagely) 9 times heavier than other metal in the sand. That's what the smart guys tell me anyway. So the gold should sink a few more inches under where the coins and this junk metal is. Or that would be what you would think if you believe that gold in heavier. It should be in the same stratus with the lead sinkers or at least pretty close. I may just need to just keep digging everything and get it off the beach and take what AU the beach gives me. LOL thanks, Joe

Joe, I hunt in AM too but thought that I could switch to Tone (which works on coins) to give me more info on the targets. My beaches for the most part are steep and the sand movements are sever. The can loose or gain 8 foot of sand overnight. Yes, 8 foot is not a typo. You cannot hunt out in the surf either. Even if the waves were only a couple of feet tall, when they break, you wind up being thrown up to the wet line. (have had it happen, LOL) My beaches all have surfers on them so that should tell you something about the waves and the breaks. Anyway, there has been enough sand movement that I am trying to get to them before the sand and the jewelry is completely washed out. This is a tough environment in the wet and you have to be an opportunist and catch the conditions just right or they are gone. It takes major storms to bring stuff back in and we don't get major storms that often. Every few years I am told. So I just have to work with what I have. Ok, enough ranting and raving. It may take a few more days (or weeks) of using this detector but I will figure it out. In the mean time, I will have my VLF charged and ready if the wet conditions are not good enough for the AQ. thanks, Joe

kac, I'll give that a looksee next time out. It may be the tip that I need. :-) Thanks, Joe

Joe, Yep, these are in the same stratus as the rings, coins, brass pieces, etc. The coins that I pulled out were somewhat green which is a good sign. The sand had move a bit in this area with a 2 foot cut. I knew going into the AQ purchase that it was going to be just a special site detector that should compliment my Equinox/3030 and take the place of my TDI Pro and Dual Scan. BTW, I would have the same problem with the TDI. The coins would discriminate for the most part but not these pesky Lobster traps pieces. I guess I just need to go out more often and stay longer and just clean out my beaches. The downside is that I will be cleaning them out for my competition too. LOL I was hoping that someone else with an AQ would have recognized something that would tip me off before digging 6-8 scoops of sand. :-( thanks, Joe

sohn, No double beeps. I assume the longer pieces were oriented up and down instead of flat. I very seldom ever dig without circling it several times. If there is a longer tone I am not picking it up either. I have tried higher volume and lower to see if I can discern something other than beep. I would love to hear a beeep. LOL So far I know that coins (other than nickels) will dip into low tone, so I know the detector is discriminating. I am just not hearing the difference on these vinyl coated pieces. Thanks, Joe

I spent a couple hours after my chiropractor appointment yesterday hitting the wet sand with a dropping tide. I did dig a .925 loop earring and a copper wire ring with beads but these lobster trap pieces were driving me crazy. Especially the more rounded one that is an unbroken more or less circle. I would have almost bet OBN's YTD ring finds that it was a ring or at least anything but a piece of vinyl coated wire. Small nails can be rejected easily but these pieces of vinyl coated (hence lack of rust) lobster traps are a different animal. I tried for a while to get the correct Rejection for them but thought that since I was being so unsuccessful I would appeal to higher power. Yep, that means the folks on the forum that have years and years of experience with these deep, great sounding pieces of "...." trash! I at first thought I could just dig them and get them off the beach but they seem to multiply. Are they alive and reproducing? Geez Louise, I can't tell you how much I hate these things. Ok, my rant is over! Now for some suggestions on settings that might help ID these damn things. I am open for any suggestions for settings on my AQ to give me a hint that these time and energy consuming little devils are under my coil. I have been running mostly just the presets but have run the reject all the way up and down the scale along with the ATS, Sensitivity, and swing speed. I cannot seem to find a crack in the combination that gives me any type of a hint that there is a nuance to ID these little piece of ferrous garbage. Help!!! thanks, Joe

Not even enough for a cheeseburger. ☹️