PimentoUK

Nice story, thanks for posting. Makes me think of all the deep targets I couldn't recover, and really need to re-visit. Your coin may simply be undersized because it's a forgery. I'm sure you know they were regularly forged in Great Britain, and many of those ended up in the US, plus there are plenty of US-made forgeries.

Quote: "A strategy of hanging on to it might be prudent if possible. " I think it's possible to do better than that, by selling when it's peaky / buying when it's dull and uninteresting. I suffered through "hanging on" during the crash in gold in 2011. That took years to recover from. I've traded the stock market since the early 1990's, and have invested in gold. So I've seen bubbles and busts, and plenty of dull price action, too.

Quote: "Hang on to your Silver & Gold rings & bling guys & gals, prices have been rising steadily almost every day. Gold is currently at $4,066.60/oz ...... In the last month, Gold has risen $415.20/oz." I tend to think that if it's rising so fast, from an already very high price, then it's an indicator that you should be looking at selling, and not 'hanging on'. You can rarely get the timing of the peak right, so it's best to spread out your sales. It's better to sell into a rising market, than miss the peak and find the price falling every week.

The box states "Watch size" ? Maybe some experimental Television Watch from the 1970's, with a cable running up your sleeve to the substantial battery pack?

" ... and to my surprise, upon removing the reinforcement, I saw one of the lugs was broken" It's a fact that 'reinforcement' part do nothing to prevent lug breakage. You still have to bend in the ears to get friction on the rubber teardrop washers. This bending, for months on end, causes the break. And your other photo, showing the 'inside' of the unbroken ear, clearly shows your failure mechanism. The lug is severely worn. That missing plastic means the lug has to be bent in even more to get friction. The result is eventual failure. You need to clean inside the lugs and the rubber washers regularly, especially if you beach-detect, or detect dry dusty places. The washers will wear down. If the plastic of the lower rod starts rubbing a circle inside the lugs, you need new washers, or fit shims behind the existing worn ones to bring them out more. If you are able to keep the lug inner faces looking smooth with only minor surface abrasion, you should get the best lifespan. [ new coils have re-designed lugs, that should be tougher, but you still need to look after them.] Washer shims, to fit behind the rubber: https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/13663-ongoing-equinox-coil-ear-breakage-issue/#comment-137197

Quote: "The Equinox models, X-Terra Elite and Manticore all have non motion pinpoint modes for use in every program" I've been an Eqx 600 user for five years. And I routinely use non-motion 'Pinpoint Mode' for hunting, despite its flaws ( auto-calibrating threshold being one )* What I was intending to convey is: "The Equinox 600/800 don't have any all-metal modes. I was surprised that ML didn't amend this glaring omission on the later 700/900 revisions, and especially on the Manti" * It would have been good if ML had also included the option of "Conventional pinpoint" mode, in addition to the existing "Auto-calibration" type. This feature, (which would be very easy to add), was one of a huge number of suggestions in this thread in the Equinox sub-forum: What Features And Performance Improvements Would You Like To See In The Next High End Minelab Coin Detector? https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/14250-what-features-and-performance-improvements-would-you-like-to-see-in-the-next-high-end-minelab-coin-detector

I was disappointed that the Manti,( and the two newer Eqx models ) did not feature any all-metal choices. Even if they were only functional in the single-frequency modes, experienced detector users know what frequency is best for the target they are after, so can choose wisely. The fact that pinpoint-mode appears to be multi-frequency ( it transmits the standard multi-freq waveform ) suggests it's possible to make a motion-mode SMF AM response. Perhaps even give the user choices, such as "low-freq biased MF AM" and "high-freq biased MF AM".

Quote: "Is the BMS on the detector circuit board or part of the original battery?" BMS boards are built in to the battery pack. There a photo of a dismantled pack on the previous page. So if you had a failed battery, you could re-use the BMS PCB. If you're trying to make your own 'second pack', you're going to need a new, 'equivalent' BMS board, and it would be best to have one with the ntc sensor on it, though this can be worked around.

The ntc sensor will no doubt have a 'standard' value ( 10k at 'room temperature' seems a possible common type ). It will likely be connected to the -ve black output wire, and the yellow T wire. So if you measure the genuine Garrett ntc resistance at ambient temp, you can add your own sensor to a standard battery management PCB. The ntc sensors are readily available on eBay etc, pretty cheap ( 50 cents ) ( though you may have to buy 5 off ) in hobbyist-friendly leaded packages.

The new pics show the cell is actually 7872118, ie. 7.8mm x 72 x 118. I imagine in practice that two 8mm thick ones should fit. A quick google shows the existence of 7061107 ( 7.0 x 61 x 107 ) and 8066120 ( 8.0 x 66 x 120 ) cells, there are definitely ways to make up a reasonable capacity pack if your original cells have lost their oomph. The yellow wire does connect to a PCB pad labelled 'T', so a temperature sensor output is likely. However, the sensing element is a small resistor-like part on the PCB, probably rather anonymous-looking , part 'R3' at a guess. The 'thermal switch' looks like a self-resetting device, based on a bi-metallic element. Overheating causes a metal strip to bend in a 'snap' action, opening the circuit. On cooling, it snaps back. It has a 60 degrees Centigrade label on its case. Also worth knowing: The tabs on these flat batteries are sometimes made of stainless steel. If they are nickel-plated, then they can be easily soldered. But if stainless, you will need special solder. There are types specifically for SS, but usually aluminium solder, such as Alusol, will work. Abrade the surface with a fibreglass pencil / very fine abrasive paper / scratch with a knife beforehand to help remove the oxide layer.

I'm thinking the 8/72/118 will mean it is 8mm thick and 72 x 118mm wide/long. One unknown is the -2 suffix. It just may be two cells sandwiched together. Edit: based on what is available online, I estimate an 8 x 72 x 118 cell to be 8000 mAh, so that points to this pack being two 8 x 72 x 118 cells in parallel. These cells would be described as 0872118 size, if you're trying to track them down. Of course, you could fit smaller cells ( shorter, less wide ) if you sacrifice some capacity/run-time. Rebuilding such a pack would not be too tough, the heatshrink cover should be available online, typically from radio-control model suppliers.

You need to tell us more about these mystery 10x5 targets. Are they foil-thick, sheet-metal thick, or 10x5x5 cylinders?? Steel/iron, or non-iron? Poor electrical conductors, like stainless-steel; good conductors like aluminium, copper? I can't work out if you're after buried utilities, like junctions in water pipes; Mason/Kilner jars full of coins; or old iron relics in farmland.

You're going to struggle with this request if you're completely unfamiliar with detecting in general. You really need a large search-coil, eg. the round 15 inch Detech, ( not the ML 15"x12" ) (Edit :there is also an 18" coil available, this may be too unwieldy, and hard to use, so perhaps be aware it exists, but don't buy, yet.) Then use the machine in non-motion mode ( ie. Pinpoint Mode ). Hold the detector with the coil level, about 40 - 45cm above the ground. Engage Pinpoint mode, and slowly walk forwards, listening for the rise in volume from any target. If you get an indication, walk backwards/forwards, with a little slow left-right coil swing to find the 'sweet-spot'. The EQX isn't the best for this task, as it has a 'self-calibrating threshold', which makes it a bit inconsistent in operation, and usually a bit less sensitive than is possible. You will need to re-pinpoint fairly often, the machine drifts off. To 'work around' the self-setting threshold, one possibility is to pinpoint with the coil , say, 55cm above ground, then lower it to the final 45cm. This will result in slightly more ground pickup, taking you closer to the audio threshold. Another trick I've tried : hold a digging knife ( or other comparable metal item) in your opposite hand. Hold it clear of the coil ( eg. behind you ) when selecting pinpoint mode, then bring it forwards towards the coil. This should get you at the audio threshold, with subtle knife movement you can also compensate for thermal drift and ground-signal changes. And as Steve suggested, test your skills out on a dummy target. The target can be above the search-coil ( they are symmetrical in operation ) , maybe you can improvise some wood 'jig' to hold the test object a suitable distance in the air. It isn't easy.

A certain level of resistance is required on ONE of the L or R channels to trigger the electronic switchover from internal speaker to headphones. I cannot recall which channel it measures ( I will look through my notes, maybe I can find it ). But a simple solution would be to add a 47 Ohm resistor from L to Ground, and another from R to Ground. That should ensure it sees 'valid' headphones.

Yes, they are identical