okara gold

Yep... I broke it good. I do hunt constantly in the water with the pod never seeing air for hours on end and swells that lift me off my feet. I rarely hunt knee deep and prefer waist to chin depth. Wet sand on bad wave days or try to tackle my honey do lists. My backup is an Excalibur with the modified pinpoint which is somewhat new to me so will be using that until things get straightened out. Those knurled pieces did destroy the plastic on two areas with cracks forming on the others. Funny...When I spoke to Minelab they asked me if I was using the factory shaft. I knew this was a "trick" question and I could have easily said it was factory, but I could not lie, so told him it was a CF shaft by Steve. That's when he said they would have to look into it. So in a nice manner I told him I could have lied and said it was factory but didn't... so please take that into consideration. He then said he would mention that to someone else who made the decisions. Long story short they replaced it, no problem. It's a tough environment in salt water. Bob K

A little over 2 years and a lot of water hunting and the ears snapped. I’m not surprised after all I’ve heard about that problem. Had another breakdown a couple months ago. All 4 screws with inserts pulled out of the pod. Minelab had to review and decide whether or not to warranty it and finally said it was a one time replacement because I was using a CF rod and not original equipment. They said it was probably overtightened. I stated the inserts were corroded from salt water immersion and constant torque and pulled out. Earlier on, the sleeve on the armrest broke which they also gracefully replaced. Glad it is all under warranty. So it will be like brand new again.

I’d take something like that in a minute. I wonder if some of the talk from FT about a new prospecting machine, lightweight etc got Minelab’s attention and they are trying to get something comparable or exciting out rather quickly. Guess we wait and see.

Thanks for sharing those great finds.

Those are beautiful examples. Well done!

Hopefully it’s got some nice old bottles in it. I bought my first metal detector in the 1970’s to look for bottle dumps.

Oh yeah!! I remember the days getting tangled up in scrub oak with all kinds of cables wrapped around the branches. Even had to take the battery and harness off to get out of the bushes. Lost a few coil covers that way too. LOL

Very interesting news. Good old Minelab... They never sleep.

Congratulations! The first one is always the hardest!

Had the Nox 800 in the saltwater today for 4 1/2 hours and I didn't see any difference in using different sensitivity settings. Still the same as before but one good thing... it still finds gold. A 10K ring and gold plated chain along with some coins and the usual junk. Bob

Aside from Joe OBN... It has been really quiet about results with the few AQ's that are in use.

There was a guy in Miami hunting the dry sand with a few kids following him around. He happened to dig a gold ring upon which they started yelling... "He found gold, he found gold". People came running over to see it. He handed it to someone who asked to see it, who handed it to another and another, and within a few seconds HIS found ring was gone. Finder beware!

I got to the beach at 06:30 and the swells were intermittent but impressive. I hunted the wet sand switching between Beach 1 and 2. Didn't notice any differences in sensitivity settings. As I love to hunt the water I saw numerous openings in the swells that looked calm. So in I went... Bad decision... I could walk and swing ok with the numerous swells lifting me up 3 feet in the air and gently placing me down again. But when it was time to dig a target I could not stay on it too long as I was abruptly placed several feet away from it. This scenario lasted about 20 minutes and I finally threw in the towel. So... I cannot honestly say as to whether the update enabled me to squeak out another digit of sensitivity or not as everything was in motion. Next time...

I just installed the update. My realm of detecting is in the salt water and wet salt sand when the waves get the best of me. My hope is that one of the "various stability enhancements" might enable me to hunt with a little more sensitivity in the salt water without all the chattiness, hence a little more stability. I'll find out tomorrow and will let you know what I think.

Beautiful piece of gold. Congratulations!

Wow! The condition is superb. Congratulations!

Joe... I don't think you're getting old but are aging like a fine wine. Congrats on the 4 gold hunt, but more so on your accomplished battery improvement.

Nice going! A 3 ring hunt including gold is always a good day. Looks like the silver has been there for awhile.

Sad news indeed.

That was a good story! Thanks for the link.

I'm really impressed at how creative you can be. I need help changing the batteries in my Ray-O-Vac flashlight. ?

That's a nice looking setup Joe, to have your AQ battery improved, completed and ready to go. ? Looking forward to run times.

Nice find Joe! I have now learned to be sitting down in a chair before looking at your finds. This way I don't fall down on the floor in a state of shock...I just slump back in the chair! ?

Maybe FT is now in the process of outfitting future releases with the improved power cable.

Nice easy to search menu you came up with Steve!