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Joe Beechnut OBN

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Joe Beechnut OBN last won the day on August 29 2023

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  • Location:
    Chesapeake Bay
  • Interests:
    God, Family, Gold, and friends.
  • Gear In Use:
    80% Minelab Excalibur
    20% Fisher Limited "AQ"

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  1. Maybe Carl can answer that one for I am not sure what the stock TDI internal wires are. Just my opinion from what I have worked with, 18 gauge is fine... and I think that is what the stock TDI batteries use? As far as internally I never had either the TDI SL or beach hunter. I do know of one BH owner who went to the 4 18650 cell battery packs and he has had no issues. I used his machine a few times out for depth testing. This I do know ... on the Excalibur I ran a Li-po 16.8 battery, the battery wires were 18g right to the board. Wires never got warm but the board sure does. I've since went to 3 Li-ion at 12.5 volts for the Excalibur. If you seen the wires that went to the battery on the Fisher AQ most would freak. Stock the machine runs 16.8 volts (I think 8 NiMH batteries)... The two white looking wires have two smaller wires inside each. One for the current and the other audio. I do believe they are 20g/22g or less. I now run 4 cell 16.8v like yours on the AQ now. Guess I have close to 100 plus hours between two machines. Just my opinion again, most 18650s have low Amps.. the ones I use most of the time are only 4.9 and 8 with such a short wire .. .. less then 6 inches from the board to the battery I would be more concerned about the heat on the board. I know that worries me on the AQ (132F), but luckily I do hunt in the water. Which I think more or less.. water cooled? Wait, now condensation is a issue..
  2. Great hunt! And the video is great too! I see nothing wrong with it, all takes a lot of effort. Well worth the time for now you have it for life... 🏴‍☠️
  3. Nice gold! If digging it up is all that matters you should video your hunts. Being able to relive each second when that moment comes is worth more than the gold one digs. I've been doing it for sometime now, and really enjoy reliving the forgotten memories.
  4. Out of the 16/17 years I've been metal detecting only once did I jump on a newly introduced machine, I give them a few years. By then several have them and all the good and bad comes out. This one is no different...
  5. Correct on the 8 cells I believe. This was not my machine, I made them for a friend who has the TDI Pro. At first he wanted a 5 cell LI-ion 18650 battery pack which would have been 18 to 21 volts. But for starters, I talked him into something a little milder. We went with the full charged 16.8 volts battery pack. I've used 14 gauge Silicon wire before on the battery side when I was doing batteries for the Fisher AQ PI, on the TDI Pro I copied what the stock battery used. I will keep you informed on the performance once Mr. Earl gets out, which I expect this coming summer? I'm sure the combo will work much better then the stocker for it is similar to the AQ 16.8 volt 18650 batteries that I did a few years ago... 4 and 8 cell. The NiMH/ NiCd Battery pack that came with the Fisher was good for a poor 3.5 hours, (same batteries as the TDI Pro's, stock batteries)..... my shorty Li-ion 4 cell pushed it to 5.5+ hours and the 8 cell got 11+ hours. Also did a few experimental batteries for the AQ playing around with different size Li-ions. I do like the sizes 21700 and 26500 but than the weight becomes a issue. The TDI Pro batteries were really simple, the AQ batteries I had to design a submersible pod, stock Fisher Battery on the right..
  6. Maryland's Strick rules converted me to a "In the water hunter only" I hated the door knocking and asking. There are many old beaches from yesteryears in the Chesapeake Bay, one just has to get to them by water. Most don't allow hunting during the summer season and if they do it's very limited. I struggle getting up early with those crazy Sandy Point summer hours . 7am to 9am. And that almost got shut down last year when a few were slipping in at 6am, Ranger passed along a message to all that hunt earlier, We catch anyone in here before 7am .. there will be no more detecting. That would be OC Md, they have a curfew where your not allowed on the beach from 1am to 5am during the summer. It is Maryland's best beach, cost a small fortune to live there or even get a hotel. You would think with millions of visitors the hunting would be great but things have changed the last ten years, not like it use to be. The good is .. it maybe one of the few spots in Maryland you can walk out and swing without worrying about getting asked to stop.
  7. I would recommend the SS version with CF handle. They pull a lot of sand out and 14 inches long really hits deep.. I have 2 similar.. brand .. Stealth.. both are about 7 years old now. I did go with the one with smaller slots or holes on the bottom, which I do like better than the other with all reg holes. I've dug a lot of gold with these guys. My conditions are fairly mild with clay, small rocks, oyster beds.. shells.. and sand in the mix or all... No big rocks or rocks to pry.
  8. Reviews and ..GOLD Maybe I missed a post but.......Anyone found Gold Yet?
  9. Think it was Aug 2017, Annapolis Md...we had a darken afternoon eclipse, not a full but I was out detecting in the water and it was a slow creepy shadow over everything... a look of its own. I just may venture out for this one also.
  10. Five Free days, can't go wrong with that and for sure your not missing anything here, in Maryland. Stay safe and watch those trucks! I grew up in PG Co. .. Riverdale, near the BW Parkway. Than got married at 21 and lived in Bowie for 20 years, Next to Allen's Pond. As far as the Ocean beaches, this time of year things are dead. Summer the place rolls, but not like it did 16 years ago when I started. The problem, they do that beach replenishment every few years now, they survey and if it does not meet their specs, they pump that sand in.. kills the off season hunting 😬 I stopped going in 2015 but still have several friends that live there.
  11. Be looking forwards in see your post. Nice to see what others find near by.
  12. Welcome from Annapolis. What part of Maryland is home?
  13. 2008 I remember a Australian beach hunter posted on Friendly MDF... said he could live off of his finds, I think he even made a video on it. Sure enough he posted for several months he was paying his bills and doing ok, all because of the 1 n 2 dollar coins. Sounds like it would be fairly hard to do now. I remember OC Md in the early years (07/08) when I took on the hobby you could dig 200 plus coins in a day, may had been $30 total but you felt it would cover gas and food. Now days with the coin meters gone and everyone has to pay with Credit Cards or some other.... your lucky to get 40 coins in a day ($7). And the gold has slowed also, i-phones, tattoos, places pushing new age metals combined with the price of gold.. I've not been there since 2019. I have a few friends that live and hunt there, they are lucky to dig 5 pieces of gold a year.. and they hunt a lot. For me, when I do hunt.. I only hunt places that hold older targets .. places that closed in the mid to late 60's. Coins are a good sign I am in the right spot, and it's time to slow down and dig all signals. Only issue ... it may take me a few months to find a hot area.
  14. Out performs, water proof and dependable ..I don't mind paying for. So far my AQ's have held up, be nice to have a machine equal or better, water proof (submersible for hours) and 100% dependable.
  15. At one time they had a d1 water proofing kit, wonder how close the sizes are on the control pad? That would be for the control unit and as far as the battery pack you could make one similar to the ones I made for the AQ.. another on the battery, I wonder what the voltage of the e1500 is? If its 12v you could run a Excalibur battery pack with a few changes to the hookup. Or you could build a battery pack to match the voltage and use the excalibur bat Pod..
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