Joe Beechnut OBN

You have a picture of your head phones, the cup design is a major factor. I hunt in the water with winds of 30mph, and I have gel pads to help with the wind noise. I've tried to use the fur on the ear cups,...kind a helped, used hoodie, little better. But the best is a low profile ear cups and gel pads, than work in the direction that the wind is blocked on one side. You turn a certain way you can get away with this, wrong direction you can't hear nothing. At the ocean there is the pounding surf, nothing can help that... 

I am a true believer in headphones, I'm not sure how the 6000 works but for me it's a matter of hearing the faintest of targets in All metal, as a water hunter, blocking the ambient noise is one of the most important things. 

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/av/headsetx_ear.html

On 4/10/2022 at 10:45 PM, bklein said:

Can we have some discussion on user experience when hunting salt beaches with areas of high black sand concentrations? I’m a newbie with the AQ - only about 11 hours total time. I have experience with other PI’s - I have a surf pi, surf pi pro, a DF, and two GP Extremes. I like hunting wet sand and dry and find the AQ the best of all of these. Definitely is the deepest or at least tied with the GP Extremes. Nice smooth threshold. But there is a bit of unpredictability with the AQ.  The very first time I turned it on it was wacky - an oscillation that seemed unaffected by rotation of the sensitivity and other controls. I was thinking “oh boy this is a bummer” and then it just popped into gear and worked thereafter.  I’ve had it go into this wacko mode just for a second or two since.  I’ve also had it go “dark” it lost ability to see a dime I tossed on the ground.  It seems in the black sand areas it would make target tones with each sweep.  Playing with the delay and ATS would reduce this but I wonder if depth suffers. I think the manual is a little weak addressing how best to optimize the controls. Also I am wondering if the detector circuitry might be retuning itself in a major way depending on how much activity it is seeing and also perhaps the voltage level of the battery. I don’t mind all this that much - I can live with it. I just wonder if it is typical.

I'll see if I can do a short video on the wacko mod.. I found any place there is a large piece of metal, or another machine is near that is on.....  it does it, over loaded... My first one I got from Rick does it also. I would take it to the beach, and turn it on while it was next to my car.. wacko.. Best to hold it in the air away from everything and turn it on.. works fine then.. I'll do that video Thursday, should be easy to recreate. 

That's a Nice run Clive!! That color never gets old seeing it!

I still love my AQ's, Not for every spot but once you do find them.... it's like a turkey shoot. I am with Carolina, I would say my deepest was in the 17/18 inch range. Side note, it really hammers the smaller gold best, 1 gram to 6.  Last gold measured/found with the AQ was a 1.6 gram, if I remember correct.. at 15 inches. 

I do remember also I got one that was 20 plus inches, but after checking the rim of the hole there was another smaller gold pendant. So I don't think the deeper gold would have been found without hearing the first.

How does the AQ compare to the TDI Pro.. that would be a good battle. The Pro and the AQ, both Monsters in my eyes as PI's. I did do a compare of the TDI Beach hunter with the 14.8 volt upgrade.. the AQ had it by 3 to 4 inches on targets, easily.

I sure miss getting out with the AQ, hope to be back at it come July.

2 hours ago, bklein said:

Felix wasn’t that conversational. He said to send an email if I have specific wants. I tried my AQ first time, at Laguna. After I first turned it on it was going kinda wacko. Stuck in a high gain noisy state like the Equinox at 25.  Adjusting controls didn’t really affect it it all of a sudden it cleaned up and played nice.  I didn’t really see much validity in the tone mode - everything iron was high tone. Sometimes I got a second tone but I was fine hunting in all metal.  My battery lasted maybe an hour.  The lithium ion battery connections were 180 degrees out from my receptacle! Is this an OBN battery?  I had to hold it in the arm strap and just grab the handle. Will I be able to rotate the receptacle or is it glued in?  The coax seal was a mistake. Gunky mess. Electrical  tape should do. I found several coins and some deep things but no gold.  Does like nickels.

I guess the battery was never used. Everyone that bought one was sent instructions that you have to pull the M-8 fitting off of the AQ and turn it around. 

Not sure which battery you got but I made 2 diff.. a 5.5 hour and a 11 hour one. Full charged should be around 16 plus volts..16.4 to 16.8

O and I made one 8 hour battery, that one is pictured below on the far right..TVR got it

On the wacko, that is possibly a overload. If you have any large pieces of metal under or near the coil it will go into the motor boat sound also other machines that are on when you turn the AQ on will cause the same.. So you have to turn it off and set it somewhere it is clean then turn it on...

3 hours ago, Carolina said:

So every spin is a must ? What does this help Joe ? Hope your doing well.

I had two batteries that had a issue with the positive pin turning green, from saltwater getting in. I'm not sure if the fitting was tight enough or had failed. One was a customers and one was mine. See if I can find a picture. Since then I just wrap and use,... then unwrap to charge.  

Feel good.. just waiting for my a health issue to be taken care of.. Hope to get wet by July if all goes well.

Hope your getting all back to normal. Getting old sure has it good and bad's.

Only one I cover is the power cable / HP. Even on the batteries I made. I guess it would be a precaution to do the coil cable connector. 

The Whites DF PI is another which has the drop out of the threshold on edge of the detection field targets. Those that have described it to me as a blank out of the threshold. I called it the inverted signal, but I never liked the DF..way to noisy threshold.

The Minelab Excalibur in All metal with a very low threshold will rarely have the inverted signal but if it does happen it's only on the swing left, on deep targets. Sometime times on deep targets I will get the grainy mix of a signal. It's like a very long faint (strain) of the target trying to break thru the threshold. There is no shape to it. Most deep targets will give that disruption of the threshold, where the faint target does have a faint ramp up....... then back down to the normal threshold. A Great set of head phones is very important when using the excalibur, without them your missing deep gold and silver.

I'm not a NOx user but I seen Terry Shannon talk about the drop out on the Nox...see if I can find that video.

Go to 7 minute in the video they start talking about the blank out, he calls it a hiccup.

Minelab Excalibur. Been Very Blessed that I have connected with this machine which has netted me over 100 grand in Gold in 8 years. The added benefit has been health wise, lots of walking and fresh air.

I must be a lazy hunter. I like turning the machine on and hunting. I'm reading about all of these adjustments to all the new machines.. I may as well be blind for I have no clue.

Now that is a cool piece of gold!

3 hours ago, NCtoad said:

Were the halves still in the paper wrapper?   Lol!

Yep....Looked like a fresh drop,.. fat and stubby roll.

Several years ago I ran into a guy at the beach who said he dug a roll of half dollars, he pulled them out and showed me.. then he pulled out a old silver dollar and said he found it also.. I would have believed the roll of half's but once he told me about the silver dollar........ 😂

And OC MD gets millions of visitors a year, and I guess anything is possible?

On 2/1/2022 at 8:10 PM, King-Of-Bling said:

Very nice. I'm sure that blew your ears off and was solid. My guess where you were at was that it was shallow. Not too deep. The K of Bling is glad he helped with your sloppiness ! I believe we should all video each other  when out hunting. We all get over confident and think of ourselves as being a perfect hunter , until we see a video of our own hunt/swing. Hope you get many more !

I've been doing video's now for 14 years. Me watching some of the early video's I'm ....screaming...dig that signal..as I'm walking away from the target in the video.. I've learned a lot from recording and watching..

I agree! Wow! Dew!

4 hours ago, NCtoad said:

That’s about the timeframe I was thinking of too.  Do you know when fineness stamps started showing up on rings?

Like Goldseeker posted above, 1906/1907. But I have many that are dated the late 1800's.. earliest is 1861..my buddy Steve who lives down your way got a 1856 at one of the spots we have hunted, (Rebel metal detectors, Charleston, SC).. Seems about 60% were stamped before they passed the law..based on all I've dug...I do think the older they are the less likely they were to be stamped. As far as Hallmarks, the ratio is a lot less, unless they come from across the pond.. the best about the old gold is they loved to write script, names, dates, events. The designs and styles were stunning, compared to the gold of today. 

Love the Gold band! Always welcome to see that color specially unexpected!

I don't think it's older than the 40/50's..just looking at the fineness stamp. More than likely the person who lost it is in their 90's now. 

I'm sure Geotech can answer your question.

All I know, it can bang out some deep gold, any size. It does seem to be stronger on the smaller gold (Not Micro) 1 gram up to 7 grams..... And Rarely do I run my delay lower then 10, ATS 6...All Metal ..Sensitivity 8... Audio 9 ..threshold just audible, but is constantly in need of adjusting down until the machine warmed up. 

I know it's hard to give a accurate depth when hunting in the water but I'm remember digging a couple of hunkers in the 18 plus inch range. One way signal on this one, (pumping the coil makes it seem like I'm hitting it swinging).  As I dig and get closer to the target you can tell the signal strength...... After digging the ring someone asked why the "AQ" did not sound off when I pulled it out of the water and showed it next to the scoop.. I have a toggle (on the handle)  I can turn the audio off to the head phones to save my hearing.

And here is a video of a smaller 1.7 gram gold ring just shy of 15 inches. Middle ring in the picture below.

1 hour ago, DOOGY-MD said:

Do y'all think we will be getting more bang for the buck with the AQ?

Just my opinion, I think the best bang for the buck is the Nox 600. With several new machines coming out, that could change.

And One thing about the "AQ", it's not a machine you take out blindly. It's a PI at Heart. Would I recommend someone buying one.. Where it is at right now, No.

6 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

  Doubt we'll ever see the final production version...

You could be right, which is why I bought two. 

On 1/17/2022 at 12:13 PM, Elbert said:

Hi Joe, I believe you may have told me which places you wouldn't take the AQ but I have forgotten them. If you wouldn't mind, could you refresh my memory? 

After almost 2 years I may finally be able to do a little hunting. My wife is doing much better and looks to have beaten the cancer and has one more major surgery to go.

Thanks,      El

 

Sorry Elbert Just seen this post....

 Great news on the wife! Happy for her and you!! 

Places I would not take the AQ.. That would be places I've re-conned with the excalibur and found multiple trash/iron targets. Places I do take it ....where I have found gold before and there are a lack of any targets. Or places I know the ocean or bay has classified targets for me, by shape, weight and size. Just have to find that trail..then let the AQ do its work. I use it's all metal modes only.  

Damaged or maybe the picture. Which plug is that,  charger?

2 hours ago, Timmysys said:

What type of connector can this be? I searched the webhop of several electronic parts distributors but haven't found it yet. It can be some kind of sensor connector.

Can it be Bulgin or Amphenol type?

Bulgin..M-8 6 pin Code A

I think Carolina found a different manufacturer makes them also..

Very cool calculator, I've been curious about the age of a few of the Oaks in my backyard..236 and 226 years old.. Not exact but gives me a ball park idea.

Love old gold, and those are beautiful. So much more work went into all back then, details were important. 

That second picture really shows the rich gold color..Very Nice!