Joe Beechnut OBN

5 hours ago, Coggles said:

Yes Sir! Northern California. 

Send me your address, I have several extras. I can send it out after xmas..N/C

On 12/17/2022 at 8:52 PM, bklein said:

 

I’m not really understanding the purpose of the cut off portion screwed on to the base coil connection (top left photo).  It says it is so the resin locks in to it but it would do that without it too. It seems the technique is to add a stress relief base offset from the original. The piece that sticks out though has me questioning though - it doesn’t seem to have anything for the resin to hold on to. I think there used to be your videos on this whole process but I can’t find them anymore. I guess there isn’t something that would screw to the coil base and contain the cable connections. Seems wrong thread on everything.
I was going to use a pill bottle for the plastic cylinder but now worry that it may be polypropylene and not bond to the coil housing or epoxy resin - probably better to find something else eh?

RED.. The Portion cut off is just added strength since it is downward facing edge which locks all in better. After 50 plus coils repaired over the years, never a fail and many are still in use after 8 years. 

No video by me, and I'm sure I was the first to do this repair which I posted over on Findmall many years ago. Once I found the cable all was a go..And yes, the new Heyco 3237 is offset from the original boss.

On 12/18/2022 at 8:49 PM, Coggles said:

Does anyone happen to know which Iklite fitting was modified to make the charger to battery adapter? Or was it proprietary specifically for the excal? I am missing the adapter and it looks like they want about 75 bucks for the stupid little thing on The Bay. I have all the little bits to make one except the threaded adapter to install the pins and jack into. Right now I have it shoddily rigged up to charge but am hoping to make a round two that looks cleaner and is more secure. My backup plan is to try to design one and 3d print it but that always turns into a big project to get everything printing cleanly and consistantly. It generally devolves into a lot of cursing.  

 

Thanks 

Coggles

Are you in the USA?

What a Beauty!

Love the organizing and filing!

On 3/28/2018 at 7:01 AM, Ed Osmar said:

Will the Equinox find small gold in the water that the Excal will miss, and is it able to find targets as deep as the Excal?

The excalibur is way deeper in saltwater when set up correct. Small target, no doubt the Nox see's smaller targets, specially tiny chains, and has a fast recover time. Recover time can be optimized with the excalibur by singling out each target in PP, than a quick push of the (on) disc button then off. 

On 12/14/2022 at 10:41 AM, bklein said:

I’m confused as you say normal Excal behavior is to mask out the pliers (like my friend’s stock unit).

 

In discriminate mod, iron nulls. Stock machine. 

As far as the wrong wiring, wires been swapped. That is in All metal mod, and there is a blank out (Or dip) of the audio on Iron or any target when going thru the middle of the coil. 

2 hours ago, bklein said:

Can the detector sense carbon fiber like my Carrot pinpointer can?  Maybe fiberglass is better?

Something that I will check before I start. I have heard CF can conduct electric so it could be possible it has a small signature.

On 12/13/2022 at 7:42 PM, cjc said:

Has anyone had  their control pod come lose on this detector?

Pressed my thumb aganst the panel and noitced that it was moving and not secured. Doesen't seem to be any obvious fix although there's a screw visible at the side of the handle when you roll the foam down.

Still works but only an impact away from disaster...

cjc

 

I get back into the mod of changing things I want to change out that shaft to carbon fiber along with the handle, be interesting to see if I can work my battery into the carbon fiber. 

I think a lot can vary on how they were treated. Usage, charging, discharges and even temps. Now days most replace them after 5 to 10 years..... and with Li-ion batteries offering a longer run time (30 to 50 hours usage) this can cause some to replace them early.

Recently had someone ask about replacing the battery on their excalibur so I did a video for them. Very easy and simple to do. Battery can be purchased from ebay..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/383287971822

I'll be doing a video on how to make this same battery after christmas (2022), cost is around 25 dollars. Compared to 50 if purchased new. It's almost worth buy new if you only need one but I have several excaliburs that need batteries (4) so it is cheaper for me to make my own.

Both of mine are Ok right now, I believe Carolina will have something for you on this. 

1 hour ago, bklein said:

Your mis-wiring YouTube video shows the detector sounding on the needle nose pliers. That’s why I was testing them.  

oooYES, That one.. The blank out when the stock red and black wires are swapped or with the SEF, Black and Grey.. In All metal. You may want to check it something a little smaller also and the target on the ground.

I have so many youtube videos of both the Excal and AQ I loose track..think I have close to 600. Most are unlisted..

22 hours ago, bklein said:

One of my two Excals blanks out the pair of needle nose pliers. (Discriminate set to minimum) Any idea what might cause this? Wrong value pot?  Jeez I hate to open it up again.

Edit: I just borrowed my friend’s stock Excal II and it also discs out the pliers in min Disc setting.

Normal for all excaliburs...they automatically disc iron out no matter the settings when the machine is set on DISC.

Now the question is, the other excalibur..why it does not do the same.

38 minutes ago, bklein said:

Wow, what other things went wrong with it?

Were all your repairs in-warranty?

Yeah the things that sound after switching delay or mode are unfortunate and could be muted with more design effort. I can live with it but really worry about the craziness you describe with the Mode switch.  

I discovered a issue with both my AQ's, At first I thought it was the machines but discovered it was due to the location of the machine/coil when I turned them on.. or switching Mods.. they would act stupid..audio sounded like a motor boat than would not detect anything. It finally hit me that it was caused by the location, any where there was a large metal object..with in several feet, like in the garage, near my car..etc. It would happen.. Now I know it's best to turn on out in the wild.. 

2 hours ago, okara gold said:

When I got it back, it was in perfect working order. The delay switch was working as it should again. I got the same unit back every time it went in for repair... (5 times in just over 2 years). It was always gone for a minimum of one month each time. After the last repair it leaned up against the wall for months in fear of another problem happening again until I sold it. This was also occurring from day one of purchase and I explained it to Fisher along with the "delay" problem.

Please check the MODE knob. 
When switching from All Metal to Tone or Mute mode and then back to All Metal...it may take 10 to 20 seconds for the all metal mode to respond / work properly again. When switching back to the All Metal, the AQ would "howl" when the coil was moved back and forth. I have at times turned the machine off and back on again to "fix" this issue. This has been happening since first receiving the AQ. In the beginning I thought it was just the way it was and could live with it but.... Now I am reluctant to even check targets in this fashion for fear the all metal mode will not work as it should. The iron grunt is rarely heard even on bad targets. Just doesn't seem right. as other AQ owners happily use the tone mode.
 

Very sorry to see Okra..

With 5 send in's I would have asked for a new machine or a refund. 

Never really checked for differences in size of the target, responses but I did notice the lower delay settings (7/8/9) were noisey In rough (Brackish) water. Calm water they were fine....My best settings, I would start at 10 delay, if noisey I would go up to 11 for several minutes than back to 10 and it seemed to smooth out, by going up than back.  Even set at 10 delay I was impressed with how well it did on the smaller gold rings.  The ring in the video below was 1.37 grams? And not 15 inches but 14 after I got home and measured. (If I remember correct) 

12 hours ago, phrunt said:

I want to know if a coil will pick up the very smallest of targets, and I want to know which spots on the coil are the most sensitive, it helps me locate targets when they're under a coil.

And this is the other method I use air testing where I run the smallest lead pellets the detector can hit on just to see the response the coil gives and the hot spots on the coil, these hot spots are invaluable when recovering targets.

 

 

Amen!! Who would think a coil would have a Hot spot? One of the little secrets that can define if you come home with the Gold!

Air Test using a audiosears 2462 element, showing the Hot spot on a excalibur coil. And this spot can be Hot at the beach and in a regular air test. Most affected targets (based on size) will be on the edge of the detecting field or the small shallows and this is only effective in All Metal.

May have to turn your volume up a little.

Air test might not be the best for giving results once we are hunting in the wild but does allow all of us to give feed back on the testing of the same machine in the same conditions. And since I do build my own head phones, Air test are a big help in identifying the best build for my hearing. For me, doing both Air and beach/wet sand test.......so much can be learned when comparing both performance and the audio characteristics of different targets.

42 minutes ago, Carolina said:

It’s not always the machine but the operator that make a difference. The AQ is tuned for a salt environment so any test should be done on a salt beach as I described to find its full potential I think. A air test above ground will not yield a proper result. I can tell you either of my AQ’s yield the same result in salt. 18” on a US nickel with the standard coil. The 10” coil has not been tested in this manner.

I agree, and Thank you again for hooking me up with a EF coil. Here is Mike with the nickels in the wet sand using the final model of the AQ. 

I did several videos using this method. Some felt it was not good since I used a tube, but it does allow one to easily test gold rings at different distances with the mix of the matrix below.. and this is the Limited, but I found both the Limited and the Final have next to no differences when it comes to performance, other than the Finals did have a better set of head phones. Sorry about the threshold, needs to be turned way down. Also once the ATS is turned to 8 and above the depth is really affected.. 

I would say I have close to 30 test video's of in the wetsand, most with gold rings. Along with about 20 video's of hunt in the wild (water) digging gold rings.

27 minutes ago, bklein said:

I think it then depends on the test purpose - the way you suggest involves the ground and that is fine if you want to test without digging holes but it’s going to be different ground than someone else’s so different results different ground.  I am most interested in a test with a standard target, like a nickel, that gives the same results no matter where. Then I can judge if my detector is running like others’.  OBN’s videos show you can get better results when the target is in the ground.  Nickel 19” in ground, 16” in air.

Mine and Stateguy’s were doing 11-12” in the air. Transfer this to Pi’s new thread if he does one…

Yes, one reason I do airtest. It gives a base line where (Identical) machines can be compared since conditions can vary one location to the next. Also one can learn so much when testing different audio systems and how distance affects the characteristics of different targets.

On 12/8/2022 at 9:27 PM, PI-Man said:

I like to put the AQ side by side in the field with my TDI SL an Miner John 8x14 for curiosity.  

I'm not sure if it would do as well in the dirt, I do know in the dry n ..wet sand....  than the water it really shines the best. Also it is weaker on coins but super on gold. I did a compare with the Whites TDI Beach Hunter with the 16.8/14.8 battery upgrade at the beach, wetsand..and the AQ had it by 3 to 4+ inches. Someone asked how I felt about the TDI BH, it's a very smooth running, stable machine, told them the AQ is a TDI BH, but on steroids and it can be noisey, one reason I run a on/off audio toggle on the handle. What has really help my one AQ is,...  I now run a Eric Foster black 10 inch, I did lose one inch but the smoothness is well worth the inch.

Video is with stock everything except using my own head phones, which I think makes a big difference on deep faints.

First chart is the Whites TDI BH and the AQ

Second is Air test, D2....One of my modified Excaliburs..and the AQ stock coil, my head phones.....Notice the difference in the coins.

On 11/30/2022 at 6:25 PM, bklein said:

Please explain the 3 12.5” column sections: Limited, Impulse AQ, Final Impulse AQ. Is this a factory chart?
 

My chart I did on 3 different AQ's I hunted with / tested / and kept records. Limited is the one everyone was sold.

Impulse AQ was one they sent to me after the limited with a few changes, and a different coil than any, grey color.

Then the Final was the one that had the drop in 18650 batteries along with a few other changes. Different head phones also, same shell but a super set that Alex T came up with. I told them they should market them alone, and for all water machines. Never heard a word..

On 11/29/2022 at 10:29 PM, kac said:

What about a rechargeable amplifier?

Saw this on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Neoteck-Headphone-Amplifier-Rechargeble-Computers/dp/B01MS22YWV/ref=sr_1_12?crid=31CN8GPHKQUN4&keywords=headphone%2Bamplifier%2Bportable&qid=1669778792&sprefix=headphone%2Bamplif%2Caps%2C300&sr=8-12&th=1

Might be some 1/4" jack versions out there or use an adapter. Some have equilizers so you could tweak the audio to fit your hearing loss.

Has anyone tried one? Don't see why it wouldn't work.

I've used Doc's treasure screamer for years, really allow the faints to poke thru the threshold. Can't remember the part number but I used a resistor to cut the top off of the shallow targets audio if they were blasting. And this was using the audiosears 2463's like most of the head phone companies use to use. 

5 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Boosting volume across the board to hear faint signals better can contribute to more hearing loss, if the loud targets are now too loud. Headphones with a volume limiter or a separate booster with the same feature can help prevent that.

My (HP) skullies tubes on the AQ scream when on shallows so I added a audio cut off on the handle. They are excellent for pulling up the faints. 

Testing of the AQ early on and with one of my machines. The big thing is setting up the AQ.... knowing what to listen for on targets and a good set of head phones. One reason I related to the AQ so well is I hunt in All metal with the excalibur, which for me is almost the same as the AQ's AM.

The AQ is weak on most coins but Hot on Gold.

The final version of the AQ (Not the Limited) on a buried nickel, Mike my friend is swinging the AQ.