Skull diver

5 minutes ago, PPP said:

Thanks a lot for your advise and guiedlines! Then i'm going to wait for an AQ in the future and skip buying TDI! In some way it is good that those whom going to buy the AQ Limited Edition with lot of functionality lacks,going to test the machine and rapport how it performs and then when the final unit comes to market we can decide if it is Worth buying or not!Cheers 

I like to joke trying to be as funny as I can, but also transparent...

I use detectors to bring home some money. (A dream for some people to do it like a work, a nightmare for others when You have childs and bills to pay: just a fact of different life's situations).

Doing this with big motivation, push You to find the better solution in terms of quality for money.

In over 15 years I'm still looking for the "perfect tool" to get the job done.

After some Years, an old technology will be naturally outdated and this will be the case of TDI against the AQ.

I don't know the man, I don't even know his face, but I believe in Alexander Tartar like the person that will add something new to the game, if not a total game changers for Us.

All the Best!

26 minutes ago, PPP said:

OK,You already have TDI,Equinox,CTX,....and still wants to buy an AQ.I want as well an AQ instead of TDI but as i said Before only God knows how long time it will take  to be able to buy one.Is it Worth waiting(for me) or if there isn't so much differents between these two Machines then I can buy one TDI,or?

Also, I don't own the Nox 800...I only tested it for a dealer, shooting the video underwater...

I like it, is lighter than the Ctx, is faster than the Ctx, Is cheaper than the Ctx....A bit more fragile than the Ctx, a bit more noisy than the Ctx,a bit less ID stable and precise than the ctx...Owning a Ctx will I buy it?....Nope

10 minutes ago, PPP said:

OK,You already have TDI,Equinox,CTX,....and still wants to buy an AQ.I want as well an AQ instead of TDI but as i said Before only God knows how long time it will take  to be able to buy one.Is it Worth waiting(for me) or if there isn't so much differents between these two Machines then I can buy one TDI,or?

Save Your money for the AQ.... and wait ....Trust me...

I'm also thinking twice to modify it to obtain  quieter operations.

I do water hunting only and I'm not fine with the original coil...ok..... but I'm next to spend the same money the AQ is priced today (even if is only the first prototype) on a machine that is not so good for what I do.

Pointless.....

Just my 2 cents...

46 minutes ago, PPP said:

Ohh,Thanks again!! The sea hunter is super Deep and that you said about the sea hunter coil which is blind to small targets are absolutly correct! I sa two videos on Youtube from Detectorcomparisson using TDI beachhunter with GB off,full gain in salt water and it was very stable,maybe because there was'nt any wave action there.My problem with the sea hunter is that it is VERY difficult to hear Deep targets because you only get a super tiny change in threshhold which is very easy to miss.My hope for Beachhunter is that I can hear those super tiny Deep whispers with it.By the way I have watched your videos on Youtube and  just can say WooW,awsome hunts and of couars super nice gold rings!!!!

Pay attention to that video...The final advice for more depth is really valuable..But don't forget the 14.8V battery pack He's running!

I don't have the technical knowledge to suppose that higher voltage is better or worst than usual 12V original battery, but I can say for sure that with full battery, when I'm approaching the water, the noise is even more than a couple hours after when the battery is going down...

Voltage regulated is a thing and voltage driven, is another...

So, I mean that a more sensitive machine cannot be only deeper, but also more sensitive to environment induced noise too...(The Impulse is been a project to go over this problem)....

In conclusion, I'm now able to say that is better a little "blind"machine in saltwater, which can only sound a certain category of relatively bigger size and conductivity, than a super sensitive one, which force You to elevate to the stars your focus on signals that You can barely understand between noise...

If I leave a broken chain of 4 grams, but I dig  two 3.9 grams wedding bands in the same time passed looking for the chain, I'm perfectly fine!

18 minutes ago, PPP said:

Thanks for the reply!

I 'm not going to dive but wading in salt water chest deep all the time.How does it perform in that situation? I Heard that it is a Deep machine,have you any comparisson to sea hunter with big coil? Does it go as Deep as sea hunter?

Sorry, I was editing my post when You writed back...

Thanks to my sore back, I'm doing at the same depth You want to hunt, not wading but snorkeling...This give me the option to go down when I hear a signal and dig it like when I scuba dive...(Useless air consumption looking for targets without clues and terrible weight effort eliminated!) You only need a dry snorkel type and believe me You'll love it!

All I can say about the Tdi downthere is....Noisy! 

There's obviously the way to keep it stable and silent, but is only detuning gain, rising delay and threshold a bit OR turn off GB...

If You keep the slightest treshold sound to hear the really faintest deep signals, You'll also increase the waves signals response by the coil...I mean every single movement of water on You, including the shaft swing to the left💀.

Deep...for sure...but the price is patience!

I can't compare it with a Sea Hunter however due to a couple things...

The SH coils are generally blind to really thin targets, unless those really under the coil (seen on Youtube multiple videos)...

The smaller inside coil of the dual field is for sure more sensitive, but I repeat...Cost You more noise!

The depth is for sure another beast, I'll never found a thin band to sound at 35cm far from the coil...I can shoot the proof on camera, even if an air test is pretty useless...with GB off lowest delay and almost no treshold You can hear it!!!

Seems like a pendant to me...V shaped, probably meaning victory...As a prize medal ...

Are u running in FE or FE2?

Just curious😤

2 hours ago, PPP said:

After some Disappointment regarding not been able to buy an AQ outside the US ,I'm going to buy a Whites TDI Beachhunter instead.I really wanted to buy one for a long time ago but waited and waited for the AQ to come to market.The problem is IF I know how much longer takes for the REAL improved unit to be released,I could wait,but God knows how long it takes.

If I can Give you an advice, think about the urgency of this machine for You.

Also, with my experience since june 2019 with this toy, I can say that is better to avoid saltwater diving with it, unless you take the risk to change coil and void the warranty.

Conversely, on the beach is a really stable and for the most, a quiet runner even with GB on.

I think there's not so much of a difference between the two machines, only little less "undesired" targets with the AQ(I mean higher conductors), being more oriented to gold range conductivity and without "holes"...Both things can be solved with some experience however.

Just forget the GB knob and dig till your arm is next to broke🤣...

###############################################

Now, half an hour after, I'm editing this post to add some technical details to better explain my point on that.

I state that I don't know if You're a PI user already and I don't want in any way appear to teach You the work...Just my way and reasons to do my job on the field...

I generally wait for good conditions to avoid terrible effort in the water (no scoop, just fanning the sand with my free arm)...

My "phase one"preferred machine is a VLF as I need to go fast when the bottom is ok to find most valuable targets in relatively short period of time (some hours if You're lucky)...

My "phase two" machine is the PI, only if I think that targets depth is really more than a Vlf can tackle.

Generally I go in places where I know people recently found stuff already, to "clean" with a PI deeper stuff.. 

So I leave heavy artillery as a second choice, when there's no hope to hear a signal with my Ctx...

Yesterday I was in the right spot, at the right time, with the right machine, but nothing...Already cleaned by someone faster than me! No point to go there again with a pulse...

Conversely, on another piece of the same beach, which rarely erodes, there are few chanches to find something with a vlf and can be a painful experience with a PI to dig lot of deep aluminium trash...

People think about PI like a life's trouble solution...It is not...

For us the magic still is a hurricane.

Cheers

23 minutes ago, pjrough said:

Solved:if you attach 1kg diver weights it will do the same job.

Is exactly what I was thinking...I probably have somewhere a 1 kg piece also plastic covered...

Just need to remember where I throwed it🤔😁

4 minutes ago, Rivers rat said:

Do you know/or remember Whites use to to a coil weight for the surfcaster to counter act the buoyancy ,someone on a UK forum was asking the other other day and i knew where to find one for a while but it is gone now.It will be interesting to see what was this weight made of......i remenber someone telling me about putting melted lead(!!!!!!!!) in the stem or concrete dont remember which machine it was

To fill the upper side of the shaft is an option actually... Unluckily I'm not a big fan of melted stuff😨.

I'll try to realize some thin lead bars to suit the shaft under side with an hole and a bolt...or two

On 6/8/2020 at 5:00 AM, Rivers rat said:

Hi SGD i got an 18" DETECH foam filled Coil if you want same plugs as TDI but you could use it as a floater or a life buoy😂😅

😆😂😅

Cant wait to see your project finished!!!!

RR

Jeez...I was scared only thinking to the closed 8" underwater...

I actually believe that White's named wrongly the TDI...The real name for me should be SandHunter! There's no way to keep it down with You.

Nothing to say on beach performance, but in the water we seriously need another kind of machine.I still not find a good way to neutralize the buoiancy of control box.Just hope the coil will reduce the problem for an half...

This will be the only option to post an update, as I can't show anything but the sea bottom for today😒...

It happen too many times to prepare yourself, to check at least three times by day the wind radar, to follow the moon progress, to timing the tide for hunt in the right area.... 

When all the factors are aligned and you also find the expected conditions in the place you was avidly following...

This can happen....

Nothing...Absolutely nothing......💀

A coin, a fishing weight  and silence...so much silence to destroy the patience....

Now, being a so called "pro" (this only mean for me "no gold no bread") this really usual condition creates sorrow....

To be in the only good place to hunt around and find nothing else than a miserable coin can hurt to the soul..

In a way or another after years, all we are used to fill the calendar with more winning days than defeat days...

Funny thing is my curse of camera on my shoulders, as everytime I have with me the way to film the session, absolutely nothing relevant appears!💩

Black cross for today....💀

Cheers all of You!

1 hour ago, RickUK said:

I use both the 8'' Mono and 14x10'' Mono SeaHunter coils on my original Crossbow Pulse that was designed and built by George Overton who is the co-owner with Carl of the Geotech forum,the main reason why i chose new SeaHunter coils was at the time Regton had a sale on in the UK and i bought both coils for peanuts,mentioned this to George as he designed and built the Crossbow detectors and all that was required was plug change and i assume just wok out which leads go to the various terminals on the plug and if i recall correctly he also put a inline resistor or something like that just inside the main board so that the SeaHunter coils work at the correct level.The 8'' Mono coil has never come off the original Crossbow since the new coil was added.I will mention that my Crossbow is 'not' a diving machine but of course the coil is and half way up the shaft.

Also George Overton worked out the wiring so that Minelab coil can also work with this detector,but never really needed to go down that route,i also have a 5.5'' Mono coil that was built designed and built by Sven from Canada this small mono coil was originally designed for the Mirage PI machines that he occasionally build but will also work on both my Mirage and my Crossbow.The smaller coil especially on the Mirage is a deadly combination on ultra small gold jewellery.

These days i just use smaller coils on my TDI Pro,i think i have a few 8'' coil cases laying around in my garage that i have never used,one day i may decide to build a smaller coil again,but i doubt it.

I'm fascinated by the "coilwork art"...

But basically there are two parts of the work in my mind.

The mechanical work, that I'm sure will not create me any problem and the technical work, to tune the coil to a specific balance of factors....Not to mention the control board where after the steps, further modifications are usually needed...

This is like chemistry, more than metal detecting for me...

So I decided to opt for a Coiltek Platypus Mono replacing the original coil.

I will only change the Minelab/White's type connector and mount a male/female waterproof combination which can give me the option to go back to the 12" original If I need...

4 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

If you really want to do this, Serious Detecting has one for 10% off...

https://www.seriousdetecting.com/product/coiltek-12-x-8-platypus-mono-300x220mm-for-minelab-sd-gp-gpx-series-detectors/

Ewout Kozel, the owner, used to work for Minelab. Really nice guy, met him years ago at a convention. Contact him and ask if he will ship to you in Italy, tell him I sent you.

I can't add more reactions for today🤣🤣🤣

Thanks Steve! I'll contact Immediately to arrange the deal!

2 hours ago, Luis said:

I have a practically new platypus used only once, but it's double d. if you are interested

Thanks....immensely...But I need it Mono😭

4 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I have used Minelab coils on the TDI and I found using a Minelab lower rod to be the easiest solution. I do like that the whites bolt is larger, as the Minelab bolts are marginal and tend to deform with use. I never actually broke one though. Still, I would have extra bolts in hand in the field if you go that route. The Whites rod where it meets the coil is too narrow by quite a bit and the bolt itself is over twice as thick. I drilled and shimmed on Minelab coil to work once, and it did, but went to using Minelab lower rods after that. The lock pin on the Minelab rod is single pin on bottom of rod. You have to rely on the twist lock mechanism alone to position the rod. Or install your own pair of side pins.

I'll do the same thing to suit a Minelab coil on the TDI rod..

Usually I prefer to have a lower shaft for each coil I use, rather than change coils on the same shaft...On the Ctx, little modification to use Coiltek stuff costed me a lot, destroyed the carbon original one💀.

Now I have another new one and don't cut it to let the cable naturally positioned, but I use it in the opposite sense both rod and coil😉

2 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I found quite a few with a simple Google search. Seven available here. If I was doing this project I think I would get one of these. Epoxy filled 8” x 12” center mount, what’s not to like? Being a Minelab coil the coil ears might need to be shimmed and drilled for the White’s bolt, or just switch to a Minelab lower rod.

I'll try to obtain one at a good price here in Italy...And hopefully this will be less noisy than the dual field...

I just hope the connector work will not affect too much the right coil operation. 

9 hours ago, normmcq said:

 Since recently purchasing my 800, I have been to several of my favorite detecting areas to see what I had missed with my CTX. There is one area that I had gridded in two directions and was surprised that I had found several more coins with the NOX. I think that was due to target separation. After I get more proficient with it, I'm sure that I can go back over to same areas again and be amazed at the finds that I will make. In the past with the CTX, I have found several silver coins, War-nickels, Buffaloes, Wheaties, lots of clad, but not any jewelry except for a couple of junk rings.Today that changed, I went to an area that is trash infested and I think my CTX was just nulled out. I got a signal between the trash that said dig me and out came this 9.99 gram 18K beauty.It wasn't real deep, just missed. 

                                                                                                                                                    Norm

I think on the Ctx, assuming the 11"coil and fast recovery, You easily passed over this beauty with no clue between all the trash... Unluckily this kind of find is really rare due to the unusual weight and higher ID reading...Which I never dig usually🙄

I found gold in the less appetible places you can imagine. Sometimes I really thinked by myself to be crazy.

Places where You wonder why and for what reason people used to stay for a minute...

So You have a future second choice in your pocket now 😉

4 hours ago, Tony said:

Hello SGD,

I am currently waiting to hear back from Eric Foster regarding a suitable coil for the TDIBH. Eric and I keep in regular correspondence but I know he’s recently moved house and recovering from quite a serious illness.

The coil I’m trying to purchase is a 10” centre mount coil that is suitably wound for delays as low as 10uS. The coil is identical to that used on the Aquastar detector. I’m not sure if Eric has the right shells. The photo attached is from the Aquapulse website but shows the same design. Centre mount coils offer superior stability in the water. An 8” coil is also possible. As soon as I hear back from Eric then I’ll update this thread. All his coils are fully potted with epoxy.

The second photo shows the design of the 8” coil

Tony 

I really love the 8"design, but most important thing is that I realized the "magic behind"...If I'm correct, these coils and of course the machine, are usually running at higher delays as maded for some deep diving and generally larger objects.

25uS delay is the data I remember... Apparently this is not our preferred coil's range😭

1 hour ago, pjrough said:

You're going to waste your time trying to clean completely the minelab shell.

I did a couple of time some small reparations, and I would like to say that it is quite hard to remove the epoxy filler.I think the way to go is to talk to a manufacturer.

I think it will be possible to convince them for a epoxy filled coil if many people would like to get one. 

I am interested in one as well.

Thanks for sharing Your pictures.. You're right, will be a really hard work to correctly clean all the housing.

I literally consumed my eyes reading three times the amazing Pdf Steve posted some messages ago and...I'm sure this is a deeper world I can only barely imagine up to now...

Also, I learned that with so many factors involved realizing a "specific" coil for jewelry and most important for a specific environment is kind of a magic.

At the end of the work, something can still go wrong and can be the time to tune the machine, for the new arrived coil...So, I mean even if I ask to a producer a coil, will this coil be exactly like I need?Will this coil react generally better than the original one in all circumstances?

Will the simple operation to cut the wire and solder a connector modify the really fragile balance between all the factors?

To be clear and less complicated, this operation is an hard attempt to adapt something almost called "universal" to a fine tuned (for another coil) machine...

Tricky...To say the least...

In conclusion, even buying an aftermarket coil, doesn't give us the warranty of a perfect machine's reaction on the field...

I'm beginning a maniac, I Know...Sorry🤣

52 minutes ago, pjrough said:

leave the minelab coil alive. you better google for the coils shell- there are plenty of options. one example:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Metal-detector-8-coil-housing-shell-with-bracket-/174001245964

Thanks for the link...I've seen already something similar on eBay UK If I correctly remember.

The old DD Minelab coil is already died, due to the past owner terrible care...In fact I hardwired the 8" to change it immediately when I purchased the machine from him.

14 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

Do you have Carl's and George's book?  IMO, if you're going to build-your-own that would be a good investment.  On Ebay-USA you can buy a new Garrett Sea Hunter for $85 with free shipping (in USA only).  I don't know if Serious_Detecting will even ship to Italy (or what that would cost...) but you could ask.  Connectors (again, in USA) would still keep the cost under $100 here.  Of course that just gets you a chance to see if a White's connector on a Garrett Sea Hunter coil gives you a good performance mate to the White's TDI....

I like to fidget (i.e. Do It Yourself = DIY) myself.  But there certainly is a tradeoff between how much fun one gets doing that and how badly one needs the best solution possible.  In my case, most of the time my DIY's turn out to be mediocre solutions.  There are people out there (I know one) who are so experienced, focused, and inventive that they can turn a sow's ear into a silk purse when it comes to electronics mods.  They are members of a rare breed in my experience.

I think Steve was at least hinting that a White's 7.5 inch TDI coil would be one way to go. They used to make two versions -- dual field and Aussie mono -- but I don't know if they still do, and they weren't cheap.  You can be pretty sure those will work out-of-the-box assuming you can hack replacing the hardwired TDI Beach Hunter's 12 inch mono.  But then there's the question of how buoyant it is.

Obviously there's also the issue of whether or not changing a coil on the (hardwired) White's TDI Beach Hunter would void its warranty.  But I assume you've already decided to take that risk.  Tradeoffs, always tradeoffs, but those make life more interesting.  😏  I do sincerely hope you find a solution.  Then you can report back here on how you did it!

 

Thanks for all of your suggestions 😊...

Right now I'm evaluating a number of options.

I have a ruined old DD Excal coil to use for the experiment...For this reason is a good and cheap base to try...

Second option is a Detech 8" closed mono (most valid until yesterday)...

Third option will be to ask Detech for a personal model created (I doubt can be easily done)...

Fourth option can be to sell the entire machine to a wetsand hunter and leave the world as it is, cause is a fantastic deep puncher on the beach but in the water, seriously down on the bottom can made You crazy...

15 minutes ago, Rivers rat said:

I detect the Thames and there is carpets of nails (literally) if the version Terra or Aq can work on the Thames with the small coil i think a lot of my machines will be up for sale and i ll be rich again loooool

RR

I think the machine is fast enough to really separate iron from good stuff... Unluckily for us, in the water 12.5" is not that manouvrable...And in saltwater here in my area, seem to be impossible to hunt without noise...Nuisance is the correct term...As I feel when using the TDI now.

7 minutes ago, pjrough said:

other option is to talk to detech (for example). the re are many TDIBH users out there, and the waranty period of first detectors is running out. many people are searching alternatives to 12" floaty coil. someone has to bring 8 -11" epoxy filled coil to the market...

This will be another good option and if they are opened to this kind of requests, I'll be more than happy to suggest how a dive coil need to be (at least for my taste)