Skull diver

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)

3 minutes ago, Rivers rat said:

I had a 7" shell but Alexandre has it now he was suppose to do me a 7" coil for PI thats before Fisher bought the project......

 

RR

Straight from the hands of our future God?🔝😁

50 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

Did this guy make a vidio showing it in operation??

I'll check if the coil worked out...My doubt still remain on other stuff probably unnecessary on his board...

I always read of resistors and other things I don't even know right now as I'm not a technician...

31 minutes ago, Rivers rat said:

I may know a Headhunter Diver PI in very good condition with the whites coil,sold it years ago to a guy who i am sure didn't use it............

RR

Thanks for your input...

I'm however trying to make my own coil playing with a little of brain and attitude to diy works...

As I'm an 8" lover, I found really hard to buy something really good to dive unless closed design coils...

Now, inside an old Excalibur DD shell, I'll try to do the job from a scratch...The interesting part of the headhunter was the coil shape for me....

Also, I think 10" should be the all-round coil IF in the future I'll be able to accomplish making one...

AqZEsPaXV-Y

I know now, now I'll need to do the maths due to the wire section, inductance, resistance and windings number...But I've seen this video and I'm wondering if something is been missed before epoxy...(I mean in my case)...Without damping resistors?, Without anything more than 2 connectors, a cable and epoxy?...Seem to beautiful to be true...🤣

An hour ago I found an old piece by another surgery done on one of my Excals....The old good 10" tornado 2...Before to buy a Garrett coil I'm now tempted to build my own creation...A bit of hard work preparing the shell,removing anything from the inside, but will be the best of the best to contain a mono winding and resistors...

I only need to learn how not to burn all of the stuff before even to turn on again the beast...🤣

1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

 

This is exactly the shape that I need if only will be possible to find it...8" for me is even better.

Platypus Coiltek is another option but seems to be rare and discontinued

I'm so bored of my 12" dual field coil on my TDI bH that I now want to change the coil with an 8" mono.

I know this can be a stupid question, but I try to ask...

Can a Garrett Sea Hunter coil be adapted on the TDI?

I need an open design coil to hunt underwater...

The only other option is a Detech closed 8" mono...Which will float even more than now cause of the tdi control box balloon like buoyancy...

Shoot your answers please mates!!!

If you are a scuba diver, trust me, you don't want the Nox downthere.

You're right, is an advanced machine and if you think to the cz21 or the Excalibur we talk about 15 years old machines to say the least. We are a neglected race....

but....

What about depth rate?, What about easy battery operations?So there's unluckily only one winner and is an 8" Excalibur2...

That's it.

I don't know what about You, but even if during the years I found heaviest and more obvious pieces, I really miss only few of them...

As an example this tiny cross and the star in my mouth...

Not that I'm too religious, almost  atheist indeed, but I love the shape of some objects...And rarely find again the same shape too...

6 minutes ago, Dances With Doves said:

I know what you are saying about the 2 tone.It is  much easier to find gold when you have it. The modulation of the infinium was nice,but you had to wind the  wire around the machine  tight or the coils would go bad much faster.I hunt  freshwater with it.Atx way to expensive for all the problems  you hear of. If the put a Atx in infinium box and made it more   reliable for $1200 it would be a winner plus with cheaper coils.

I like to try new things...Honestly You can't imagine how much I miss the Excal that I modified with the smaller 8"...

Was hard to really understand the tone sometimes, for sure will be almost the same trash/gold amount with the Fisher... but few days was so easy to stay half an hour and go back home with this...

11 minutes ago, Dances With Doves said:

They should have interchangeable coils like the infinium did.Did you ever use that machine?

I've been tempted to buy it, but is an older model and probably the seahunter was a better choice due to the control box...Today reading Steve's experience I'm grateful to never acquired one...

In the saltwater, around my area, GB Is the least important thing... Unluckily the cheaper Sea hunter was probably a better option ...I only purchased the TDI cause of the two tones, believe me...

If the Impulse with two tones and an 8.5ms delay is able to run with even half of the noise, in the future I'll be in heaven.

1 hour ago, Rick Kempf said:

SGD -  with respect, If your complaint is with your Italian agent for Fisher not having any AQ's to sell, it is because none of the AQ Limited machines will be sold outside the US and Canada. 

In my experience distribution of manufactured goods internationally goes via Agency agreements with exclusive rights - in such a case Fisher would have agreed to not sell directly into the Agent's territory and such an agreement would prohibits agent from selling into each others territories.

All of this is a relic of the pre Internet age, but it is not likely to just disappear.

Thanks to You Rick.

You're clear and now I can understand the source of the problem.

And the other side of the problem is Just Me.

I want the freedom to buy my artillery from where I want, when I want, for the price I can afford.

There's a good reason cause Mr.Bezos is who it is...He's creating freedom of choice!

I'm however Sorry for the tone of my posts...Thanks again.

2 minutes ago, Dances With Doves said:

Hi skullgold diver.Does the very salty waters of the Med. sea make it tough on machines to get depth.Also do you find a lot of Euros?

I rarely have the problem of depth cause I mostly hunt when erosion is good after strong storms...A vlf only accelerate the process for me and I honestly don't dig for Euro's signals... What I'm fighting actually is noise with the 12" dual field, which force me on the TDI to keep delay over 15ms, bit I still hear terrible noise at every little wave over my head...I need a smaller coil otherwise I'll throw it somewhere soon.

34 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I definitely hear and understand your frustrations after waiting all this time. All I can offer is that there will supposedly be a fully waterproof version more in line with what you are really wanting at some point later, that you will presumably be able to buy from dealers in Italy. For you and all the people like you, I truly am sorry. However, I will also say that it is what it is. I'm not going to let all this devolve into a litany of complaints. I want to recognize your concerns and dissatisfaction as being real and for good reason, but at the same time I want everyone to be aware that complaining won't change anything. Your best bet if you are really upset is to contact Fisher directly with your concerns.

http://www.fisherlab.com/contact.htm

Fisher Labs 1120 Alza Dr. El Paso, TX. 79907 USA 915-225-0333 1-800-685-5050 info@fisherlab.com

Deeply grateful to You Steve!

Unluckily I already done this thing in April, asking for a lot more than only the machine to test. Hours ago I received an answer by Rick, not them at FT. Is two months an acceptable time to obtain an answer?I can live with connectors water flooding, with release delay time, with unexpected depth rate...But not with this way to run the business.Now I want to buy the gun, but my dealer don't talk about it...I know the guys, other guys, other dozens of dealers...I'm a bit known around and I don't like it too much... Seriously to have one I'll need to ask for someone's mercy?

Holy God

Few hours and I'm already angry!

Due to restrictions on foreign  distribution out from USA from a side and local idiocy from another, I can't buy out from Italy the machine from where I want and for now, even if we all know the "base price" the few pieces that will be distributed in Europe in the next months will be totally burned from "friends of friends"....At a different sounding price....

So for now I'm done.

I do this thing for work and believe it or not is a disaster!

I can't believe that after over 7 years, my most reliable gun to hunt is a repainted Ctx which is all but waterproof and a useless noisy Tdi Bh with a coil that I can't change due to the lack of a fu....ng connector!

Only thing I feel to advise to FT is to open a direct channel for buyers as there are some persons (including me) that are really short in patience when things like this happens.

Congrats Joe! Nice job!

I'm a leakage fighter since 2013, when I switched from Excal to Ctx3030...🔥🤣💀

Usb port was the main issue and submerged underwater was good to obtain an aquarium in the screen...🏊After  results seen on my friends machines, before I started to dive with it, I filled completely the port pushing a marine grade gel grease with a finger tip😉... Waterproof,unwashable and anticorrosion lubricant at the same time.

There's and old but always functional saying for me...Where there's air there's water...I mean, when You're downthere air is soon pushed out by pressure and water take its place in seconds...

So talking about connectors (M12 8pin) I was good with very little film of grease on female one,where the male's pins are usually taking place and even less on thread, cause if you use a lot of it, it can result hard to close correctly to the end...

Another terrible water friendly 😫 place was the battery compartment with the red original o-ring...(Which was not a real O-ring, but a thin red crap gasket of the same shape of a semicircle with a flat part in the upper side)🤐

I changed with a slightly thicker one (o-ring this time) and I'm fine since then, even without grease on it!

This is the old trusty solution for Us cursed divers...

And Now on the FISHER AQ,if anything is epoxy filled, will be waterproof exactly like it's coil folks!

I believe that we can expect the same Excalibur 3/5 years tendancy ...control knobs are something neglected by lot of us...

Come On! This will be the challenge for Us!

Since a couple of months I'm evaluating this battery format to make a secondary power source on the TDI.

Way less bulky than 18650 type and higher Ah 

Cheaper than Panasonic stuff too!

Li-ion 3.7V 5000Mah...

I think 4of them in series will do a good job for at least 4 hours more at full power. (As a swap battery).

That bridge audio/power cable is already giving me little of headache, however...

Is funny to think about the hardwired stuff against connectors (talk about TDI)..What about now? How many connectors can You count there?What about the rock solid threshold caused by less of them? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 

The will to modify my BH is rising to the stars!I want connectors and multiple coil options...Noooow😁