Carolina

Hi Dew, I think it’s the other way around. I believe Tony is taking Joe up on his offer to take anyone interested in his spot. Hopefully you will have lots of tourist this season to cash in on as people are tired of the lockdowns which are eased up a bit in Florida. You have a fine governor I think. Good luck to you...... Carolina

And as Joe, I too enjoy two AQ’s in my stable. I am very satisfied with the results from both my machines. Just my (2) cents worth so to speak. I think the problem with the AQ May lie in several factors. Not everyone is cut out for PI detection. Some will learn to adapt, some won’t. Location is a key factor also. Not every detector is made for every place. The wrong detector in the wrong place can sour anyone to its liking especially if it’s new technology to them. I agree Fisher has had a rocky start to say the least but they have always treated me fairly. I also think that their quality control is lacking as every AQ comes with a test report. I’m not sure how so many issues have come to pass if the reports are correct. All and all though for me, I love my AQ’s and look forward to their use weekly. As always I wish everyone much success no matter what machine you swing and good luck everybody.

Hi Steve, I look at it differently than you. I do not think the five possible changes I am aware of is a vast improvement warranting an additional $500. The single most improvement is the battery life. We all know there is an aftermarket battery for under $200 with nearly twice the run time of the new battery set up. The other changes are window dressings and can be done at home. If and I say if the new version comes with a transferable warranty then that might tip the scales. So for me, an aftermarket battery and a cam lock swap for $1700 is the way to go and I did say for me. Wish everyone lots of luck, good weather and virus free spins.

I like you say “ flip the lever “. Some may catch it and some not .

Got mine last week in Virginia from Serious Detecting.

Here in Virginia you would be hard pressed to even find a plow. No one plows their fields anymore.

I guess my Gary Storm sword isn’t old enough so I will start going to the gym for this beast. Also I will start a go fund me page for the 7 - 9 volt batteries that I can’t remember their run time. I’m a beach hunter so TR mode it is. Bought this one spring of 83.

Hi Dew, as you said I think most detectors are effected by the above situations. As you know there are was to negate some of these issues though. What I am interested in is your honest opinion of the 12” Tarsacci coil in and around the salt water ? The price tag is extremely steep in my opinion and turned me off. Tom has sung praises as well might be expected. I look forward to your valued opinion on this matter. Good luck and spring is nearly here !!! I will be watching the Tarsacci forum here.

Tell your trusted friend if he is unhappy I would be glad to make him an offer on his flop.

I’m not so sure it’s the connector as much as the electronics in the control box aren’t shielded. My VALLON PI shields the entire circuit board and they use a 7 pin Souriau bayonet style connector. The center pin is the coil+ and all the remaining 6 pins are tied together as coil- which shields the connector. Maybe Fisher could look at that as a possible fix for the noise. I read one post who says his machine gets noisy when the water is about 6 inches down from the control box. That most likely is movement of the coil cable itself. You need to secure your cable for zero movement the best you can. Good luck everybody and spring is just around the corner here in the US !!!

The AQ limited has a 15uS setting. The 11.5 is actually 15uS. I think the reason most other PI detectors stop at 15uS is because their circuitry was unable to sample faster than that in salt or heavy mineral locations and still remain stable. That’s not to say though that the unlimited AQ won’t add slower sample rates. We shall see.

Sounds like the Ocean View area. It also sounds like you are learning the AQ also. I stand by my statement with the ATS at the most conservative setting, just past 8 ( broken tone ) reject 3 a 18k 15+ gram pig, in tone mode is a iron grunt or low tone. Since most of these are located on or near the rim, I dig them all. Mid slope and higher I skip. Once I’m in the water it’s All Metal and dig it all. Good luck everybody.

My settings to start in all metal are similar to Joes but not exact. My water conditions are a bit saltier since I am on the low end of the Bay. My delay is 10 ATS 6 sensitivity 5 volume 10 threshold 4>5. I have no where near the Bay hours as Joe so I’m still learning. As I get deeper waist to chest if it gets chatty, with the coil resting on the ground I cycle back to the on mode and go thru all the frequencies very slowly to find the quietest frequency. Then I return the delay back to 10. If this does not satisfy me then I back the ATS down to around 4 and try adjusting my swing speed. In the water chest deep I only advance my sensitivity to 5 and no more. My next step is to raise the delay to 11. At the risk of giving something away I do not have a delay of 12 on my machine. After 11 I have the last delay of 11.5. Alexandre tells us 11.5 is actually 15u’S. So if I must, I go to 15. Raising the delay seems to quiet the machine the most for me. The most prevalent “noise” is the end of the swing. There is a phenomenon (maybe Alexandre knows the name but it escapes me right now), that when you swing the coil and it cuts thru the magnetic field of the earth, it excites the coil and when you stop abruptly you will get a false. I’m not sure if that is what is happening or not. Nevertheless a slower sweep helps and you learn to ignore it at some point.

My Equinox uses a waterproof M12 connector same as the CTX. Only a few phones comes with that. I think your thinking of a patch cable M12 to 1/8 or 1/4 jack. The same could be done with the AQ.

Well you might want to go back and read about the ATS and swing speeds it sounds like. This is a good example of what I mean about knowing how to set the AQ up for your specific purpose.

What in the world ? What makes you think the present AQ can’t be used on dry, damp, & wet sand ? I use Pro Gold phones & Killer B’s on my AQ on damp, wet, and up to chest deep. I have not met anyone as of yet that is diving with the AQ. Alexandre is giving out privileged information as to a certain change coming. Any phones can be wired to any connector period. It’s like he says, they are trying to make this detector as water proof as possible.

Depends on what mode your in. All metal yes it is all the same. To a trained ear there is a suttle difference between the two. Gold is somewhat softer I guess is the best way to describe it for me. I am still learning myself. Tone mode the big fat pigs of high 18, 22 k come in as a iron grunt or high conductor. I can not say in mute as I have not tested it. Maybe Joe can chime in on the mute mode. I have issues with mute. I took a 5.5 gram white gold band and a piece of iron together and passed it past the coil in mute mode in a air test. The ring was muted. I did the exact same test a few mins. later with a mans 6 gram diamond ring and the ring pinged and was not muted. So something about the white gold vs yellow gold is going on in mute mode with iron present.

Knowledge on how to set the AQ up properly for the circumstances at hand. Knowledge on how water classifies targets on the slope and in the water. Knowledge of the differences each beach you hunt have to one another. knowledge on swing speed verses the set up of the machine. knowledge of the suttle differences your target response gives. There are many more things related to best time to maximize your efforts, learning tides and swells effects, learning to read your beaches at any given time. Knowing what machine to use and when and where. What coil size you should be using, and on and on and on.

No I am not John. I’m camera shy ☺️.

I think at the time, maybe he confused VLF discrimination to PI iron discrimination. I think a lot of people have. And on the other hand , like I said he is quite successful with the Nox. He knows it very well. As much so as anyone I would say. So it would be hard for anyone to lay it down. As far as friends you are correct. My father always told me, that when it’s your time to die, if you could count five real friends on your hand, you did good in life.

Gigmaster’s AQ is in the closet. He was not willing to learn the machine. I live near him. I hunt with him. He is a Nox numbers man period and he does quite well with it. What I guess I’m saying is, some people are PI men and some are not. It takes a tuned ear and knowledge to run a PI successfully. Your not going to pop the box open and hit the beach with a VLF attitude and be able to use the machine to its potential. Just isn’t going to happen. Again I’m not knocking Gig, he is a great hunter, of many types of treasure and certainly never a dull moment to be around !!!

I think you could gain more depth and clarity if you lower the reject now to say 2 or 3 with the ATS at 8.5. Give it a try. Thanks for the video’s.

I know several who own two AQ’s. No jail time so far lol.

Looks like $360 + $18 shipping. $378.00 total. Dang.

One could make the argument, which machine is he talking about when he says, “ but others it’s been in the shop more than on the beach “, the Nox or the AQ ? I would guess hundreds maybe thousands of Nox’s have drowned world wide once submerged in water and a fair share of the CTX’s also but not as many for sure as the Nox. Our friend Max drowned four in less than two years. 600’s & 800’s. I own both the AQ & the Nox 800. After years on the market, the Nox still has problems. Both have their place I think but neither are in the same category. One suits a wide range of detectorist, weekender as well as seasoned professionals. Another is for seasoned professionals only I think. One also stands out as the deepest by far. I’ve always read and believe the detector is no better than the hand that swings it. Is the AQ deeper than Eric Foster machine’s ? I can not answer as I don’t own a Foster PI. I did own a dual field at one time and yes the AQ is the deeper of the two. I own other PI detectors as well that the AQ is the deepest. Eric Foster will always be known as the father of pulse induction and holding over forty patents over time, his legacy will for ever, hold the test of time I think. There are many great engineers out there, but none will be able to compare to his legacy. To have the name and machine that all others are compared to, is a testament to his name and machines. With all that being said, in my humble opinion, if you are serious about salt or fresh water detecting, you would do well to own the AQ. As far as Rick Kempf and Fisher’s response to my issues, no matter how trivial, in forty + years detecting, none have had a better response time for me.