Carolina

Sorry to read this. Sounds like another bad pot. I still have not submerged mine yet so fingers crossed on that. Good luck and drop Rick a line. It’s best to let him know I think.

Man sorry to here that. I have heard little about issues with that machine. Not to rub salt in your wound, let me tell you about the Fisher AQ issues, FISHER PAID SHIPPING BOTH WAYS WITH ALL MY ISSUES !!! I tell you customer support is top of the line. Good luck with your MDT. The way to get around import fees where you are is Mark the package used or gift, otherwise ouch they get you good.

For me, I only have issues with the shaft for the AQ. Both mine are a bit shaky I guess is a way to put it. One has a bad cam lock which will not tighten down leaving the pin to stop left and right wiggle. If you step on the coil and shift the handle left and right there is a lot of play. I’m used to something ridged. The MDT has about the best set up I have ever used in that respect. I think the electronics of the AQ is good, with occasional bad pots. I’m not sure how they slip by their inspection process ? It appears their quality control is lacking somewhat. It comes with quite a list of items on a check list so it is puzzling how a machine with no threshold could go out the doors ? There must be great pressure on the number of units per week in production. The headphones are not up to par either but I hear they will be changing in the future. As far as Fisher and Rick goes, nearly 40 years in this hobby, and the owner of umpteen different detectors, none, I mean none have come close to the response I have received with “my” personal issues. Their response time and attitudes have been the best by far. This machine has been a game changer for me myself and I would not hesitate to say for a beach hunter it is hard to beat. Keeping in mind it is a PI and if your not used to their operation there is a bit of a learning curve. In my opinion for 1500 bucks or so you are getting a bang for your bucks !!! Good luck everybody and Merry Christmas.

Aaron what is the price if I may ask ?

I think they did some testing but not sure the outcome. I also think I read $400. To expensive for my blood. Good luck everybody and Merry Christmas.

I been waiting for a 12” coil a year and a half. Dankowski says Dimitar can’t make one. 1500 for a detector that only offers a stock 9x11 coil. Much better options out there at that price. I sealed my speaker up and spent lots of time under water but that battery cap upgrade is a real plus.

I will now post a finding with the AQ. There are those here with the AQ who have expressed their liking of the mute mode over tone mode. I would caution you about the mute mode and the volcanic mode. On my beaches there is some iron, bobbie pins, fish hooks and tent stakes. During tourist season lots of coins and junk rings as well as gold. In this situation I prefer tone mode over all metal as the depth loss is little and more than enough for recent drops. You can tell pins and hooks as well as some stakes with a double ping and or broken signal and iron grunt. The gold always comes in as a solid high tone with the exception of those heavy high k pigs which will give a iron grunt. This is where your beach knowledge of classification comes into play. The coin grunts will be much higher up the beach than most of those heavy rings. Now for mute mode and volcanic. If you set up your detector the way Alexandre does your ATS will be between 7 1/2 & 8 1/2 with reject around 3 or 4 for maximum depth. This will give the iron grunt and solid high ping for gold. If you now change to mute mode, the detector will mute iron and ping high on gold. Same for volcanic. Now if you do an air test with say a Carabiner clip the machine will mute due to the metal spring clip. Now hold the Carabiner and any gold ring at the same time and cross the coil. The gold ring will mute in mute and volcanic. Only in tone mode will you get the high ping on gold while the iron is present. I think you could miss many golds if iron is present running in mute or volcanic. How big of iron does it take for this to occur I can not say. There are exceptions to everything. Just something to think about and you can try this at home. During the off season and out waist and chest deep I would say all metal is the way to go. Good luck everybody.

Sorry I seem ridiculous to you. I only told the truth.

I myself had two reasons to stop posting. One I felt like a braggart since only two at first were posting finds, myself being one and two, as winter moves in, for me finds are more concentrated to only a couple spots and competition knows where I am, so I’d rather not advertise. I love this machine and Rick and Fisher have been very supportive. Couldn’t ask for anything more.

I would gladly trade my short shaft for a long. I’m 5’ 10” and need the longest length available to use it. There is very little difference though between the long and short shaft. I too have a machine that the locking collar does not secure the lower shaft. Creates wobble in the control head left to right. I have not complained though as Fisher has been very responsive to my other issues.

I have three different lower shafts. One was a complimentary shaft when my first AQ was replaced. This gave me two of the same length. My second AQ purchase has a lower shaft that is two inches longer than the other two. On purpose ? Quality control ? You should be able to open up a wire coat hanger and make it straight and measure the depth of the lower shaft. Keep in mind you need to clear the two pins. My three are hollow.

Very nice! Sore back for sure haha. I did not see the detector or detectors used. From your gear list I narrowed it down to two ? Again nice spin !

Has anyone removed the pins to see if the remainder of the clevis is epoxied to the lower shaft ?

This would never hold up to water hunting. Dry sand only would be my guess.

My two cents worth. This is the shaft lock on my MDT 8000. It is adjustable for the tightness needed and is without a doubt the best I have ever used. You can even stop the pin between holes and set the shaft lock and wild horses couldn’t rotate the shaft. Been in salt water hundreds of times now and still looks brand new and operates smoothly. I wish I could source them.

My AQ shaft and locking collar are terrible. Shaft wobbles and collar does not lock. I know someone else who has your problem but he would never say anything negative about the AQ. The locking collar on the MDT is similar to the blue ones you show. It is the best collar around.

Hi Dew, do you have your AQ now? How do you like it ? Haven’t seen any pics yet. I know Cliff got his awhile back. If the run time is to short for you, buy one of Joe’s big batteries. That should hold you on those long hunts. Good luck.

Why yell at me Willy? Was a simple question.

Hi Joe, Man my 10x5 coilTek for my CTX will wear you out, trying to keep it on the bottom. Granted it’s a clam shell design not a spider but I just hate the thought of a buoyant coil. I’ll take your word for it though as I have limited experience with floating coils. Now price,I’m with you there, it definitely can be a show stopper.

So Willy, is that a yes it is buoyant? Thanks

I hunt the ocean front beaches (3 main beaches ) usually starting in May and run thru October. That’s not to say I won’t change it up and hunt rivers and the Bay on occasions. Then usually November thru April I am in the rivers and the Bay. Last two weeks of February and March are hit and miss for me as unlike Joe, I don’t like ice !!! He is one tough cookie. I would say my gold comes from 50/50 water vs wash and damp sand. No dry sand for me. July, August and September are productive ocean front knee deep to damp sand times. Storms also guide me from ocean to Bay. Just depends. I have 11 gold from 9 spins so far with the AQ, two being chains without medallions or lobster claw clasps. All these targets were from the ocean front deep in the wash. I have bonded with this machine quite well, but still have a lot to learn I think. If you know PI characteristics, don’t miss a chance at this machine. Call Rick and put your name on the list. People may drop out, or God forbid have unexpected hardships or just plain grow tired of waiting. Believe me, it is worth the wait.

Alexandre, Eric and I have had this very discussion. He also wound me a 12” coil for my VALLON, no coil cover. I know on some of his coils, he will pour a light weight potting material half way and finish with a heavier abuse resistant potting material. If it’s good enough for him and good enough for you, it’s good enough for me !

I agree whole heartedly. The potting material used is hard as nails and should be no problem, even for rocky beaches. That is unless you swing your coil like a pendulum and bang the hell out of those rocks 😂. I never have used the covers. I have friends who spray truck bed liner ( no metal ) on theirs though with much success. For me though just a waste.

My first set of AQ phones were like Joe’s, two 35mm drivers per cup. I had an issue with one cup. One of the two drivers in the same cup would cut on and off intermittently. The on and off lower volume was annoying to say the least. You could still hear the threshold, but it was much like when flying and your ears stop up and then pop only in one ear. Fisher was very fast with their response over nighting a new pair and providing a shipping label to return the original. My next pair came with one 35mm and one 28mm driver in each cup. Picture below. I have since acquired a second AQ and those head sets have the same. I have a set for sale should anyone want them. I also have a new never used stock battery for sale.

When I run tones I set mine up the way Alexandre does in his video. I think he calls it expert. I use the test nail, not the tent stake so I probably could use it. I run mine with as much depth as possible. ATS 8 1/4 to 8 1/2. Start my reject at 6 and lower it till the grunt and high tone are mixed for most depth. Around 3 reject. Thanks for the info.