Badger-NH

The F-19 was a great machine. I liked the look of the coil and the camo. It's the only one in the line I would consider buying. The price was a bit steep though compared to what's available today.

I didn't have time to read everything here but if no one mentioned it, when just starting out, the best way to avoid digging iron is to focus more on the sound than the numbers. Dig only clear, repeatable, 360 degree signals. Walk around the target and if they sound smooth all the way around with no low tones mixed in, it is more than likely non-ferrous. Some large iron might also sound good but the target profile will be large in pinpoint. Most non-ferrous targets like coins will have a small profile. Once you get familiar with the sounds, a lot of iron can easily be avoided.

You definitely want to dig the pull rings and lead because they could also be gold or hammered silver.

If that's India, why isn't he speaking English?  Traditional languages are generally not used much there. India is said to be the second largest English speaking country.

The stock 11" coil is a throw away IMO. It came on my T2, Gold Bug DP, and F-75 and they all had very poor performance in my test garden compared to aftermarket coils. FT makes some pretty good detectors but they suck at designing coils.

The stock 11" has not changed since the original design. The ears are extremely thin and brittle, and snap off very easily if you don't remember to use the special red washers that come with it. That should have been corrected after the first year of production.

If I were to buy an F-75 today, I would toss the stock coil and get an SEF. Maybe this new coil will be an improvement.

On 8/10/2021 at 10:13 PM, Roughwater said:

After a long time away from Metal Detecting I suddenly get real interested in collecting coins and have been buying some. So I think again about detecting as maybe I could find a few good ones this way.  

I think most would agree that the AQ would not be the best choice for coin hunting.  You'd be much better off going with a Minelab Equinox.

Even if you were set on buying the AQ, it may be years before it is released if ever. They made 100 prototypes over a year ago which are still being offered. Apparently they have not yet decided whether to put a final version into full production or scrap the project. Hence the silence.

It has nothing to do with strain from the magnet.  More likely, the cracks happened during the manufacturing process. They might have used a weak formula in the plastic. Then it cracked when it was stamped together. That's my guess.

I wonder if anyone at the event will ask Russ when the new AQ will be available.  🙂

I'll bet Minelab is regretting marketing the Equinox as a water hunting machine. I wonder what percentage have leaked since the beginning.

All I had to do was trip and fall once with mine and it broke it open enough that I could see the electronics inside. I imagine that just a slight tweak or bump of the control pod could easily pop the seal enough to make it leak and you would never know it until you enter the water. The Equinox is simply too fragile to be used for water hunting after the warranty is up.

It's funny how TNSS stays within the range of 5-7 and I primarily use just 4 or 8. If the 800 had only two recovery speeds, those would work fine for me. In iron laden sites, I use both. 8 for separation and 4 for depth. Most sites with iron have occasional spaces between the iron where the deeper setting of 4 can pull out targets that 8 can not reach. I generally use Field 2 in iron for good separation or sometimes 20/40 kHz. Gold mode is also worth a try but I usually find that it falses too much on the iron.

On which video was it and at what part is it mentioned?

Edit - Found it. The video is "an evening with joe beachnut!!" and the AQ is mentioned at 11:20.

It will be interesting to see if what Russ told Jeff is true. What does Jeff mean when he says that when he gets his AQ he'll be giving people the mumbles?

I would not trust anything from Kellyco.

If I was in charge at Fisher, I'd be saying publicly that the AQ is expected to be available at such and such a date. Or the AQ project has been delayed or put on hold and give the reason why. 

Most importantly, I would be honest with my customers.

My gut feeling is that they have scrapped the idea. If anything was in the works, they would be letting the public know about it. I think the rumors of its iron ID capability were mostly hype. It may have excellent depth in all metal but it's not worth $2000. Those who got the Limited got a good deal and an opportunity to try new technology.

I don't know much about electronics but was thinking, maybe you could just connect four of these to the two wires in the detector.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9V+Battery+Clip+Connector&i=industrial&ref=nb_sb_noss

Is this what you are looking for?   https://www.ebay.com/itm/252678175953

Or is that the guy who ripped you off? I see no bad ratings for the seller. $40 + shipping is a bit steep though.

Apparently, he sells all kinds of Fisher stuff as well as other brands.  https://www.ebay.com/str/dmoutstandingbargainxchange

Lithium batteries don't like to be stored fully charged. Ultimately, they should be kept between 20 and 80% charged if the device is not going to be used for a week or more. Then charge the battery the day that you go detecting.

They also should not be discharged until dead. If that happens, put it on the charger as soon as possible but only charge it to two bars, then charge it to full when you want to use the machine.

Yup, it's just shiny epoxy glare.

I'm guessing they removed the cover to show that the coil is still like new underneath.

I picture a dark and dusty factory with just a few workers and two or three guys who run the business from their cell phones but have better things to do with their time than deal with customers.

10 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Private group, Facebook.... no thanks.

Ditto.  I hate Facebook and don't want anything to do with private groups.

On 4/30/2021 at 12:10 AM, bklein said:

When I disabled Horseshoe, the output went pretty quiet over the black sand.  Makes sense as the negative numbers were disc'd out.  Wouldn't that make you think there is no falseing issue? 

It's not a falsing issue. The black sand is being detected and giving you a signal due to its iron content. The ID that the detector is giving for the black sand is correct. You can't make those signals go away without drastically losing depth.

The only settings available to work with for black sand seem to be Ground Balance, Sensitivity, Recovery Speed, and Iron Bias. I would bury some targets and see what combination of those settings gets the best depth.

You can choose to hear the low tones or to not hear them. It's up to you. I prefer to hear them so that I know when iron or black sand is present. I have the tone volume turned way down so that they are just in the background and not bothersome, and make adjustments depending on the amount of low tones that I hear. I don't try to make the low tones disappear. I simply adjust the settings to get the best depth for each situation. Target size and conductivity may also play a role in the choice of settings.

They just need to use a better plastic formula. They should have used Marelon. It's pretty much unbreakable.

7 minutes ago, ALEXANDRE TARTAR said:

The cable gland is in front because it is the technology inside that imposes it. (coil specifications)

There will be less variation due to salt water during a swing.

Good to know. Thank you for confirming.

34 minutes ago, Carolina said:

The 8” cable gland should be in front the same as the 12.5”:coil. There is some concern on stressing the cable if folded flat for transportation so take note of that.

Why should they be in front?

If there is concern about the coil being folded flat, wouldn't it make more sense that it be in the back so as to prevent that from happening?

It looks to me like having the cable attachment behind the rod would make it so the coil would not fall flat when you set the machine down due to the way the ears wrap around on that side. I would think that is the way it's supposed to go.

I'd demand a full refund. They might offer a compromise with a 50% refund and let you keep the coil.

Coils should always be boxed when shipped.

Recovery 8 if there is a lot of iron. As low as 4 away from the iron. I often change my recovery speed in relation to the amount of low tones I hear.

Try the single frequencies if you haven't already. They might be less affected by EMI and allow you to raise the sensitivity. High frequencies are sensitive to low conductors and good for separation. Low frequencies are sensitive to high conductors and good for depth.

I would be using Field 1.  Possibly Field 2 if there is a ton of iron or a lot of mineralization.