cjc

On 1/14/2022 at 6:14 PM, HardPack said:

 

less about the finds, more about the machine?

On 1/11/2022 at 12:16 AM, Pyriteboy said:

Hi Clive, the Aquasearch is good-to-go. I took another look at it and found one of the coil wires detached from the block.....easy enough fix. Here is the place where you can get the exact replacement control box and/or exact replacement gaskets for the Aquasearch: GSI Outdoors in Spokane, Washington.

-Jerry

I did take a look at their stuff back then but Im not sure it was exact--wound up putting mine in a BHID box--rock solid.  I talk to Eric quite  often will have to ask him what he used.   Hard to believe it would be a Gringo company lol.  I tried to get a gasket from them it did not fit. 

cjc

Glad you found someone to take a look at it, Jerry.  Sounds like the coil cable brain end.   Don't forget the gasket making kit if you need it too. 

cjc

This kind of comparison needs to be grounded in a solid knowledge of the site and both detectors.  A pulse in not a machine to scout around with--except in the cleanest of beaches.  That Said, with some good basic pulse skills it's possible to have a decent level of accuracy.  There's  such a thing as a pulse that will give a lot of target information.  Examples are the Barracuda, and the CS6PI.  While these are not exactly mainstream  detectors--they do the job of  a pulse while offering some selectivity.  The Fisher Impulse AQ also offers rudimentary tone ID and like the TDI--great audio.  The idea of scouting and assessing with a VLLF is a good one though.  As well there are situations where pulse is just overkill.   The NOX is a great machine for picking though junk--especially in that you  can select for "clean" metal using the F2 bias. The real skill in using multiple machines is in finding and recognizing  situations where each can do what it does best.

cjc

Last time my machine was in FT service told me that one batch of orange power jumpers was defective.   I was given a new one but can't help wondering if that has problems too.  I' ve been taught to diagnose detector problems by the best, but when there are multiple ailments it gets  a lot harder.   Heading down to the Caribbean to hunt Saturday, sadly, the Fisher Impulse AQ will be staying home.  So far--it's beaten me.  Thanks kindly for the suggestions!

cjc

1 minute ago, okara gold said:

I too have had problems with leaking / corrosion, but mine has only been on the power cord. Another AQ owner suggested that I look at the o-ring on the battery power side. I couldn't see any on that particular battery but my other battery showed one in place. I told FT about it and the complete machine is now in their hands... again. A couple of times after hunting in the salt water the machine would not turn off by using the on off knob. Only by disconnecting the battery cable was I able to shut it down. Then after drying and reconnecting the cable, the AQ would not respond to any metal target placed by the coil. After it was thoroughly dried and sat for hours was it usable again. I have always cleaned the corrosion from the cable after every use, but the corrosion must have migrated deep into the cable. This is the second cable that FT has given me. Sorry about the blurry pictures.

 

connection

I think that there should also be an orange O ring on the machine side power connection--likely the cause of that damage if it's not there.  My replacement came without it fortunately I had a spare.  With this much power flying around these details take on much more significance.  

cjc

11 hours ago, Joe Beechnut OBN said:

That will do it...means there is a leak for sure. That's what was wrong with the refurbished machine I bought. Looks like the same pin also... they replaced the unit with a Brand New since the main fitting to the housing was green also and needed replaced. 

 

Thanks for the heads up, Joe.  Hard to tell with these machines--what's build and what's platform...It's managed to exhaust me but will  have to have another shot at getting one of these detectors that works as it should--they sound pretty good...

cjc

22 hours ago, tvr said:

Don't know what to say except it doesn't sound like your detector is functioning like my two do. Faulty? Water in the connector damaged it? Don't know. I'd certainly talk with First Texas. I enjoyed your Pulse Power book. Funny how I was at home very quickly with the HH Pulse (and Sand Shark before that) but took me a frustrating while to start hearing the AQ LTD edges for the clues in all metal to walk away from a target.

The key is in knowing the theory.  A "pure" on ferrous response "carries" in a much narrower field.   A cap or spike is less distinct from the surrounding ground--how the machines struggles to  separate it is your clue. 

There is some green on the power coil pins and female side--might be a cause for the instability. (This is after attempts to clean with contact spray and brush).   It's a shame--I've had half a dozen Dual Fields with the same issue that just needed a damping change. 

cjc

On 12/16/2021 at 6:59 PM, tvr said:

I'm in agreement with Carolina and Joe. I've been pretty happy with the two I have (once I got Joe's batteries on them and the shaft locks swapped out). I might be a lucky one with out having to send one back yet. Deep is what they are. Couple of resorts have stuff going on that interferes some and I've been able to tune to handle most of it and other places they run dead quiet. In the water there is a bit of toning on wave motion; about what I had with the DetectorPro HH Pulse ... meaning very usable. Pause when the crest goes over then detect between waves. I can get rid of much of it with highest delay setting and higher ATS setting but tend to not do that.

Thats very interesting.  I spent 3 weeks trying to get the stock coil to settle down in salt water conditions--even up on the sidewall at a resort beach.  I even walked to the next resort that didn't have facility wide wi fi.  No go.  Hate to say it but I've been fiddling with pulse machines since 1989 and there was just no way to run this detector.  Detuning produced less than VLF depth.  Maybe somewhere far from civilization.  Can't see this machine in it's present (performance)  form being released.  I have hope and like the platform--but it has stability problems IMHO.  Cant see the environment I was in being all that exceptional.

cjc 

I reviewed the Anfibio favorably because by industry standards--it has no flaws....😁 This is why I continue to promote this detector and just last week encouraged a close buddy to buy one.  Could be a bit lighter and better in fast salt but overall for what it does--a superb machine.  It's 5 below here and mine's by the front door...😁  100% reliable--nothing falling off that baby...or seeping in...

cjc

Thanks for your comments Phrunt.  I feel like I have been working for FT as a field tester since I got my first defective unit--finally figuring out what was wrong with it (Sens control increase made targets quieter).  The new one has a replaced brain but is unstable around salt water to the point of being unusable.  I've fiddled with on and off  it for 3 weeks of perfectly good vacation time but never managed a single hunt. Pretty good in fresh water but that's not where the money is.  Looking for a repair or refund at this point.   Any more tweaks and I'll be ready for "Faces of Meth".

cjc

On 12/13/2021 at 1:06 PM, cjc said:

Okay--Im going to qualify and retract the above because I'm now getting the sense that I have a second defective unit.  The first got quieter  on targets when you increased the Sensitivity.  This one shuts down when and after being wet.  It also fails the pinch test--the coil is live to interference. 

As tempting as it is to generalize--I know that others are getting stable results in salt water environments. 

cjc

So I discovered that the reason this machine is shutting down after immersion is because the Souriel jack needed one more click and the aperture was filling with water. So, down it goes but does this solve the problem?  No way.  Still full toning never mind in water but even up on the side bone dry.  But at the same time the depth is less than other pulse machines running 11.5 (or 15...) such as the Dual Field.  This setting has less depth than an Equinox--faint past about 9".  

(Sens. 2.5 - 3, ATS full)

Another thing Im noticing is that this jack in normal usage has moisture in the aperture. It's as if I missed an "O" ring in the box.  How does a unit running this much power run with water on the pins?  Unstable from the look of it..

cjc

On 12/11/2021 at 6:00 PM, cjc said:

 Glad to see that Im not the only dog barking at the carriage.   What's disturbing is the elegant array of denials--some unwitting--others not.  Im kind of reminded of a concept in Group Dynamics--that of the "Abilene Paradigm. "  With this--a group of people feel compelled to travel to Abilene for ice cream. But when the get there they  realize that no one really wanted to go--problem being a lack of communication.  Maybe a better metaphor would be that of a train that has travelled for quite a long distance at speed--but no one paused to check if the wheels were actually touching the ground.  In this case the ground would be the simple basics of detector operation--ease of use and stability.   Without them we're well beyond the "ugly baby" simile and into the realm of  "le infante terrible."  The term that comes to mind is "ass in the breeze" interference -wise.  I get the sense that Alexandre was not able to replicate a broad enough spectrum (and  ranges) of interference sources (mineral / salt, EMI) to produce a machine with a range of adjustment to allow for stability under a wider range of conditions.  Although his efforts to look at salinity, sweep variation, tuning and other factors were valiant--the product lacked versatility. Ive never had a detector that I didn't quite know what to do with.  this is that machine--squelching on my freshwater dream find--big 22k, and temperamental in salt.  Im testing on a hotel strip beach and from the looks of it the amount of electricity in the ground precludes the use of this machine--after almost 3 weeks of fiddling.  I've just finished taking it back to the one area of sidewall where I was able to take out a dozen or so deep coins--only to find that now--something had changed--even at 11.5 uSc--basically haywire--with severe sweep  / response latency issues----OR stable at the lower delay ranges--but with no target response.  Frustrating  and bewildering.  Noise when the coil jack is touched, noise when the coil itself is touched--"ass in the breeze"--no match whatsoever for a rough salt environment.  The only suggestion I can offer is  that FT need to quit this tap dance of excuses and recommended "tweaks" and send one of  this detector to the master-- Eric Foster--free.  Something along the lines of the Aquastar's coil ground pin might bring this machine successfully to market--where it deserves to be.  Eric has also  suggested to me that problems with the distribution of power throughout the charge cycle might be at fault.

Tantalizing is exactly the word. 

Im very grateful to you Steve for your reply,  deft "voice of reason" analysis, and reporting on this machine. 

cjc

Okay--Im going to qualify and retract the above because I'm now getting the sense that I have a second defective unit.  The first got quieter  on targets when you increased the Sensitivity.  This one shuts down when and after being wet.  It also fails the pinch test--the coil is live to interference. 

As tempting as it is to generalize--I know that others are getting stable results in salt water environments. 

cjc

21 hours ago, okara gold said:

Cjc... Earlier this year the 7 and 7.5 delay setting on my machine was hardly reacting to anything and was roughly equivalent to an 11 setting. I could turn to the 7 delay in the salt water and it was very quiet and would hardly pick up a target. It was sent back to Fisher and repaired to work as it should. I have had several problems with the pots going bad. Volume control was another.

I warned them about the Vishay pots.   Eric used then on the Aquasearch. I've a  bin full of ones that have had to be replaced. First machine got quieter as you increased the Sens.  My current machine locks up in salt water and then will not take targets once it's been wet. 

Trying hard not to generalize. 

cjc

I've since gotten a response from Alexandre to my enquiry.  He's suggested two things:  1/ that I run full ATS at Sens 2.  I had tried 3 and 4 but am very hopeful that this will help.  2/ On my last test, I stopped running the cable straight and wrapped it.  This could explain why I was not able to replicate okay sidewall performance once did not work a second time.  Have two full hunt days left here would love to be wrong.  A detuned machine is better than no machine.  .

cjc

On 12/10/2021 at 6:05 AM, Steve Herschbach said:

I’d argue with you over that one. I followed this machine from before day one, gleaned every clue about it, and posted here for years about it in anticipation. Lined up one of the first, and gave some pretty glowing reviews, that in some ways I now regret. My use in fresh water only gave an incomplete view of the machine. And frankly, those having salt issues were all strangely reticent about saying so publicly, making me question how real those issues were. It’s like nobody wanted to come right out in public and say the baby was ugly. deborah195412 was the only person to go public with this early on, and was explained away as having a bad unit. I’d heard private comments, but was loath to make much of second hand information.

Salinity seems to be the key, though it also could simply be a problem with individual units. Joe Beechnut has had perhaps the greatest success with this detector in water. Yet he hunts exclusively in lower salinity brackish estuary waters. He is also in cooler water. Higher temps, high salinity, seems to be a common factor, mineral less so. I speculated on heat buildup in a epoxy sealed high voltage circuit maybe being an issue with circuit drift, but was told that was not it. I still also question that however. So salt, high temps…… something is up, and perhaps is the reason why First Texas has gone silent on this machine. Well, except for a couple video mentions, and Kellyco hyping it up as available soon.

The AQ is tantalizingly close to being the perfect water PI. For me performance was great, although the preset ground balance was an issue in my extreme soil. It was always reactive to the soil, but the autotune made it useable. My main issue was dissatisfaction with the unfinished mechanical aspects. i.e. klunky battery pack and cable setup. I also think the mechanical knobs will be a service issue long term, sealed touchpad would be more reliable.

But this inability to perform in places like Hawaii is a complete product killer unless solved. Hawaii was for me the entire reason for coming to love ground balancing PI performance, able to handle both salt water and basalt hot rocks at the same time. If I had made a trip to Hawaii with mine, and it had not worked, I’d have been livid, and far less forgiving than you Clive. This thing was supposedly vetted. Here is what Tom Walsh, President of First Texas wrote in his “Disclosure” which each buyer was asked to read and confirm their acceptance of:

“Fisher is offering the Impulse®-AQ Limited to a select group of experienced early adopters who want to experienceonsti design and technological innovation in real-time, as it unfolds. The Impulse®-AQ Limited is not a prototype or pre-production metal detector; it is the first edition to a new product line of Impulse® technology.” 

I’d say at this point the Impulse AQ as sold to us was and is clearly a prototype/preproduction model, and everyone involved was charged good money to do what is normally expected of paid prototype testers. That may not have been the intent, and Tom Walsh was probably just believing what he was told, but this detector was not properly vetted and completed before sale. That’s not an accusation. It’s simply a fact.

 Glad to see that Im not the only dog barking at the carriage.   What's disturbing is the elegant array of denials--some unwitting--others not.  Im kind of reminded of a concept in Group Dynamics--that of the "Abilene Paradigm. "  With this--a group of people feel compelled to travel to Abilene for ice cream. But when the get there they  realize that no one really wanted to go--problem being a lack of communication.  Maybe a better metaphor would be that of a train that has travelled for quite a long distance at speed--but no one paused to check if the wheels were actually touching the ground.  In this case the ground would be the simple basics of detector operation--ease of use and stability.   Without them we're well beyond the "ugly baby" simile and into the realm of  "le infante terrible."  The term that comes to mind is "ass in the breeze" interference -wise.  I get the sense that Alexandre was not able to replicate a broad enough spectrum (and  ranges) of interference sources (mineral / salt, EMI) to produce a machine with a range of adjustment to allow for stability under a wider range of conditions.  Although his efforts to look at salinity, sweep variation, tuning and other factors were valiant--the product lacked versatility. Ive never had a detector that I didn't quite know what to do with.  this is that machine--squelching on my freshwater dream find--big 22k, and temperamental in salt.  Im testing on a hotel strip beach and from the looks of it the amount of electricity in the ground precludes the use of this machine--after almost 3 weeks of fiddling.  I've just finished taking it back to the one area of sidewall where I was able to take out a dozen or so deep coins--only to find that now--something had changed--even at 11.5 uSc--basically haywire--with severe sweep  / response latency issues----OR stable at the lower delay ranges--but with no target response.  Frustrating  and bewildering.  Noise when the coil jack is touched, noise when the coil itself is touched--"ass in the breeze"--no match whatsoever for a rough salt environment.  The only suggestion I can offer is  that FT need to quit this tap dance of excuses and recommended "tweaks" and send one of  this detector to the master-- Eric Foster--free.  Something along the lines of the Aquastar's coil ground pin might bring this machine successfully to market--where it deserves to be.  Eric has also  suggested to me that problems with the distribution of power throughout the charge cycle might be at fault.

Tantalizing is exactly the word. 

Im very grateful to you Steve for your reply,  deft "voice of reason" analysis, and reporting on this machine. 

cjc

On 12/8/2021 at 8:24 AM, Steve Herschbach said:

Yes, this problem is real, and all mentions of it were answered with excuses, or minimization of the problem. I never experienced the problem personally as I only hunted fresh water, and can vouch for the AQ performing well there at least. The problem appears to be related to high salinity situations, compounded by high mineralization - the exact reasons why you would normally want a PI. As far as I know the machine basically does not work in Hawaii, and apparently some other locations, unless detuned to the point that you may as well use a VLF.

No-one is a bigger fan of this detector than me.  But I\'ve spend more time fiddling with it than hunting on this my second salt water trip.  The first week with it I was unable to hunt at all with this detector.   As a keen "student" of pulse machines I thought for sure that there would be a simple cause to be found:  a non-linear ATS / Delay solution, electricity in the ground from hotels on shore--as stated "combination of salt and mineral'...Sensitivity or Delay too high....overall frequency...my methods are exhaustive and broad -based.  I've even considered solar flares as a possible source of interference.  Still looking, still waiting for my "secret weapon" to work.

cjc

1 hour ago, okara gold said:

Mine is used 90% in the salt water. I am in SW Florida with mainly white to light brown sand. The big coil is noisy even with minimal swells and every time a swell comes in, it emits a long, loud howl sound. I do hunt with a delay around 9.5 -10.5 and an ATS around the mid-way point so this is expected.  When a swell comes in, sometimes I will stop the coil movement as it starts to "howl / drift" and it quiets down enough that I can continue the sweep. It is quieter coming from the deep water to the shore. Whe.  Othern doing this perpendicular approach I can set the delay as low as 9 (sometimes). It is very hard to keep quiet when walking parallel to the shore and swinging from the shallow water to the deeper without it drifting severely. Every time the coil is raised off the bottom it reacts with the loud howl.

It was mentioned a long time ago that to help in discrimination in all metal you can gradually raise the coil as you sweep side to side over the target and if the signal quickly fades it is probably iron. This procedure for me is impossible to do in the salt water due to the severe drift noise. As soon as the coil is raised it howls! On shore it works as it should.

I can hunt roughly waist deep to the shallows without too much drift occurring. And this is ONLY if the water is fairly calm with minimal swells. I agree with Steve, that if you have to set the delay and ATS so high as to quiet the machine down you may as well use a VLF. If you strictly use the AQ out of the water, I find it overall enjoyable and deep if the area isn't too trashy.

I have the 8 inch coil that is much quieter in the water but am reluctant to use it much because of its small coverage.

Thanks for your run down Okara. Defiantly an East / West machine--that downhill drag wrecks it.   Certainly great on shore and Im in the process of testing a small coil but the overall shielding issue is still there.  These tradeoffs are part of detecting but there has to be limits to how degraded the performance is under typical conditions.   A simple machine like the Cuda has none of these problems. 

cjc

6 hours ago, cudamark said:

My experience as well. It's just way too noisy in our surf regardless of settings.

To be fair--this is a very deep, sophisticated pulse detector that tells ferrous from non-ferrous--huge deal.  You can also bring the coil into the edge surge.  But whole machine submerged?  I haven't learned the secret yet, anyhow.  Still testing and tomorrow will run Eric Fosters small coil but There seems  to be a an integral shielding problem.  Also once submerged--there's noise as the water runs off.  I know for sure Eric Foster could sort this out but FT is too proud to ask.  Im also told that said circuit came from a post by Eric on Geotech--purloined. 

cjc

On 9/1/2020 at 9:31 AM, deborah195412 said:

The video's did not help my situation at all. I'm out in the water up to my neck.  In all metal mode, max pulse delay, ats 9-10, Sensitivity 3 -  When I sweep the coil there is no way I could recognize a signal unless it was shallow. I'm used to a little chatter and having a signal break through the chatter, but the audio in all metal, when sweeping the coil, is changing so much there is no way I could recognize a weak to medium signal. Just the fact that I have to reduce my sensitivity so low in conjunction with an ATS setting of 9 or 10, I'm losing all the advantages of the Impulse AQ. I still have hope that a smaller coil will help with this problem. until I can lay my hands on the 8 inch coil, I will continue using the machine in the volcanic sand mode where I can achieve a little stability. I will be doing some target testing on gold and platinum rings and other common targets to see what kind of depth to expect in that mode.

My machine is not the only machine acting this way. There is another machine here in Pensacola acting this way and 2 machines in Hawaii that are having problems. I am not sure if the problem is salinity or something else, but I have no problems with using my Whites Dual Field or my Eric Foster Goldquest Aquasearch V2 here in Pensacola. 

This is exactly the problem I continue to have and am working with the settings and asking around looking for a remedy.  Even at the highest Delay and SAT speeds there's more noise than signal in salt with any current.   I do have a small coil and have to say that although this machine is close to a workable stability level--I haven't found one yet.  the videos are encouraging and I'm grateful for the time Alexandre has put in to making them--but at the same time--in my own experience--flat out--this machine is hard to tune.  My worst fear was that it would be another TDI Pro--once de-tuned any advantage would be gone...certainly looking that way.  I just hope that FT doesn't engage in the familiar "NOX rarely leaks" type behavior that we've all come to know and love...  Shaping up as a great wet sander though. Call em as I see em.  Guess that's why I never got a production model proto as had been promised at one point. 

clive

On 10/13/2021 at 4:49 PM, maxxkatt said:

I have read all three of Clive's books and one of Andy's. Hands down, Clive's 3 are the winner.

Sorry Andy, but too much filler fluff in your book for my tastes. Yes it is way more polished in publishing terms, but I go the good info not the pretty stuff.

 

 

On 10/8/2021 at 6:49 PM, Dances With Doves said:

Hi  Clive.Since we both hunt the same   lake(Ontario) what is your  favorite machine  for this lake.I have 16 gold on 19 trips this year. 8 with the nox and 8 with the infinium with the 8''mono.

I'm doing well with the Anfibio lately--its  good for going behind the  army of NOX hunters--deeper and just as good  at spotting quality responses.  I let the junk beat these  dig all  guys.  cjc

Thanks for your kind feedback, CPT.  The Advanced book is actually the middle one of the series and my favorite for what that's worth.  They are meant to be a set so I hope that the entire body of information is of good value to you  over time.  

This machine has a lot of potential but it's easier to unlock that if you start with some solid basic skills and a bit of theory.

Good Luck Detecting!

clive

I'll say this.  Thanks Max for helping to promote my books.  I don't consider them to be definitive but they do reflect a lot of time swinging with all types for machines.  One thing my top pro buddy said to me years ago that I believe to be true is that  "You pay to learn" one way or the other--no exceptions.   I also see a lot of hunters who say that they "dig everything".  For the new hunter--this is the way to pay the most--with your time.    While there are a lot of good specific tweaks and tips on the groups and YouTube, having some general theory under your belt lets you begin to learn on your own and at the actual places you hunt.  Simple basic skills will also boost your accuracy and reduce frustration.  These are all based upon the simple rules of detector physics.  Nowhere in any of these posts and videos do I see any of these "old skills" mentioned but they are the bread and butter of learning to find treasure instead of junk.  Just for the record, all of my books sell for $16.95. cjc

Question:  When I turn my limited up--targets get quieter.  Is there something in your settings that offsets this?  Up at full there's practically no response. 

Thought maybe it was a "pulse in ground" thing but that's not true.  

Just wondering if I have a machine with problems. 

cjc