cjc

Carolina--ya your set and forget was good advice but Im not hearing everyone else talking about the AQ dropping pots. That T/H is an excellent stabilizaton tool andtthe conditons I hunt in are fast water with high saline content. Was hoping that this detector had had it's fun and was now ready to work and get me some gold.... Im going to ask Alexandre if he has any suggestions. rgrdz clive

You're the master--get in there. I'v e swapped out a lot of these Vishay pots on my Aquasearch--really a lot and did warn FT for that reason. Not sure I'm ready to crack this case though--shoot over a picture if you do these mailing costs are eating into my retirement fund...fotunatly its an amazing machine and it brings in the occasional bit of gold to offset it's travel bills. cj cjc

Interestiing--thanks for posting Joe. Lot of juice flying around in there we do know that. One would think that there would be a doide or something that couild be put in to protect any vulnerable parts of the circuit. That is a hot running circuit! cjc

wish that was the problem. The AQ has gated power that's why Im surprised to see this as usually it's a result of power surges. cjc

Hard to say but these vishay pots are dodgey. They can develop hot spots or blank spots. They can also have the entire range of adjustent at one end of the turn radius. Its a shame because one trick that Eric Foster taught me is to stabilize a pulse--bak the threshold off. This works well with the AQ but other buddies are telling me to set and forget to reduce the chance of a fry. Amazing that a tap fixes yours I will try that too but am not that hopefull. Looks more like an $85 sojurn to El Paso cjc

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas as to why the threshold pots on this machine keep going and what might be done to effect a permanent repair. cjc

It takes quite a while to learn to hear the subtlties of the AQ's delay ranges. Down below 10 there's this background noise that is not the machine performing at it's best, intterfering with the smoothest threshold possible. In still water these low settings might be viable but not in my conditions. With a pulse, nothing is more important than a smooth threshold. Handling the coil is easier at these higher levels. As with all signal balancing challenges, practice hearing the extremes. cjc

Aaahaaa--I always say that when people are surfing past you maybe time to quit. Ya, the AQ does sing a bit when the surge goes over. Im guessing that up at 11 / 15 uSc it would smooth out though. I run at 10.5 pretty good. Take a big elastic or several tied) and wear it around the phones. Might save your cable sometime. big waves dislodge gold it's the price we pay. cjc

Just commenting on the original topic, all of the air tests I've seen to not do the AQ justice in salt water. 16" is V LF depth and not the reason we look to pulse machine for extra performance. Having gotten a few bugs out of this machine and developed a few precautionary measures (Co-Axe Seal, high quality dielectric grease to keep any corrosion out) this machine is a smooth performer in salt, that has no problem hitting targets at much greater depths than any VLF. These are not the ultra faint threshold changes I've seen in air tests either. It's a question of running a balanced signal and using the coil well with smooth, even sweep speed and flat axis. Having tried to run a TDI in salt many times--the AQ is much more stable and can be run down at prime gold delay ranges. This machiine continues to amaze me with the many things its capable of. cjc

at the risk of talking "hunt by numbers" (something I disagree with) I will say that it takes a "freak of nature" ring to hit above 24, but these lunkers and 22k items with silver for hardness do exist. I run 24 as a cut off checker a lot of the time but it's a dangerous game and anything thats smashing up against that top should be looked at. B1 is a lot deeper and if you can manage it by bringing up the 1st Tone Break or even adding some (Feild mode style) disc do so. I ran some tests and in Horseshoe saw B1 hitting haloed small coins at 17-18" on a salt water incline--big coil. This represents a full signal balancing task--Sens, Rec Spd, sweep speed--all of it lol.... Also, if you want to learn to tune this machine in salt, try B1 to get an idea of the variables and what affects what... call it signal balancing 101--start with the extremes and work backwards... practice in 2 Tone to better hear what's going on as you adjust... Got this big 19k 15.2 gram ring going in behind other hunters by running a balanced 2 tone signal with some Disc / Tone Break, that allowed me to run Sens 23, s tock coil--super deep and tarnished local pros had been walking over it daily for months. cjc

Thats very well said, Jeff. The NOX's "funny" latent audio frustrates me sometimes--to this day. It's like popular knowledge just has not kept up with the tech and new hunters want "shortcuts" to expertise when there really are none. Ive gotten some great feedback from hunters who just needed a little theory and a few simple basics to get the results they had hoped for. Shame that to this day, with the exception of Nokta, these "tech-heavy" manuals just dont give the new guy / girl the grounding needed to avoid a frustrating beginner experience. cjc

Ya these high fidelity detectors all have one shortfalling. They don't tell you what settings to use from the dazzling array, or what the condtions call for. It's like the NOX spoilt hunters into this "push button detecting" mentality that is just not a good way to learn the hobby. As the tech becomes more involved there's an over-reliance on it. Even as I compete with NOX hunters--I feel sorry for them--digging flyspecks and quarter panels--anyting metal. Its basic skills that make you thorough--not insane digging. While its true discrimination and meters will only take you so far--a broad based approach to target testing can make those anomaly responses stand out more. People get so fixated on meter and tone they forget to use the whole detector--much easier. cjc

That's true. I want to get a 900 to replace my ailing 800 but will it help me to find more gold? Don't think so. Nice upgrades though--it's what the NOX should have been to start with. I also notice reps referring to the Manticore platform as "A" Multi IQ. Hope this means there's a difference--but I have not heard anyone raving about it yet. Can't help thinking that the years of deflections / denials on the NOX's problems have hurt M/L credibitly overall and it will be a while before it returns. Still have my CTX better the devil you know... cjc

I've shipped this i'm now looking for a way to reinforce the living @#%* out of it maybe one of these "wrap a paper towel and soak with crazy glue" type jobs or some primo marine epoxy. I've never found one I liked--Gig is saying that Gorrilla two part is good. Fisher is the last company that you would expect to make a detector with anything flimsy going on--must just be the molds or a bad batch of plastic. This is a nice circuit--shame about the build issues but thats how detectors are--it's always something... cjc

What makes Multi IQ Plus--Plus? I do know that there are frequencies which have been changed but has anything been done to the overall tech? cjc

exactly. 14.4 V is way to much juice to test indoors. I even notice EMI in my backyard. cjc

I do... http://www.clivesgoldpage.com/shop/publications/a-beginners-guide-to-the-nokta-makro-legend/ cjc

thanks for your interest in my Legend book. http://clivesgoldpage.com/ kind regards clive

NIce improvements! It was gradual flexion that was killing those ears I guess the threading will remedy that. Keep us posted. cjc

Now that I've had a chance to look at this more closely with the foam down--I guess it is a break--but a very clean one like it was on a mold seam. In any event it's not that serious--I can always try that super hard graphite / baking soda / crazy glue combo that looks pretty efffective--if FT can't help me. Shocking though in that nothing was done to it (coming from a vetran of detector destruction)--this one never took the slightest impact. cjc

Nice sounding mod--if anyone can., you can Joe. cjc

Great job, Steve! clive

Just for the record, I posted this problem because there's no broken plastic-it looks like an easy fix. There's a screw visible which looks likie it woulld have something to do with how the pod is held in place. If this looked like a serious problem I( would not have posted it here because I love this detector. Had hoped someone would just clue me in to how it re-joins--period. That said, it's clear that the AQ didn't turn out to be the "discriminating pulse for the masses" but for my purposes and with the skills set and tolerence for works in progress that I bring to the table its pretty good. Key word here is tolerence...😁 Kind Regards cjc

Has anyone had their control pod come lose on this detector? Pressed my thumb aganst the panel and noitced that it was moving and not secured. Doesen't seem to be any obvious fix although there's a screw visible at the side of the handle when you roll the foam down. Still works but only an impact away from disaster... cjc

Kind of reminds me of a wider problem. If you say something loud enough and gather enough support in so doing--it passes for the truth. The problem is realy a lack of--credible argument. Instead there's this system of patronage--of vested interests. The truth is that you can't hunt as a pro in the water with either one of these detectors--and for the price they go for you should be able to. cjc