BHID L/Hand Mod. (Finished W/ Pics!) Tried Results!

[LX Kid]

Tried out my new/old BHID at "Chicken Bone Beach" and I seem to like it so far. Only had about an hour and found 4 quarters, 1 dime and 5 pennies. Some of my impressions are:
1. I'm left handed and found the lights and controls a little inconvenient. Turned the box around and was better but still a little inconvenient.
2. Worked in the shallows and the coil is a real buggar! It wants to float and really applies upward pressure on the wrist. (Good thing I bought a 10" EXcellerator coil, which fellow forum member Willie suggested I might want to buy.) Going to put it on before next outing.
3. Didn't like headphone only use.

Things I'd like to do but may not ever do:
1. Construct a small speaker panel with 3 LED light system that will attach to the top of the pole just above the foam grip. Of course it would have to be waterproof and have a volume control.
2. Move the toggle switch to the pole.

[thorny196]

I also have a problem with it and I'm righty ! The switch hits my right side when I swing left and puts it in Disc. 2nd I cant see the lights under my fat gut or if my shirt is loose on top.I mounted it on my belt but when a wave hits it the electronics box spins to the back of my belt (out of site). R/Mike

[LX Kid]

Hey Thorny 196. Now that you mention it, I agree about the toggle switch. That switch needs to be on the pole. I'll add that to things I'd like to change. If I get enough things I don't really like I just "may" buy some other kind of detector!! LoL I do have a Fisher 1280-X Wader on the way to me and I may like it better than the BHID. I don't have very much experience with beach hunting and am trying to find something that will work for me and my needs. My BHID came with a yellow pouch that can be either chest mounted or side mounted. I'm afraid that chest mounting may put it up under my chin because of my portly belly. LoL again.

[LX Kid]

What do you think about doing a "sideways" mount under the pole in front of the foam grip? Might make it front end heavy though. Looks like the BHID was designed for underwater diving and the beach hunting seems to have been an after thought. The large box appears to be designed to accommodate the large battery pack. I'd like to see same electronics in a smaller waterproof beach hunter design.

[Treasure_Hunter]

You can fix the floating coil by using a small sand bag (like a bean bag) with velcro if you need.

[Sandman]

I used to fill an sock with sand and duct tape it to the coil or shaft. You must have one sock that survived a trip through the time machine. (clothes drier) Whites never made it weighted since the guys that hunt the dry sand would then say it was to heavy. A weighted coil is offered but you have to send it in for that since Whites doesn't make the coils detectable like Tesoro does for the Tiger Shark and Sand Shark.

[LX Kid]

Hello Sandman. I have already purchased the 10" EXcel erator coil, which has a neutral buoyancy, and am going to try and get it put on today. Fellow forum member, Willee, says it works out very nicely. I'll give it a try and if doesn't work out I'll use the coil on my MXT. I'm just wondering how the new coil will be for pinpointing and target ID.

[Treasure_Hunter]

Whites didn't make it detachable, unless the previous owner made it detachable you will need to send it into whites. If it is under warranty, the warranty will be voided if you do it yourself.

[LX Kid]

Thanks Treasure Hunter. It's already been out of warranty for awhile. My background is communications repair and this should be an easy modification for me. I'm aware that it will have to be hard wired in. I just bought a phone jack, cable and small external amplified speaker and will make modifications myself. Going to have the option of speaker or differant and more comfortable headphones. After that I'll tackle the three LED lights and parallel them to go up on top of the pole. The pinpointing toggle switch will also be moved to a forefinger or thumb useage position. Thinking of putting the amp/spkr on a neck strap or shoulder harness. One way or another I'll make everthing on the box and pole waterproof. Thanks

[LX Kid]

Finally got around to putting my new EXcelerator coil on. Real problem was cleaning my shop up so that I had room on the bench to do the work! LoL Relatively easy to do. Tried it out in my yard and seems to really work well. When I get time I'll take it down to the beach and see how it does in the water. Coil supposed to have a negative buoyancy and hope it will have a vast improvement over the stock coil. My original coil was not a yellow spider coil like the newer BH ID 300's. When I get the chance to find a new water tight light housing, I'm going to work on moving the LED's up on top of the shaft. Thanks "Willee" for the coil suggestion.

[LX Kid]

Got around to doing more on the modification today. Removed LED's, ran wires thru handle, mounted box and relocated toggle switch to box. Gonna try and mount LED's into box tonight or tomorrow. Here's a few pictures.

[LX Kid]

Semi-Finished. If only I could find an Amphenol connector to change to my Grey Ghost phones!

[LX Kid]

Took my "modified ambidextrous" BHID to the beach yesterday and the results were very good! Being left handed I now only have to look at the top of the shaft for the indicator lights. Also its sooooo easy to use the toggle switch for operation selection. It's really a breeze to pinpoint, go back to discrimination and reset. The new EXcelerator coil doesn't float up anymore! Yeah! With the larger 10" EXcelerator coil I use the spiral inward method to pinpoint my targets. I really love my BHID now that it is user friendly!

[scrounger d detector collector]

great job on the mods but most of us would not be capable of DIY on this

[LX Kid]

Here's a couple of pics of the speaker amp shown on my Eagle II SL so you can get an idea of it's size.