My “new” OBN Modded Dual Field PI - It is Finished!

[Sand Swinger]

This post has been in the making for the last month. It all started when I made a post asking about the Garrett ATX PI. I made a typical post, asking for other members opinions, but I had no idea how that post would blow up and lead to me getting my first PI, after 56 years swinging BBS SMF’s, VLF’s, TR’s & a BFO. Since making that ATX post, it’s been viewed over 8,000 times just on the Friendly forum, and has about 136 comments.

After discussing the ATX, the conversation then morphed to other PI’s, then morphed again to the White’s TDI BeachHunter, then the Surfmaster PI, Surfmaster PI Pro, and after I heard about the Surfmaster Dual Field, I brought the DF up and the conversation shifted again. It’s been about the Dual Field ever since. I then posted that the Dual Field was the PI I wanted to get, so I started searching eBay and the internet to see if I could find a decent Dual Field that might be available. But little did I know at the time that I was about to experience a miracle, thanks to the incredible generosity of some really great members on various Detecting Forums.

WARNING: This might be a long post, but it’s going to be a different type of post, because it’s not really about the Dual Field PI per se’, this post is about and for all those guys who unselfishly stepped up to not only help me get a Dual Field, but they also helped me get it up and running by providing parts that I needed, technical skills & expertise for some custom made stuff, and more. This post is to acknowledge & say “Thank You” to these guys, because without them, I’d probably still be scouring eBay and the internet looking for a Dual Field. So now, when I look at my completed Dual Field PI, I think of all these guys who made this “group project” possible, so it’s important to me that I acknowledge these guys, their contributions, and to let everyone else know that we have some really great members here in the forums.

BTW: My “New” Dual Field has a name, courtesy of Tony Eisenhower, which I’ll reveal at the end of the post.

I would like to THANK the following forum members for their help with my organically grown Dual Field project. I gotta say, I was overwhelmed by the generosity these guys extended to me. There are some really great guys in the forums, and they were all willing to jump in to help me get this PI up & running. I now consider all these guys to be friends, because only a friend would go to the length’s they went to for me, strangers just wouldn’t have bothered.

OBN/OldBeechnut/Joe Beechnut/Joe and any other name that contains the word “Beechnut”, lol:

• The Dual Field originally belonged to OBN/Joe, which he modded to accept other headphones and an external Excal battery pod.
• When Joe got his Fisher AQ’s, he passed the Dual Field to his friend Mike.
• Joe knew I was looking for a Dual Field so he reached out to Mike to see if he was using the Dual Field, as Mike had also picked up a Fisher AQ.
• Mike told Joe he wasn’t using the Dual Field, so he’d be willing to pass it on to me.
• Although Joe retired from making his custom Excal battery pod’s, he graciously agreed to step out of retirement this one time as a favor to me, and made me an Excal battery pod with a carbon fiber look.
• While I was at Joe’s, he noticed the cable for the external battery connection to the control box had developed 2 large slits, exposing the interior wires, so he kept the DF so he could replace that cable with a higher quality & more flexible one.
• I wouldn’t have the Dual Field if Joe hadn’t passed it on to Mike, and then contacted Mike to see if he was using it, and then put me in touch with Mike. So this all starts with OBN, and everything that follows is all because of OBN/Joe’s generosity and willingness to help me get a Dual Field.

Mike (mikeguard1) - Joe’s friend

• OBN put me in touch with Mike, I spoke with him, great guy, and he told me he wasn’t using the Dual Field, as he recently picked up a Fisher AQ, so he graciously said that he was willing to pass the Dual Field to me, just like OBN had passed it on to him (this has to be a miracle).
• Although I was willing and expected to drive to him to pick up the detector, Mike said he would be driving by close to my house the next day, so he & his wife stopped by, we chatted and then he handed me the Dual Field (control box & coil). So he not only gave me the detector I wanted, but also took his time to stop by to deliver the detector to me. I swear I thought I was dreaming all this, lol.

Bill Walker (Cameraniac on Find’s)

• I posted on several forums about getting the Dual Field, but mentioned it was only the control box & coil, so I needed to get a lower rod & clevis for the S rod that Joe was giving me.
• Out of the blue, Bill messaged me and graciously offered to send me one of his Whites lower rod/clevis’ he no longer needed. He shipped it, I received the rod and I gotta say, it looked brand new, no signs of it ever being used. It was very generous of Bill to reach out and give me one of his lower rods to use with my Dual Field.

Craig (Cfmct & an Admin on Friendly)

• Craig is an Admin on the Friendly Forum and we frequently chat on the Beach and Water Hunting sub forum, which is where I hang out.
• He had a lower rod/clevis he didn’t need, so he mailed it to me, and also included a few mounting bolts for the coil.
• Craig is very generous. He not only was giving me his lower rod/clevis, he wouldn’t even let me pay or reimburse him for the shipping costs. When he messaged me to let me know the package was on the way, he also said he threw in an older find he made, it would be wrapped in Kleenex inside a little square container.
• When the package arrived, I opened and then slid out the lower rod/clevis, and small bag of coil bolts. I had forgotten about the “surprise” container but luckily, I noticed it, removed the tape over the box, removed the Kleenex from the object, and it was then that my mind was totally blown because the surprise Craig included was a Georgivs II Rex ½ penny dated 1749!
• Never in a million years would I have thought that a guy would not only give me something I needed, but would also pay out of his pocket to get it to me, and then would also include a coin from the 1700’s? I just knew I must be dreaming, but apparently I wasn’t.

Earl (Surf Master on Friendly)

• Earl has been following my Dual Field posts on the Friendly forum from the beginning, and noticed I mentioned needing to get a few important parts to be able to put the detector together. Without my knowledge, Earl started working behind the scenes to find me a deal on a straight shaft.
• Although I was totally happy with the original S shaft that OBN was going to give me, Earl pretty much insisted that I get a straight shaft, and I’m thankful he stayed on me about that.
• I had tried to get on Anderson’s website for over 3 weeks, but all I would see was a blue background of water, with the words “Coming Soon”, so I guess they were revamping their website.
• Earl commented on my post that he had found an Anderson Travel Straight Shaft on sale at Serious Detecting. It originally was something like $176.00 or thereabouts, but was on sale for $120.00.
• After busting each other chops back and forth a bit, that’s just what we do on the “Friendly” Beach and Water Hunting sub forum, I started thinking about that shaft so the next day, I looked everything over and without Earl knowing, I ordered the shaft. It was an Anderson Travel Straight Shaft, so it breaks down in half for travel, it’s designed to fit a Dual Field, and when I went to order, a $7.00 discount popped up, so I got the entire shaft for $113.00 and free shipping.
• After swinging an S shaft on my Minelab Sovereign for the last 14 years, I have to admit that Earl was right about the straight shafts. The Dual Field feels extremely comfortable with the control box sitting behind the arm cuff on the Anderson, very well balanced, so now I know what all the straight shaft fuss is about. If he didn’t nag me incessantly about getting this shaft, I would have missed out on a great deal, so Earl, Thank You, you were right, and I really appreciate your persistence and insistence.

KOB (he’s everywhere, all the forums)

• KOB, aka “King of Bling”, is on all the forums, but we most frequently chat on the Beach and Shallow Water sub forum on Friendly.
• He offered some of his parts and was willing to check to see what all he had, but I was totally taken by surprise at how quickly guys were messaging me and offering to send me different parts I needed to get the Dual Field completed, so I may have misunderstood his message.
• I already had commitments from some other guys to send me the parts that KOB had, so I didn’t need him to send anything my way, but I really appreciated his willingness to do so.
• And as we all know, it’s the thought that counts, and KOB was willing to step up to help me out, so I really appreciate that.
• And although he’s known as KOB, I think I’ll start calling him COT, which is just an abbreviation for “Corn On The”, lol.

Tony Eisenhower (well known in the detecting community for his hand made waterproof headphones)

• I think everyone on all the forums has heard the name Tony Eisenhower, as he makes incredibly high-end waterproof headphones, for a price that rivals much lower quality, massed produced headphones.
• OBN/Joe knows Tony; I swear OBN knows everyone in the metal detecting community, so he told me I needed to reach out to Tony via email. So I sent Tony an email, said OBN/Joe told me to reach out to see if he would be willing to make a custom set of his waterproof headphones for my Dual Field “project”, and within 3 hours Tony had replied to my email.
• Over the next several days, Tony and I emailed back and forth multiple times per day. Tony offers his standard White cup waterproof headphones, and has a couple of options.
• One option is his enhanced impedance matching circuitry, which increases the volume of the headphones. The other option is a choice of either getting his “Waders” version or “Divers” version. Both are exactly the same, the only difference is that the “Divers” version adds a couple drain holes at the bottom of each cup to allow water to drain more quickly and thoroughly.
• Tony asked me what I wanted, said the vast majority of people get his White phones because the white cups are smaller/thinner so it’s easier to get a Hoodie over them.
• But Blue is my favorite color and I had seen a pic of Blue cup headphones that Tony made. He said he could make me a set if I wanted the Blue cups. The cups are bigger & wider than the White cups, so they provide better noise attenuation, which was exactly what I was looking for. I wanted more quiet headphones combined with louder volume, so I can hear faint whisper signals and nulling of the threshold better when over deep targets.
• So I asked him to make me a set of his Blue waterproof headphones, with his enhanced impedance matching circuitry, in his “Divers” version. Even though I haven’t dived in like 25 years, I always rinse off all my gear with freshwater after every beach hunt, so the drain holes will allow water to drain more quickly and thoroughly. And I have been giving some thought to detecting while snorkeling.
• I received the headphones in just a few days and they sound great. They’re Loud, just like I wanted, and I have no doubt they’ll give me a high level of confidence that I’ll hear those faint whisper tones and threshold nulls. They’re also VERY comfortable to wear and no matter how hard I twisted and shook my head, I couldn’t get them to fall off, so I think these phones are gonna work out extremely well.
• To reach Tony, you can email him at: tony@idigbeaches.com. If you do email him, mention this post & forum in the subject line. I can neither confirm nor deny, but word on the street is he might give you priority and respond to you more quickly. Just saying, lol.
• ONE LAST CRAZY IMPORTANT THING: Tony knows that what initially started between me and OBN with this Dual Field PI, has somehow morphed into a “group” project, with multiple members of various forums chipping in with parts they sent me, or with their expertise & technical talents to help me get this PI together. So in one of Tony’s emails, he told me that since my Dual Field was basically “hobbled” together, with both used and new parts, from various people, he had come up with a fitting name for my DF. I loved the name and thought it was most fitting for this unique detector.

So, thanks to Tony Eisenhower, and without further adieu, I’m proud to present my “new” White’s Surfmaster Dual Field PI:

Franken DuFi (pronounced “doo fee”)

Thanks again to all those members who helped or offered to help make this possible. I’m so grateful to you all, you have no idea. You all are some really great guys and I consider all of you to be friends.

I’ll be taking Franken DuFi out to the beach next week for initial trials, so fingers crossed that he finds me some cheddar.

 

[bottlebum]

Hi Mike,

Instead of going by cameraniac, over here, I go by bottlebum. It used to be bottlebum over there, but bottlebum got banned years ago for daring to mention the name of another forum. At the time, I didn't know that it was a bad thing to do as I was still pretty new to the whole forum thing. I've noticed, though, that nowadays, it's not really a problem?? Anywho, I didn't want to leave, so I just registered under a different name, cameraniac.

I have to say that your new Dual Field looks incredible, and I'm glad to have had a little bit of a hand in the project. I can't wait to hear about it's maiden voyage. Happy Hunting! - Bill

 

[Sand Swinger]

Hi Mike,

Instead of going by cameraniac, over here, I go by bottlebum. It used to be bottlebum over there, but bottlebum got banned years ago for daring to mention the name of another forum. At the time, I didn't know that it was a bad thing to do as I was still pretty new to the whole forum thing. I've noticed, though, that nowadays, it's not really a problem?? Anywho, I didn't want to leave, so I just registered under a different name, cameraniac.

I have to say that your new Dual Field looks incredible, and I'm glad to have had a little bit of a hand in the project. I can't wait to hear about it's maiden voyage. Happy Hunting! - Bill

Thanks Bill. Yeah, I know all about the different name thing. I was on this forum, as well as the others 12 or 13 years ago, but I couldn't remember my usernames or passwords so had to start new accounts. I signed up on one forum using the name Sand Hunter, which is the name I preferred. But when trying to sign up for the forum you're cameraniac on, that name was apparently taken, so I used Sand Sifter. Then on this forum, I think both names were taken so had to go with Sand Swinger. 3 different forums, 3 different screen names, I can never remember which name I have on which forum, lol.

Thanks again for donating your lower rod/clevis. Man, I took one look at it, and it looked like it just came from the factory, so clean and brand new looking. And at 17", it's got plenty of length for the Anderson straight shaft. I'm not expecting any miracles next week for my first 2 hunts. My main goal is to get acquainted with the Dual Field, dig everything, and I actually do want to find trash, so that I can associate the tones I hear with the targets I find. I did that with my Sovereign in the beginning, and the more I dug all, the better I got at determining targets based on the audio I was hearing. That said, there have been quite a few times over the years where I've had a scratchy or trashy signal but decided to dig anyway and turned out it was a good target. So, I'm not going to take any chances and will just dig everything, even if I'm unsure if it sounds like trash or a good signal. Too many variables dealing with wet sand & saltwater. At least I'll get good exercise, lol.