TNets thoughts on a new PI machine

[Hookka]

Hey guys, I've always found a wealth of information here and it's lead me to some great finds and motivation to get out there and find them. I've been hunting the beaches with an excal ii, and previously with a tesoro sand shark that's in pieces at the moment after I replaced the headphones after slamming a car door shut on the old phones cable.

I love the excal but I'd really like to get some extra depth on the days the beach isn't giving me much. There's a few other excal users in my area as well as some equinox guys but no one using a PI machine.

From people's experience here and now considering whites is out of business what are your guys thoughts on another machine I can use in the water that runs stable like the sand shark or excal that will give me some extra depth?

Another part of me thinks maybe I should mod the excal to take interchangeable coils and buy a bigger one from nel coils, but at the same time I'd like to potentially keep that wire intact so I'd feel more confident in that connection if I manage to take it and use it out in deeper water on scuba.

I'm just curious if anyone's got some pointers on what to do here to get some extra depth. We don't have many fresh drops right now. I was holding out on buying the new TDI for the Fischer PI machine many of us have been waiting for but now whites is out of business, and I heard from our local dealer that Fischer just fired their CEO and that has me worried that if they stay in business the new machine may get dragged out even longer.

If you had to buy a beach machine that wasn't an excal, what would you buy at this point in time?

 

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[Toecutter]

I hear Fisher has a new PI machine for water pretty sweet from the buzz around here...

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

On the excal all metal is deeper so hunt in reverse discrimination, hunt in all metal, when you find a target switch to discrimination to see if it nulls or gives response, when you dont get a response in disc that means it is deeper than desc can detect so remove some sand till you do get a response.

Using 15 inch coils in all metal I have dug nickels and other coin size targets 20"+ on beaches.

 

[CASPER-2]

i hunt in all metal with my machine - CZ21 (used to use PIs) - easiest way to get more depth
with most machines - stop discriminating and always make sure your batteries are strong

 

[OBN]

Fisher AQ, Love it!!. I see the Excalibur and "AQ" as a team now...........And I can say it is deeper then the Excalibur by several inch's and that is just what I've been looking for..A deep PI....I've been working two small beach's with the AQ now that I rarely visited because they were hammered intensely by me and just about every other machine out there...good targets are rare at these two spots, and so much that we stopped going to them...But seen the AQ coming and now that I've had it, 2 months,.. 9 gold rings and 1 misc gold from them with the AQ...still not easy but nice to go back to spots that gave you some great memories and can now wake them up with the New Machine.



The Excalibur is still Hot too, It's still used at locations I feel the need for more discrimination then the AQ has to offer.

 

[ARC]

Or come off the bucks and splurge for an Pulse 8x.

Also... new smaller SARS is out.

metal detectors, sonar, magnetometer, rov, video, pinger, cable tracker, pipe tracker

 

[Hookka]

I would love to get my hands on a Fischer AQ but their limited release is limited to the States and Canada from what it looks like and they aren't currently shipping overseas. Never heard of the Pulse 8x before now but I'm gonna have to take a look at it. Seems to be a pretty legit water PI machine. I've been drooling over the AQ for over a year now, I would really love to get my hands on one but I'm not too sure how I can do that with their limited release.

Maybe I'll have to try hunting backwards like you guys are recommending, hopefully it will be enough. I know from experience though that a few stretches of beach I hunt get covered in at least a foot or two of sand until the waves are right again and clear it out. During the summer we rarely get the conditions that expose the bottom again so I'm looking at whats available. I hit it pretty hard on a regular basis, especially at the moment as I don't have any stable income leaving me with plenty of time hunt my calluses clean off haha.

 

[ARC]

I would love to get my hands on a Fischer AQ but their limited release is limited to the States and Canada from what it looks like and they aren't currently shipping overseas. Never heard of the Pulse 8x before now but I'm gonna have to take a look at it. Seems to be a pretty legit water PI machine. I've been drooling over the AQ for over a year now, I would really love to get my hands on one but I'm not too sure how I can do that with their limited release.

Maybe I'll have to try hunting backwards like you guys are recommending, hopefully it will be enough. I know from experience though that a few stretches of beach I hunt get covered in at least a foot or two of sand until the waves are right again and clear it out. During the summer we rarely get the conditions that expose the bottom again so I'm looking at whats available. I hit it pretty hard on a regular basis, especially at the moment as I don't have any stable income leaving me with plenty of time hunt my calluses clean off haha.

The Pulse 8x has been industry standard for eons... for underwater PI.

Read website link I gave you.

Rated #1 from everyone from Thr's to Homeland Security to first responders.

Cant vouch for the AQ... never used one.

 

[OBN]

The Pulse 8x has been industry standard for eons... for underwater PI.

Read website link I gave you.

Rated #1 from everyone from Thr's to Homeland Security to first responders.

Cant vouch for the AQ... never used one.

Built like a tank...... The Pulse 8 is not the best machine for hunting single gold rings and silver jewelry. Best made for finding larger targets like 6 foot down, buried treasure, structures, large objects of importance and interest.........
Here is the chart in the owners Manual to put all in perspective. I worked on a few pulse 8x's setting up skull phones for divers. Even had one diver that wanted me to put the same odd headphone fitting on his excalibur so he could use the same ear piece.
PULSE 8X DETECTION RANGES WITH 7 1/2" COIL
•SMALL RING ...5 IN. (13 cm)
•NICKEL ...........6 IN. (15 cm)
•PENNY ............9 IN. (23 cm)
• QUARTER ...9 1/2 IN. (24 cm)
• 2"x2"x1/8" ALUMINUM ...12 IN. (30 cm)
• 4"x4"x1/8" ALUMINUM ...15 IN. (38 cm)
• 1 GALLON CAN ..............30 IN. (77 cm)
• LARGER TARGETS TO A MAXIMUM ............ 6+FT. (180+cm)

Not real impressive until you hit that Spanish cannon or Jack Sparrows hoard.

 

[ARC]

Those are V1 stats I think.

V2 ... which is what I have with slight tweeks is hotter depth.

Um... attach my skid and you can double all those. heh

 

[ARC]

Oh and I might add.

IF the coil passes over it... regardless... you know... there is no "false" or guessing... its straight power solid signals.

And those depths are from test gardens I presume... I assure you they are conservative at best.

 

[OBN]

We don't have many fresh drops right now. I was holding out on buying the new TDI for the Fischer PI machine many of us have been waiting for but now whites is out of business, and I heard from our local dealer that Fischer just fired their CEO and that has me worried that if they stay in business the new machine may get dragged out even longer.

Fisher is doing fine....
Tom owns most of the company I think. .Hard to fire yourself.. ..So you need to correct your dealer buddy.

 

[Hookka]

Fisher is doing fine....
Tom owns most of the company I think. .Hard to fire yourself.. ..So you need to correct your dealer buddy.

That is great to know, I don't trust the dealer much. He's lied before to me before trying to make a sale. I was just worried because he wasn't wrong about whites this time and it had me nervous about the AQ.

 

[OBN]

Oh and I might add.

IF the coil passes over it... regardless... you know... there is no "false" or guessing... its straight power solid signals.

And those depths are from test gardens I presume... I assure you they are conservative at best.

View attachment 1847839

I remember that picture from some where, Charles March I think? In Mexico? Remember reading the story.

 

[chub]

Fisher is doing fine....
Tom owns most of the company I think. .Hard to fire yourself.. ..So you need to correct your dealer buddy.

Fisher or First Texas?

Chub

 

[OBN]

Fisher or First Texas?

Chub

All the same......... The First Texas Products Group which holds among others, the detector brands:Fisher Labs, Teknetics and Bounty Hunter, the El-Paso plant also produces a range of night vision devicesunder the brands: Igen, Night-Owl and Nivisys, from the simple monocular lightamplificators to high-tech infrared targeting devices for firearms.

 

[dewcon4414]

I found that hard to believe the CEO was fired ..... or it has little affect on the metal detecting side of the house. Joe loves his Xcal..... im partial to the MDT currently, but i believe we both know the AQ is going to be a machine serious beach hunters will want to add..... be it the limited or the production model. There are times you arent chasing recent drops and just need a deep machine once you have done all you can with the VLF you are using or the competition has clean you out..... thats where a good DEEP PI comes in handy for working areas where conditions are right.

 

[Rick K]

First Texas Products (Fisher, Bounty Hunts Hunter, Teknetics and lots of industrial products) is doing fine as can be expected with COVID19 restrictions keeping manning to a minimum in the plant. It is a closely held company (no stockholders) and Tom Walsh is the President (and owner). He is busy at work.

A couple of weeks ago they had a reorganization and several management level folks in Marketing left the company - this may be the rumor someone heard about the CEO. They don’t have a CEO - Tom is the President.

The detector - the AQ limited is $1499 and only available from one dealer and only to US and Canadian buyers. They have announced that less than 100 of these will b e produced and that it will be followed by and electronically identical model (AQ Unlimited??) with revised mechanical details and stronger battery.

 

[LawrencetheMDer]

Was hoping to buy a Whites TDI beach hunter this fall but ya'll made that questionable (Depth tests show this to be one of the deepest PI machines). Not sure I want to buy a machine from a defunct company; although my first detector was a Whites in the early 1970s. Haven't heard till now that Whites was going out of business...any more info on the subject from those in the know?
For more depth than the Excal, I've used the CTX 3030 w 17" coil and this past yr the Equinox 800 w 15" coil. Although not PIs, both will pickup targets in the 10- 15" depth range often missed by machines w 10-12" coils. Can't believe the number of dimes, in particular, I pick up at 12" and found one hole that had 5 silver rings in the 12 - 18" range over well hunted beach (Clearwater Florida).

 

[Hookka]

First Texas Products (Fisher, Bounty Hunts Hunter, Teknetics and lots of industrial products) is doing fine as can be expected with COVID19 restrictions keeping manning to a minimum in the plant. It is a closely held company (no stockholders) and Tom Walsh is the President (and owner). He is busy at work.

A couple of weeks ago they had a reorganization and several management level folks in Marketing left the company - this may be the rumor someone heard about the CEO. They don’t have a CEO - Tom is the President.

The detector - the AQ limited is $1499 and only available from one dealer and only to US and Canadian buyers. They have announced that less than 100 of these will b e produced and that it will be followed by and electronically identical model (AQ Unlimited??) with revised mechanical details and stronger battery.

Thanks for the clarification on this. I don't like perpetuating rumors, I initially brushed it off but just with the news from whites my heart sank a bit. I managed to get my hands on a TDI-SL for a great deal and its a 1/3rd paid for on the first hunt and I really like it. What a shame about whites, that is a quality machine. Would love the waterproof TDI in the arsenal, I can't wait to put some of my GPX coils on it and see how that goes although the stock coil is hot as it is.

Guess I'm gonna be holding my breath for a while on that Fischer. Gonna need a bucket for my drool at this rate.