What happened to Fisher detectors

[chuckinnc]

I just got back into metal detecting & only see year old post in this forum, did Fisher sell their name to a different company, I also see a J.W. Fisher forum listed so what is the history here?

 

[Tesorodeoro]

I think they were bought out by whomever owns “Bounty Hunter”, but that just from memory.

 

[jeff of pa]

Yes fisher, Merged with BOUNTY HUNTER (first Texas)

& Whites was bought by GARRETT

 

[chub]

They became First Texas some years back and have not produced a new detector for many years. The F75 is nearly 20 years old.

 

[guest]

I just got back into metal detecting & only see year old post in this forum, did Fisher sell their name to a different company, I also see a J.W. Fisher forum listed so what is the history here?

Hi @chuckinnc .
J. W. Fisher is a long time manufacturer for reliable underwater search equipment.

 

[cudamark]

I just got back into metal detecting & only see year old post in this forum, did Fisher sell their name to a different company, I also see a J.W. Fisher forum listed so what is the history here?

You can still get some new Fisher metal detectors, but, they're all old school at this point. Some are still very good detectors however, such as the Gold Bug 2, F75, and CZ21, but, they just haven't invested much in the way of R&D to compete with the latest and greatest equipment from Minelab, XP, and Nokta. J. W. Fisher's is another company that really hasn't changed with the times, but, they do make a good reliable deep diving detector.....just not state of the art anymore.

 

[guest]

You can still get some new Fisher metal detectors, but, they're all old school at this point. Some are still very good detectors however, such as the Gold Bug 2, F75, and CZ21, but, they just haven't invested much in the way of R&D to compete with the latest and greatest equipment from Minelab, XP, and Nokta. J. W. Fisher's is another company that really hasn't changed with the times, but, they do make a good reliable deep diving detector.....just not state of the art anymore.

What about the Fisher Impulse AQ? From what I read it is a very nice impuls with disc capabilities.

 

[cudamark]

What about the Fisher Impulse AQ? From what I read it is a very nice impuls with disc capabilities.

Biggest POS I ever bought.....

 

[Mattock]

I just got back into metal detecting & only see year old post in this forum, did Fisher sell their name to a different company, I also see a J.W. Fisher forum listed so what is the history here?

Ask Carl NC what happened he was and Electric engineer and chip engineer for them for awhile.

 

[guest]

Biggest POS I ever bought.....

I'm sorry to read about your bad luck. What happened?

 

[cudamark]

Some poor designs, faulty parts, crappy factory battery, and it's supposed discrimination is total BS. It's a beep and dig PI that gets great depth if you can keep it working. I got tired of digging hair pins and nails at 18". In my 55+ years of detecting, it's the only machine that hasn't paid for itself......and probably never will as I just don't like using it. Other than a few coins, I've never found a good target with it.....only junk. Maybe I'm just jinxed with it.

 

[guest]

Some poor designs, faulty parts, crappy factory battery, and it's supposed discrimination is total BS. It's a beep and dig PI that gets great depth if you can keep it working. I got tired of digging hair pins and nails at 18". In my 55+ years of detecting, it's the only machine that hasn't paid for itself......and probably never will as I just don't like using it. Other than a few coins, I've never found a good target with it.....only junk. Maybe I'm just jinxed with it.

Hi @cudamark , that doesn't sound well to me, and I can feel the pain to dig 18" deep holes to get a bobby pin. I never owned a AQ myself and do only know from hearsay.
Have you ever talked to ole beach nut (OBN) about the AQ. Think he uses one and from what I read from him he seems to be big fan of it's capabilities, but I can false.
Wish you better luck in the future with it.🍀🤞
All The Best.😊

 

[cudamark]

Sure, some people love it, and I'm sure it's fine for some specific areas with no trash and deep good targets, but I don't seem to have any of those scenarios. I just have way more fun using a VLF machine.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Florida beaches too dirty for me, contemplated buying a PI, used a couple at beaches on loan from Kellyco when I worked there, found too many iron targets, fish hooks, Bobby pins nails at 24 inches+. Some may like them, but I'm too old, I dont wish to dig 2-3 foot for a nail or Bobby pin.

I've dug 24" with my excals and 15" WOT, but they were good targets, and excal tells you when it is iron.

Just my personal option, other may disagree.

 

[pepperj]

Florida beaches too dirty for me, contemplated buying a PI, used a couple at beaches on loan from Kellyco when I worked there, found too many iron targets, fish hooks, Bobby pins nails at 24 inches+. Some may like them, but I'm too old, I dont wish to dig 2-3 foot for a nail or Bobby pin.

I've dug 24" with my excals and 15" WOT, but they were good targets, and excal tells you when it is iron.

Just my personal option, other may disagree.

A few years ago my brother reached out to me if the White's PI machine would suit his needs. I basically told him what you just stated and being a beep & dig type machine. But digging 18" for a piece of iron wasn't recommended. ( He wanted it for the parks and schools yards)

 

[Chilli]

They were working on a nugget detector too, pulse, id say that was a flop as too much time has passed.

 

[OBN]

Hi @cudamark , that doesn't sound well to me, and I can feel the pain to dig 18" deep holes to get a bobby pin. I never owned a AQ myself and do only know from hearsay.
Have you ever talked to ole beach nut (OBN) about the AQ. Think he uses one and from what I read from him he seems to be big fan of it's capabilities, but I can false.
Wish you better luck in the future with it.🍀🤞
All The Best.😊

I agree with Cuda, The AQ does have a few shortcomings, one major issue was the battery life. (3.5 hours run time) I was able to fix that with a battery I designed and made... I made two sizes.. 5.5 and 11 hour runtime. Another issue was the Potentimeters, not the best quality and a several machines had to be return by the owners for repair. Bad was owners lost warranty time on average of 4 to 6 weeks when sent in for repairs. That time should have been added to the warranty.

I've had two now for 6 years come May & Oct. Both have paid for themselves several times over with 45 gold rings in that time, several Honkers that were deep.. Never any issues with mine once I did a few modifications.
Out of the ten beaches I do hunt only 3 spots seem to be perfect for it. The rest not the best machine to use. I see the AQ as the machine that will find deep gold when nothing else will at a few spots... Sadly, I do think the AQ is no longer being made? I've had two friends contact me about getting two in Jan and my dealer friend was unable to get them, then I checked First Texas and the site says sold out. Could be a parts issue or maybe the end.

As far as discrimination, I rarely used that setting for .. from the beginning I was after depth only. It does discriminate and fairly amazing, The disc setting is something that kills the depth and the setting was so on the edge of adjustment ... being off a little... you will dig iron or ferrous metals.

Couple videos on the disc setting ..with coins and iron


Then this one you can see just the tiniest adjustment can make a world of difference in what you dig. It will knock out all clad and silver also.
Notice the depth is only 8 inches in the disc mod! So your loosing about 10 inches depth on everything ...


The machine is not for everyone and for sure only good at a Very limited number of beaches.
Lemon or not, I do love mine and glad I got two when I could.

 

[guest]

Thanks for your response, @OBN . I enjoy your postings and your knowledge is really appreciated.😎

 

[OBN]

Thanks for your response, @OBN . I enjoy your postings and your knowledge is really appreciated.😎

Update on my two friends who were able to get two new AQ's. One, hunter.. Bluetube was able to get out today, First hunt with his new AQ... and He has used PI's before so he really has taken too the AQ fast..
Two.... maybe 3 gold rings today..

I sent him a extra 8 hour battery I had.. which uses the CTX fitting for the head phones. So I'm guessing he had a long day of fun.

 

[guest]

Update on my two friends who were able to get two new AQ's. One, hunter.. Bluetube was able to get out today, First hunt with his new AQ... and He has used PI's before so he really has taken too the AQ fast..
Two.... maybe 3 gold rings today..

I sent him a extra 8 hour battery I had.. which uses the CTX fitting for the head phones. So I'm guessing he had a long day of fun.

Yup. Sounds like someone had fat fun. That was a great maiden hunt. WTG😎