• Forum server maintanace Friday night.(around 7PM Centeral time)
    Website will be off line for a short while.

    You may need to log out, log back in after we're back online.

So how does the TDI hold up?

Steve

Forum Supporter
Joined
May 23, 2013
Messages
4,359
Location
port-a-potty-beach
Been waiting a while to take this detector with extra voltage to this spot for a while now.
Finally had the chance. Some context about the spot.. heavy dark sand that changes every couple of inches. When a wave comes in the sun sparkles in it like there is tiny metal bits in it. My TDI SL handles it well.. But I wanted to try the TDI beach hunter.
This spot is heavily hunted. 1st night I was there at 1am. 4 guys hitting the wetsand and 2 guys in the water. EQ, Safari, CTX. It's a small beach in the off-season.:laughing:

Some things I noticed about the TDI. Not sure if it was because of the added voltage or not but I would get numerous repeatable signals that would disappear. Some that sounded like deep old gold.. that was nothing and even some that sounded deep enough that could be gold. Delay set at 13, gain at 85%. Full power or lower delay wasn't practical here. The 12" coil is great on the wetsand.. but a pain digging deep whispers in the water. Also the control box is mounted behind the elbow for better balance.
Not in photo are a few ounces of silver. 2 gold, 1 18k 2.85g... The 2 fakes are likely from 30s or 40s. Also not pictured is a coin from 1700's that came out in surprisingly good shape.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20191006-145858_Gallery.jpg
    Screenshot_20191006-145858_Gallery.jpg
    40.3 KB · Views: 655
  • Screenshot_20191006-145914_Gallery.jpg
    Screenshot_20191006-145914_Gallery.jpg
    53.4 KB · Views: 659
  • Screenshot_20191006-145839_Gallery.jpg
    Screenshot_20191006-145839_Gallery.jpg
    39 KB · Views: 635
  • 20191006_151532.jpg
    20191006_151532.jpg
    59.3 KB · Views: 625
:dingding: Congrats on the gold with the new machine! Be careful with those icebergs though. :lol:
 
Would like to see coin pics !!

Unfortunately, the coin would give a little bit info about the location. It was from a certain geographic area and time period.

I hope you can see from my photo why I'm trying to conceal this spot.

Things are a little different over here. :lol:
There's a saying "loose lips sink ships." Over here loose lips sink ships. That ship is then dredged up, stripped for parts and anything left over is burned for fuel.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20191006-211340_Gallery.jpg
    Screenshot_20191006-211340_Gallery.jpg
    37 KB · Views: 620
Real nice Yellows Steve!!

On the TDI I have heard the same from two hunters who Hunt "In the water." Kind of making me weary about it..
""but I would get numerous repeatable signals that would disappear.""

And the Big coil on the deep targets has to be a pain...I guess something one could learn to work around in time.
 
Real nice Yellows Steve!!

On the TDI I have heard the same from two hunters who Hunt "In the water." Kind of making me weary about it..
""but I would get numerous repeatable signals that would disappear.""

And the Big coil on the deep targets has to be a pain...I guess something one could learn to work around in time.
Thanks Joe
In highly mineralized areas. I found the disappearing signals even more pronounced in the wetsand. Targets that sounded good enough to chase after. After a scoop or 2 they disappear. On a couple that sounded too good to leave I ended up digging bomb holes just to see if it turned sideways or sank deeper. But in all fairness my old sand shark was unusable here, df almost unusable, atx unusable, tdi sl was ok with the lower voltage and a mono coil. The 2 yellows had the same type of signal that would vanish after a couple scoops straight down. Would be nice to be able to switch coils.
I've been waiting to hit this spot with higher voltage for quite some time.
 
Nice finds! You mentioned that the ground was highly mineralized...could you have possibly tried to run your gain too high for the conditions causing you to hear intense ground mineral readings? Sometimes hot rocks can fool you also...especially if your the type of hunter that likes to dig "iffy" type signals.
 
Count me in as having the exact same problems. The added voltage is of no help. Gain , power way down , almost hunt in silent mode helps me. Along with swinging the coil higher off the sand. This drives me crazy ! I have a few beaches just like this where I've had some epic finds. But the "bomb" holes are a serious issue. I believe it all is in correlation to the sand conditions. Too much magnetized minerals. It seems to get worse the deeper you go. Almost like there is a sheet of lead down at a certain depth level. I won't dig more than 16" holes anymore , as most finds are much less than that. It's just not worth it anymore until we can figure this out. GL...
 
Nice finds! You mentioned that the ground was highly mineralized...could you have possibly tried to run your gain too high for the conditions causing you to hear intense ground mineral readings? Sometimes hot rocks can fool you also...especially if your the type of hunter that likes to dig "iffy" type signals.

The iffy targets here are red brick fragments. The right size and depth and it fools me every time. Usually have to fix my scoop tip after. I was running it hot on purpose. Most pi won't even work regardless of settings.
 
Count me in as having the exact same problems. The added voltage is of no help. Gain , power way down , almost hunt in silent mode helps me. Along with swinging the coil higher off the sand. This drives me crazy ! I have a few beaches just like this where I've had some epic finds. But the "bomb" holes are a serious issue. I believe it all is in correlation to the sand conditions. Too much magnetized minerals. It seems to get worse the deeper you go. Almost like there is a sheet of lead down at a certain depth level. I won't dig more than 16" holes anymore , as most finds are much less than that. It's just not worth it anymore until we can figure this out. GL...

Yup... even when I'm standing in the water the waves are full of black debris and little tiny shiny sand !!!!. Other spots I have more of a problem trying to recover the deep deep whispers rather than disappearing signals. 4 or 5 hours digging in 1 of these spots and I'm hobbling off the beach wondering why I don't hang up the pi
 
The TDI was "too squirrelly" for my blood.

I like the pix of the gold on the scale :)
 
Yup... even when I'm standing in the water the waves are full of black debris and little tiny shiny sand !!!!. Other spots I have more of a problem trying to recover the deep deep whispers rather than disappearing signals. 4 or 5 hours digging in 1 of these spots and I'm hobbling off the beach wondering why I don't hang up the pi

Because as of yet , there is nothing out there better. Xcal - forget it. Nox - I wanted to snap it in half and leave it in the hole.
 
The TDI was "too squirrelly" for my blood.

I like the pix of the gold on the scale :)

Try an SL if you get a chance. I have the pro, sl, bh. SL is VERY light behind the elbow and quiet. It just can't go deeper than your knees without risking losing it at some point.
 
Because as of yet , there is nothing out there better. Xcal - forget it. Nox - I wanted to snap it in half and leave it in the hole.

Only thing I found even close was a CZ21 with an 8" coil. Surprised the heck out of me. Every other non-pi was sent packing at a steep loss. Now I have 3 TDI's, a few coils, and a couple sets of headphones.
I doubt I will even buy a manta if it ever comes out.. heard it reads 24k the same as iron. Useless for me. Unless I only hunt 24k and iron.. in which case I would have missed the 18k white gold pictured above.
 
Steve

Thanks for that info., I'll wait on the AQ with Joe , if I am going to dig fox holes , pay day better be in the den :lol: , who knows maybe further into your venture , the TDI will pay off, you might like it, keep us updated on your success , congrats on your finds , Earl
 
Thanks for the report Steve and congrats on the impressive finds. I picked up a Beachhunter earlier this year and am encouraged with bench testing and the few times I've been out with it. Still getting the settings dialed in but I agree that the gain and pulse need to be dialed down when working the black sand. I wish I that my local conditions were better so that I could get a better idea on this detector's performance. My Dual Field was a good black sand performer but I think the TDI could do as well, if not better. One thing I know for sure is that my Dual Field can not "see" the gold neck chain that I wear but the TDI detects it easily.
 
Joe.... thats why im hoping the AQ will have a smaller coil available as well. 12" coil.... is a big coil to try and PP with in the water especially if you loose a target in the hole. I assume you hunt alone.... with a PI .... that should give you some space to hunt... it has to be driving other detectors nuts.:lol: As far as the 24K on the AQ.... i believe JAG said they solved that and it would. We wont know until Fisher decides it can compete with the TDI i guess.
 
Joe.... thats why im hoping the AQ will have a smaller coil available as well. 12" coil.... is a big coil to try and PP with in the water especially if you loose a target in the hole. I assume you hunt alone.... with a PI .... that should give you some space to hunt... it has to be driving other detectors nuts.:lol: As far as the 24K on the AQ.... i believe JAG said they solved that and it would. We wont know until Fisher decides it can compete with the TDI i guess.

The Whites coil is very easy to PP with Dew... the target is always in the center of the small inner coil... non-PI guys make me laugh with their complaints :lol: Joe and I used to go at it on FindMall that is where I met him :D


Tell you a little story... years ago a new guy with a PI lost the target in his hole... I watched him struggle for 10 minutes... after he gave up on the target I worked my way over to his crater and inverted the coil on the DF and in 1 scoop had a real nice old gold ring... NO, I didn't tell the other guy... his loss... learn the detector or go home :D
 
Back
Top Bottom