Hey Mr Bill or Eric Foster...........GQA2 strange phenomenon!

[Gulf Hunter]

Was hunting last night on a beach, that had houses on the water. The unit was making crackling noises through the headphones, even when I cut the power switch off! There was some large iron in the ground too. The unit was also very weak on the signal. Almost like the batteries were weak, but that is not the case. I went to another surf area later on in the evening and tried the unit and it was stable. Was this RF that I was having an issue with? Do you think because I am experiencing this phenomenon, that I am still signalling the targets at the unit's full potential or is the strength of the signal suffering? I sometimes experience interference from ships going through the channel a mile away! What was I experiencing last night and is there any hope for an improvement? Do you think the unit is defective in any way? Like I say, it seemed to perform OK at the last surf area.GH

 

[Gulf Hunter]

n/t

 

[Eric Foster]

Hi Gulfhunter,

Stumped in that you still get the noise when switched off. It could be a high rf field from some local transmitter. I have known detectors that go dead, or make strange noises in high rf fields. The rf signal caused the front end amplifier to saturate; virtually switching it off, so that metal signals can't get through. If the detector works fine in other areas, this is likely what it is. Normal levels of rf do not degrade the detectors performance. The other possibility is that there was a temporary problem with the headphone jack connection. Do you unplug the phones between sites?

Eric.

 

[Gulf Hunter]

I really do think that's what I was experiencing was RF of some kind Eric. It was bizarre! The crackle was not as strong, when the switch was turned off, but actually continued through the headphones. Would you think the GQA2 is not going to be a good option for me at this particular location? Chances are that I will not hunt there after I recover the 4 lost gold rings. I have not tried the Excal, that far down that particular beach. I ran both of them further east of this location, but at the same beach and did not have trouble with either unit. I wonder if it is PC interference, as I was hunting from 10P-1A?

As far as the headphone connection is concerned, I NEVER take it loose. MrBill warned me about not connecting correctly, where water can leak in. I think that I will have MrBill hard wire the headphones, next time in for repairs.
I still am looking for a clean method for mounting the control housing to the stem. I have ordered the mounting bracket and push pin handle from White's. It is currently zip-tied to the bracket, ghetto, but functional.
Despite this strange phenomenon, I did recover a James Avery .925 band. It is not one of the lost 4 gold that I am looking for though. These rings were thrown into the surf at this location, 10 years ago. A needle-in-a-haystack, but I believe that I have the greatest chance for recovery using this equipment. Might try in the day time and see if the RF is lighter. Open for suggestions. Any adjustments to the knobs to help overcome this at all? I am running the Pulse Delay on Min, S.A.T. on Fast, Threshold at barely audible and volume wide open.

GH