My past three trips with the GQ SS..

[Anonymous]

Recently bought a GQ SS from Scott, Scott completed several moditations per instructions from Eric Foster and Reg Sniff. With these moditations the unit is actually better equipped to operate under the heaviest of black sands or under difficult ground conditions in the high desert. Scott did an outstanding job and followed Eric's high standard of quality products and workmanship. The unit can now operate with both coils from Eric Foster or the 11" DD coil Reg made, The DD coil performs well and shines best on dry land while Eric's coils perform best at the beach mostly in the wet sand or surf area. I did apply a thin sealant over the coil cover seam and cable connector of the 11" DD coil making it water proof, On the wet sand area the DD coil performed well but didn't fare as well in the surf area. The DD is at it's best on dry land while Eric's coils love the ocean water. Getting back to the 11" DD coil, Reg did an outstanding job with the DD coil. Great workmanship!
It wasn't until the third trip to the beach I realized the GQ SS is one hot gold jewelry machine, The first two trips the GQ SS was plucking up deep nickels as well as it's fare share of clad with only a few pieces of iron each trip. The beach I hunt is an ideal hunting ground for any Pi with a low radio of iron, However, This beach is difficult for Pi units with a wrong fixed lower SAT speed, some units such as the Whites PI do well at this beach. The GQ SS with the adjustable SAT speed fits in perfect and operates great after the SAT speed has been increased, Even with the increased SAT speed the unit performed well and still gets nickels at 12" inches. One of the gold rings I recovered was at 9" to 10" inches in depth with plenty of more depth to go had the ring been deeper.
Over all the GQ SS is a deep gold jewelry beach/surf detector that zips in and out of the surf with ease with smooth perfmance. Also, Thanks Mr. Bill for answering my questions over the phone the past two weeks. They helped <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="">
HH, Paul (Ca)

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Paul,
Many thanks for the informative post and email. Strange how things do not always work out as expected. I would have thought that a DD coil would work well in the surf and not give threshold variations due to waves or swell. This is because the sea is a very large conductive target relative to the coil size, and the water around the coil should give both positive and negative signals, which cancel out to a large degree. Perhaps I am missing something here, as I have not yet got around to making a DD coil for myself. Other things can give false signals, especially at very short sample delays. Slight movement of the cable, movement of the coil alignment, movement of shielding. All these need looking at, particularly as you indicate that the false signal is sudden in nature. From what I know of Reg, who made the coil, his work is of the highest standard and there is no reflection on his work whatsoever. However, I am amazed at the small details I sometimes miss, which have a major impact on detector performance. I hope to have a DD coil finished by mid September, so it will be interesting to see if I encounter the same problem.
Eric.

 

[Anonymous]

I would make sure there is no movement of coil cable with waves perhaps hitting it, especialy at lower end where is comes from coil and wraps over the shaft, should be taped there good for no movment.
Eric sets his water coils in exopy for no movement and waterprooof. If Regs coil is using foam, the cold water maybe shrinking it and allowing movement, maybe a possibility.

 

[Anonymous]

Scott - thanks for the info. I have been playing around with my new GQ and will in a few weeks take it to the mother lode country to test out, especially in areas with a posibility of having some deeper, larger nuggets. I am learning the differences in signal strength between various targets so I think I can be selective in what I dig. Plus in virgin ground with little trash I will go ahead and dig most all signals. Lance

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Eric,
The 11" DD coil in several ways out performs the 11" mono coil on dry land, Reg designed the DD coils for gold nugget hunting under dry desert conditions which helps the unit operate with a lower SAT speed under difficult ground conditions. As you said earlier anything is possible to cause the DD coil from operating the same as on dry land, coil alignment, movement of shielding are a couple of factors to look into. The problem is not movement of the cable since I was careful to keep the cable snug. Reducing the Delay did help but loss depth with the lower conductors. In the upper part of the wet sand away from the surf the 11" DD coil helped the GQ SS operate with a lower SAT speed which did increase the depth about an inch or two, I can still use the DD coil in the upper part of the wet sand and get away with the threshold variations as long as the DD coil is not near the surf. It's in the high desert the DD coil will really help the GQ SS operate well and keep up with the Minelab gold machines. And the extra filter mod will surely help the unit operate under the nastiest of grounds. So! For nugget hunting on dry land I'll use the 11" DD coil Reg made which look to be the coil that enhances the GQ SS performance best on dry land.
Keep us posted when your DD coil is completed, You may want to start with a 10" DD coil instead of the 11" inch, That one inch difference may help with the threshold variations it's getting from the ocean.
Over all the GQ SS is a superb Pi unit with user friendly features, One of the deepest Pi units I've seen here in California.
Thanks Eric and good luck on the DD coil,
HH, Paul (Ca)

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Don,
What ever the reason is for the DD coil to not operate in the surf is had to tell. However, Over all the DD coil is the coil of choice on dry land searching for gold nuggets, The DD coil really helps the GQ operate smoother under difficult ground conditions.
Thanks and good hunting,
Paul (Ca)

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Lance,
I heard you recently bought a GQ SS, We need to get together in the near future to compare units. I'm curious to see how your unit reacts and how low you can operate your SAT speed compared to my unit.
When you hunt in the mother lode, Don't be afraid to increase your SAT speed when the ground gets nastily even if you have to increase the SAT full clock wise. The GQ SS will still be great depth with this high SAT speed setting. The adjustable sat is there to use <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="">
Let's get together soon,
HH, Paul (Ca)

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Paul,
The DD coil you own has the windings basically epoxied in place, so I doubt that movement is causing the varying signals. However, due to the process involved in winding the coils and the size/shape of the housing, it was impossible to completely fill the housing with epoxy. Unfortunately, the completed windings were taller than half of the housing at the overlap points so when the two halves were assembled, there would be air gaps. I did add some foam to take up the added space but there most likely is some air pockets where water might accumulate, should it leak.
Also, as I mentioned in a previous email, I coudn't be assured the coil would be totally waterproof. I did try to seal the halves thoroughly and also tried to seal around the cable, but it was impossible to tell if the seal was complete. As such, I don't recommend the coils be submerged.
In a nutshell, it would take another coil housing design that was taller and more epoxy filler to reduce the possibility of air pockets, and even then, using a two part housing lends itself to the possibility of having areas where water could accumulate. If fresh water should get into the housing, it would probably cause some annoying false signals that should disappear once the water dries out. However, saltwater could do some damage due to the corrosive action of saltwater.
I am not sure that is the problem you are experiencing in the waves though. Any wave action of salt water that was uneven over the two windings would probably cause fluctuations in the audio, especially at the minimum delay you have. I am not sure where Scott ultimately had the delay set, but I am sure it was less than the initial factory setting.
DD coils by nature are much more talkative than mono coils. They just do not produce a single response when the target is over the overlap zone. Instead, if you play the coil more, you will notice you can get an audio response when an object is very close to the outer windings also. A typical non-ferrous target close to the coil will also produce a null or a quieting of the audio when the target is in the area between the outer windings and the center overlap area. Once a non-ferrous object passes under/over the center zone, the audio will then become pronounced.
Iron objects will act differently, depending upon just how the DD coil is built. The coil you have is not perfectly balanced or nulled so it acts a little differently than a perfectly nulled coil. When I built the coil, I found this setting to be a little better when trying to detect very small nuggets.
Generally, iron objects close to the DD coil will produce signals opposite of those of a non-ferrous object. So, instead of a nulling of the audio, you will get a loud signal when an iron object is in the zone between the outer windings and the overlap zone in the center. In the overlap zone, the iron object will null the response. Basically, the ferrous responses of close objects are opposite of those from a non-ferrous target. This helps one to identify some iron. In many cases, you may get a double blip much like a nail response from most iron when it is close.
When the object is farther from the coil, generally, an iron object will produce a much wider signal than the signal from a non-ferrous object. Again, this can be used as an aid to distinguish some pieces of ferrous metal.
It takes some practice experimenting with a DD coil to fully appreciate just what it is telling you. So, a DD coil does more than just reduce the ground signals.
I hope this helps.
Reg

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Reg for the DD coil information,
You did an outstanding job with the 11" DD coil, I know the 11" DD coil was really designed for desert nugget hunting. Scott kept the smaller DD coil and replaced it with other parts I needed for the GQ SS. The 11" DD coil is really the only DD coil I'll need. Yes, I took your advice about the DD coil may not be totally waterproof, The DD coil is now completely waterproof after applying a sealant over both coil slims and cable connector.
Scott did set the GQ SS back to or near the delay setting it first had, I can tell just by how it responds to the deeper targets. I'll have to try out the 11" DD coil again at another beach, The beach in use was heavily laced with black sand more so than other beaches. Since my GQ SS is already set-up for both the mono and the DD coils, I may consider buying a larger DD coil in the future if you're up to making one, Maybe a 10" x 14" it this is posible.
Thanks agsin Reg,
HH, Paul (Ca)

 

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

How do you stop a GQ, from going off and on as if it were detecting a metalic object.
Monk.

 

[Anonymous]

Fill us in. It shouldn't be just sounding off.
I recall a customer having a problem with a unit after his son used it for a while, and returned it to his father not working. This sounds like the unit in question ???? Is this a unit that you picked up used ??
I would have contacted you directly, but you did not post with a email address.
Mr. Bill