MINELAB F1A4 ex military metal detectors - tips, settings, questions

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Well Jacks Ebay page says 2 sold.. So that'd be you and one other bloke haha...

Done much work with it so far?
 
dont trust the ebay site.
i contacted them in person and went to them for inspection ect.
wasnt through ebay.

im at maybe 50ish hours, id say a great machine. im yet to find gold but have found many bullets and trash in this time
ranging from the surface to approx 600mm deep for a stinking steel peg.
 
Keep at it, if you do swing over a bit, You'll know it..

I'm tempted to buy one just to get a look at what they've done to modify the stock threshold and tone.. I'd imagine its some sort of low/high pass filter..
But I can't really justify $2300 for a sneak peak at something I'd never attempt myself..
 
I couldnt tell you.
I dont want to open it as i mite be a bit worryed if its full of hot glue and a bird nest of wires,

I do know that they fully back there product and have great sales and service.
would recommend them to anyone.
 
Yeah, Don't do that! never know what kinda wiring is going on inside, one tug in the wrong place, and you're borked!
I like the sound of that, If i were going to buy one, It would be from those guys.

I don't think they would have gone overboard with the hot glue, but I'm sure most of the work is well hidden..

Had some guy talk my ear off about a a variable gain mod he was doing $1250 after i was done laughing, i declined..
 
yes that sounds a bit steep for just that.

im sure like anything it not hard if you know what to do. its just finding out how it was done first.
 
downhalo said:
I assume you're talking about a LM2596 DC-DC buck? probably the wrong one lol...
Hey DH, measure the peak current drawn by the amp and use that for a ball park current requirement, if you use a power supply that can deliver much more current than needed it will use more juice from the battery just to keep it running. You want something that can provide about 20% more current than the peak draw. Find out the peak draw and see what you come up with, I have a few different modules in mind, all very cheap.

downhalo said:
I'd love to know the actual number of Level 2 modded machines that are out in the world right now.. I'd imagine it can't be more than 4-5...

How about your project for today is to ring John Morris from Goldscan Australia on 03 93524788 and ask him, don't for get to mention that it couldn't be more than 4-5, you will make his day! The thing is, at the end of the day, they are a limited edition machine, in the scheme of things only a handful will ever be made.

Regards AuMan
 
Okay did some fiddling around, hooked an amp upto the bench power supply, current is reading 304mA with the detector screaming overload..
and about 14.7 mA with just threshold (speaker)
 
downhalo said:
Okay did some fiddling around, hooked an amp upto the bench power supply, current is reading 304mA with the detector screaming overload..
and about 14.7 mA with just threshold (speaker)

Ok, another thing to do is just check and see how much current the power supply you have there uses at 5v output, the one you use on your 6v battery that is.

Here are some suggestions,
No max current specification, but it won't be much, worth a try for $1.12 landed! This is an ldo type.
.au/itm/New-6-0V-12V-to-5V-AMS1117-5-0V-Power-Supply-Module-AMS1117-/200915898727?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item2ec7855167

or this, 700ma Can't post links yet, so just put ebay com in front of the links
.au/itm/MB102-Breadboard-Power-Supply-Module-3-3V-5V-For-Solderless-Bread-Board-HP-/131004048674?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item1e80732522

It would be interesting to see what the current draw is for both of these with no load.

Regards AuMan
 
The guy at minelabmods.com.au is modding the F1A4 now.. Prices below..

Mod at your own risk!

Level 1 it will be $380 plus postage
Level 2 it is $580 plus postage.
 
I added the mod at your own risk part..

I wouldn't trust any of them as far as i could shove the detectors up their xxxx.

I've read 4 stories in the past month about people sending away perfectly functioning GPX,GP and F1 machines,
And getting back unusable bricks.
 
I am curious as to why Minelab did not supply a "test piece" for their "prospecting" detectors similar to what they supplied for their "land mine" detectors such as this F1A4 as I have heard others say their "prospecting" detector to not detect as well as another of the same model.

At least a "test piece" would give you an idea if your detector was faulty and therefore able to be sent back for adjustment or repair.
 
small lead shot is all the test item you need...

with my VLF machines, i use the ball out of a BIC pen.. :)
 
downhalo said:
I wouldn't trust any of them as far as i could shove the detectors up their arse.

Agree but I'd trust Ismael over most. He's got a pretty good rep but still I wouldn't mod anything thats still being repaired by Minelab anyway.
http://www.minelabmods.com/joomla3/...minelab-new-policy-think-twice-before-you-mod
At least Ismael is up front about the risk of modding & even states that in his opinion updating a GPX series is pointless.
I have dealt with him before & would have no problems doing so again. :)
 
washgravel said:
I am curious as to why Minelab did not supply a "test piece" for their "prospecting" detectors similar to what they supplied for their "land mine" detectors such as this F1A4 as I have heard others say their "prospecting" detector to not detect as well as another of the same model.

At least a "test piece" would give you an idea if your detector was faulty and therefore able to be sent back for adjustment or repair.

Finding gold is not life threatening, in normal situations ;), so any old piece of metal can be used to test. If you were detecting for mines you had want to make sure that puppy is working first - hence the test piece.
 
downhalo said:
small lead shot is all the test item you need...

with my VLF machines, i use the ball out of a BIC pen.. :)

Okay if I have a problem I only need to say a "lead shot" test showed my detector is faulty so Minelab should accept that.
 
mbasko said:
downhalo said:
I wouldn't trust any of them as far as i could shove the detectors up their arse.

Agree but I'd trust Ismael over most. He's got a pretty good rep but still I wouldn't mod anything thats still being repaired by Minelab anyway.
http://www.minelabmods.com/joomla3/...minelab-new-policy-think-twice-before-you-mod
At least Ismael is up front about the risk of modding & even states that in his opinion updating a GPX series is pointless.
I have dealt with him before & would have no problems doing so again. :)

I'd trust him also, he modified my SD 2100 many many years ago... its still going.
 
washgravel said:
downhalo said:
small lead shot is all the test item you need...

with my VLF machines, i use the ball out of a BIC pen.. :)

Okay if I have a problem I only need to say a "lead shot" test showed my detector is faulty so Minelab should accept that.

If you thought your detector had a problem, then you would send it to them for repair..

some machines come out of the factory hotter than others, it can be as simple as a different brand of resistor/diode... that is not a fault, its the components used.

If the detector pings the lead shot, it will ping gold, with a PI it will energize any target it goes over "if the target is detectable size"
 

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