My Detector Rig

[echidnadigger]

EchidnaDigger Excellent Man. I really like it.

Was your day prosperous? Where did you swing?

I didn't know they had a battery lighter than the standard one. What's the life like out of it in detecting hours?
Do u remember what they are rrp?

I convert mine to something similar for beach combing but the smaller battery looks the go.

Heatho Sure thing. My prospecting adventures this week will revolve around Wal's timetable.

I'm getting a Highbanker off him so will see if I can pick it up at all on Friday if its ready by then & Wal is free. If I can get it I'll be heading over to a local area like Grubben Gullen or Oallen Ford to give it a spin ASAP. If I can't get it then I'll do some beach combing & will come to Northern beaches.

Hi Matt.
I cant remember what I found on the day that pic was taken. Sorry.
This battery set up is for the 3500's and similar models. They can be bought through some shops (miners den) or made via a shop like jaycar. All that is inside the box is the NiMh battery's and a thermal cut out that stops overheating while charging. The battery life is only a few hours but it is easy to carry a spare when they are that light. I suspect there would be even better batteries available now that would fit inside the box. I know the batteries for the 4000's and beyond did change but there must be a smart person out there that could come up with a similar light weight battery for the newer model Minelabs. After all the correct voltage is simply the correct voltage. I think there is also a booster in the newer batteries but there must be a way to shift that to something external somehow. Keeping in mind that the speaker I am using on my rig is simply an audio booster in another form.

 

[Matt The Magic Man]

Ahhh reminds me of my days spent designing the military equipment.
Matt if you were in 3 then you probally have seen some of my designs floating around.
I designed the SF BattleBra which was a huge seller, as well as the MK VII Alice Pack with it's trademark inverted SA2L water bottle pouches.
Wish I still had all my gear but some **** ******* ***** **&**** of an ex boss stole it all from me after I loaned it to him to have a look at while considering setting up a side business

Hey BrisJoe,

I had a SFBattleBra. It was in my trunk when it got stolen. Loved it over an obs course but couldn't wear it often. Being the shortest in my section naturally I was the Gunner & had sh*t tins of ammo.
Did he ever set up the business? A guy from my battalion setup shop & used to stock them among other things.

No worries,1 of Wals highbankers will be great for getting into it mate. That sounds like the best plan to start getting some real colours happening. See how you go, just yell if your still up for a beach hunt though.

I'll hopefully have a Toyota Prado this week, found 1 in great condition from an ex Navy engineer. Keen as to get out bush soon.

Hey Heatho, I am going to get out for a detect tomorrow for the beach. I'm thinking about to either Cronulla or Bundeena. I have my mind set on two beaches. One is tidal but no waves & the other has very little waves & no houses nearby. Both are popular beaches too so hopefully low trash, not flogged & the finds should stay near the top.

Are you able to make your way down to either of them? I'll bring my excess kit if you can make it.

Hi Matt.
I cant remember what I found on the day that pic was taken. Sorry.
This battery set up is for the 3500's and similar models. They can be bought through some shops (miners den) or made via a shop like jaycar. All that is inside the box is the NiMh battery's and a thermal cut out that stops overheating while charging. The battery life is only a few hours but it is easy to carry a spare when they are that light. I suspect there would be even better batteries available now that would fit inside the box. I know the batteries for the 4000's and beyond did change but there must be a smart person out there that could come up with a similar light weight battery for the newer model Minelabs. After all the correct voltage is simply the correct voltage. I think there is also a booster in the newer batteries but there must be a way to shift that to something external somehow. Keeping in mind that the speaker I am using on my rig is simply an audio booster in another form.

I'll take a photo of how i run my beach setup tomorrow while I'm out there & give you a looksee. I will be looking into a smaller battery though most likely.

 

[Heatho]

Got a bit of running around to do Matt, only have a few hours spare tomorrow, if you were over this side no probs. Will PM you my phone number.

 

[BrisJoe]

Hey BrisJoe,

I had a SFBattleBra. It was in my trunk when it got stolen. Loved it over an obs course but couldn't wear it often. Being the shortest in my section naturally I was the Gunner & had sh*t tins of ammo.
Did he ever set up the business? A guy from my battalion setup shop & used to stock them among other things.

No never got setup.
Shame the service wide rule of no non issue equipment was put through, killed so many businesses in signing of a piece of paper by some numpty behind a desk.

But I still make stuff on the side now, just not army stuff. So can't make slings and straps easily still.

 

[Goldfinger]

EchidnaDigger, I was thinking about doing something similar to what you've done, only with the full size battery. I'd also have the rooster booster and speaker on the detector, so I could put it down and dig more freely.
The question I have is this: would any of that gear attached to the detector cause any feedback, or other issues with performance?

 

[echidnadigger]

Goldfinger,
I did speak to minelab about the proximity of the speaker on the shaft to the coil and was told that "so long as a metal object is secure and moves with the field of the detector then it should play no part in the overall performance of the detector". I figured that the upper shaft and control box is metal so there must be truth to that theory. A detector is a type of movement detector. It requires a metal object to either move through the field or the field move past a metal object. Try resting your detector coil down on top of the next target you find and you will find no movement equals no noise. Then run a coin over the top at the same time and the detector works fine. A way to test the performance if in doubt, is to put your detector on the ground, keep swinging a coin over the coil raising the coin higher and higher until the signal stops. Measure the height of the coin from the coil. Now do the same with the speaker mounted to the shaft. If there is going to be any change then it will be a large coil that picks it up. Keeping you machine properly tuned and ground balanced it critical while doing these types of tests.
This topic is an area of much debate amongst detector operators, but for me all I can say is that I continued to find gold at frequent enough intervals and all types of variations to the finds, that I came to the conclusion that the speaker did not interfere.
The battery weight is a big contributing factor to balance and fatigue so this needs to be taken into consideration if attaching any extra weight to the control box.

 

[Goldfinger]

I appreciate the feedback. There's some good info there, and like you said, you were still finding gold.......that's what it's all about!
Cheers

 

[cactus]

thanks that puts my mind to rest about attachments on my unit