ON THE HORIZON = MDT-8000

Thanks Cliff. That puts it into perspective a little better.

Got out with the Tarsacci today, a settlement I have been searching for past 12 years. With all the old iron, I knew this had to be the area. Then, Out jumps an 1861 seated half dollar. The half is beat up by plow, still a sight for sore eyes haven’t dug a seated half in ages. The other coin, 1850 seated half dime was dug not too far from this area, Equniox scored this thin piece of silver.

Will definitely be hitting this area in the coming weeks ahead, the settlement was short lived. Early 1860 to 1870’s, maybe 6 miles from my home at most.

Love the Tarsacci, closest one can get with close to Pi performance in bad ground.

Paul

Wow Paul! You hit a home-run on that hunt!!! Congrat's!

So awesome Paul!
Congrats!

Aaron

Thank you Tom and Aaron,

I’ll definitely be hitting this site often in the coming months ahead, taken me many years to find it. Fortunately, the settlement is on land the owner allows me and a good friend to detect. This property had four settlements, I’ve located three. What’s remaining is a lost fort, built in 1850.

With the Tarsacci, It’s an impressive piece of equipment. Especially in areas other detectors struggle with tough dirt, it’s an eye opener. Coming off Pi’s, it was easy getting comfortable with the Tarsacci. It’s deep, super fast recovery speed. Very sensitive to small targets, handles bad ground well.

Looking very forward to getting reacquainted with the Tarsacci, this off time lately was a blessing. There are times we need to rest our bodies, it’s good to take a break once in a while.

Thanks again,
Paul



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2019 03:00PM by Apolonio (CA).

I have used the MDT for seven months now and the oval coil is fine for the water. I do wish a round 12 or 13 inch DD coil was available for the wash, damp sand and dry. I am a salt water hunter primarily. This may apply to dirt also?

Carolina Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I do wish a round
> 12 or 13 inch DD coil was available for the wash,
> damp sand and dry. I am a salt water hunter primar
> ily. This may apply to dirt also?


I agree. It would be nice to have another coil option. Round with the attachment in the center would be an improvement.

It also needs a more rugged coil cover than the stock coil has. I've already gone through three coil covers and am babying the forth. Gotta keep the coil away from rocks. By comparison, I've had my Equinox for a year and a half, use it a lot more and am still on the original coil cover. I'm not abusing the Tarsacci coil by any means. The coil cover material is very thin and brittle and doesn't hold up well to abrasion.

It goes without saying that any new coil option needs to be equal in depth performance to the stock coil or better if that's possible.

.



Edited 13 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2019 12:53PM by Badger in NH.

Dimitar & I have toyed with different coil size options. The thing is...… from a marketing standpoint...… different coils would 'sell'. But ……… from a engineering standpoint...… the gains (with a larger coil)…… would hardly be appreciable. (((Since we think like engineers...… guess what 'wins-out')))!!!

We do toy with the idea of a: High-Gain coil. Expensive/difficult to build!!!

Paul, did they start shipping the Tarsacci with a different headphone plug? Mine is just a ~4” pigtail that don’t plug into the Equinox headset directly . Am I missing something, or are you using the WM08 in some way? Tried that several months ago and couldn’t get the WM08 to pair with the Equinox wireless phones without the Equinox in the loop, maybe mine is defective, dunno. Could you explain a bit more? TIA

Apolonio (CA) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> My real reason to post today, to share the Equnio
> x wireless headset works great with the Tarsacci.
> Whenever I hunt, I’ll bring along both the Tarsacc
> i and Equniox which share the same wireless headph
> ones. The small Tarsacci headphone cord plugs into
> the Equniox wireless headset. One headset for two
> detectors, one less headset to carry for those own
> ing both.
>
> Happy hunting everyone,
> Paul

Gary in Daytona Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Paul, did they start shipping the Tarsacci with a
> different headphone plug? Mine is just a ~4” pigta
> il that don’t plug into the Equinox headset direct
> ly . Am I missing something, or are you using the
> WM08 in some way? Tried that several months ago an
> d couldn’t get the WM08 to pair with the Equinox
> wireless phones without the Equinox in the loop, m
> aybe mine is defective, dunno. Could you explain a
> bit more? TIA
>
> Apolonio (CA) Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > My real reason to post today, to share the Equn
> io
> > x wireless headset works great with the Tarsacci
> .
> > Whenever I hunt, I’ll bring along both the Tarsa
> cc
> > i and Equniox which share the same wireless head
> ph
> > ones. The small Tarsacci headphone cord plugs in
> to
> > the Equniox wireless headset. One headset for t
> wo
> > detectors, one less headset to carry for those o
> wn
> > ing both.
> >
> > Happy hunting everyone,
> > Paul


Looking forward to Paul's reply. My guess is that he's using the Equinox headphones wired, not wireless. My EQX 800 headphones have no problem plugging directly into the 4 inch pigtail and they work perfectly well on the Tarsacci.

In order to use the Tarsacci wireless, you need a Bluetooth transmitter. I tried it with my Trond transmitter and Trond headphones and it worked fine with just the headphones and with the WM08 as well. I'm sure the Equinox phones would also work wireless because both the Trond and the Minelab phones have basically the same Bluetooth system.

Lately I've been using the Tarsacci wired because I rarely need to set the machine down to dig at the beach.



Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2019 07:50PM by Badger in NH.

>
> Looking forward to Paul's reply. My guess is that
> he's using the Equinox headphones wired, not wirel
> ess. My EQX 800 headphones have no problem pluggin
> g directly into the 4 inch pigtail and they work p
> erfectly well on the Tarsacci.
>
> In order to use the Tarsacci wireless, you need a
> Bluetooth transmitter. I tried it with my Trond tr
> ansmitter and Trond headphones and it worked fine
> with just the headphones and the WM08 as well.
>
> Lately I've been using the Tarsacci wired because
> I rarely need to set the machine down to dig at th
> e beach.

I'm with you. I would like to know more info, and I think he's using them wired. I've tried bluetooth headsets, and just not happy with latency. Annoying enough to have a pinpoint button that backs my hand up every time I try to use it, really annoying, but with the amazing depth on the beach and the ease of use, I'm willing to put up with that. If all else fails, I'm hoping someone has built a wired set that are completely waterproof without taping ends, etc.

Repeat. Pls Delete.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2019 11:29PM by Gary in Daytona.

Gary in Daytona Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Looking forward to Paul's reply. My guess is tha
> t
> > he's using the Equinox headphones wired, not wir
> el
> > ess. My EQX 800 headphones have no problem plugg
> in
> > g directly into the 4 inch pigtail and they work
> p
> > erfectly well on the Tarsacci.
> >
> > In order to use the Tarsacci wireless, you need
> a
> > Bluetooth transmitter. I tried it with my Trond
> tr
> > ansmitter and Trond headphones and it worked fin
> e
> > with just the headphones and the WM08 as well.
> >
> > Lately I've been using the Tarsacci wired becaus
> e
> > I rarely need to set the machine down to dig at
> th
> > e beach.
>
> I'm with you. I would like to know more info, and
> I think he's using them wired. I've tried bluetoot
> h headsets, and just not happy with latency. Annoy
> ing enough to have a pinpoint button that backs my
> hand up every time I try to use it, really annoyin
> g, but with the amazing depth on the beach and the
> ease of use, I'm willing to put up with that. If a
> ll else fails, I'm hoping someone has built a wire
> d set that are completely waterproof without tapin
> g ends, etc.


I don't bother using the pinpoint on the Tarsacci. It's too difficult to hold the button down and swing at the same time.


I stopped using the Bluetooth feature in the headphones six months ago after I discovered how much better the sound is with the WM08 module. Now I always use the module with the Equinox. I may start using it with the Tarsacci as well.



Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2019 07:03AM by Badger in NH.

Hi Tom, I agree that the gains from a circular coil with the same parameters of the oval coil would be little but the extra 15 sq. inches of coverage may not sound like much but for me it would be worth the price of a 12" circular DD coil. I wish you would reconsider. JMHO

When I had the Tarsacci I used the Garrett z-lynk system with it. Also now use it on the Equinox, IMO the audio is much better than the Minelab bluetooth headphones. If you don't like the Garrett headphones you can use any you like.

I’m the opposite....I’d like a 10” like the Xcal with the connector in the middle. Would that improve TID when running as HOT as I do?

A smaller coil would present greater ID bounce...… on deeper targets.

We're SO busy with other projects...… that there is not much time to create different coils (at this time).

Hello Gary,

Sorry for the slow reply, just seen your post.

I’m using the pigtail, wired to the Equniox headphones. The reason for using the Equniox headset with the Tarsacci, was to take only one set of phones with me to use with both Tarsacci and Equniox. Sorry it sounded like I going wireless with the Tarsacci, never entered my mind going wireless using the WM 08 module with the Tarsacci. Now that’s would be great, haven’t used the WM 08 module so long.

Thanks for bringing this subject up, something to look into using the Equniox WM 08 module with the Tarsacci. I’ll play try using the WM 08 module with the Tarsacci this weekend, looking so forward to this

Take Care Gary
Paul





Gary in Daytona Wrote:
-----------------------------------------
> Paul, did they start shipping the Tarsacci with a
> different headphone plug? Mine is just a ~4” pigta
> il that don’t plug into the Equinox headset direct
> ly . Am I missing something, or are you using the
> WM08 in some way? Tried that several months ago an
> d couldn’t get the WM08 to pair with the Equinox
> wireless phones without the Equinox in the loop, m
> aybe mine is defective, dunno. Could you explain a
> bit more? TIA
>
> Apolonio (CA) Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > My real reason to post today, to share the Equn
> io
> > x wireless headset works great with the Tarsacci
> .
> > Whenever I hunt, I’ll bring along both the Tarsa
> cc
> > i and Equniox which share the same wireless head
> ph
> > ones. The small Tarsacci headphone cord plugs in
> to
> > the Equniox wireless headset. One headset for t
> wo
> > detectors, one less headset to carry for those o
> wn
> > ing both.
> >
> > Happy hunting everyone,
> > Paul



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2019 03:21PM by Apolonio (CA).

Hello Badger,

Never entered my hollow head using the WM 08 module with the Tarsacci, I’m so glad you and Gary brought up the subject. I’ll try the WM 08 module with the Tarsacci this weekend, and share here how it sounds.

Thanks so much!
Paul

Badger in NH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gary in Daytona Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > >
> > > Looking forward to Paul's reply. My guess is t
> ha
> > t
> > > he's using the Equinox headphones wired, not w
> ir
> > el
> > > ess. My EQX 800 headphones have no problem plu
> gg
> > in
> > > g directly into the 4 inch pigtail and they wo
> rk
> > p
> > > erfectly well on the Tarsacci.
> > >
> > > In order to use the Tarsacci wireless, you nee
> d
> > a
> > > Bluetooth transmitter. I tried it with my Tron
> d
> > tr
> > > ansmitter and Trond headphones and it worked f
> in
> > e
> > > with just the headphones and the WM08 as well.
> > >
> > > Lately I've been using the Tarsacci wired beca
> us
> > e
> > > I rarely need to set the machine down to dig a
> t
> > th
> > > e beach.
> >
> > I'm with you. I would like to know more info, an
> d
> > I think he's using them wired. I've tried blueto
> ot
> > h headsets, and just not happy with latency. Ann
> oy
> > ing enough to have a pinpoint button that backs
> my
> > hand up every time I try to use it, really annoy
> in
> > g, but with the amazing depth on the beach and t
> he
> > ease of use, I'm willing to put up with that. If
> a
> > ll else fails, I'm hoping someone has built a wi
> re
> > d set that are completely waterproof without tap
> in
> > g ends, etc.
>
>
> I don't bother using the pinpoint on the Tarsacci.
> It's too difficult to hold the button down and swi
> ng at the same time.
>
>
> I stopped using the Bluetooth feature in the headp
> hones six months ago after I discovered how much b
> etter the sound is with the WM08 module. Now I alw
> ays use the module with the Equinox. I may start u
> sing it with the Tarsacci as well.

Gary in Daytona Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>Tried that several months ago and couldn’t get the WM08 to pair with the Equinox
> wireless phones without the Equinox in the loop, maybe mine is defective, dunno.

Gary,
I realize this is a couple of days old, but thought I'd point it out anyway...maybe save you some time and effort.

1. The Equinox can connect wirelessly to EITHER the wireless phones OR the WM08.
2. You cannot pair the WM08 to the wireless phones. (No, yours is not defective.)
3. The WM08 is meant to allow the use of wired headphones only, and to receive the detector's signal with a much shorter 'lag-time', or latency.

Think of the WM08 as (basically) a receiver/slave only.
Think of the wireless headphones as (basically) a receiver/slave only, as well. (Yes, you can use them to talk on your cell phone, but a that's different story.)
Either one will only connect to a transmitter/master .... in our case, the one in the EQ.

As Badger correctly pointed out .... to use the MDT8000* wirelessly, you need to purchase a transmitter.
(*Or any other non-wireless detector, for that matter.)

And/so you can't use the MD08 receiver without wired headphones...and some kind of a transmitter...on anything.
(Although I suppose you could turn it on, and clip it to the back of your bicycle helmet as a safety strobe at night .... that blinking LED really is bright!)

Hope this helps,
mike

PS -
A lot of people have misunderstood the purpose and relationship of the wireless module.
I think Minelab might have done a better job in the manual clarifying that it's an 'either/or' with the module and wireless phones.
I suspect they came from the mindset that everyone already knew how wireless modules worked from the CTX WM10 module.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2019 12:12AM by Mike in CO.

This is the Trond transmitter that I use with all my detectors, (except the Equinox which has the transmitter built in).

It will transmit the detector signal to any bluetooth headphones or to the WM08 module.

[www.amazon.com]

.

Just ordered the transmitter module Badger, appreciate you attaching a link. I don’t order from Amazon, but I found the same module on eBay.

Will be interesting getting the Tarsacci wireless on audio, can’t wait!

Thanks again,
Paul

Apolonio (CA) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just ordered the transmitter module Badger, appre
> ciate you attaching a link. I don’t order from Am
> azon, but I found the same module on eBay.
>
> Will be interesting getting the Tarsacci wireless
> on audio, can’t wait!
>
> Thanks again,
> Paul


Great. Glad I could help.

I attach mine to the back of the tarsacci with a square of adhesive velcro just below the speaker. The hook side goes on the detector and the fuzzy side goes on the transmitter.

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2019 02:04AM by Badger in NH.

Thank you Badger,

The transmitter module you recommend arrived today, picked it off eBay that was quick delivery. No more than a few minutes had it linked with the Minelab wireless headphones, connected with Tarsacci. Works great, not using the WM 08 module. Without the WM 08 module, it’s a simple turn on and go wireless setup with Tarsacci. Can’t wait to use it with the Tarsacci tomorrow, taking both Equniox and Tarsacci on a hunt tomorrow.

Thanks so much for recommending this neat wireless gadget.

Paul





Badger in NH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Apolonio (CA) Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Just ordered the transmitter module Badger, app
> re
> > ciate you attaching a link. I don’t order from
> Am
> > azon, but I found the same module on eBay.
> >
> > Will be interesting getting the Tarsacci wireles
> s
> > on audio, can’t wait!
> >
> > Thanks again,
> > Paul
>
>
> Great. Glad I could help.
>
> I attach mine to the back of the tarsacci with a s
> quare of adhesive velcro just below the speaker. T
> he hook side goes on the detector and the fuzzy si
> de goes on the transmitter.
>
> .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2019 06:39AM by Apolonio (CA).

Paul, that looks great and the setup is so easy.

Not sure but you might have to pair the headphones each time you switch between the Tarsacci and the Equinox which only takes a few extra seconds.

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2019 12:43PM by Badger in NH.

New Tarsacci user here as of today. A little background, I'm a seasoned detectorist (at least by most standards) and am seriously hoping the MDT is going to be a game changer on my beaches. I went through the manual as much as could with the time I had and hit the beach after school today. It was 2nd low tide so I had a good bit of wet sand to hunt. I ground balanced in the dry sand and went to the wet to do my salinity balance.

I had started my salinity at 27 as recommended on page 21 but it was still noisy until I got to 24. It quieted down there so I went with it but every time I brushed the sand or had water running over it it falsed badly. In addition the beach was ever so quiet so much so that I wondered if it was even on and working. The false was always on my swing back to the left as if it was trying to get a repeat signal and then it was gone. For grins I buried a quarter in the wet sand and sure enough at 10 or so inches in the wet sand the quarter rang as if it was on the surface so my beach was just not holding any targets. After the falsing continued I decided to re-balance the detector in the dry and then hit the wet and at 27 it was like a foghorn so I kept lowering it until it was finally quiet at 21. The falsing in the wet was still there but not as much so my question is did I not go low enough on the salinity balance? Does the salinity balance affect one way falses as it happened sometimes even when I didn't hit the sand with a swing.

I also had as settings
THR-02
BLK on
Sens5
Frq 18
GB-558

I went into the dry sand and was able to find all manner of caps and trash so I know we're cooking with peanut oil. I also found a tiny bit of aluminum can slaw that fell through my scoop 3-4 times that sounded like it was on the surface but was at least 12" deep as it took 3 scoops to get it out.

Overall it felt easy to swing but the headphone setup needs to be changed(I was using stock phones/wired) as the waves just competed too much for my attention under the headphones. Obviously the learning curve is all in the setup and getting it dialed in for the beach you're on and that's where I'm lacking. I'm only 2 hours of swing time in so I have about another 98 to go before I can say I know what I'm doing with it. I'd appreciate any thoughts or tricks with regards to set up and GB.
Thanks
Skate

skate...… sounds like you are in the right direction. Try a Grnd Bal of (about) 640. Then Salt Balance the unit.

You can bury another quarter if you like...… and see if Black Sand 'on' ……. or...……. Black Sand 'off' provides a notable difference. Bury the quarter at least 10" deep..... if not a little deeper.

That response may also be coil flip..... were you going South with the rise to your left? The closer you get to the surf... the more water that moves in the sand fluffing it up.... also thats where a great deal of minerals, iron, and aluminum PARTICLES accumulate. I agree with Tom turn off black and see what happens. You also didnt say if you were running in AM..... if not try that..... where you can see you TID screen and have easy access to running REVERSE disc. Finding A target is always my goal first...... and in AM targets BOOM.

Dew...…. good point. I had overlooked the point that All Metal Mode will tell you (audibly)….. if you are flipping or tilting the coil at the end of your sweep. This (effectively) changes the 'volume' of salt.... that the MDT sees..... and whatever/wherever the Salt Balance is locally adjusted for.

Also, in my tests, 18 KHz doesn't like the wet sand as much as the 6.4 and 9KHz do.....change frequencies to learn the machine easier....then try to tackle the 18KHz.

Cliff