Why is They’re only one dealer for the Fisher Impulse AQ limited?

A post by TNSS on the thread about Whites going out of business Made me realize that I probably ought to post something in a new thread about the distribution of the Fisher Impulse AQ limited.

My “charter” and the whole rationale for having a sole source for the AQ Limited launch was to ensure that all relevant feedback from the 100 or so users would be captured and evaluated in order to “nourish” the development of other devices in the Impulse series.

Here is what Tom Walsh, President of First Texas wrote in his “Disclosure” which each buyer is asked to read and confirm their acceptance of.

“ Fisher is offering the Impulse®-AQ Limited to a select group of experienced early adopters who want to experience design and technological innovation in real-time, as it unfolds. The Impulse®-AQ Limited is not a prototype or pre-production metal detector; it is the first edition to a new product line of Impulse® technology.”

Each of the AQ Limited buyers is chosen carefully to maximize the chances of their giving relevant feedback. They will be followed up by me on a private mailing list. There is already a private FB page for them, as well as a private sub-forum on another forum. All of this feedback is reported by me weekly to Tom Walsh, the President and his Marketing and Product Development management..Yesterday’s report showed 8 units sold and 52 names and details on the waiting list. That’s more than half of the planned production of around 100 units

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2020 01:59PM by lytle78.

Thanks for the update Rick.

I probably ought to address one issue that was raised in a post on a different thread when I posted similar information to what I started this thread with.

The guy who posted it – one of our “regulars” - alleged that it would be necessary to “osculate Rick’s gluteus maximus” in order to get on the buyers list for the AQ limited.

Not an entirely surprising allegation - considering the source.

It is however entirely untrue. I have not refused any would-be buyer from the US or Canada - who has asked to be put on the list and who has submitted the information I requested. In some cases I have advised them that because they don’t fit the profile for the earliest available units (namely active and experienced beach hunters) that they may have to wait a while before one is available for them.

When the list gets to 100 or so I will have to start advising people that I would be happy to note their interest and keep them informed of developments but that I do not expect that I would have one of the AQ Limited units for them - given that only about 100 are going to be produced.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2020 04:35PM by lytle78.

Gee Rick,


Here I thought it was because nobody else wanted to endure the abuse you've received on the forums over the last few years. . . .


Rich -

------------------------------------------------------------------

Just one more good target before I go.

Morning Rick
The Truth can stand on its own...
I wish You the best at whatever You do..take care & stay safe. joe

TRUTH- because whoever is in charge has no clue....the way this thing has rolled out over the last few years makes that very obvious.... and especially this 100 unit fiasco that their doing.

As for the poor ole Rick crap just remember he CHOSE to get involved and promote this thing all over the forums for the last few years.

I get it beach hunters are wanting something new so bad....BUT they should not swallow this bitter pill from Fisher. They should tell Fisher to take your $1499.00 prototype detector price and go back to the drawing board because we aint buying it!!!

BTW IT IS A PROTOTYPE NO MATTER THE JARGON USED BY FISHER....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/2020 12:43PM by calabash digger.

Sellin' fish and detectors Ain't the same.

Well, CBD is entitled to his opinion. I guess it would be fascinating to see what would happen if he took that opinion Word for Word and posted it over on Steve Herschbach’s forum where he is a member under the name calabash.

Maybe Tom is OK with personal attacks and with somebody urging people not to buy a certain Detector from a major manufacturer because it’s a sham....permitting rude and abusive behavior is likely to lead to further decline in participation here.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/2020 01:18PM by lytle78.

I don't think Tom is"ok" with personal attacks---he just allows people to show their True selves and this allows one to form an opinion of these"true selves".

Now that I have gotten that off my chest, let me tell you how the AQ is doing. The 8th unit shipped to a buyer yesterday and I expect the production rate to ramp up in the near future.

The main reason for only having one dealer is to centralize the monitoring of the “voice of the customer”.

The sharing of experience and learning is proceeding rapidly on a private sub-forum elsewhere. All owners are entered into it upon purchase.

At Fisher, Tom Walsh, the president as well as his engineering and production leadership are closely involved in evaluating the ongoing feedback. I talk to Tom a couple of times a week and to the Designer Alexandre Tartar about as often.

The Impulse AQ is the first in a line of innovative and first-in-class pulse induction detectors focused on very specific “jobs to be done” The AQ is designed for only one thing, finding gold jewelry - especially rings - at depths that exceed the capability of any existing detector.

Because the majority of detector users have limited or no experience with PI detectors, the learning curve can be steep. The AQ is a tool whose full potential requires skill and experience in order to unlock to the maximum.

Unlike many modern VLF machines, there are no complex “baked in” combinations of pre-programmed settings which can in turn be modified by changing a large number of internal variables through menus.

Not counting the threshold volume,sensitivity and on/off/mode selector controls, the AQ has three knobs, these controls are pulse delay, ATS (Fisher talk for SAT - self adjusting threshold level) and Reject. Learning the optimum use of these in conjunction with one another is the key to extracting maximum performance from the AQ in various hunting conditions.

The “seeding” of the AQ in the hands of many dozens of the most experienced and active beach hunters in the US and Canada while ensuring carefully managing Geographical distribution of these units are providing a highly focused and carefully monitored “laboratory” where the “human factors” of AQ usage as well as its mechanical and electronic performance can be studied in a way that (as far as I am aware) has never been done before by any Metal detector manufacturer.

Are the AQ Limited units “Prototypes” - no they are not. Reaching back to my experience as a pilot in the USAF and later in the aerospace industry with Lockheed, Northrop and Honeywell, I would say that they are “-A Models” Sometimes the “A” model stays in production/service for a very long time, like the KC-135 which I flew, sometimes it appears for a limited run and the lessons learned are incorporated in successive B, C, D, F and G models like the B-52.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/2020 07:04PM by lytle78.

Thank you Rick for yet another informative post,however,the thickness of the cranium of some prevents the message from getting through.

Thanks for the updates. I’m looking forward to seeing what this machine can do.

Maybe I missed it somewhere but is it waterproof? I believe at one time the Gold Bug SE was limited in production. Not sure about the numbers but sure over 100 units. So if you get one are you limited to just posting on the private pages or can you post on Tom's site for example? I have no experience with a pulse machine. I do like the idea of it being focused on the only thing I hunt for on the beaches. Thanks for posting what's going on and look forward to hearing how its working. Beaches here are starting to look better. Sand is still being moved but still long flat slopes. People seem to be acting with a little of the devil may care attitude and losing more. Ring Finders is busy lately.

Each AQ Limited unit is tested at 1 meter for 4 hours.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

I did not attack you personally just stated what I have seen from my fox hole...

Time will tell CD the proof is in the pudding. Whats the price of fish got to do with it anyway.........You should know by now a little bit of knowledge is dangerous.

Hey CBD - what the heck do you call this - you wrote...

“ As for the poor ole Rick crap just remember he CHOSE to get involved and promote this thing all over the forums for the last few years.”

I consider that personal - maybe down where you come from it ain’t, but in Bexar County TX where I was raised 70 or so years ago, we might consider it “Quires Combate” talk.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/2020 11:33PM by lytle78.

Ok maybe that's pushing it....I look at it like this … IF the thing is a giant success you will be a genius but if it goes the other way which I suspect it will well you know...As was said above proof is in the pudding and time will tell.

But you have missed the point C D At your age you would think you would have woke up by now THAT A LITTLE BIT OF KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS. ,,,,,We have seen your efforts on the DFX debarkable. Enough said.

yeah I hear ya pinpointa …..anyone who thinks a dfx IS GOOD needs to go back to detecting school...well enough said.

Well no body really knows yet what the capabilities of the detector only what we have seen on the forums. To me 100 units @ ruffly at $1500 us dollars is only a return of $150,000 which is not much when you take overheads r&d . We will get some feed back once the detector has a good run with a lot of users . You can not start knocking the unit untill some firm statements start rolling in. I am quite sure it will be a winner.

So all you knockers just wait and see.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2020 03:57AM by pinpointa.

Now, CDB, with your permission, we’re pals again.

I ain’t “pushing” nothing. I worked my buns off for three years because I believed that Alexandre Tartar - by virtue of working day and night for MANY years had made some of Eric Fosters ambitions for the utility of a two channel PI detector into a an amazing beach jewelry hunter. I have never wavered in the hope. That hope has turned into a belief and the belief has turned into a conviction. I have probably spent 20 -30 hours on Skype calls with Alexandre. I have use two prototypes, starting in October 2018. I bought (by invitation) the first production unit - which worked great - only to have a request to return it and have it replaced 6 weeks later.

Meanwhile, Tom Walsh, listening to some small amount of feedback, decided that he really wanted it to be simpler, more robust and have longer lasting on battery. What to do - he had about 100 units kitted out and he could easily afford to scrap them, but he had a better idea.

Bothered by folks like me and the designer, Alexandre and against the advice of his marketing staff, he decided to launch the thing. It would be the AQ “A” model, which was what it ought to have been called - but none of us were bright enough to see it clearly in the light of normal development in, for example military aerospace development - so he called it the IMPULSE AQ LIMITED.

Tom ain’t broke. He wrote the “Disclosure” to explain what he was up to. 100 more of less - for sale at roughly half the price of the eventual AQ “B” - sold by one easily persuadable chump - yours truly - and saddle this fool which the entire management of the AQ “A” public facing existence. I make a few bucks per unit - Fisher does direct ship and provides the warranty and I have the responsibility to find the early buyers who will make the most immediate contribution to the collective knowledge of how best to use this thing to extract the maximum gold from beaches.

I understand why this approach is hard to classify. Is Tom merely trying to make some bucks flogging second-rate hardware? If I believed that I would have withdrawn from this discussion with my tail properly between my legs,

In fact I am proud and enthused - that Fisher figuring out that this thing that they had ready to launch - could be much easier to use and maintain with some mechanical changes - but that these would take time. And realizing that this thing would IN ANY EVENT require a careful and managed introduction to the niche marketplace represented by hard-core beach hunters - decided to use this early production version as an “AQ-A” model and offer it at a “not to be repeated” low price, to enlist the kind of die-hard beach hunters whose use of it would make or break it.

I am not embarrassed by my participation. I think that this launch is innovative and probably unique and i am pleased to be involved.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2020 12:18AM by lytle78.

Ziiiiiiiiing-----right over his haid.

One word can sum up what your going through Rick, EXCITING! I don't even bother with other sites because I know the real pro's are on this site and the info that you and others take the time to post is valuable to the rest of us.
By the way I have eaten fish at CD's restaurant a lot and not only is it the best "Calabash" style seafood period his hospitality is second to none. It shows from the line out the door and parking lot just to get in. Super passionate about the hobby and from I have seen most everything he does. JR.

Thanks for the kind words SN, and thanks for the restaurant review. I long ago figured out which of the Calabash places he was associated with and the reviews were very good. I hope to visit some day with and AQ and meet Cal and enjoy the very special Calabash style shrimp, oysters and flounder.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

So what does the impulse do? And when is it on sale for all of us to read about and buy???

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Hey Rick,
Is there no Euro dealer for the detector?
Same for Australia??

Lowboy. Rick is the sole dealer of the AQ limited for Fisher .....limited because only about 100 will be sold and only here in the States and Canada. He has a list he’s working from with those interested. They have started trickling out already. There is a long thread on here and Steve Hs forum seems to have a large group including the designer discussing the machine. Reviews by Steve and CudaMan I believe as well. Joes (ole beach nut) has one and is doing some bang up videos. As far as what it is ... it innovative... an extremely deep PI with some disc. made for the beach tuned toward gold jewelry.