Dropped off IDX Pro at the Doctor for a Mr.Bill MOD 2nite!!!

[silverseeker 2]

I tried selling this unit and had no takers so I just decided to finally keep
her and get The Mr. Bill Mod. done to her. Really liked this machine for the
short time I have used it and when I got it she was clean and worked great.
Now I hope this enhancement does me right as I know it should punch a
little deeper now and will be able to adjust for changing ground conditions.
Just wondering if any of you guys that have a Mr.Bill mod., is there a very
noticeable difference in performance and depth? What do you feel are the
benefits of this MOD? Thanks for any replies and tips on using this MOD...
silverseeker 2

 

[Hombre]

Hi silverseeker 2..

I do not think that the depth of detection will change much as the IDX Pro was already enhanced by the factory. My Mr. Bill's modified IDX Pro seems to be the same, depth wise.... as several stock IDX Pros that I have tested. The beauty of the mod is that you can adjust the ground balance when changing to different coils and like you said, adjust for different/changing ground conditions. I like to set my ground balance to a 'slightly' positive setting while lowering coil to ground level while in all-metal mode. To enhance the depth, toggle to the Black Sand setting and reduce Discrimination to MINimum, this will give you an inch or two of added depth. This setting would only be good in cleaner ground as this is motion Discrimination mode with all metal accepted. Most of the time I run my Disc. at the 9:00 position on the dial and toggle the black sand switched to NORMal. In most places I can run with maximum SENSitivity.

 

[Tom Slick]

The thing with the Mr. Bill mod is that it allows the detector to always achieve maximum depth in varying soil types. A non modified IDX Pro can have the same depth as the modified version if the soil being used as a test sample matches the internal factory ground balance. Problem is that all soil is not the same and the Modified IDX allows the user to adjust for these more difficult soil types. Hombre is absolutely correct about the Black Sand switched on and the Disc set very low will result in noticeably greater depth. This is a great benefit when searching the dry saltwater beach sand.

 

[silverseeker 2]

When I get this unit back I will post my thoughts on
The New Mod! Can't wait as I really liked this
machine the few times I got out with her.
Took her previously to a house tear down
an it was finding targets amongst the heavy,
heavy trash. No great finds but it was picking
out targets with no problems. The wait on
getting her back is killing me as I am dying
to try out this MOD!!!! Thanks again...
silverseeker 2

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I think these mods make a great detector better.HH Ron

 

[Monte]

I tried selling this unit and had no takers so I just decided to finally keep
her and get The Mr. Bill Mod. done to her. Really liked this machine for the
short time I have used it and when I got it she was clean and worked great.
Now I hope this enhancement does me right as I know it should punch a
little deeper now and will be able to adjust for changing ground conditions.
Just wondering if any of you guys that have a Mr.Bill mod., is there a very
noticeable difference in performance and depth? What do you feel are the
benefits of this MOD? Thanks for any replies and tips on using this MOD...
silverseeker 2

The IDX Pro is a very good detector and I am glad to hear you're not parting with it. By 'Doctor' do you mean Keith Wills is doing the IDX Pro modifications? I got the word a week or so ago that he was doing them, and that sounded great because a lot of Classic users still would like their unit(s) modified.

As the others stated, I never found a significant difference in depth of detection between the modified and non-modified, with the exception of working in very nasty mineralized sandy river beaches. The benefits of the modification are that is you change search coils you can tweak the GB for best performance with the different coil. Also, if you are hunting close to someone and there is interference, you can reduce or eliminate the noise by using the Frequency Adjust control. However, changing the Freq. Adj. also shifts the Ground Balance setting significantly and that will then cause you to have a lot of noisy, falsing operation. It only takes about 5 to 15 seconds to turn the Frequency Adjust control, then quickly tweak the Ground Balance for a slightly positive setting in All Metal/Pinpoint and you're back in operation.

Here are some 'tips.':

 

[Hunt4Fun]

I tried selling this unit and had no takers so I just decided to finally keep
her and get The Mr. Bill Mod. done to her. Really liked this machine for the
short time I have used it and when I got it she was clean and worked great.
Now I hope this enhancement does me right as I know it should punch a
little deeper now and will be able to adjust for changing ground conditions.
Just wondering if any of you guys that have a Mr.Bill mod., is there a very
noticeable difference in performance and depth? What do you feel are the
benefits of this MOD? Thanks for any replies and tips on using this MOD...
silverseeker 2

Hi silverseeker 2,

A few years ago I read a forum entry from Mr. Bill stating that he was retiring and would no longer be doing the mods. Mr. Bill also posted the details about how to do the mods. Since then I have seen a lot of people looking for someone to perform the mods on their machines. This is the first post I have read indicating there is someone doing the mods now. To whom did you send your IDX Pro to get the mods installed? I suspect there will be a lot of people happy to get that info.

Bob

 

[Ron from Michigan]

My IDX and Mr. Bill mods I installed,looking forward to doing some heavy trash park searching.HH Ron

 

[ArizFlash]

One of the Mr. Bill Mods is a two position switch to slow the rate of the Self Adjusting Threshold (SAT). The switch is labeled "Slow" & "Normal". Slowing the SAT will give the detection circuit a slightly longer time period to detect targets at the fringe depth which can increase the detection depth for those targets. Some users have called this a "Boost". Another the modifications is a resister change in the LCD display. This allows the display to light up the LCD for the fringe depth targets. No depth increase just Target ID (TID) display operates to the full depth of the detector.

I've modified my IDX with all the Mr. Bill mods and like that it allows me to change coils and get the best depth when in DISC mode. I am considering removing the two position SAT switch and adding a potentiometer to the SAT so that I can adjust the SAT based on the ground conditons rather than two fixed positions.

In open areas with little trash I like to detect with the trigger forward in All Metal threshold mode. The TID display still functions in this mode. The threshold modification made this mode more comfortable on the ears and the factory threshold setting was too loud for the fringe depth targets to come through the sound level.

Hope your modded IDX works out for you. Keep us posted.

 

[SilverFinger]

I hope somebody sees this, as the post is reasonably new. I bought a Mr Bills modified Classic ID on eBay. HELP! Regardless of where the DISC setting is, in DISC mode (center toggle position) it continues to sound LOUD AND CLEAR ON ALL TARGETS. Small iron, foil, DING DING DING!

I am REALLY frustrated as the guy who sold it said no problems and doesn't accept returns. I have to go thru the hassle of opening a eBay case, waiting, blah blah blah.

Is there ANYONE out there who can direct me to perhaps a COMPONENT I could look at? I've tested the DISC pot with a multimeter and it checks out. No visible bad solder pads (except for the crap job someone did on the mod)

I DREAD the thought of hunting someone down to fix this, as it's an oddity or a detector. What a friggin' HASSLE.

The unit is super clean. Hardly looks used. I suspect the seller knew it wasn't working right as you can tell cosmetically its 9 out of 10.

 

[Hunt4Fun]

I hope somebody sees this, as the post is reasonably new. I bought a Mr Bills modified Classic ID on eBay. HELP! Regardless of where the DISC setting is, in DISC mode (center toggle position) it continues to sound LOUD AND CLEAR ON ALL TARGETS. Small iron, foil, DING DING DING!

I am REALLY frustrated as the guy who sold it said no problems and doesn't accept returns. I have to go thru the hassle of opening a eBay case, waiting, blah blah blah.

Is there ANYONE out there who can direct me to perhaps a COMPONENT I could look at? I've tested the DISC pot with a multimeter and it checks out. No visible bad solder pads (except for the crap job someone did on the mod)

I DREAD the thought of hunting someone down to fix this, as it's an oddity or a detector. What a friggin' HASSLE.

The unit is super clean. Hardly looks used. I suspect the seller knew it wasn't working right as you can tell cosmetically its 9 out of 10.

Hi SilverFinder,

I am definitely not a tech but seems I remember these same symptoms in a post years ago. As I recall, the leads to the trigger were somehow reversed making trigger center function as pinpoint mode and the forward and trigger pulled positions functioned as the normal search mode. If my guess happens to be correct, should be fairly easy to correct.

By the way, the pinpoint mode on these Classic machines functions differently than most detectors. In pinpoint the detector beeps similar to the search mode as the center of the coil passes over the target.

Good luck
Bob

 

[Monte]

momentary All Metal mode while the trigger toggle is pulled. Release it and it goes back to the silent-search Discriminate mode.

Monte

 

[SilverFinger]

Quiet, stable and silent search. Another nod to these great old machines is how little EMI issues they have.

I've been hunting an area like mad (where I've been plucking wheat after wheat) that I could never hunt before with any other detector I've owned.

As I posted in another thread, I have sold my MX5 and acquired a SECOND modified Classic I liked the first one so much. Pretty confident I did the right thing. Not sure I miss the MX5.

I WOULD like the depth of the MX5 with the well-behaved traits of the Classic and the excellent ability to pick the good stuff from the trash.