Straight shaft question

[Md Epidemic]

Hi Guys,
I found some aluminun tubing and would like to make a straight shaft and a chest or hip mount for my Excal 1000. What is better balanced under the arm or behind the elbow?
also what lenght to cut the tubing? I am leaning towards the behind the elbow but that can change. I have only used the excal about 5 times but it is a shoulder killer.
Any suggetions greatly appreciated.

I also have an old pair of 105 peltor head phones and will do that modd eventually.

I will post some finished pics in 2-3 weeks, first i have to finish some diggers I started for the occasional land hunt.

Thanks,Epi

 

[synthnut]

I just finished a straight shaft for an Excal 1000 ....It has the boat anchor 10" coil on it .....The shaft I made is 4 ft long with the control housing mounted behind the arm cuff for perfect balance .......Mount your lower shaft and coil where you want it , then wrap the coil wire around the shaft and mount the contol box at the other end with he control box end mounted flush with the end of the shaft ....Hold the shaft in you hands until the coil hit's the ground without a lot of force .......THIS is the area that you want to put your handle ...... Measure back from the handle how far you want your arm cuff , and you're all set ........Now when you hold the detector , your coil will gently go down into position WITHOUT being coil heavy ....The detector will still have some weight to it , but it will be balanced to your specs and you really won't notice it .....You can then either make or buy a harness to mount the contol box and battery on your chest .....Then you can just take the control box off of the shaft and unwrap the coil wire , and still use the shaft with the coil on it without the weight of the control box .....Sort of a convertable setup ....I have the option of going either way now ......I love the chest mount !!.....Much easier to swing in the water ......Hope this helps ....Jim

 

[Finderskeeper]

There is one advantage to under the arm. I flip my control pod to make getting to the discrim / pin point easier. Under the arm puts the knob in a better position for me to work.

There is one advantage to behind the elbow. It puts the cable for the headphones closer to me and puts less strain on the headphone cable.

Balance is also a bit different. Behind the elbow puts the control pod & battery pod further back and allows for a slightly more balanced feel at least for me.

Either way you can't go wrong. A straight shaft is the one thing that Minelab should have done at the factory to make it even better.

 

[Md Epidemic]

Thanks,

I think I will try the behind the elbow first then make the harness (convertible) like synthnut said. I worry about the cable since
i have an older model with the yellow headphones.

 

[kered]

I prefer the behind cuff, make it that way first before you cut the tube too short. You can then drill the holes for under cuff before cutting and see the difference. if you use behind cuff put the electronics on backwards so the disc/PP is closer at hand and the headphones has less pull

 

[synthnut]

If you decide to use the convertable WITHOUT mounting the control box on the shaft , you can put a piece of foam insulation that you can get from Home D. or Lowes or any plumbing supply house .....It makes for a nice appearance and covers the holes that are drillled for the control box .....I'll post a pic later ....Jim

 

[Md Epidemic]

Thanks, Jim

Pics would be great.

 

[synthnut]

Here's a pic where the contol box and harnass is inside the Hobie bag ......VERY easy to carry around ....Take off the insulation behind the arm cuff , and your holes are exposed to put the contol head back on the shaft with great balance ....it's STILL the same weight, just distributed better no matter whether you have the contol box mounted or not ....Mounted it has really nice balance so while it weighs just as much , you don't noitice it as much at all ....It's much more manueverable .....Jim

[attachment 188791 ExcalStraight.JPG]