Help with Whites TDI beach hunter headphones

[urge38]

Hi Guys, This is probably very very basic for you, but it would sure help me a lot.

I own a TDI beach hunter, and I am getting back into using it here in the UK for the beaches after being very disappointed in the Manticore for beach work only (I hear good things on dry land)
Anyways, I am not a fan of the hard-wired headphones,
To be clear, I do not dive or wade in the water, But I am considering cutting the headphone lead, mid-way and adding a waterproof connector to retain the detectors' ability to be used in the water.

my problem/question is this,
I can only see two wires through the clear case of the beach hunter, obviously this is mono
all my other headphones are stereo,
how would or could it be wired to be mono with the original headphone and still be mono when using the other headphones that are stereo??

the stereo headphone jack has three connector rings

[Carl-NC]

The typical stereo plug looks like this:


Just short R & L together.

[Nightryder]

like Carl-NC said, it should be an easy fix. I'm actually interested in the difficulty you are facing with the manticore while beach detecting. I have one and I can say that it's a great machine and should work just fine on beaches. Can you talk a little more in details about it i.e your settings and type of beach soil.

[Sand Hunter]

Hi Guys, This is probably very very basic for you, but it would sure help me a lot. I own a TDI beach hunter, and I am getting back into using it here in the UK for the beaches after being very disappointed in the Manticore for beach work only (I hear good things on dry land). Anyways, I am not a fan of the hard-wired headphones, To be clear, I do not dive or wade in the water, But I am considering cutting the headphone lead, mid-way and adding a waterproof connector to retain the detectors' ability to be used in the water.

I recently picked up a Dual Field PI that was originally owned and modified by Joe Beechnut. Joe made 2 mods to the DF, one to allow using a choice of external headphones, the other allows the use of an external battery pod for longer run times and easier/faster charging.



To connect external headphones, Joe used Minelab CTX 3030 waterproof headphone connectors and added a pigtail to the control box that connects to a female CTX 3030 connector. When I ordered my Tony Eisenhower waterproof headphones, I asked Tony to wire the phones with a male CTX 3030 headphone connector, and it plugs in perfectly to the female connector on the pigtail.



He also added a mod that allows the use of an external Excal type battery pod, which gives the detector longer running time. And in the case of my Dual Field, eliminates the need to remove the control box lid every time I want to change/charge the batteries. Also, not having to remove the top lid, which breaks the waterproof seal, removes the potential of messing up the waterproof seal/integrity of the control box.

my problem/question is this, I can only see two wires through the clear case of the beach hunter, obviously this is mono, all my other headphones are stereo,
how would or could it be wired to be mono with the original headphone and still be mono when using the other headphones that are stereo??
the stereo headphone jack has three connector rings

Like Carl said, all you need to do to allow the use of stereo headphones in a mono circuit, is to short the tip & ring, so that each side, right/left, will get the same signal.



BUT there’s a caveat you need to consider if you’re also planning to use your stereo headphones. Remember, you cut the stock waterproof headphones cable and added waterproof connectors. IF you also wanted to use a standard pair of stereo headphones with a ¼” jack, won’t work. You’d have to cut the ¼” jack off and replace with the same waterproof connector that fits the female connector you used for the control box. Doing that would turn those stereo phones to mono, and by changing the ¼” jack to match the waterproof connector, you’d be making those stereo phones dedicated only for use with the detector.

Personally, I’d add the waterproof connectors to the stock waterproof headphones and leave it at that. Or if you want higher quality waterproof headphones, like Tony Eisenhower’s, you’d just tell Tony to use the same male waterproof connector you used when you converted the stock phones. If you use your stereo headphones for listening to music or watching movies, chances are high that they’re not waterproof, which defeats the purpose of using on a waterproof detector. And you’d have to swap the jack for a waterproof connector, so you no longer would be able to use them to listen to music/movies.

IMHO, for detecting on the beach or in water, mono is totally fine as all we need to hear is a beep, it doesn't need to be in surround sound, lol. Stereo isn’t required since we’re not listening to music or a movie. Mono allows you to hear the beep in both ear cups, so stereo headphones really aren’t needed, unless you have a detector that’s designed to broadcast the beep in stereo. But on the beach/shallow water, there’s so much noise with kids screaming, waves crashing, go fast boats going by, that all you really need is to be able to hear the beep to know where to start digging.