Hey Steve H. - My Thoughts on Searchcoils

[nuggethunting]

Hey Steve H.,

I seen on another forum you posed a question about what small coil was best, NF 8x6, Minelab Commander 8-inch Round or the Coiltek Joey 10x5 Elliptical Mono.

This question lead me to what I'm doing now, using Minelab Commander coils. Ya, I know it sounds silly, but several years ago a good friend told me he was having great success with Minelab coils, but mentioned the larger ones were heavy. He said he thought there was something to using Minelab coils on Minelab detectors. For years I have always been a huge aftermarket searchcoil fan and had a lot of success with them. Some of my favorite all time coils were/are the Coiltek 14-inch solid Mono Round, Coiltek 17-inch Elliptical Mono and DD Pro (Alaska favorites) and the newest Coiltek 14x9 Blitz. That being said, I was also a big fan of the NF 14x9 Solid, which is one of their newer coils and some of their larger, lightweight round Mono's.

Last year during field instructions with some customers, I bundled a bunch of 15x12 inch Elliptical Commander coils with the GPX 5000's. During some of the instructions I was running the customers GPX with the 15x12 using the Slimline external speaker and noticed the detector was very stable, much more than mine with the Coiltek 14x9 Blitz. Now in all fairness, Coiltek claims to optimize the Blitz with the GPX series, which could lead to a bit more noise and extra sensitivity.

After last years instructions with hundreds of customers, I seemed to observe the Minelab coils being much more stable. This lead me back to the conversation with the good friend about Commander coils.

I've always liked to experiment and change coils and manufactures from time to time, so I figured I would give Minelab Commander coils another run. Within the last couple of months I have dropped the Coiltek 14x9 Blitz and moved back to the standard, stock Commander 11-inch Round Mono and love it! I'm not sure what it is, but it's so smooth and Im finding stuff very small and getting good depth.

The last 3 trips out, I have outscored my partner using the GPX 5000 & Blitz 12 to 1 on nuggets. I know it's hard to say I really beat him, but we have been working the same ground and he has mentioned several times his detector and coil were very unstable while my machine was just purring along!

Just thought I would share my findings. I'm not saying I'm not going to use any aftermarket searchcoil (Nugget Finder, Coiltek or other brands), but right now I'm very pleased with the results on the ground I'm working.

[Reno Chris]

Rob -

I am sure Steve will respond to this in time, but for a few days he is prospecting at a location where he is "off the grid" - so to speak, hiked in on foot to a place with no cell or internet. He is making use of the portability of the SDC 2300.

[jjbond]

I saw (and commented) on the same posting Rob.... I have to stick my paw in the air for a vote for the new Sadie I picked up while down in Bendigo this year.... out of the 8 or so coils I have (including other Nugget Finders and Coilteks), this is my favorite...for sure.

Jen

[Uncle Ron]

Hey Jen ..Do you have a story and pix for your triip downunder? .... Sure would like to see how you did down there and always love scenes from the hunt! ... Thanks, Cheers, Unc

[jjbond]

Hi Ron, no I keep meaning to put some stuff online but have been dragging my butt..... I took HEAPS of great photos and was out with one of Australia's finest gold gettin guides (Greckie from Golden Triangle Tours) who I keep promising to right a review up on and get these photos off my GoPro and iPhone for him.... you've motivated me... in fact I'll send him a link to this post to make sure I do that... I'll do it the next few days and post a link here when I do.....

I highly recommend Greckie, the trip was outstanding and was so informative about so much more than just getting it out of the ground.... if anyone is looking for someone to show them the Golden Triangle/Bendigo area and who has access to private gold fields, Greckie's your man... here's a link: http://www.goldentriangletours.com.au

That being said, thanks for calling me out on this Unc, I've been dragging my butt too long... I'll get it done...

Hugs

Jennifer

[fredm]

Hey, Jennifer...get moving!!! Just teasing, I would love to read your account and gory details of the what, why, where and when Downunder.

fred

[Roo]

On my 5000 I kept trying the m/lab 11 commander against the NF 12" round. They were virtually identical in operation except for the weight. I ended up using the NF 12" because it was so much lighter. Compared, the 11 was like having a house brick attached to the shaft. Both were real stable and sensitive and had good depth, couldn't separate them in those areas. There was a problem with the NF coils for a short while, around 2 yrs ago, and they were a bit noisy which turned out to be a worker there not doing his job properly. Goes without saying, even though I now am , he doesn't work there any more. Detech coils are now gaining good ground down here these days with some pretty good reports from the guys I know.

[nuggethunting]

Hey Roo, Jen and others,

Jen - The NF 8x6 Sadie is a great coil. However, it lacks some depth vs. the Commander 11-inch Round Mono. For small gold chasing, can't beat the small elliptical coils. The 11-inch is a great all around prospecting coil for me, not just for small gold. Also, post those pictures of OZ.

Roo - I have heard the Detech searchcoils are making a move on the market. That is great for them and the end-users. Not sure on price, but heard their prices are a bit lower, making them even more looked after if the performance is the same as other major aftermarket manufactures. I haven't used one, but would be willing to give one a try if I knew where to get a hold of one.

Chris - Steve PMed me a few days before leaving. I just figured I might catch him before he left, but I think I posted it a day late. Thanks for the heads up.

[Roo]

Hi Rob. I haven't used a Detech yet, I just recently sold my 5 as that injury I had, from detecting, which I reinjured, from detecting, I was told will take a while to recover, several months or more. Thought, might as well let it recover real good and take an extended break. Last thing id want is to be a no go when the next good deep machine comes out. I keep telling myself "that's clever thinking" but still am hanging out to go detecting, ill resist though

If I remember right I was told that they are on average $100 cheaper (Aussie dollars) than other brands. And work just as good. But I wont 100% vouch for that as I have not used one personally but my friend who has reckons they do so ill go 90% based upon that.

So any way, I wont mind too much at all if the next big thing doesn't come out for, or after, 6 months from now. I should be all systems go by then

[jjbond]

Speaking of Detechs, I have a couple brand new SEF's made by them for te GPX, anyone used them? I may throw them up for sale this wee

Jen

[jjbond]

Ok kids... I'm uploading the photos to Flickr as I type... it says it'll take an hour to upload, there's heaps.. I'm not going to sort through them all, there are too many, instead you'll get a glimpse into my trip to Australia from leaving the cold cold North American gold fields up to landing there, screwing around and coming back... including one of my favorite shots... my new Sadie with 5' of snow overburden.

Stay tuned for the link later tonight.

Jen

[jjbond]

Here is the link to the coils I listed if anyone is looking for Detech SEF coils.

http://forums.nuggethunting.com/index.php?/topic/10952-for-sale-detech-sef-coils-15-x-12-and-18-x-15/

Jen

[Steve Herschbach]

Hey Rob,

That was a very old thread that somebody brought back topside. I long since just stayed with my 8" Commander. I am sure the Sadie is a great coil but it just seemed redundant since I already have the Commander. And by the way, I totally agree with your assessment of the Commander coils. The larger ones are heavy but they are all very good.

[nvchris]

The Commanders are what I measure all other coils by.

The 12x15 is an amazing coil.

[nuggethunting]

Hey Chris & Steve,

The guy from Creekmetaldetectorsales.com contacted me today about the Detacc coils. He said they are moving fast. I don't personally know anyone using them, but he mentioned Chris was using and purchased some.

How are they performing vs other coils?

[jjbond]

http://forums.nugget...12-and-18-x-15/

[ahorton10]

Ive been seeing the detech coils on ebay for much lower prices than coiltek and nf. Definately curious if theyre any good or if I should be looking for used coils in the same price range.

[nvchris]

I've been testing them, and I'm impressed, rugged, well made and sensitive.

I haven't had the time to get them up on my site yet, but they soon will be when I get back home!

A great election of sizes in Mono and DD.

Their waterproof, offer a 2 year warranty and feature a patented shielding method.

Rege from creek detectors is the USA distributor a great guy and a WSPA member

Chris,

[Relichunter2]

"I've been testing them, and I'm impressed, rugged, well made and sensitive." Yes they are.....I had a chance to try them out myself, very stable...and I really like the 15x10 Mono E coil. I would say they are just as stable in med-hot ground as the NF coils if not better. Don't know why, but whatever they dido these coils..it works !

[pkirkll]

I used a 10 by 15 or something like that ---what was it Chris ? A solid spoked underwater desert mono sodium dd????

I will say one thing,,,i could beat the crap out of it and did just to show Chris i was really testing it for him and it never falsed...never---I'm not saying they will all be like that ...

and since i didnt get any gold i wonder if Chris gave me one that was a demo with a dummy load on it!!! hahahahahaha

back you you.......

( I am waiting on the dummy wisecrack i know will come soon)

[Roo]

Hey Congress...man. How did the modded detector tests go?

[pkirkll]

Sorry for the late reply on that Roo...... i think the mods helped smoothong out the detector--cetain coils seem to work better than others with it----but i think that was true even before i had it modded--- the problem is that i didnt find anygold for two months hunting, so i cant say it helped there;;;;;lol

If it gets over the gold it will get it no doubt--I patch hunted for 2 months in NorCal--- a place known to have big gold, so i was rambling around pretty good..... i will be able to tell you more when i get on a known patch this fall....

Was it worth the extra 400usd?---i think so...just to quieten it down a hair may mean a deep one i find in the future that i would have missed.

paul

[Roo]

No worries Paul. Aint that how it always goes. I recently got a new fishing rod and before I got it the fish were biting good. Iv been hanging out to catch one on it to see how it goes with a good fish on. Ever since I got it two to three weeks ago the fish have disappeared Ahh, as once was supposedly said by one of our bushrangers, though they reckon it was made up by a reporter of the time, "such is life".

Good luck with it Paul and here's hoping you walk over a goodie with it!

[Relichunter2]

Iam kinda late in this thread, but I want to share my feelings about these Detech coils, I may regret it but I do like to share my experience with them. I have a variety of coils, from Commander, to Nuggetfinder coils and even a two Coilteks which I don' use much.My primary coils are Nuggetfinder, Detech and for the DD it would be the Commander coils. I tested a few of the Detech coils, and I found the 15x11 E Mono the best for me. Like Chris said, they are extremely quite and no false signals when bumped. Right now this is the primary coil I use on my 4500 and its been good to me in the last four weeks. What I like the most is its built very well, it's extremely quite that I had to in the beginning put it over a target just to make sure its on. You know how most coils when bumped talk to you? Well Detech coils run silent,but when over a deep target it speaks and speaks very well. So if you want to save yourself a buck buy a Detech coil and you will be thanking me. Just dont come to my neighborhood with it As Rooo, said the Australians have discovered Detech and are using them because they work very well.

[nuggethunting]

Hey Relichunter,

Great information. Heard great things about the coils. That being said, it's tough to stock all these products. You start getting 4-5 manufactures making 10-15 coils, that is a huge amount of coils to keep in stock. Looks like I might have to move to a warehouse ... LOL