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I am ready to take the plunge for a better coil over the Minelab stock SE slimline. I want better depth and everything I read about these coils tells me they offer less chirping and more stabilization too. I currently do not mind hunting in a bit of trash in AM or just a bit of discrim to hear the good stuff.
What are the opinions out there on these? Anyone using them? Should I go for the 12 or 15?
If you're just using the regular SE coil and not the Pro coil, you will probably do better. However, if you have the Pro coil I'm not sure you'll see any benefit. On my E-Trac I run the Pro coil and a 6x8 SEF for trashy areas. Mind you, I rarely use the SEF coil because the Pro coil does so well even in trash.
I am not using one, but have been researching them. Here's what I've found....
Ok, now back in the old days, aftermarket coils were typically over-hyped junk. Only a couple of makes would perform as well or better than the factory coils.
Today's aftermarket coils (including SEF) seem to be very well designed and made. I have'nt seen anyone having problem from these coils. And the larger SEF coils do have some good reviews.
Now, a bit of coil design theory in case you didn't know......
The standard co-planar coil (used on most other brands of detectors) will see everything underneath it (close to the surface). When you double the coil size, you are gaining 400% coverage area at the surface and a little bit wider and deeper coverage spot at depth. (the coning effect)
A ":grin:cheesysmile: coil (like the SEFs) only sees down the center strip, so increasing from 6 coil to a 12 coil would only double your surface detection. But this hot strip runs straight down into the ground instead of coning like the co-planar coils.
The result of all this? A larger DD coil will give you deeper searching without seeing a huge increase in surface trash.
OK, maybe you needed that info, maybe not. But now you have the info to make an informed decision about coil size.
I too have also heard some very good things about the SEF coils. Right now the Pro Coil on the Etrac works excellent in my opinion but if you are running the standard SE coil you might want to look at the 10x12 SEF for a good overall sized coil. I have a feeling you will find it to run hotter with less interference than the slimline you are currently using. Or you could just look for a Pro coil too. thumbsup01
I think the SEF size for size is cheaper than the Pro coil. However, whether or not you get the 12 or the 15 is a good question. I think it might depend on the site you're hunting. The 12 should easily get a dime in the 8 to 9 range. I've heard the 15 will go deeper. Just remember though, the bigger the coil, the less responsive they start to get on the small coins. I'm not sure how the 15 compared to the 12 on the really deep dimes.
I just got the 6x8 SEF for the E Trac. I used it a couple of times after I hit the site with the Pro Coil. Didn't find any additional items with it. For me it seems to be a good coil, but I will have to see if it can sneak out any other targets that the stock coil can't. The stock coil does so good that it's hard to get myself to change it over to the small coil :rolleyes:
I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm actually debating using it this weekend in the yard I found the 1911 D Barber dime in this last weekend just to use it.Quote:
Originally Posted by coinnut
I think the reason there is not much difference, is that the center strip (which is the part that is detecting, front to back) is already narrow on the pro coil. It is narrower on the 6x8 but not by much. So you are not shrinking the width of the signal by that much. The front to back height is shrinking by 3. This would seem to be good in a lot of trash, since the pro coil is seeing everything in a 11 swipe vs the 8 swipe. But if you overlap your swings, like I do, I can gain that 3 of separation back. So I'm not sure I will use it much. On the other hand if it sneaks out a rare coin and I get lots of money.... I will be screaming it is the best coil around :grin:
I may have to sell it for a Sunray probe :grin:
I think that would be a wise choice ;) :twirlingeyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by OkieDigger
I ordered it from Kellyco and they shipped the 10x12 to me yesterday......I stayed away from the 12x15 because I do not want to loose the sensitivity to dimes at depth. I will report back but I have heard such great things about it that I could not resist.
If anyone orderes one, PM me and I'll tell u how to get free shipping.
Aaron
Awesome! I got free shipping on my 6x8 as well. You just have to drop a certain website's name. ;)
I think you'll really enjoy that coil over the stock one.
I think you will be much happier with the SEF over the the slimline you are using now! Make sure you let us know how it is working out.
I pulled a very small silver religious medal from about 8.5 inches with the 12x15 SEF. No loss of sensitivity on the larger coil for me. I choose to use the 10x12 most of the time. It's seems to be rock solid down to about 10 on a dime size target. Seems to have an edge over conventional DD coils in my opinion. Recovery times can be run a lot slower with steady coil movements. Deep iron very rarely gives false positives in 90 degree sweeps with this coil. It's been uncanny in finding old coin spills (Wheats, Nickels). Normally these can confuse the filters and look and sound like junk. The SEF has great separation at depth.Quote:
Originally Posted by hockeyguy
Keep swing'in
Jack
You feel the 10x12 SEF is better than the stock Pro12 on the E-Trac?
If so, that would be one great coil, and I may start looking for one.