6" coil vs. stock 11"

[Capreo]

I've hunted a very old park in Chicago (Humboldt park) for several years now with the stock 11". When the areas I searched went dry I recently purchased a 17" coil. That coil did yield a few more old coins the 11" missed because of depth, but its very difficult and frustrating to use because of the amounts of trash. Hard to pinpoint and lots more iron falsing. And now Not really finding much with the 17
While I know its not true, It feels like I've recovered almost every old coin there lost, (over time found lots of barbers, Indian heads, etc) because its gone dry on me again. MY QUESTION IS......If I purchase the 6" coil does it have the depth I'll need to find coins I'm missing that are being masked by the incredible amounts of junk out there. Of all the years I've been hunting the park there is not one old coin I've found that is less than 6 inches deep. Anything less deep is clad or the occasional wheatie, and not interested. The majority of the old coins I've found there have been in the 7-9 inch deep range. And believe it or not, i found a Barber quarter at 11 inches with the 17".
If i do purchase a 6" will I still get the coins resting at 7 or 8 inches . I don't expect to get the 9 inchers and beyond, but reaching down 7-8 inches around the trash could possibly re-open this park again for me. if its only good for 5-6 inches, Ill probably pass and keep trying with the 17". So looking for answers from those who've hunted the Midwest soil , and have hit very old parks with the 6 inch coil. Will it fairly easily hit silver dimes and Indian heads past 6 inches ??

 

[Ronin]

I just got a coiltek 10x5 Have been pleased so far. Have not yet hit any deep coins but it certainly makes it easier to work in trash.
With fewer targets under coil the ctx is able to do what it was made for in identifying targets.
2 days ago found a thin 1899 barber dime in a trashy park that several of us have gone over many times. it was at 5 inches deep

 

[trojdor]

Capreo,

I really miss that wonderful Chicago dirt for detecting...

If you manually crank up the sens (and your skills), dimes and IH past 6" are very possible with the 6" coil.
However, I suspect you may not realize just how much you've missed that was masked by adjacent trash...but not excessively deep.

Because of that, I think a 6" coil is certainly in order.
All of those parks (and forest preserves) still have plenty of old silver in them...they're just hiding from you.

You're statement "...coins I'm missing that are being masked by the incredible amounts of junk out there.", really says it all.

Here's two tips:
1. Hunting in thick trash with the 6" requires that you slow way down, make a very concerted effort to overlap, try different approach angles, and to carefully check out any 'iffy' signals.
You need to slowly work an area, not go for max coverage. If you swing a 6" like you're cutting grass, you're probably missing the deep ones.

2. Many remaining coins are either right up against some trash, or even co-located with it.
Not every coin signal will sound good or consistent.
Use target trace and pinpoint trace on the 'iffy' signals to leverage the strength of the CTX.

Coming from the 17", the 6" will feel like you're painting a barn with a toothpick, but slow down, and be patient...and I think you'll quickly pick up some of the remaining goodies.

Good Luck,

mike

 

[Architex]

I have all three ML coils with moderate black dirt and agree with trojdor completely.

 

[Capreo]

Thanks for the info guys. I was a bit worried about making the purchase because I've read some people say they can't get past 5" deep on a dime with the 6"coil. So I was a little concerned.

 

[LTimedigger]

Go back and pullup Sube's video called Hunting in Trash. One of my favorites. He notes that the trash is where so much of the good stuff still is. I think the 6 is his "goto" much of the time and is for me also. The 6" is a DD coil and unlike a concentric coil you don't lose a tremendous amount of depth when using a smaller coil, one reason being that you can run it hotter. Hope this helps.

 

[IDXMonster]

My CTX will go to an 8” silver dime CLEANLY all day every day in moderate dirt with Auto+3 and the 06 coil. The mindset has to be COMPLETELY different and you have to realize you will be working in a smaller area.

 

[sube]

I will agree with IDX on depth every now and then I will get one at 9 inch's and did get a couple at 10 but I guess the stars would have to be lined up to do this all the time.
So you say you never found a old coin shallower than 6 inch's (a thought) did you ever think in a pounded park that all the shallow coins are gone and the few deep signals or all that are left . That 17 inch coil is only going to get some co-located with iron but most targets with junk will be unseen are to hard to tell from the junk a half coil length away that's because they well be unseen because of iron or bad ids from non-ferrous mixed with the coin signal .

Put it this way If you have 4 targets under the coil at once chances are your going to get a bad id. Now with the 6 there will be less targets under the coil giving better ids.
Don't kid yourself there's treasure in the trash at swallower depth than you think it's pounded all right but is it pounded with a 6 inch coil with a modern detector look at how long it would take to cover that park with a 6 inch coil you should have your answer .

As trojdor said nice and slow could not be truer when in trash . You well find using the 6 compared to the 17 that there's going to be 3 to 4 times as many signals as the 17 does not see so slow is the way to go. Good luck let us know how you do . sube

 

[Capreo]

I'm sold... Going for the 6". One more question, is iron falsing more, less, the same as compared to 11 and 17 coils? I sure wish those engineers could figure out a way to do away with this annoying dilemma we all face.

 

[Geobound]

Are you going with the Minelab 6" or the Coiltek 10 x 5?

I went with the Coiltek and love it! The tones are crisp, though slightly different IMO, and depth isn't really a problem. Maybe it's the soil I'm in, but I see 6"-8" finds pretty regularly.

Good luck with whichever one you go with.

 

[sube]

I'm sold... Going for the 6". One more question, is iron falsing more, less, the same as compared to 11 and 17 coils? I sure wish those engineers could figure out a way to do away with this annoying dilemma we all face.

Yes smaller coil less target density to coil size but it will FALSE also I can run my 6 at 30 manual at most places 24 to 26 would be my bad places .sube

 

[Capreo]

I'm actually going with the minelab 6". It's arriving Sunday. I figure I'll hunt with the 17 till my arms ready to fall off, then I'll switch to the 6

 

[Geobound]

Good luck with the arms.........I mean new coil.