After Market Coils

[Ohio bud]

Yesterday I tried a couple of Catholic Church Schools. Many are being closed in the Cleveland area. The first place the ground was solid clay and just about impossible to dig. I got 3 Wheats and a Rosie using the standard coil and 2tone ferrous.. The second school was built in 1918. The soil is sand. It is so hot and dry that I felt I was in a sandstorm every time I cut a plug. I started with the standard coil and used the 2 tone Ferrous setting. Got a Rosie, but there were so many shallow targets that I think the 2tone ferrous is just too hard to use. I have always gone by sound first then depth and repeatability as I am looking for old stuff and figure if it is deep it will probably be older. Anyway, I think the 2tone ferrous would be better for places that have been hunted harder. Next I tired the 12 Sun Ray Coil with variable sounds and Conductive. I was able to dig two more Rosie's, a Merc and 11 Wheat's. Some of the coins were close to 12 inches deep. This is the first time I have gotten any depth out of the E-Trac. I couldn't believe it as the soil was powered loose sand, which is usually hard to get any depth in, because of the air in the soil. The deep signals were not perfect, but similar to the E2 and SE in sound and showing deep for me to cut a plug and check. I was beginning to think that I would never get use to the E-Trac. Had to quit by noon of die from the heat.
Is anyone having luck with any other coils?
Ohio Bud

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

I really like the factory Pro-Coil that comes with the E-Trac.
It's a little early for me to make any claims - but I get the feeling that the new S.E.F. 10 x 12 I got last week goes a little deeper - gives a clearer target ID and pin points better.

 

[Ray-Mo.]

10x12 SEF works well but distinct weight increase over pro coil.6x8 SEF is great in the trashier sites.Remember not all coils are created equal even if they are same make and model.I have a modern square tab buried in clean mild soil at a measured 9" and the Pro coil will hit and ID it better by a fair margin than the 10x12 I own.As a matter of fact the 12x15 does not do as well as the Pro coil until you set it up in all metal and then it will hit the tab when elevated a good 4" I think some of the 10x12 coils are better than others as the first one I used was very sorry and come to find out it was faulty from the factory and was replaced with one that worked much better.
It has been my experience that the Sunray line of coils are very good in both quality and performance.The X5 is unbeatable in extreme trash for me after trying about every 8" and smaller coil readily available for the E-Trac/Explorer line of machines.
All in all if I were limited to just 2 coils I would choose the Pro coil and the 8x6 SEF without hesitation and if 3 were he limit the Sunray x5 would be the third choice.
Keep in mind that I mostly hunt older public turf sites for older coins,Ray.

 

[grumpyolman]

With the ground as dry as it is, I have stopped cutting plugs and won't again until the Fall rains start. I think leaving a rectangular piece of grass dead and dried up does not look good and is poor PR for the hobby. Talked with a professor of 'Turf' at a major university. He said if we carried water and watered the plug after we cut it, it would not die. With water weighing 8.5 lbs a gallon I don't think that is gonna work to well.
I have the 12X15 SEF and worked some athletic fields today. I take nothing with me except an ice pick and cut no plugs. If it's deeper than 4" I probably won't get it and if it's 6 or more I won't even try. I am chasing the pull tab numbers and looking for the rings. In about an hour today the SEF found lots of good deep signals but I got a handful of change all shallow and did not do any damage to the field. Had I Cut plugs I would have.
I had the machine on auto minus 3, and the machine was still picking out pennies at 8"+ on the ID. With the 15 I could cover lots of ground and I think I can pin point with it just as easily as I can the 10X12. Learned that nickels can come in a 12-09 rather than the solid 12-13. Not deep. Shallow. What's curious to me is I usually run Auto +3, the ground is dry, and I think I heard and saw just as many targets with the reduced sensitivity. I've been on this field about 15 times in the last year and I am always finding something to hunt. jim

 

[Ohio bud]

Hi Jim, I have been hunting the closed churches and church schools because of the dry conditions. These churches will probably be knocked down to build drug stores, so no one cares it there are round dead spots in the grass. I thought about carrying water, but you are correct as it would weigh too much and take too much to do the job. I have a friend who likes the 12X15 SEF, but I have not been able to get out with him to see it work. I will check around for one as I have not had much luck getting deep targets with the Pro Coil.
Ohio Bud

 

[Ohio bud]

Thanks Ray, From what you wrote, I wonder if I have a less than perfect Pro Coil. I have a SE Pro and will switch to that coil to see if it works better as I have not had any luck getting deep targets with the Pro Coil that came with the E-Trac. I like you am only interested in old and usually deep coins. I have and have used all of the Explorer Detectors. I just have not been happy with the E-Trac so far and reading the luck some of the guys are having on the forum makes me wonder what is wrong. I have 20 years experience detecting and have been to England 4 times with 4 pieces of gold to show for it. I have also prospected in the Australian Outback 4 times for a month each time and dug lots of gold nuggets.
Thanks for the comeback and I will let everyone know when I get this figured out.

Ohio Bud