Any New Owners In Last Few Months Of The SEF 12x10 With Anything Good Or Bad To Say About It?

[Critterhunter]

Always curious to hear people's field reports and opinions on various coils and machines. In particular, since I'm such a huge fan of the 12x10 on my GT, and since Kellyco got a fresh batch in a few weeks back for the Sov/Excal units, I'm wondering if any new owners from this batch or the prior batch has anything to say about this coil for them.

Also curious, since as of a few weeks ago they had already reported only 14 left on this latest batch, if anybody has tried to place an order lately and found they are again sold out? Kellyco said that their policy is to not carry coils for machines that have been discontinued, but based on the large number of various Sovereign models and also the currently still made Excalibur, that they were willing to order some and keep ordering more so long as they continued to sell fast enough.

I would assume the first batch ordered after the GT was discontinued sold fast enough for them, since they did order this second batch here. If this batch sells quick then I'd expect future ones to come in as well. Otherwise I think they said we'd have to get pre-order groups of 10 together to order any coils we wanted for the Sovereign or Excalibur from Detech (Excelerators, 13" Ultimate, or the SEF coils).

So if you've got any opinion on your newly acquired 12x10 from the prior or current batch, please share with us your experiences and views, whether those be good or bad for you in your particular hunting style and soils or sands. Even if you've owned this coil for a few years but never really expressed an opinion in an open forum about it, please feel free to share any good or negative experiences you might have. No need to be shy about it, since only you hunt your specific soils or sands, so what me be true for others might not be true for you. In my mineralized soils/sands, this coil punches deep and is smooth like warm butter, often allowing full blast manual sensitivity even in minerals or around EMI that might otherwise cause issues.

I'll keep mine short, since most know I love this coil- The stock 10" Tornado is the best stock coil I ever owned on a machine. Excellent depth, left/right separation, and stability. But the 12x10 is the best coil I've ever used on a machine, concentric or DD, stock or even aftermarket in this case. It enhances all the above aspects even more so for me, as well as provides a sharper, more crisp, and louder tone to targets, of which I like very much for my particular tastes in audio. The weight without a coil cover is a good bit lighter than the 10" Tornado. With the dead center mounting point it even feels much lighter to me than the S-12, even though both coils are fairly close in weight to each other.

 

[Rick(ND)]

I am going to have to try one of the 12X10 as I see many like them that I know that have the in field experience with them. I do agree with you Critter the 10 inch Tornado coil is the best stock Minelab coil on the Sovereign other then the older 8 inch coinsearch which is great too as you will see most still have one in their collections of coils.
I did do the Field test for coins on the 8,10, and 12 inch concentric coil and if they were being made I would have the 8 and the 12 as they really did very well for me, but the project was scrapped or put on the back burner for now. I bought and tried another brand 8 inch and was very disappointed in it and sent it back.
I just got to try that 12X10 as it is about the only one I haven't tried.

Rick

 

[deepdiger60]

Now i have that Insight 180 meter problem figured out to work with the SEF so far i have not had any problems with this coil i did a short hunt yesterday in my back lot that i have hunted many times in the past and i was suprised i hit 3 targets all 3 178 on the meter they were wheats nice greenies oldest being 1915 the coil picked up on them not really deep 5 maybe 6 inches which is fine with me , it PP,s very well also right on the button and all that talk the other day abot PP being a deeper hunt it,s true PP mode picked up on a what was a very faint disc signal it was a copper bolt very deep , now i remember the SEF i had on my DFX years ago it loves deep copper targets !! like LC and buckles . One thing i noticed about the SEF yesterday i have a chicken wire fence in the back lot around my veg garden i can not get any where close to it a foot or even more 15 inches it will blow my head phones off LOL Once this Spring rain season out here slows up and drys ill give it a try again in a farm field . HH Jim

 

[fsa46]

I got to use my new 10x12 SEF a couple times and like what I see so far. Today will be the real test...I'm going to a beach that I have found many old targets, for a 4 hour hunt. If it performs as well as it did on my shorter ( trial ) hunts I'll be happy. Also planning on doing an old house to see how I like it in the dirt.

As Max would say, " stand by".

 

[JimmyCT]

I am standing by....look forward to your review.

 

[deepdiger60]

I got to use my new 10x12 SEF a couple times and like what I see so far. Today will be the real test...I'm going to a beach that I have found many old targets, for a 4 hour hunt. If it performs as well as it did on my shorter ( trial ) hunts I'll be happy. Also planning on doing an old house to see how I like it in the dirt.

As Max would say, " stand by".

Frank let us know how you like those Scullies ? Jim

 

[fsa46]

I have no idea what went on yesterday. After an hour and a half drive to the beach I wanted to hunt, I walked down to the area and got set up. Started to grid the area and things just didn't seem right. I wasn't getting the targets I normally would and the targets I was getting were shallow.

My setting started out Disc off , notch off , volume max, sen. auto , track, threshold, slight hum. I decided to put a coin on the ground and check it out. No matter what I would do I couldn't get any depth ( air test ) on the coin, and if fact it would null at times. I changed locations and tested the area to be sure no iron or other targets were under the sand...same response.

Tried different setting and the same results. I walked back to my truck and put my 10" Tornado on ( sure glad I brought it ) and headed back. Although it was a major improvement it too wasn't responding the same as it should. A friend that I told what had happened felt it may have been EMI, but the threshold was stable and couldn't have been better.

Although I did manage to fine quite a few targets, none seemed to be as deep as I have dug in the past. When I got home I ran some tests with both coils and everything was fine. I got exceptional depth with both coils in all my different settings. Both Auto and different sensitivity settings worked great. I don't know what happened at the beach but it was a relief to know that something wasn't wrong with the machine itself.

 

[Critterhunter]

Rick, I've be real interested in both you and Ron's opinion of the 12x10 after some field use in contrast to other Sovereign coils you've used. I am saying that not only is this the best coil I ever used on the Sovereign, but also better than any concentric or DD I ever used on any other machine over the years. I am that impressed with it, and I mean that.

In my mineralized soils/sands, it punches deep, separates like a surgeon's scapel left/right wise, and it's stability is beyond belief in some situations. I can even say it's razor sharp DD line is sharper than any DD I ever used, small or big in size. The 13" Ultimate's DD line might be as sharp, but no doubt it takes more effort in heavy trash with the Ultimate to re-position myself to isolate targets, due to it's more wide spans width width, and a slightly longer 1/2" more length length wise.

The Ultimate is 13" wide but only 12.5" long, so in reality length wise coverage isn't much more than the 12x10, but no doubt it does make coverage a bit faster in large areas due to it's overall larger size. The 12x10 is still a nice step up over the stock 10" coil in coverage though, I just find with the Ultimate I don't have to hold back my steps quite as much as I do with the 12x10, but in no way and I saying the 12x10 isn't fantastic for coverage in large areas, and yet it's real sharp detection field makes easy work of heavy trash too...

Those concentrics you tested out- Sound interesting. Only thing for me is that after cutting my teeth on concentrics for most years, and then after using a lousy DD coil, I was convinced concentrics were the better design...Until I used a quality DD coil (10" Tornado), which totally changed my perspective. Now I much prefer DD coils for my minerals, and also for the much improved unmasking abilities in the left/right perspective.

Many say concentrics get slightly more depth dead center of the coil than a DD of the same size. That may be true for some coils, but a concentric usually will only show that slight advantage in very neutral soils. When minerals rise a bit, the DD will show more depth due to soaking up less ground stew in it's DD line footprint, thus stability and depth both increase and it takes the lead. Besides, concentrics tend to have a very tight sweet spot for that extra depth, which requires overlapping sweeps by a bunch to take advantage of that tiny deeper spot, where as a DD has more equal depth across it's entire DD line length for the most part.

I hear Ron might be picking up a 12x10. If he does then I look eagerly forward to his opinion on it, as will I look forward to yours. I simply love reading other's perspectives on coils and machines, to contrast to my own personal experiences. And, as said, a lot depends on our particular soil or sand types, so nobody is really wrong in the end, and just based on hunting styles one coil can be good or bad for people too...

 

[Critterhunter]

Deepdiger, one of the reasons you might have missed those relatively shallow coins before the 12x10, besides unmasking due to the sharp DD line, is that this coil seems to love sounding off to coins on edge. The GT and 10" Tornado was the best combo in machines/coils I ever used for coins on edge over the years, but the 12x10, 15x12, and even the Ultimate seem to do even better at it. I'm not the only one saying that, as I have heard others have the same impression, being shocked to pop pretty shallow coins at spots they beat the snot out of with other machines or coils over the years.

One thing about the Sovereign, is that it has a rather distinct audio report on coins on edge. It'll make a warble up/down high/low tone very unique from trash as you wiggle around it from different angles, and usually also will go completely perfect coin/ID from certain angles as well as you circle it. I love it when I hear that very unique sound and usually it ends up to be what I suspected- An old coin on edge at a site long since given up for dead by others. I make it a point to dig very careful like when I hit a target like that, not just so I don't scratch an old silver, but also so that I see exactly how it was laying in the ground.

The other day I dug a washington silver quarter laying flat. Got up and swept the hole again and once again got a perfect silver hit. Turned out it was s standing liberty standing right on end at about 7 to 7.5" that the 12x10 easily saw. Didn't even give me the warble tone. I suspect if the halo around a coin on edge is strong it'll still bang a perfect coin hit from different angles, where as a planted coin won't have that halo around it and will "go dead" from some angles.

 

[Critterhunter]

Auto sensitivity? There's your problem. It will I think raise or lower based on both EMI and mineralization until stable. Only time I use it is when hot rocks or such are so bad on say old trails that even a real low manual is fussy. You never know how deep it'll get since you can't see what it is setting sensitivity at. Sometimes I get great depth with it, and have dug silvers 7+ inches deep that banged hard.

Also, you used tracking mode? Then I assume you were in all metal then? If so, another problem- Air testing in track will screw up depths as it tries to compensate for the ground load, or lack there of. Also, even in the ground, track can track out deep targets on a machine. Far better to use fixed in all metal once the ground balance is set via track by either pumping the coil slowly *in a clean spot* or by sweeping around a few minutes *also in a clean spot* before switching to fixed. Make sure to find a clean spot using all metal, as any form of discrimination is going to miss things like iron and you won't know it's there. I prefer the pump method.

I have been getting outstanding depth even in mineralized soils/sands using PP mode, but just the same the other day I tried setting the ground balance in tracking mode, then flipping to fixed, and then onto PP mode, now that I've heard from somebody from Minelab that on the GT PP does indeed use the all metal ground balance, contrary to the manual saying PP didn't feature a ground balance. It did seem to make PP mode even more stable, although I've never had complaints before about it's depth or stability even at full blast sensitivity in bad mineralized ground.

Always seemed smooth as silk to me, but just the same seemed even a bit smoother once I tried setting the ground balance for it. Also, the email I got seems to indicate that all metal Fixed or PP modes both hold the last ground balance they were set at via Track, even when flipping back to disc, which doesn't use a ground balance by rather a unique way to ignore the ground signal, and then back to PP or fixed. I'm happy to hear that, because with my remote PP switch I wouldn't want to keep having to re-set the balance when I flip back to PP or Fixed from disc.

PS- Even if not using Tracking All Metal mode, and even not using Auto sensitivity, these FBS and BBS units can at times air test rather poorly. I've had situations with my Explorers with a dime laid on the ground in a clean spot that they couldn't muster more than about 4" on a silver dime. I suspect sometimes the unique way they ignore (and thus need) a ground load to perform at optimum levels, might confuse them and see a dime in the air as part of the ground load to ignore, and are looking for the coin floating in the air somewhere between the coin on the ground and the coil.

 

[fsa46]

Deepdiger, one of the reasons you might have missed those relatively shallow coins before the 12x10, besides unmasking due to the sharp DD line, is that this coil seems to love sounding off to coins on edge. The GT and 10" Tornado was the best combo in machines/coils I ever used for coins on edge over the years, but the 12x10, 15x12, and even the Ultimate seem to do even better at it. I'm not the only one saying that, as I have heard others have the same impression, being shocked to pop pretty shallow coins at spots they beat the snot out of with other machines or coils over the years.

One thing about the Sovereign, is that it has a rather distinct audio report on coins on edge. It'll make a warble up/down high/low tone very unique from trash as you wiggle around it from different angles, and usually also will go completely perfect coin/ID from certain angles as well as you circle it. I love it when I hear that very unique sound and usually it ends up to be what I suspected- An old coin on edge at a site long since given up for dead by others. I make it a point to dig very careful like when I hit a target like that, not just so I don't scratch an old silver, but also so that I see exactly how it was laying in the ground.

The other day I dug a washington silver quarter laying flat. Got up and swept the hole again and once again got a perfect silver hit. Turned out it was s standing liberty standing right on end at about 7 to 7.5" that the 12x10 easily saw. Didn't even give me the warble tone. I suspect if the halo around a coin on edge is strong it'll still bang a perfect coin hit from different angles, where as a planted coin won't have that halo around it and will "go dead" from some angles.

Critter, I always ground balance in all metal, Auto ,BEFORE switching to Disc ( even though the GT doesn't auto ground balance in that mode ) because I read that in the " Tips " written by Des. I will however try switching it to Fix after ground balancing it in the future. I have use the 12x10 a couple days using the above procedure without any problems what so ever, so yesterdays hunt was what confused me.

I will try some of your suggestions and see what happens. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Finderskeeper]

Save yourself a ton of money and just get the SEF 10 x 12.

I've had a whole bunch of coils on my Excalibur II. The factory 8 and 10 inch.
The WOT. The 13 inch Ultimate.

All were good and some were great. But nothing compares to the 10 x 12 Detech SEF.

I've had Excaliburs for many years and have worn two out. Of all the coils I've had, the 10 x 12 SEF is by far my most favorite coil.

Why?

It is the most stable. It is not quite the deepest (WOT is for where I hunt) but it is far more stable than the WOT which makes it more useful to me.

It is the best size for me. Not really big like the WOT and not too small. Just right.

Was out on Lido Beach in Sarasota today. Hit a nice little silver ring way down deep. Like over 20 inches deep.
I had an audience when I was digging that ring and the people were amazed at how deep it was and that I was able to find it. I was hitting dimes just as deep. NO BS. I mean really deep. Deeper than I was able to hit with the WOT in wet sand in the surf due to the WOT's instability at higher sensitivity settings in the surf. Deeper than my White's Dual Field was able to do. Way deeper than the 13 Ultimate was able to because of its inability to handle salt water well.

Now it was on Pin Point and not Discriminate. Pin Point is the only way to go!

I also have a custom set of P*E*L*T*O*R headphones with the gel muffs that I made. Really quiet and really comfortable. It is necessary to be able to hear what the coil is telling you especially on windy days. So a good set of headphones are needed to take advantage of what your coil is doing.

So save yourself some money. Use my experience and the experiences of a whole lot of others. Get yourself a 12 x 10 SEF. But give the coil a fighting chance by upgrading your headphones so you can hear what it is telling you.

 

[Critterhunter]

Excellent post. One more "convert" to this dynamic coil. Still have yet to get my hands on a WOT to test in my soil/sands. It's about the last coil I have a real interest in, besides a 6" (not 5") Excelerator. But I suspect in my particular soils/sands the WOT might be beyond the point of no return in terms of coil size to see gains in depth on coin/ring sized targets.

Only reason I suspect that might be the case, is that the 15x12 I owned, though super stable like the 12x10, just didn't get the depth of even the 10" Tornado (which is very deep for sure) for me on coin/ring sized targets. I often found that it seemed to give best depth, or at least ID/tone at depth, if I lowered the sensitivity far below what was max stable. Only reason I can think is the 15x12 was just too big and sucking up too much of my ground minerals.

I have used one 12" round coil in my soil and it seems not to get the depth of the 12x10 so far for me in my soil. Why? I suspect the unique shape and very seemingly "tight" field generated by the 12x10 rides on and soaks up less ground. The Ultimate? Can't say for sure yet, but it appears it might perhaps be as deep as my 12x10 in some situations, or at least on marked undug targets the Ultimate was able to hold it's own thus far. The Ultimate though is a 12.5" long by 13" wide coil, and seems to have very unique traits different than I would suspect in a round coil. It's shape seems oddly similar to that of the 11" FBS Pro Coil in some ways.

For all these reasons, I'm thinking that at least in my soil the max limit on a "conventional like" round DD coil might be about 12" or so max in terms of size. Might be wrong on that, but I feel a 14" or bigger DD might well be beyond the limits in terms of returns, and actually start costing me some depth. One day here I'll be picking up a WOT when I find one at a good cheap used price, and when I do then I'll be able to find out for myself.

No doubt though a bigger coil, in the case of the 15x12, will show gains in depths on say half dollar sized or bigger targets over smaller coils. Even the official field test of the SEFs showed the 15x12 was deeper by I think about a half inch on a crotel bell, which I think was perhaps roughly near the size of a half dollar, or at least bigger than a quarter, while the 12x10 was deeper on dime or sub-dime sized targets...Right in that "ring" size range for rings, or what is out there mostly in terms of old coins- silver dimes or indians/wheats. By far those are those more common coins lost back in the day in terms of their lower value over larger coins, except of course large cents.

PS- I had found in PP mode the Ultimate sounded off to my digger pointed at it by accident from well behind the arm cup on the shaft (I'm a tall guy so that's a good bit of distance). Recently I did this test with the 12x10 and found it was about 4" less deep in it's response to the digger pointed at it. For that reason, I'm thinking if somebody was after huge relics or caches at max depth the Ultimate might be the coil of choice to gain a few extra inches on large stuff in PP mode.

But on the other hand that test was done in just about a zero EMI enviroment, where the Ultimate is able to run at full blast sensitivity, where as the 12x10 can do that more often in stronger EMI or mineral situations, so the trade off might be a wash depth wise with either when hunting for super deep larger stuff. And I wouldn't suppose either would get that kind of depth in the ground, even on such a large item, although PP mode is said to get some PI-like depth in even the worst of grounds by some and I have seen this myself as well.

 

[nagov]

Well, after all this talk on the SEF 12x10 coil, I called Kellyco and when they said they were still in stock took a little road trip to pick one up.... Since my move to Florida I've been detecting 4-5 times a week if not more and most of it is on one particular beach... almost all of the hunting has been with the GT and Excal both with the 10" stock coils and the beach (wet sand) is cleaned up with the exception of new drops and what ever shows IF there is sand movement. (Hasn't been any of that for a few months!) So tonight, I will be able to see IF there is a real difference in depth by using the 12x10.... Sure would be nice if the coil paid itself off tonight..... I'll give an update tomorrow.

Cliff

 

[Critterhunter]

Cliff, eager to hear your opinion on it. Was wondering...Sounds like that beach, lacking targets, might be prime for using pin point mode to "go where no machine has gone before", so to speak in terms of depth. Have you been hitting that beach in PP mode too at full volume/full sensitivity? Just curious.

Regardless of that, be sure to hunt with the 12x10 in disc for a while and whatever max stable sensitivity it permits there, just to see if it produces deeper finds for you at that "dead" beach in disc compared to other coils, if you know what I mean. That's what I bet most people might be curious to hear about, because PP mode of course can and does punch deep at PI-like depths for some people.

 

[nagov]

Critter, I'll be sure to use PP with it tonight after like you said trying it in disc. For some unknown reason, I use my Excal in PP full volume/full sensitivity almost exclusively and with the GT I mainly use it in disc....probably due to the bag the GT is in and having to open it up to flip the toggles... but I've become pretty darn good using PP now and don't need to swap the switches back and forth to determine the tones and target.... Heck, I can't wait for midnight now.... low tide at 3:30 and I'll work the wet down to the low and then work the waterline at low..... I don't get in the water at night anymore.... to many people put the fear of jaws in me.....LOL
This beach is a very popular beach, I don't want you to get the idea that it is some small beach.... conditions down here on the west coast haven't be condusive to people getting in the water to lose goodies yet.... and the sand is as flat as can be, no cuts, low spots all winter for the most part... there are still loads of stuff to find, just to much sand over them right now...extra depth MAY just be the answer...

Cliff

 

[jspoon]

I may have to try one of those 1210's but wait, are you sure you don't have stock in the company critter?
HH!

 

[Critterhunter]

Nagov...Very much to looking forward to your views, whether bad or good, as it all depends on your soils/sands and particulars in hunting style, of course, so no view is wrong or right for all...

Jspoon.... No, no stock. No money making issues by pushing this coil at all. What is it with me? Believe me, I have some major issues with Minelab. Their hardware unser unfriendly stuff is reason enough alone to run a rant on that. I've owned far better/more user friendly machines, compared to both their FBS and BBS units. As one tiny small example, their stock shaft for the Excaliburs, which I've used, is like a prison torture device. The lack of a grip PP switch for the FBS and BBS units too is beyond belief and no call for. Mounting the Sovereign stock meter where it's almost impossible to see is also a head scratcher, but luckily these BBS units are easy to mod and customize. Guess they don't care about hardware so much when they've got alien like technology lurking under the hood for all these Minelabs.

Mainly, here it is- Owned and used many machines over about 20 years or so. Some people raved about got skunk bate in terms of depth or stability in my soil or sands. I figure it anything can pass my soil conditions on deep silver/old coins or even thin gold rings, then probably it'll produce for others in their soils. Now, not saying I have the worst soils/sands. I have been to VA and must say the look of the red iron rich clay or whatever shocked me. But, I've got a lot of limestone based clay where I hunt. Not everywhere of course. Some sites are rich black neutral soil, or something in between.

All I'm saying is that of all the machines I've owned, and a few I didn't but compared head to head with on undug targets over these years, even the GT with the stock coil will hold it's own. But more to your point, I really do feel the 12x10 pushes that little bit more out of VLF technology to the very edge, in terms of unmasking (left/right separation), depth, and stability.

Why would I push that? What's the pay off to me? Nothing, other than having a very warm glow for this here Sovereign, and wanting to share with others what this fantastic machine will do, at least in my soil, and how an aftermarket coil will push things just a little further towards that edge of limits of the limitations of VLF technology. Hate to see people keep jumping ships, or spending more. Been there, done that. You don't have to, or at least I didn't have to.

And...Believe me, there are some who will snicker and think "Your just a Sovereign fan boy." Nope, nothing further from the truth. Owned, used, went to head with many machines over many years. If I don't like what I see then I move on. Problem is, at least for me, I'm not seeing anything to need to move on. I've finally found what I've been looking for, and those being- Depth as good as it gets, long detailed audio, numerous tone alerts (hard to find both in combination), high resolution where I want it (foil up to about copper penny range to split hairs on the tons of trash that exists in those areas), numerous coil choices for given situations, simple "just leave me alone" type of analog-style controls so I can enjoy the hunt and not be wondering if I didn't set things "just right" to launch that space shuttle (not that I'm apposed to that, I'm a tech head guy), and so on.

So here I am, and whether that's what others are looking for, no....Ain't going to make that kind of statement. Just saying I've found what I was looking for, and until I see something that shows me different I ain't moving on, and believe me if I did I'd be right out the back door. Take that to the bank, at least in my soils/sands. Not saying it's the case for others, or in their particular soils, sands, or hunting styles wants/needs. I go for the stake these days, where as not too long ago I went for the sizzle. I grew up, wised up, and learned some hard lessons along the way, in both money & time...

 

[nagov]

Well, here are the results/thoughts on the 10 x 12 SEF coil..... I like its balance on the stock shaft if it isn't any lighter than the stock 10" Tornado, it feels lighter.... the height of the coil off of the ground IS about 1/3 rd smaller than the stock Tornado and it goes through water easier. For me, it seemed quite stable first I ran in Disc in Auto and had no problems, switching a little later to PP and in Auto, again no problems... switched just out of Auto in PP and it ran steady (full volume) but when switching back to disc it did false enough that I had to slightly turn down the sensitivity or go back to Auto. Did I dig anything deeper than the 10" Tornado, that is yet to be seen.... I did have some soft targets in PP that did not register in disc and when dug 3-5 scoops in the wet sand.... turned out to be cruddy zinc pennies... after a scoop or two, they would give out a higher scratchy tone.... expected pennies and that is what I got....

Did manage to pick up some small gold with the coil.. I was working a ripple trough (very slight trough) only about 4" deeper than the surrounding sand and got a scratchy mid tone when I switched to disc which I almost didn't dig but I did and saw that yellow color on the ground after kicking the pile of sand.... 1.5 gram, 10k charm/pendant with CZ's. Did I find it because of the coil or did I find it because I may have been experimenting and working slower and digging most all of my targets? I'm not sure on that one....

Also got a hit that when I switched to disc, nulled out....but I worked the target slowly with the coil and got a scratchy mid/high tone a certain way I moved the coil.... so I dug and dug a total of 5 scoops (approx. 12") and then checked the hole and all I could get was a null.... so I dug yet another scoop and also got a null over the hole.... so then I check the scoop piles and there in scoop #3 was a target with a mid/high tone nice and clean... still had a null in the hole..... It turned out to be the small ring pictured below,,, looks homemade but not sure... no markings on the metal, doesn't stick to a magnet, is not plated. Acid test results,,,, 10k acid the metal floats off the stone but doesn't get eaten up.... 14k acid eats the metal up right away.... doesn't appear to be silver with the silver acid test.... so I'm not sure what it is... just know it is light. Now the big question, would I have found that ring with the 10" Tornado.... I'll never know the answer to that one....

Overall, I can't say I dug deeper with the SEF but I can say I got smaller targets with the SEF than I have in the past with the stock Tornado....I had no trouble finding the target with the larger coil, it was always center in my holes, sometimes with the stock Tornado, I would miss the target but not with the SEF. I like the feel of the SEF and I did pass on many targets that sounded like iron in PP (not clean, quick, sharp edged sounds) also found two places on the beach I had found previously with my Sand Shark that definitely have something big under the sand.... probably whole crab traps but I didn't feel like wasting my time digging.

Just under 4 hours for the hunt, all wet sand, only picked up 4-5 pull tabs, no bottle caps dug but I did have some under the coil, everthing else I got is pictured.... oh, the barrett (hair thing) was my deepest dug target.... it was a null that I could work out some good sound on... not sure how deep but it was over 6 scoops to get to it...

I think this was worth the road trip to pick it up yesterday.... it is going to be a good coil to use.

Cliff

 

[Critterhunter]

Great field report. Thanks for sharing.

I think you'll find this coil, when tweaked to the edge of stability without chatter or extensive nulling due to minerals, will start punching deeper for ya. One thing I can say for sure, is that the 12x10 makes those 8 or 9" silver dimes or wheats in my soils under bone dry conditions easier to work an ID out of without as much effort at it compared to the 10" Tornado.

Those depths might not sound fantastic for some in their soils, but believe me in mine at many sites an 8 or 9" dime or penny is no easy thing to do all the time. I've dug deeper coins in my soil with the Sovereign that were perfect ID/tones, but as a general rule of thumb at many of my mineralized land and sand sites if you are getting around 8 or 9" or deeper then you're doing well. One of the reasons why I like PP, as it'll punch through that barrier of mineralization when I want to go even deeper at times, due to the lack of targets at a "dead" site, for instance.

One thing I always keep in mind, at say one particular really badly mineralized beach I hunt, is that if the legendary abilities of disc is having issues on coins at say 5 or so inches, then imagine what other machines are having problems with. Well, I don't have to imagine, because I've hunted that beach in the past with certain other machines I've owned over the years, and the depth and stability was very poor. So there, even if the beach has been beat up by others for a few months after swimming season is over, even in disc with the GT there are still plenty of targets to chase, but man when I flipped to PP one day just to give it a spin it was like I was transported to a whole new beach. Targets were everywhere and every few feet for the most part.