Coils for MXT and IDX Pro

[jamesinwesttexas]

I have the IDX Pro with 5.3 Bullseye coil and the MXT with 6x10 Eclipse coil. For hunting really trashy sites, should I get the 4 inch Bluemax snooper for the IDX Pro or the 5 inch Excellerator for the MXT?? Thanks for all the advice. James

 

[Monte]

For hunting really trashy sites, should I get the 4 inch Bluemax snooper for the IDX Pro or the 5 inch Excellerator for the MXT??

I've used them both and with equal success. But I do have a couple of observations and a question or two.

I note that you're using the 5.3 Bullseye on the IDX Pro which is a 6" concentric design, and the 6X10 Eclipse o the MXT which is a Double-D design. In your question you ask about going with a smaller concentric Vs a smaller Double-D. I have put both of these coils to very good use in highly trashed railroad ghost towns and some urban renovation sites and, in both cases, they have excelled on the Classic III SL and IDX Pro as well as the MXT.

I guess I'll ask the following questions:

a.. Have you encountered any "really trashy sites" that have been a challenge for the 5.3 BullsEye?

b.. Have you used a slow-sweep with the IDX Pro so as to better deal with the trash that is present?

c.. Is the IDX Pro a modified version from "Mr. Bill" so that you can easily adjust the Ground Balance for the coil in use?

d.. Between the IDX Pro and the MXT, which of the two would you prefer to use if you could only have one of the small round coils you're inquiring about?

The MXT, and M6, provide more target information than the IDX Pro, such as a TID Icon, VDI number, Confidence Bars, and estimated Coin Depth read-out. All of these can be helpful at times if you make use of visual Target ID. That said, we also know that regardless of the make or model, when hunting a very trashy site the TID info will suffer from target masking as well as the audio response, so perhaps it doesn't matter.

But one thing we do require in trashy sites is a detector with a quick response and recovery. The IDX Pro certainly qualifies, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a bigger fan of the IDX Pro than me ..... however, I now mainly use the M6 and MXT for such trashy sites. I also get excellent performance from the 5.3 Eclipse search coil. The M6 & MXT seem to work a bit better with a slower sweep than the IDX Pro, as well as being more tolerant of a faster sweep in high mineralization than the Classic circuitry.

With the stock 950 for more open, lower target areas and the 5.3 Eclipse for mot trashy or confined space hunting, they do quite well. The 6" Excelerator Double-D coil did OK but was still too larger, physically, for the trashiest of iron littered sites I hunt and I found the 5.3 Eclipse to actually do better. The one super tactical smaller coil I need to add back into my arsenal is a 5" Excelerator DD. While not overly thrilled with Double-D coils and favoring a concentric design or most tasks, my experiences with the little White's Shooter Double-D Vs the 5" Excelerator was quite surprising.

When I was working a park with my MXT w/5" Excelerator and a couple of friends with their Explorer II's w/stock 10

 

[jamesinwesttexas]

Thanks Monte, that helps.

My IDX Pro has the Mr. Bill mod. One trashy place I want to work is an old railroad yard in Mexico. I was there a week ago with the IDX Pro getting lots of attention from the kids and a friendly security guard. I was pulling lots of Mexican coins [little value] and a few U.S. coins [and handing most of them to the kids]. I'll practice that slow sweep. I guess I'm leaning to the 5 inch Excellerator to use on the MXT but I will try the 5.3 Eclipse if I get a chance. Still have a lot to learn, but trying to keep the equipment to some kind of a minimum. Thanks for the advice and good luck. James