how to hunt with the sniper coil ?

[dfmike]

I just got my Fisher 5 inch round coil a few days ago and couldn't try it out on the weekend unfortunately. I figured I'd ask this before I actually get out there and use it : Do I have to be centered on a target to detect anything with this coil ? I'm used to detecting with the 11 DD mainly and the 5 X 10 Detech on occasion. These two double D configurations tend to pick up targets that are underneath the coil of course but also targets at the periphery of the coil itself (several inches for the bigger coils). In other words, you don't necessarily have to be on the target with the coil to get a signal. I've been told that you need to be centered on a target to hit something with the sniper.

If this is true, I'll have to make sure I overlap on each pass I guess. Movement technique must be critical with this coil right ? The coil is so small. It looks so unsubstantial at the end of the detector. I can just imagine how well this thing must separate in trash.

Thanks in advance.

 

[REVIER]

Is this a concentric or DD?
On a concentric the deepest part of that scanning field is in the center and it is not very big at the end of the scanning field so even overlapping you can miss deep targets easily...with any size coil.

It doesn't matter what coil you use, big, small, DD or concentric, it is always the best idea to always get the dead center of your coil over targets.
Even if they can get signals near the edges or anywhere else and they might be pretty good I believe you are going to get the best, most solid, loudest most accurate in the readings numbers with that target dead center.
I have never bent over and dug any target in years unless I have gotten at least a few swings over the target in that way.
I make digging decisions by going on tones but also target behavior.
Targets can be picked up with most parts of the coil but although many targets might act the same under all parts of our coils way to many do not, especially trash which I am trying to recognize so I don't need to dig it.
I have gotten different numbers and behavior with targets under different sections of all my coils...a lot
In heavy trash or iron masking problems can cause a lot of confusion if you are not getting the best signal possible over a good target hidden so I only trust the ones under the center, as far as you can trust any signal that is.
Also scanning fields are different configurations depending on whether you are using a DD or a concentric and deeper items can easily be missed or misinterpreted because you might not be hitting them just right...especially with a concentric.
The good thing is that smaller coil makes centering targets fairly easy.
Always overlap, always get the best signal possible to get the best readings under all situations to make the best digging decisions..
If you are the type that wants do dig everything then forget all this, get a tone and dig, the most accurate info might not be all that important to those that do.
Me...I dig the better, more solid high percentage targets using some sometimes strict digging rules.
Having the best most accurate info is paramount if I am doing it this way and I have been pretty successful at it thus far.

Oh yea...I have found way more silver, gold, old coins and most everything else using sniper coils than all of my bigger coils...way, way more.
If someone said I had to give up all of them except one I would keep the sniper because I spend most of my time in trash or iron filled sites.

 

[WV62]

I think you will really like the 5" coil, the only real down side to it is is a little less depth. Deeper is not always better.

Your chatter will be way down, and your ID will be way up. You will start to see one target at a time.

I have not noticed the machined picking up targets outside the foot print of the coil, except when getting close to large metal like a fence post.

I am with Revier the little coil will be the last to go.

Ron in WV

 

[dfmike]

Thanks REVIER I appreciate the help. I definitely don't like to dig everything. I absolutely need a visual ID. That's part of the reason I like the F19 so much. I also don't dig that much in trashy sites but I have a few of those sites that are interesting that I've already done with the larger DD coils and found a few old coins. The house foundations there are more than a century old. The sites are littered with bottle caps, nails and other ferrous targets. I believe the 5 inch DD coil would help me get the good stuff if it's still there of course. I suspect some of targets remain and are masked by shallow trash.

Thanks RON as well. I'm confident the 5 inch coil will go deep enough. So far I haven't found a single old coin that was more than 6 inches deep and that includes 1 half penny that was 200 years old. Almost all of them were found within 5 inches. Most of the areas here are made of hard packed clay. It's more like cement really. Sinking rate is definitely on the slow side.

 

[REVIER]

Depth wise in great soil I could easily hit 10"+ with a 5" DD on my F70, in really bad soil I have still gotten to the 7-8" depth area with that coil...an area where I have found some great targets.
Depth areas past 5" around here is surprisingly target rich because most signals make very little sense on most detectors here in the bad stuff past that mark but I figured out ways to decipher these deeper signals and found a ton even in heavily hunted and long ago abandoned sites.

If this is a DD coil and you are dealing with bottle caps the wiggle and pull back method that works so well also works on the small DD which is the one I use more often than not out of all my coils.
Those high numbered high tone caps you might get if you make short wiggle swings over them and pull the coil back as the front edge of the coil passes over target center there will be a decent drop that good targets like coins will not do.
It might be down to the nickel or foil areas but right before the signal drops out completely you will usually see it hit iron.
Important to use all metal or low disc to see this full effect and notice that drop to iron and use that pinpoint feature to make sure you are over an actual target and not getting false high tones as rusty iron even several inches away can throw off.
I have used this method with high disc also in some troubling sites, the signal will start out high and then drop out before you get the edge of the coil over it depending on your disc setting and you won't see those iron numbers or foil or nickel either if your disc is high enough but the signal will usually be decently jumpy before the numbers drop out and hitting it from 90 degrees the numbers might change completely.
A little different using the higher disc method with slightly different indicators and to be safe a 90 degree reading is recommended but it could be just as efficient and about as accurate once you get some practice and see how these caps react in higher disc.
I hunt in all metal or really low disc in my most difficult sites with trash or iron instead of higher disc which might be the more normal choice for some but even though it was unintelligible and confusing at first I eventually got used to it and with the right slower coil movements I became comfortable doing it and in time started to notice and distinguish really close targets more accurately with all the information i saw and heard doing it that way...the better I got the more heavily masked targets I found.
I trained my brain to take in all available data on tones and behavior and then used that to discriminate...not my detector.
Again, it took hours of practice to get good at this but using more disc is another and a bit easier way for some.

Also be aware on the F70/F75/T2 platform these units are designed and programmed to up average all signals around iron both large and small and even in just mineralized soil without much other iron.
The deeper you go the higher the numbers get.
In my sites normal copper cents, Indians, dimes quarters and even deep nickels all soar into the half to silver dollar range around here.
Not sure if it works this way on the F19 but if it does don't put a whole lot if faith in only digging known, normal coin and other good target numbers because all target numbers can be skewed.
Hunting in heavy trash or iron up and down averaging can be constant, a whole different animal than hunting in more wide open less trash intensive sites.

 

[dfmike]

I took it out today for the first time. I didn't find anything special but the goal was to get acquainted with the coil and actually see if it works. The area was just about the most difficult place to hunt ever. Bad dried up clay, roots, branches and rocks covering the ground. I wasn't expecting bugs at this time of the year but the mosquitoes were on the prowl with spider webs a plenty. I set my V-Break high (sets low iron grunt to anything below a set number). I was hunting in zero discrimination mode. I essentially wanted to see if I could get a high conductor signal in the copper and silver range. The few high tones I got were bottle caps. Exactly like you mentioned REVIER, the high numbers faded away quickly when lifting the coil and sure enough I got the iron grunt just when the number would disappear. This works with other DD coils but not as well as with this one I felt. Dug 2 just to make sure they were bottle caps and they were. The rest of the signals were essentially in the iron range and I realized that the place was littered with ferrous targets. I will try a trashy area that is a little more coil friendly next time. Here all I was doing was knock the coil around on rocks, roots and branches. With a bigger coil, this place is just impossible.

The small surface this coil covers will take some getting used to for me. With a perfectly round coil I find it difficult to know exactly what surface I have just covered and what still needs to be done. Practice, practice, practice.

 

[still looking 52]

dfmike, one thing you may notice with this small coil is your depth readings may be off. The detector will probably read the target deeper than it actually is, my brother WV62 hunts with a smaller coil than me a lot of the times and we've noticed that. On your next hunt check that out and see what you find.

 

[dfmike]

Thanks still looking. I don't know when I'll take it out again but I have a park in mind where I found a few silver coins in the past with the big coil. As the lawn is manicured, it will be a much easier place to swing the coil.

 

[dfmike]

Today I found a 1918 large King George V penny with the sniper coil. I'm stoked because I know I would have never found it with any other coil. This was in a wild forested area where swinging any coil is difficult. In some places it's impossible because the vegetation is just too dense to move about. I found the coin between 2 closely knit trees. It was up against one of the tree trunks under the roots. I had to crouch very low to the ground to get my digger under the low branches. I set out to find something good with this coil and I did. It takes some patience to swing this coil in an area like this because it covers so little ground. I have the impression of hardly moving but it does get into areas no other coil can. On the upside the coil is super light, it pinpoints with utmost precision, ground balances well and seems totally impervious to EMI.

It's certainly not a coil I would use all the time but in certain circumstances it might be the only one that will work.

 

[REVIER]

Closely knit trees?
One, CongratZ...two, who is spending time making tree cozy's?

 

[dfmike]

LOL. First time I actually see a tree cozy.

The coin I found with the sniper: The copper pennies were called large cents because they were about the same size as quarters. They changed to the much smaller size in 1920.

 

[still looking 52]

dfmike, that's definitely a cool find. That coin is almost 100 Years old, never saw one before. Thanks for posting a picture of it.

 

[dfmike]

Thanks still looking. I pictured the side that looks good. The reverse side with King George is more interesting but it's not in a very good shape. Copper just doesn't seem to fare too well in this ground. Typically one side is OK while the other one is toast. On the upside, metal objects don't sink much at all around here. I found this one at about 2.5 inches down ! It was just under the surface roots.