sef 10x12 or s-12

[Minelab50]

i have a sovereign gt on the way. any input on which coil is better.
the sef 10x12 or the s-12 intruder? i will be on the salt beach and relic
hunting(civil war).

thanks............randy

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Stay with a smaller coil until you are more experienced with the Sovereign.The 800 or 8 inch Coinsearch coil is perfect for a beginner. IMHO you will stunt your learning process with large coils and not become a very efficient or happy Sovereign user.

 

[Minelab50]

Ron - My 1st Minelab was a 1999 Sovereign. I have the 8 & 10 coils but need a larger coil on the salt and sometimes relic hunting. I had a 15 WOT but was to heavy for me. I haven't used a SEF or the Intruder and wondered which in everyone's opinion may be better. Buy the way, I wish I had kept my 8" Coinsearch coil.

 

[goodmore]

The S-12 is a nice coil. I use it on the beach. Coverage is the name of the game with big coils. But you don't want to sacrifice sensitivity to smaller targets in the name of coverage area. So there has to be a balance of the two. I can speak for the S-12 and say it still can find the smaller stuff. Critter had a chart on one of his posts with the weight of Sovereign coils. I can swing the S-12 all day and it pinpoints great. One last thing I will say is I don't use coil covers. I use bed liner spray. So my weight is a tad lighter also. With a bigger coil I sometimes run into EMI problems. Always pack a smaller coil for the trip. Since I beach hunt I really don't worry about masking with the big coil. So i really don't have any data or opinion on it. Relic hunting I know it can be an issue.

 

[muggsc]

I use the SEF 10x12 on the beach. Works great for me. It will go as deep as I want to dig, coverage is excellent and sensitivity to small stuff is amazing.
Cal

 

[Critterhunter]

Somebody I talked to said they compared the S-12 to the 12x10 and the 12x10 was more sensitive to tiny targets such as chains. I believe the 12x10 sees less ground than even a 10" coil due to it's tighter width of the detection field. This is a good thing, as that means it's stewing in less ground minerals and will thus get more depth in higher minarlized soils where perhaps even a 10" round coil would be seeing too much ground. Note that this doesn't mean less coverage. The 12x10 is of course still using a detection line that goes from tip to tail of the coil, so it's seeing as much ground as an S-12 and more than a 10". I'm talking about the width of the field. It's very sharp, which not only means it takes in less ground minerals but also that it seperates targets better than even the 10" Tornado IMO. It's also a very stable coil. I can run it at full sensitivity at many sites.

 

[jerseydigger]

10x12 works awsome!

 

[Critterhunter]

Not knocking the S-12. If I can lay my hands on one I plan to buy it and then the real comparisons in depth/sensitivity will begin.

 

[Bling]

Sovereign and like the S12 much better than all the others but this is for open beach hunting....for land use i like the S8 or the stock Tornado 10"

 

[biglry]

Sovereign and like the S12 much better than all the others but this is for open beach hunting....for land use i like the S8 or the stock Tornado 10"

I agree.
I have also found the S12 is slightly better than my 15" WOT on the beaches I hunt with my Sov GT(Pismo Beach Calif.). The 15" WOT will cover a lot of ground and search deep, but it is a tad harder to pin point with than the S12 and a little heaver too. I have noticed there seems to be no difference in the depth between the two under the conditions that I hunt. I do love the 15" WOT on one of my Excal ll for underwater use when there is no rip current or surf to contend with i.e. lakes, ponds and swimming holes.

 

[Jiminsandiego]

So Biglry... I'm surprised that the extra coverage of a 15 in coil isn't worth the weight and pinpoint drawbacks, especially for Pismo Beach. I think I'd be in low FWD with an 18 in coil hanging out the driver's side door Anyway I've got a 12x15 in sef on order just for the long sandy beaches here, and am interested in any input,
Thanks,
Jim

 

[biglry]

So Biglry... I'm surprised that the extra coverage of a 15 in coil isn't worth the weight and pinpoint drawbacks, especially for Pismo Beach. I think I'd be in low FWD with an 18 in coil hanging out the driver's side door Anyway I've got a 12x15 in sef on order just for the long sandy beaches here, and am interested in any input,
Thanks,
Jim

Jim,
I chest mount my GT so the shaft is more "end heavy" with the 15" WOT hanging off the elbow and since I hunt anywhere from 4 to 8 hrs every day it gets old after a while...I do use the 15" WOT if I'm short on time and want to cover a lot of a new area ...kind of like "cherry picking" then at a later date I'll go back over the area with the S12 if it was productive. I keep GPS data and log of everywhere I hunt on the beach.
I have over 65,000 aces of dry sand and 8 miles of wet beach to hunt and that is only Pismo Beach, I also hunt Avila Beach, Morro Bay and many points north like Cayucos beach & pier, San Simeon beach & pier and Big Sur.

The Pin Point issue difference between the two coils is really a minor one, but one that I do notice on real small stuff in the 12" to 18" depth range.
I have virtually no mineralization so I can run the sensitivity on both the Excals and SOV GT real high...wet sand, Excal between 7 and 8.5 on the dial (I drop back to 6 if in the water) and the GT at the 8:45 to 9:30 O'clock position. I hit targets so deep I swear sometimes I can hear Chinamen talking.

Funny thing you should talk about hanging a big coil out the window of a FWD in low... I have a 92 Izusu Trooper that will idel in low at about 1 MPH, I...er.... thought about that and found out real fast from the Pismo Beach park rangers you can get a ticket for hanging stuff outside a vehicle while traviling along the beach. There is about 8 miles of beach front you can drive on at Pismo Beach along with the miles of dunes.

 

[Rick(ND)]

n/t

 

[w6pea]

Stay with a smaller coil until you are more experienced with the Sovereign.The 800 or 8 inch Coinsearch coil is perfect for a beginner. IMHO you will stunt your learning process with large coils and not become a very efficient or happy Sovereign user.

Well put Ron.
I have to agree with your thought.