SUN RAY OR SEF?

[widebody]

[size=large]I read Bryce's thread on the field test he did with the 8" coils. what i got was they were both recommended as equal over all. my question is, does the configuration of the coil make one better ? with the sunray you get round and with the sef you have squished 6"x8"? for some of us
it's winter already. what else ya got to do but spread your wisdom?[/size]

HH

 

[dewcon4414]

Ralph makes some darn good equipment. I can see you point thou i like to get in those close areas with a narrow coil. I guess its going to depend on how you like to hunt and the stuff you have to work around. Take a look at availability and price. We all find things we prefer, i mean look at the pro and the SEF.... opinions differ.

Dew

 

[dewcon4414]

Ralph makes some darn good equipment. I can see your point thou i like to get in those close areas with a narrow coil. I guess its going to depend on how you like to hunt and the stuff you have to work around. Rather that distance between the inner and outer coil makes a difference in separation or sensitivity i can say. Take a look at availability and price. We all find things we prefer, i mean look at the pro and the SEF.... opinions differ.

Dew

 

[widebody]

[size=large]thanks drew. the price in this case is a big factor. $149.95 vs. $199.99. then add the extra rod most of us will get . $49.95. the coils are there so gittin one is no problem. i just have to justify the cost to myself. i do all this research so as to avoid buying what others have found to be the wrong purchase on the average.i believe ray mentioned the sun ray coil is an ounce lighter than the sef. weight is very important to us all. but so is getting that much closer to a fence or wall. if i could afford it i'd get em both. but for now it's just winter research. may be able to get one of them with the tax refund if any. i'll go back and re-read bryce's article. i'm not even aquainted near enough with the 11" coil i have and here i am looking at the 8".[/size

][

HH

 

[stasys]

buy any second hand and look if you like it, all coils similar ,some are better and a bit sensitive then other, but for you who never used small coil its no different. my suggestion,buy and try. good luck Stasys

 

[HaroldILL.]

I have owned both coils and for me I preferred the sunray x-8. First of all it is lighter and deeper. I got to where I use it more than the stock pro coil. I like it so much I got a second one as a back up!

 

[widebody]

[size=large]as i mentioned, i'm trying to find out what i can before i buy. thus this forum. i sorta looked for used already but can say i didn't put that much of an effort out yet.

harold, what do you mean by depth? can you give me some info as to how deep? i was using my 9.5 on my xlt then got turned onto my 8". took my 9.5 off and used the 8" from then on. now i bought an explorer se pro. i know i need more learning time with it but sooner or later i know i'll be getting an 8".
my confusion comes from how the dd works. on a reg. coil the circle gets smaller the deeper it gets. starts with 8" and necks down to 2"???
so the dd coil is two 3"x 8" coils overlapping each other? what is the shape of the field and how far down does it extend? i came across some illistrations but can't find them again. there has to be some formula for these coils and what it takes to set up the fields and the boundries of fields. like this much energy x this much amps will set up a field this wide or deep or round. looking forward to your responce.

HH









' coils stacked[/size]

 

[stasys]

Wideboy if you want to understand DD coil pattern switch detector on, take coil in the hand in other hand coin and paint with coin coil detecting field where detector starts to detect coin, you can do this on the paper and draw coil detecting pattern. I used very little 8 minelab coil and it was ok, but now have sef 8x6 and its look more sensitive and possibly a bit deeper but never did air test, but size is the same if you put sef on original minelab 8 with sef ears stiking out. good luck stasys

 

[widebody]

[size=large]thanks stasys. before i buy i want to gather info from those who already have tested these coils. my thoughts are you can only air-test to compare the depth range of each coil. that is unless you have a test garden. i'm sure i'm not alone in saying i can't afford to keep buying coils then find out the other one is the better choice. just wanting to avoid past mistakes the gov't is trying it's best to take all my money. i'm trying my best to spend it somewhat wisely.

HH[/size]

 

[stasys]

widebody. I agree with you about lerning form others, but problem with tests did buy people, they are relative, due to experience and understanding detector and ground condition. I never saw real laboratory coils comparison, everything is depend who is testing and who you believe, its like religion . air test is very simple but can show you death and sensitivity coil, but yes its not enough. now we have only 3 coil different producers; minelab 8, sunray8 and sef 8x6. minelab I have but not much used. now have sef and used on max 32 sensitivity manual and it was stable in wood, but never tryed max sensitivity with minelab so cant say what exactly different, but looks like sef possible better, have to take 8mainlab and make the same max sensitivity test, but when I bought sef I took it to test near my home where I test all coils when i buy and found that minelab 8 I was stable- without falsing from EMI manual 21 but sef only 15 sensitivity, so from this I can say sef is more sensitive and deeper. about sunray cant say anything never had one in hand. good luck Stasys

 

[stasys]

SENSATION!!! just did coils test at home with hammered coin and nails and winner is PRO COIL??/ not the small minelab 8 not even sef 8x6 ? close was original 1050 but not so clear like pro coil, excelerator Q2 10x14 was not bad too, but this coil likes to much hot rocks and I dont like it. so firends what I will do tomorrow? sell all small coils! god luck all in founding your best coil, Stasys

 

[HaroldILL.]

The deepest coin I found with the x-8 was a barber dime at 9.5'' With the sef 6''x8'' I didn't find any coins over 7''. That is in my ground which is moderate when it comes to mineralization. I didn't even see where the pro coil was that much deeper, and the x-8 has better separation. Plus the fact it is lighter than the pro coil and I have a bad shoulder I used it most of the time this year. I found 108 silver coins this year and would say about 80 of them with the x-8! It is not the 2-300 some guys claim to get in my area,but for me and the pounded spots I hunt that is a good year!

 

[widebody]

[size=large]Harold,
one little silver dime would be my record if i were to find it in the next 16 days. if they aren't in my park then no record this year. i did find one crt ring and a small silver w/ torqois stone. maybe that might be a trade off and count for finding silver. but i will try again tomorrow. this time with the se. the rings were with the xlt.
and even then it was summer. got a break between rains storms here in lower washington state.
the 8" looks good to me for the same reason as you harold. that is, bad shoulders. if i recouver even a wheatie from 7"-9" i'll be happy and this machine will have convinced me.

HH[/size]

 

[captn_se]

but after 3 years and thousands of hours in the turf with my SE, the Pro Coil is my coil of choice over 95% of the time. I have found hundreds of silvers with the Sunray X-8 coil, and I have found a pile with the 8x6 SEF. They're both great coils...you really can't go wrong with either of them. I was using them a lot more while I had just my Minelab 1050 (Exp. II/Quattro) coil, but after purchasing the Pro Coil, they both get used infrequently. The Pro coil, IMHO, is more stable than either of the small coils, and has amazing target separation comparable to the smaller coils when it's set to less than max sensitivity (low-mid 20's). I'll still hang on to the small guys as backups to my Pro. I think for the newbies, a smaller coil makes detecting easier.....it's easier to pinpoint with the smaller coil and since you're not covering as much ground per sweep as with the larger coil, you will hear less mixed-toned signals, which can be confusing to newbies. After a while and many hunts in your back pocket, you will better understand those types of signals and your target pinpointing will be much improved.

HH,
CAPTN SE
Dan

 

[widebody]

[size=large]just for now i do need to learn more on my se. i think i have maybe two hrs. on it. i will say that because of hints on this forum i dug nickels i passed over with my xlt. i read the vdi as junk but with the smartfind the signals were low and to the middle. just like what was said and i picked off six accepting those signs.
so we'll see how things work. the time of year sucks. can't change the weather.

HH[/size]

 

[dmitchstevens]

great to know Captn Se

 

[HaroldILL.]

I guess I should ad that I use an E-trac and not an Explorer if that makes any difference. I never had an se and only had a xs for a short while. I forgot I was on the Explorer forum. But what I said should hold true for the explorer models.

 

[stasys]

Harold try Pro coil and you will see what is the different. etrac and explorer the same technology, just etrac faster but if you dont like pro maybe you can sell it to me ? friendly stasys

 

[synthnut]

I use an E Trac , and will have an SE tomorrow that I will be waterproofing ......On the E Trac , or even on a Sovereign for that matter, the smaller coil can punch thru with higher Sensitivity when running in mineralized soil ....It doesn't have as much area to contend with , and goes deeper in mineralized soil ......The Pro coil however is a deeper coil in moderate soil conditions .....and for a coil of it's size , it can hit the smallest of targets , and hit them DEEEP !!.... I've hit Barber dimes at 10 inches that were not scratchy at all , and hit it with a solid TID while circling it !!...... Choose your coil according to the soil/sand mineralization you will be hunting on most .... I've always been very surprised after using so many different coils on the E Trac , just how good the Pro Coil really is ..... It's probably the best , if not one of the best coils , I've used no the E Trac ....The SEF 12 x 15 covers more area , but I don't think it goes any deeper than the Pro Coil unless you're talking MAYBE an inch or so .....Jim

 

[David]

Another thing to consider, even though they are good is the SEF coils are made in Bulgaria. And if the Sunray coils made in the USA? You may want to support a local producer-manufacurer instead.