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Which 10.5?

BillF

Active member
This has probably been asked before, if so I apologize.
I have the stock MF coil and the LF Digger for the 705. If I got a 10.5", should I go HF or MF? Orrrrr, would the better coil be an elliptical?
So far I can't seem to bring myself to remove the Digger. But, most of my hunting is in extremely trash laden areas. The area parks are hard hit, seriously, so I'm looking for an edge.
Maybe what I have is plenty good enough, but I'm looking for some input.
Thanks.
 
I have both of those coils. In my soil here is what I've found:

The 10.5" HF is a magnet for dimes and quarters. Surprisingly it does pretty decent with nickels. Pennies are no problem. For the longest time that was my favorite 10.5" coil. For about the past year or so I've been letting my Mom use that because when she first got her detector I didn't think she was doing as well as she should have been doing with the gold pack coil. It's just to easy to find coins with the HF coil but the depth isn't quite as good as the MF coil. I would say that the HF coil is very forgiving because you can give it a pretty fast swing speed and it will still sound off very well.

As far as the 10.5" MF coil goes......for the longest time I didn't like that coil. Like the HF, it's kind of a magnet for dimes and quarters but I never seemed to find anywhere near what I did with the 10.5" HF coil. If I went over a site with the HF coil and went back with the MF coil, I would hardly find any additional coins. If I went over a site with the MF coil and then went back with the HF coil, I would typically have a significant number of finds.

After loaning my Mom the HF coil I kind of forced myself to use the MF coil even though I had a ton of hours on it already. The first thing that I'll say is that it has a tough time with nickels. You'll find them but I've always felt like between the two, the HF will find nickels about 6:1 when comparing the two. Obviously that's just a guess because you never know how many nickels either coil has swiped over but I say it's a good guess.

What I eventually found out after many more hours of detecting with the MF coil was that you really have to go much slower with it compared to the HF coil. I typically detect at a reasonable speed giving the coil and detector time to work but after I slowed down even more with the MF coil it started to shine. I've found that I find deeper and older finds with the MF coil compared to the HF coil. I think if you are using the MF at it's optimum speed, it can be a little prohibitive in covering a decent amount of ground unlike the HF coil. I still call the HF coil "The Sweeper" because you'll pretty much just sweep coins up with it in the right environment. The MF coil in my soil can easily keep up with the HF coil but it seems like it just needs a little more time to find it's targets.

I have to admit that since the two of us have gotten the 6" Coiltek coils, that coil has pretty much been a fixture on our 705's. I always say that "if this was a professional sport, the 6" Coiltek coil would be Illegal". Once you use that coil, nothing else really compares.

If I'm at a site where I need to cover a lot of ground I'll put the 10.5" coil back on and then after I've dug all of the "gimmies", I'll swap it out for the 6" Coiltek coil. If it's not a huge site then I stay with the 6".

So, to answer you question.......your ground may be different than mine so our results may be different. If you ever salt water beach detect the HF may be the better choice. If you don't mind going pretty slow then you may find older deeper targets with the MF.

I don't believe that it's worth having both of those coils. If I had it to do over again, knowing what I know now, I'd probably just buy the HF coil. That decision is mainly based on the fact that I typically never had many additional finds after going back to a site that I went over first with the HF coil and then used the MF coil. Finds were significant in opposite scenario. I don't believe that slowing down with the MF coil has caused me to find more coins compared to what I would have found with the HF coil but targets are more distinct and easier to find at the slower swing speed. Again, I'm almost shocked when I find a nickel with the MF coil. You'll find them but their sound and ID are nowhere near what you get from the HF coil.
 
I've only used the MF coil... so I really have no basis of comparison. BUT, I can say that I haven't taken the 10.5 MF off my 705 since purchasing it... it really is a great coil. Deep and accurate on silver and copper... which is what I am looking for. If there was a 10.5 LF... my word, that would excite me. mapper65 seems to have summed it up pretty well... it all depends on what you are looking for. If you are fine with not finding as many nickels, go with the MF. If you are willing to lose a bit of responsiveness to deep silver and copper in favor of better sensitivity to nickel and small gold, by all means get the HF coil. Personally, I'll probably never add a HF coil to my arsenal... my next coil with without a doubt be the Coiltek Digger, at which point I think I'll be satisfied!
 
I don't have any experience with the HF and MF coils you mention but having used the elliptical coil that came on my Omega you couldn't pay me to buy another one.
 
tomorrow I'm trading in my stock 7.5 and the 3kHz concentric coils for the 10.5 in 7.5 kHz coil ...
 
Well since I have a small LF, and a medium MF, it makes sense to try and pick up a larger HF.
Thanks for the input, guys.
 
FWIW, I had a 10.5 HF and sold it. It loves iron too much for the sites that I hunt. I still have an HF coil, but about the only places it sees much action are beaches.
I used to give about equal time to both the MF DD and the LF concentric until the Coiltek coils became available. Now the MF is used primarily where LF coils just aren't the hot ticket. I must admit though that the LF coils take some serious attention to detail to consistently locate nickels, but I raked in nickels using the MF DD.
 
that's funny cause something you told me about getting repeatable nickel signal one way and something else the other way was a nickel and I got good at finding them with the Digger coil after that ... last couple of hunts I found more nickels than I did dimes. come on Coiltek with another 3 kHz DD coil for the XTerra
 
mapper65 said:
The first thing that I'll say is that it has a tough time with nickels.

Old Longhair said:
I raked in nickels using the MF DD

Perfect example of how the same coil can have different characteristics in different soils and why I typically type "in my soil". It always makes me hesitant to give any kind of definitive answer to a question about coils because the same model coil will not react the same in every area.

I've always thought it would be nice if local dealers could loan you a coil or at least rent you a coil for a week or so just to see how any given coil would work in your area. I think once you use a certain model of detector for a significant number of years no matter who's hands it's in you are going to have reasonably the same level of success as the next guy and it all comes down to how the coil reacts in your soil and just plain dumb luck of swiping over the right target at the right time.
 
surfchunker said:
I got good at finding them with the Digger coil after that ... last couple of hunts I found more nickels than I did dimes
/quote]

That coil has done well for me with nickels. This past year I've found four V nickels with it. What's strange is that I get more of a dime signal, 38, with the Coiltek coil and I'm always surprised when up pops a nickel. What makes it even more strange is if I swipe over the same nickel on top of the ground I get a solid 12.

Some of the original reviews of the Coiltek coil were that it wasn't very good with nickels and I was a little shocked when I first got that coil and I was having so much success in finding them, it's just the ID is a little skewed. Quite possibly another example of how the same coil reacts differently in different soil conditions.
 
I am a little confused , Is the 10.5 HF coil better for nickels. gold ? I think it would be a killer for those ? And am i wrong that the MF/LF would be a killer for silver ( dimes/quarters) ? I am just asking cause i see that you stated that the HF is a magnet to dimes and quarters , and Surprizingly it does prettty decent with nickels . If im wrong and could be and i may be thinking the opposit on these coils . Thanks , GS.
mapper65 said:
I have both of those coils. In my soil here is what I've found:

The 10.5" HF is a magnet for dimes and quarters. Surprisingly it does pretty decent with nickels. Pennies are no problem. For the longest time that was my favorite 10.5" coil. For about the past year or so I've been letting my Mom use that because when she first got her detector I didn't think she was doing as well as she should have been doing with the gold pack coil. It's just to easy to find coins with the HF coil but the depth isn't quite as good as the MF coil. I would say that the HF coil is very forgiving because you can give it a pretty fast swing speed and it will still sound off very well.

As far as the 10.5" MF coil goes......for the longest time I didn't like that coil. Like the HF, it's kind of a magnet for dimes and quarters but I never seemed to find anywhere near what I did with the 10.5" HF coil. If I went over a site with the HF coil and went back with the MF coil, I would hardly find any additional coins. If I went over a site with the MF coil and then went back with the HF coil, I would typically have a significant number of finds.

After loaning my Mom the HF coil I kind of forced myself to use the MF coil even though I had a ton of hours on it already. The first thing that I'll say is that it has a tough time with nickels. You'll find them but I've always felt like between the two, the HF will find nickels about 6:1 when comparing the two. Obviously that's just a guess because you never know how many nickels either coil has swiped over but I say it's a good guess.

What I eventually found out after many more hours of detecting with the MF coil was that you really have to go much slower with it compared to the HF coil. I typically detect at a reasonable speed giving the coil and detector time to work but after I slowed down even more with the MF coil it started to shine. I've found that I find deeper and older finds with the MF coil compared to the HF coil. I think if you are using the MF at it's optimum speed, it can be a little prohibitive in covering a decent amount of ground unlike the HF coil. I still call the HF coil "The Sweeper" because you'll pretty much just sweep coins up with it in the right environment. The MF coil in my soil can easily keep up with the HF coil but it seems like it just needs a little more time to find it's targets.

I have to admit that since the two of us have gotten the 6" Coiltek coils, that coil has pretty much been a fixture on our 705's. I always say that "if this was a professional sport, the 6" Coiltek coil would be Illegal". Once you use that coil, nothing else really compares.

If I'm at a site where I need to cover a lot of ground I'll put the 10.5" coil back on and then after I've dug all of the "gimmies", I'll swap it out for the 6" Coiltek coil. If it's not a huge site then I stay with the 6".

So, to answer you question.......your ground may be different than mine so our results may be different. If you ever salt water beach detect the HF may be the better choice. If you don't mind going pretty slow then you may find older deeper targets with the MF.

I don't believe that it's worth having both of those coils. If I had it to do over again, knowing what I know now, I'd probably just buy the HF coil. That decision is mainly based on the fact that I typically never had many additional finds after going back to a site that I went over first with the HF coil and then used the MF coil. Finds were significant in opposite scenario. I don't believe that slowing down with the MF coil has caused me to find more coins compared to what I would have found with the HF coil but targets are more distinct and easier to find at the slower swing speed. Again, I'm almost shocked when I find a nickel with the MF coil. You'll find them but their sound and ID are nowhere near what you get from the HF coil.
 
No, you are on the right track. In my case the HF coil was pretty much good for everything. The MF coil in my case was still very good with quarters, dimes and pennies but not nearly as good with nickels as the HF coil and yes the MF coil also does better with silver.

I guess the reason that I used the words "surprisingly it's pretty decent with nickels" is just a comparison to how I've seen just the opposite in my soil when using the MF coil. That was not to insinuate that the HF is just OK with nickels. Around here it does very good.

No, I think you are interpreting that correctly. What I have found is that the HF has been a good all around coil for everything. The MF for me does really well with dimes, quarters and pennies it's just the things that ID lower like nickels it's just not does as well in this area as the HF. I get a little better depth with the MF than the HF but it's as I say "a little better", maybe a few inches.
 
Even though I don't now use the 10.5in M coil , I would get that over the High freq. Its more stable in a lot of places than the high freq and deeper on some targets too. The 18khts is fine for small stuff though.
As for what I use , I use a different make from another source that runs at 7.5khts . I don't know much about the Coiltech stuff or their sizes as I don't need any more coils right now but if I had to buy another 10.5 in coil then the 7.5khts would be the one.
 
All frequencies that we use will see all metals that we're after (and some that we're not), but the difference is in how they respond. General rule is that high conductors like silver, copper, and brass give a better response to lower frequencies, while low conductors like gold, lead, and nickel respond better to higher frequencies. Depending on actual soil composition and the specific minerals present, ID's can vary and responses may be altered. Certain amounts of variation will also occur if GB changes, or if you offset your GB.
Then add to that the difference in target segment bin widths between the three frequencies and it's easy to see how TID's accuracy in the field can be different, even from one site to the next. Learning how to identify conditions and how they effect response of targets sought is something that only time in the field can teach you.
 
The MF hits the silver with a harder, more distinctive sound at depths. I only had a couple hours on the HF 10.5, but I would agree with eveyrthing mapper65 said about it from my short experience with it. I would have kept mine, but I sold it to help fund an Etrac. I found the MF 10.5 more valuable to me, beings I already have a 5x10 HF, but if I already had a 10.5 HF, I would not purchase the MF for the reasons mapper65 mentioned earlier. Mapper65 is right on the money IMHO.
 
On the east side of Washington near the Idaho border our soil is pretty highly mineralized. My GB usually runs 15-22.
The Digger has been my goto coil for almost every site I hunt since I bought it, but mainly,as I said before, because of the trashy sites I hunt. For such a small city there have been so many detectorists here in the last 40 years. The 705 has found me stuff that others left in the trash.
My last detector turned me off to park hunting because I found few good hits. I'm not into old nails and I'll take clad when I find it, but it isn't what I look for. I was thinking that a bigger, HF coil might be a good park coil to go deeper for the coins and old jewelry. Now though, I wonder.
I have not dug anything deeper than 6" with either of my coils. Not certain if there isn't anything deeper or if the 705 isn't seeing them. I kind of wonder if a WOT coil would be better suited for what I want.
You all have different experiences with what you use and valid reasons for using them. It makes my decision a little harder.
 
got my MF 10.5 coil today and I have to say Keith @ {unfortunately not yet a sponsor} is a Great Guy to do Business with
 
Agreed!!

Just met Keith a few weeks ago myself. If I ever buy another machine he'll be my first stop.
 
mapper65 said:
Agreed!!

Just met Keith a few weeks ago myself. If I ever buy another machine he'll be my first stop.

He told me about you, your brother and Mom ... lol
 
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