Why I prefer round coils (unless it's shaped like the cleansweep)

[The Magician]

Having used different detectors and brands, with different coils, I much rather prefer round coils over elliptical. Ellipticals can have really good target separation and handle masking if they are really thin, and that fills a niche, but too many concentrics these days are way too fat. This type of concentric makes it harder to hear the characteristics of the signal tone, uneven and less consistent than if it were from a round coil.

Round coils give better signal tone on good targets they really let you know what you're dealing with especially on coins, they are much easier to use. They also give better depth. A 10" round should give more depth than a 12" x 10" (all other things being equal) for example. Others have reported this as well. A 12" x 10" would have been much better if it was a 12" x 6", this would fill a niche.

I wish Tesoro made all their coils either round or really thin like the cleansweep. Whether DD or concentric.

I hope Tesoro make more round coil sizes available, especially in a larger range. The 10" round concentric has been discontinued, there are other round coils in the smaller ranges, which is good. They could use larger ranges of round coils, that would be amazing. The outlaw comes with an 8" round and a 5.75, that was a GREAT idea. Maybe they are heading further in the right direction?

10" round, 11" round, 13" round, 15" round in both 5 pin and 4 pin, concentric and DD versions would make a GREAT addition. Discontinue the ellipticals that they currently have, all of them! Replace them with a re-release of the cleansweep coil, including an oblong concentric version. All standard coils to be 8" or 5.75" round concentric. I would love to see this.

 

[tabman]

The Tesoro 8 inch brown doughnut coil has become my favorite coil. It's light weight, gets good depth and pinpoints really well.

I've been told this coil is near bullet proof and hardly ever goes out of tune.

I wish Tesoro would come out with a 10 inch brown or white doughnut coil made just like the 8 inch brown doughnut coil for their 4 and 5 pins detectors.

tabman

 

[jabbo]

I air tested my 8" concentric brown donut against the 8 x 9 concentric for depth and for separation many times. Maybe I'm not that observant but I couldn't find any difference, to me they were equal in the tests. Because of that, I use the brown donut. The 8 x 9 should get a hair more depth because it has that extra inch, front to back.

 

[BarberBill]

I'm basically with Jabbo, but in my experience I'd say the 8"brown donut gives just a tad more depth, but not enough to justify trading one for the other.
BB

 

[Hank68]

Myself I think the 9+8 pp better than the round, but the round is better target separation but that's just me,

 

[Dertnc]

I've had both on my Golden and I prefer the 9x8 , it gets a little more depth ( only a little ) and pin points about the same , I also like that I'm getting a little more ground coverage , but I do like the 8" in trashier area and I like how fast it pin points . They are both very close in performance , you can't go wrong with either one . IMHO

 

[plidn1]

Here is the real story on coils.
The elliptical coils may seam to be as good as the round but very seldom are. Where they may be a little longer they don't necessarily cover the ground any better then a round coil of the same size. An 8" round coil will cover 98% of the ground as a 9 x 8" and often times will pin point much better.

To gauge the depth capability of an elliptical to a round coil, you use the smaller number of the elliptical.
Thus a 9 x 8 is the same depth wise as an 8" round coil, 10 X 12 = 10" round etc.

The DD's or wide scans, will give you even less depth then a same size concentric coil in average ground and they are much harder to pin point with.

The larger the coil, the less sensitive they are to coin and jewelry size objects and will mask targets horribly. You quickly learn this when you start digging every target. Often times you will find multiple targets in a hole when the detector only saw one. That's the coils fault, not the detector.
Sometimes on very large coils they will not see smaller size targets on or near the surface of the ground.

Often times a 5", 6", or 7" concentric coil will give you better depth in bad ground because they don't see as much of the ground minerals.
If you are looking for large deep targets, use the largest round coil you can get.
If you want coin and jewelry, stay under 8".
You will find more, just as deep if not deeper with a smaller coil and you won't wear your arm out.

By the way, if the coil is too light, it won't swing thru the tall grass.

 

[plidn1]

The main reason why the wide scan or DD coils get less depth then the same size concentric in mild ground, is the way they are constructed.
They lose about an inch in usable space. So if you have a 10" WS or DD, it will actually be a 9" coil and be similar to, depth wise, as a 9" concentric.
My partner and I tested a 6X10 DD against the 6 3/4" round concentric, with two identical detectors, and could not hit a target over 4 1/2" deep with the DD. In the same area, the concentric was hitting coins at 7" with both detectors.