A question of swing or size of coil??

[mrgarlic]

I have been swinging a coil for many a year but still have lots of learning to do. I have a friend that I hunt with. We each use Whites. We each use 5.3 coils. 99% of the time he gets double or more finds than me and he is a ring killer. He is younger so he hears better? Yes but most of our finds ore 5" or less, so better hearing would only account for some. However I suspect I am just not on top of as many signals. Sometimes he will call me over to share a signal and it shows same as his. All else being equal, would a 8" coil be better for me? I am happy with my depth, Maybe I just need to cover more ground.

 

[Flintstone]

Hi Mrgarlic, I know what you mean, i hunt with some younger guys and they get more targets than me but don,t get as good targets as me. They cover more ground cause they are faster and it takes me longer to dig and get back up to start again. I have a broken back, so i am slower but i bet they don,t have anymore fun than i do. I like finding rings and wave it to them, while they just past it and are digging a penny. HA HA Don,t worry about how much worry about how good, and how much fun to rub it in. Good Luck Dean

 

[dewcon4414]

We all hunt with people that could use a stick and out hunt us . The coil isnt going to make a difference and moving faster deffently wont. Now you might consider your headphones or even your settings. Rarely is everything equal out there. Some people really train their ears for certain targets and can ignore everything elce and some people are just better hunters period. I dont have a problem with that. Keep hunting with them.... in anything ive ever done ive preferred doing it with people that challenge me.

Dew

 

[mrgarlic]

I guess I made the wrong impression. I have no problem with my partner being better than me. I know his hearing is better than mine. has more experience and much faster. My question was more about improving my detecting. Would using an 8 or 9 " coil allow me to find some more signals considering we were both hunting at 5" or less. And,,,,,, I am having a ton of fun. I still get excited when I find a $2 ring. The last thing I am is jealous. I am 70 and found more than my share of treasures, I just find them slower,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Have fun ! Dig deep ! and fill those holes,,,,,,,,,,,,Larry

 

[gordygroover]

A bit bigger coil just may be the answer (in part) to your question.
A little more coverage per swing couldn't hurt .... but it may hurt. Bigger coil equals more mass to start and stop the movement of. If your fine with the added effort in regards to your shoulder, back, forearm..yadda, yadda then more coverage per swing isn't to be dismissed.
I added a bigger coil to my Ace and find I can cover ground much quicker with no loss of target gathering with pretty much the same effort, Kind of like having overdrive in your car.

 

[dewcon4414]

I certainly didnt want to insinuate you were jealous. Now me im jealous LOL. Larger coils with good seperation could help... it will help you cover more ground of course. The 5 inch coil is a pretty good coil hard to beat in trashy areas where others avoid. The larger coil the more targets the machine must process. The machine sees it all and if you have to much disc you get a lot more coil shutdown. I hunt with a SEF 12 inch coil... but im willing to miss a few targets to hit those deeper ones and cover more ground.

 

[Monte]

I have been swinging a coil for many a year but still have lots of learning to do.

Now that's an honest statement. I, too, have been working search coils and detectors of all sorts for 46 years of detecting and as I tell everyone:

The #1 thing I want to do when I turn a detector on, anywhere, at any time, indoors or a dealer's shop, or helping a fellow hobbyist, or just starting out at a site ... is to learn something new and/or refresh my memory of something I've learned in the past.

The #2 thing I want to do is have fun and find something of interest.

The more I work at learning and achieving #1, the more fun I will have successful I will be working on #2. We always can learn more, especially with the detector advances, or those that do provide improvements, but also some weaknesses these days.

I have a friend that I hunt with. We each use Whites.

So, you are both using a quality-built detector, and maybe even the same or very similar model. You didn't disclose that info.

We each use 5.3 coils.

Again, it would help readers to know which model you are each using because they might be similar in general performance, like an M6 and MXT, or one of you might have a lower frequency model, such as an XLT or an IDX Pro. So while the search coil size and design is similar, the detector & coil combo can make a difference in how you hunt. Nonetheless, you are not at a disadvantage since you're both using similar search coil sizes, so that's not going to make a difference in results.

My personal opinion is that the 5.3 coils from White's are some of the best you can use on any appropriate model. The actual physical diameter of them is about 6

 

[UK Brian]

There's more than a few doubtful comments in this thread. Big coils are pushed all the time nowdays but often the first move should be to a smaller than stock, as you both have.

It sounds like you both have the same type of detector. Though you say you can locate a target he has found, a coil/circuit/headphone problem could mean that you might not in general searching. The first move should be to swap coils to see if that makes any difference. You could also do an air test to see how each detector performs. If his is much better then if the detectors are the same you have a fault and if they are different perhaps you should switch to what he's using. Then check the filter configeration. If Spectrum/XLT type its four filter and you could be sweeping to slow. Most Whites are two filter so you would be better at a lower sweep rate.

As Monty says hearing is very important. I've a range of hearing thats poor so having a detector that allows me to change the tone to suit is really important. If no tone adjustment then other headphones or the use of a windowing signal booster can make a real difference. You might have poor phones and he better ones or if the same have got yours damp at some time in the past. Even mylar cones can give trouble over time. I've now got six different headphone brands and none are best on every detector so I ended up colour coding phones make certain I'm using the right ones. With tone machines its especially important.

Best of luck. Its best to investigate all possibilities before parting with any money.

 

[Ism]

I have been swinging a coil for many a year but still have lots of learning to do. I have a friend that I hunt with. We each use Whites. We each use 5.3 coils. 99% of the time he gets double or more finds than me and he is a ring killer. He is younger so he hears better? Yes but most of our finds ore 5" or less, so better hearing would only account for some. However I suspect I am just not on top of as many signals. Sometimes he will call me over to share a signal and it shows same as his. All else being equal, would a 8" coil be better for me? I am happy with my depth, Maybe I just need to cover more ground.

I'm not sure of Whites coil offerings and/or what type coil is on your machine. But if serious depth is not a factor you might consider a DD coil. It has much more coverage area for the same size coil.

 

[Monte]

produce better depth of detection. No, not always true, but as a rule, based on field experience with many different makes and models of detectors and search coils, this is the acknowledged result. Now, you won't always find a DD and Concentric coil that are in the same size housing, but the are/have been available.

DD's can provide a little more coverage (shallower), but the Concentric designs will often get a little better depth. Also, DD coils do not discriminate quite as well as a Concentric design, especially if targets are too close to the search coil or if they are ferrous-based metal.

Monte