Avg. depth of 6X10 DD coil in Bad dirt?

[Canewrap]

What is the experience of anybody that has used the 6X10 DD in bad dirt (like areas of Virginia)? Do get about the same depth in the bad ground that you get with a 9.5 (stock) in moderate to good ground?

 

[BarberBill]

According to Jeff Foster's book "The MXT Edge" the 6X10 falls a tad under the 9.5 in low mineralization, performs a bit better in moderately strong mineralization, and barely beats the 9.5 in very strong mineralization. In very strong mineralization, the 1400 DD outshines them all to a large degree, but surprsingly is pretty much a dead heat in low mineralization and just a bit better in moderate. These comparisons done on coins size targets. I've been using the 6X10 as my standard coil and find it separates better in trashy areas than the 9.5, but not as well as the smaller coils. (which is what would be expected) I haven't used the 9.5 much at all, but the 6X10 seems deep enough for my uses.
HH
Bill

 

[robert roy]

Sounds like the smaller 6in DD coil is better?
Robert R

 

[BarberBill]

According to the tests in the book, the 6X10 DD is just a tad behind the 9.5 in good ground, Even or slightly ahead in the bad ground depending on how mineralized it is. Again, according to the book, the 4X6 shooter jumps a bit ahead of the 5.3 in heavily mineralized ground. I like the 6X10 very much as it handles trashy areas enough better than the 9.5 (in my experience) that I only occasionally have to switch to the 4X6 or 5.3. Also is a bit nicer to swing than the 9.5. .In the heaviest trash, the 4X6 shooter is amazing. In my opinion, if one was buying a smaller coil specifically for very trashy parks and the like and could only get one, the 4X6 is the way to go. My 5.3 is good in trash, but the 4X6 is better. Granted it'll cover less ground and the depth is more limited, but it will nose out the good targets down to 5 - 6 inches in heavy trash. I fell in love with the 4X6 shortly after I got my MXT. First trip out to a very trashy park, I tried hunting with the 9.5 for a few minutes. The trash was so heavy that the machine was continually beeping and trying to differentiate targets. Total disaster, essentially unusable. I mounted the 4X6 and the difference was like night versus day. I went on to find a good number of coins and a few trinkets. The little coil pinpoints right on, and is a joy to swing. Have gone back there several times using the 6X10 and it isn't as good as the 4X6 in relation to the trash, but it is enough better under those conditions than the 9.5 that i use it the most, of the coil choices I have. This pretty well covers my experience with the MXT and assorted coils to date. When the snow melts and spring comes I'll be right back at it. I'm sure I'll be learning more as I detect more with it.

I guess this doesn't really cover the "average depth" question exactly, but for me at least, the 6X10 is a very useful and adequate coil.
HH
Bill

 

[Canewrap]

I tried out a 6X10 DD coil today in moderate ground. For me, it pinpoints better than the stock coil and it has about the same depth in moderate ground as the stock coil. The only thing was that seemed to be a little noisier than the stock coil and where I can run the stock coil at max gain (+3), to get it to run quieter I had to turn it down to +2. However, so far I'm liking it better than the stock coil, because to me pinpointing is only second in importance to depth, when it comes to Civil War relic hunting. I hate wasting time searching for my target.

 

[BarberBill]

As I've mentioned, I really like the 6X10. I do use a poinpointer nearly all the time however. Helps speed up the recovery of smaller targets and those that have taken the color of the soil, not to mention the quick, easy check of the sides of the hole.
HH
Bill

 

[Canewrap]

You know, I was rereading the replies and I have the book and know what is theoretically possible. What I was hoping for was someone's personal experience where they could compare their stock to the 6X10 in performance, so we could do away with geographical variables.

 

[BarberBill]

It occurred to me after I had responded to this post that I hadn't really addressed the original question. And at this point in time I can't help much there due to the fact that while I've used the 6X10 a lot, for comparison purposes I have used the 9.5 practically not at all. Anyway, I've come to like the 6X10 very much and it has given me decent depth and it's worth mentioning that I've only been running the sensitivity at the factory preset or just a tad over - haven't pushed it into the high zones and therefore haven't found it noisy at all.. The reason I haven't used the 9.5 is because my first outing with the MXT was in an extremely trashy park and the 9.5 was essentially unusable. I put on the 4X6 and had such an immediate improvement that I stuck with it and later the 5.3 which was good as well, but not quite the equal of the 4X6 separation wise. Then made a good buy on the 6X10, found that while it didn't slip thru the trash as well as the little guys, it still did considerably better at separation than the 9.5. Since that time it has been my most used coil. I notice that a number of posters seem to like the 6X10 as well. Sorry I can't help with the comparison you're looking for, but as you can tell, I'm sold on the 6X10 for my hunting.
HH
Bill

 

[Tom-MXT]

I am also curious about this.Flip you mode switch over to prospecting and get the ground reading then post it here. My ground reads 73-76,,Is that bad ground? i get 30 hits in one sweep with my 950 and had to put on my 4X6 so i could separate the hits. I am pondering a 6X10 in my near future..

 

[BarberBill]

I've wondered about the ground numbers as well. I believe numbers higher than 50 or 60 are tending to be more mineralized the higher they go. If anyone can quantify this, I'd like to see the range from mild to high. I know you can lock in a ground setting of "50" or "83" on power up, depending on where the ground switch is set while powering up, but don't have a clear idea as to how much difference there is between these two numbers as well as higher.

If you do get a 6X10 you'll find it handles trash quite a bit better than the stock 9.5. However, you'll still want the 4X6 for the really trashy areas. The 6X10 has a long, narrower pattern so it covers ground well, but still doesn't try to respond to as many targets in the trashy areas as the 9.5. I've been able to hunt in some fairly trashy areas without having to change from it. It's become pretty much my standard coil.
HH
Bill

 

[Tin Nugget]

It has been my experience that the 9.5 has gotten me my deepest finds in decent ground even when I lived in northern VA. However, the 6X10 is essential there because much of Va is bad, bad ground and the 9.5 is just to unstable in that situation, the 6X10 or another DD is needed. The 6X10 has gotten me deeper finds than the 9.5 could in bad ground, however, I have never found anything as deep with the 6X10 as I have with the 9.5. In decent ground the 9.5 is a great coil. I now have the Super 12 and as yet have not found anything as deep as I have with my 9.5 however I have not used it much yet so verdict still out for me. I always start detecting with the 6X10 for target separation and it does get good depth. If the place is really trashy and I still want to hunt it I throw on the 4X6 but I try to stay with the 6X10 for the added depth. But man if it's not a trashy site, on goes the 9.5 or rather for now the Super 12. Sorry, I know I kind of got off track there about your question. Also, I know you know but others that read this thread may not. When you check the ground in prospecting mode, the reading you get is what the MXT is going to ground balance at. IT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS BAD GROUND. If you have a high ground number (above 70) there is a procedure andcalculation you can do to figure it out.

HH

 

[gibkeeg]

[quote Tom-MXT]My ground reads 73-76,,Is that bad ground? [/quote]

I'm pretty sure 73-76 is pretty bad ground. I just got my MXT, but I read that below 50 is good, above 50 is getting bad.

 

[gibkeeg]

[quote Tin Nugget] IT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS BAD GROUND. If you have a high ground number (above 70) there is a procedure andcalculation you can do to figure it out.
HH[/quote]

I stand corrected.

 

[Canewrap]

There is a procedure in Jeff Foster's book, "The MXT Edge" that describes how to figure out how bad or good your ground is. I would put it on here, but I don't want to violate his copyright. I do know that when I ran his procedure the 58-59 our ground registers in the prospecting mode came out as moderate mineralization. You see there is good ground that has low iron and low salinization and you get changing levels of both the ground can get harder to detect in. The moderate range falls in the middle and above that its heavy mineralization. The 70+ you mentioned is probably bad ground, but you really need to get your hands on the procedure from the book and run the test. The difference in mineralization is why I was proposing simply stating something like my stock coil gets, lets say 8" on a quarter, but the 6 X 10 DD (in the same ground) gets 7" inches on a quarter. That kind of comparison just tells what percentage difference there is between coils. I really don't need to know what kind of ground it is, with that kind of comparison. As long as everybody understands that they might get different depth on their stock and 6 X 10, but it ought to be about the same difference between coils. If its radically different, we need to start asking what we're doing different. With that information we can help each other to improve or establish if the coil we're using is not up to snuff.

 

[Tom-MXT]

I just got jeffs book.So while the ground is still frozen,i will read.
The piece of land i am on was first settled in 1856 (large carved stone maker here).But up on the hill behind me was settled around 1805 and sometime during the depression (i am guessing) it was vacated.There are literaly miles of stone walls up there and the farmland is gone.It reverted back to woods (tree trunks up to 15 inces thick) Hopefully i wont have the trash and the Hot rocks (- 95) and cold stones (+95) up there,like i do down here close to the river.

I would like to use the 950,but i think the soil conditions wont allow it,so the 6X10 will be my weapon of choice. The 8X14 i think will just be too heavy for me after the long steep walk up to the homestead on the hill...Whew!