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Beach coil

Sailorman

New member
Well summers here, the beaches are crowded but sanded in something fierce. I would love an Excal, CTX 3030 or CZ-21 but with the economy the way it is my business is probably going to not provide the funds for a new machine. I've searched through the forum about various coils but not seeing much beach specific info on the coils as relates to running a little deeper and hotter with stability. I need all the depth I can get in both wet and dry sand. The finds I'm making are often right down at the depth limit and the pro coil is not liking running hot in manual sense on the beaches I hunt. I can get about 20 max and then it makes enough noise to drive me nuts in about 30 minutes. Sometimes even lower.

So any beach hunters here using things like the WOT, Detech Ultimate 13", Stealth X-12, Excelerator 12x10 or 12x15, etc? Looking for ability to run hot and more stable and achieve a little more depth. I know some of these coils have a wait time but if you don't start looking and put down some money, you'll never get one.

Not so concerned with weight as I use a Swingy Thingy. Also not concerned as much with something huge for coverage like the 12x15 Excelerator if it's not going to gain me stability, I'm more of a slow and patient hunter. I hunt from dry loose sand to wet sand to ankle deep at low tide. I do deal with some black sand here and lots of bottle caps and pull tabs. I do fair with the Pro Coil but wonder if anyone here has some direct experience with improved performance on salt beaches with other coils.
 
Keep in mind I'm coming from a BBS experience with these coils so it could easily differ on FBS machines, but from all I've read at least the SEFs seem to work just as well on either Minelab...

I think your three best options are the 13" Ultimate, 12x10, or 15x12. Not sure how good the Ultimate is yet (still reading reviews) in hot ground, but by the sound of it it is probably as deep as the 12x10 and maybe deeper. I owned a 15x12 and it did seem to go deeper than my stock 10" in my mineralized beaches, but I'm not sure if it goes as deep on my beaches as my 12x10. I just know it's deeper than the stock 10" coil in my beaches. However, for some reason the 15x12 got less depth than stock in my soil sites, which range in minerals from mild to on the heavy side. In fact, I found that it will give better depth, or at least ID at depth, by lowering the sensitivity much lower than what was max stable...Probably due to the ground glare thing and washing out the target with the ground signal or something.

So, for that reason, while I would like to try the Ultimate I'm concerned it might be too big to show increased depths in my soil for the ground glare thing, even if it will run like the 15x12 (and 12x10) at high sensitivity. All these factors are based on your soil or sand. There is a certain limit in size to see gains in depth, not because of a larger coil losing sensitivity to coin or ring sized targets, but rather because they are just taking in too much ground signal and thus washing out the target or at least it's quality.

The 12x10 (like the 15x12) has such a tight/sharp field in the DD detection line width (less "fuzzy" field in general too) that I feel it actually rides on and sees less ground than my stock 10" round DD coil. And for that reason the 15x12 and the 12x10 will run at higher sensitivity levels than stock at the same sites, and false less, and runs smoother...But again size doesn't always translate into more depth. In general from what I've read over the years about 14" seems to be the max DD coil size to still see gains in depth on coin sized targets. About 10 to 12" for a concentric, as concentrics lose sensitivity on coin sized objects faster as they increase in size, not to mention in general ride on and see more ground matrix, so that alone limits them in terms of how big of a concentric you can go to depending on your soil.

But, as said, the 15x12 got more depth in my mineralized beaches than my stock 10" round coil and the coverage was awesome for gridding out areas faster. On the other hand, the 12x10 is still a nice improvement in coverage too. I'd ask others how the Ultimate does in mineralized soils or beaches and see if it seems to have a limit in terms of gaining depth in those situations. If that's the case then I'd lean towards the 12x10, because I believe it *might* be about the max coil size I can use and still see gains in depth in my soil and sand. I even have my doubts that a round 12" coil would get as deep as my 12x10 in my soils and sands, because these SEFs are riding on and seeing less ground matrix (glare). That gets more important as the mineral levels in your sand or soil rise. While some say the 15x12 gets more depth for them than a round 10" DD coil in their soil, in my land sites it did not.

Another thing to consider...The 15x12, like the 12x10 appears to me to be more sensitive to tiny targets than my stock 10" round coil. I've dug some pretty small stuff at some pretty amazing depths with both of these coils. But, the 12x10 appears a bit more sensitive and able to find small items such as earing backings, at least at greater depths. Probably because the official field test of the 15x12 versus the 12x10 found the 15x12 got less depth on coins a little smaller than a dime. I also know of a beach hunter that found a gold neckless with the 12x10 that was sure the S-12 wouldn't have hit as hard, and after some testing of the two confirmed that suspicion. Take that with a huge grain of salt, though, as I have never read any further comparisons of these two coils on small items to see if it is true or not one way or the other.

If you ditch the coil cover for one of the SEF coils and use spray on bed liner to protect the bottom (3 to 5 coats that dry well between them) you'll drop a good bit of weight off them, 'cuz those coil covers are rather heavy. The 15x12 without it's coil cover is lighter than my stock 10" coil with it's cover, and my 12x10 without it's cover is lighter than the legendary light weight of the S-12. However, we weighed a bunch of FBS and BBS coils and compiled a chart, and for some reason the FBS versions of the SEF coils are a good bit heavier than the BBS versions.

Hope all this helps, but as said take it with a huge grain of salt as I'm a BBS guy and can only speak to that end of these coils. I'm sure there will be FBS guys who chime in and correct any general statements I've made if needed. I'm just a big fan of these SEF coils, and hope to be a big fan of the Ultimate too, so I couldn't resist throwing in my two cents.
 
I've used both the 12x10" SEF and the 15x12" SEF at the beach down in Duck NC. I was able to run the sens in the mid to high 20's on both with very stable operation. Both coils handled the transition from dry to wet sand really well and I do not remember having to drop the sens down when going from dry to wet. In the wet sand, you cannot scrub the sand with the coil as this will cause some falsing, just like any coil would do. If you using a swingy thingy, I would go with the 15x12 as it does give you some extra depth (at least a couple of inches) and much more coverage area. I really did not do any shallow water hunting as I did not want to take a chance on getting the E-Trac wet. I'm using an Excal II at the beach now, nothing better.
 
Yup, an Excal is on my list for next detector! Just can't afford it yet so have to think best coil right now.
 
I like the WOT. It covers a lot of ground and runs quiet until it goes over a target and has very good depth. The Sun-Ray X-12 is also a good coil but is just not as big as the WOT. SEF coils must be good because a lot of people use them. I had a 10X12 but it was just a bad coil so I got rid of it. But you hear good things about the SEF's. I have a 6X8 SEF that is great. But for the beach I do recomend the WOT. It cost more up front but will pay for itself quickly. I also use the Excallibur in the water. The 3030 will be put to the test in a few days. Good luck with your choice as any large coil will be a big help. HH :minelab:
 
Well, after talking to Kellyco it seems the Excelerator coils are back ordered and the manufacturer won't give an expected to ship date. They do have some 13" Ultimates coming and due in ten days or so. So I'm going to go for that one and if I don't like it on the beach sell it and go for the WOT. Thankfully Kellyco is only a 15 minute drive so this should go smoothly. They've always treated me very well there.
 
The 13" Ultimate should work well for you. Have not seen any reports on how it preforms at the beach, but I've seen several for land use as compared to the 12 x10 SEF and most folks reported a little more depth in the range of an inch or a little more. If you had your heart set on an Excelerator coil, you may be able to pick up a good used one from the folks who switched from the E-Trac to the CTX 3030. Just a thought. Did you check with Kellyco to make sure that they had enough Ultimates coming in that will cover their back order list and leave a few for others to buy? They must have a pretty big back order list for that one. It would bite big time if they run out again filling the back order list and leave you in the same situation. If you end up getting the Ultimate, let us know how it worked for you.
 
I have a pretty good sales rep there I always use who knows me. According to her they got word that the coils finally shipped yesterday. They have only a few that were uncommitted and I had one more committed to me! Seems that there is a shortage of these things in general. The manufacturer can't make enough for the demand and isn't always telling their distributors much about when they're coming so all the grumbling because of a lack of availability goes all the way to the source I guess.

There are also detectors moving so fast that they are hard to keep in stock. Between demand in Africa for the gold rush, increased sales here and abroad many manufacturers can't keep up. A nice problem to have for them!
 
That Ultimate 13 Incher is a good choice. I'm wanting to try one myself as I hear good things. Only problem is I just don't know if it will show more depth in my soil, which varies from low to higher mineral sites. I found the 15x12 got less depth than my stock 10" coil for that reason. Taking in too much ground matrix and degrading the target. Even though I could ride sensitivity real high with it it seemed to give it's best depth at something set much lower than max stable. For that reason, not sure if in my soil the Ultimate will show me more depth. The 12x10 does give me more depth than my stock 10" coil, so I'm guessing max coil size for my soil is probably 12 to maybe 13". Only way I'll know is to try one I guess. I doubt it separates as well as the 12x10 (the 12x10 blows my mind in how good it's left/right separation is), but I hear real good things about the Ultimate seeming to have some unique ability to see coins in iron that you don't find on a conventional round DD coil. That alone intrigues me, but in terms of raw separation ability my money is on the 12x10, if not for it's super sharp DD line, then at least for the fact that the Ultimate is 1" longer and 3" wider. Don't get me wrong, though, I'm excited about that coil and one day I'll be trying it. I'm just raising a few little concerns I have, mostly related to if it will get more depth in my soil than my 12x10 does.
 
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