While my time afield has been limited to short 10-15 minute 'hits' in the woodchip and sand-filled playgrounds (where my primary-use model is the IDX Pro), they have been getting worked harder and harder. Even I have found myself reviewing my Thomas Map Book in search of any school or park that I might have ignored for a while that could have potential, only to do fair while dealing with obvious signs that somebody's recently been there!
Oh, I have managed to pluck some decent amounts of coinage and a decent number of gold and sterling silver jewelry items, but the coins have been thinned waaayy down! Now, with the arrival of summer (or at least it's supposed to be getting here?!?!) is when I 'shift gears' and get ready for more grassy lawn hunting.
Around here, many of the school grounds do not get used during the summer months, and even a few park playgrounds are habitually slow, so I keep my IDX Pro w/5.3 BullsEye at the ready for them, but start to rely on upper-end units, such as the MXT, for working the open sportsfields and wide-open park and school lawns.
To be honest, I am also going to be doing some field comparison works with a Garrett GTP-1350 and a Fisher CZ-70 Pro and/or CoinStrike. Since I will be toting a few models around with me on occasion, and am driving a modest-sized 4x4, I can't take along a large number of search coils. The 8" EXcelerator is my main coil to use on the MXT in grassy lawns and the like, or the 10" open-design EXcelerator for longer periods on larger areas with lower target count.
As I start to run out of 'cargo room' for my toys in the back seat area, I have to only take one extra coil most of the time. This is going to be rough for me because I usually use spring and early summer times to enjoy the weather 'bushwhacking' in some of the overgrown areas of a few Portland (OR) area parks. For the past year or two I have relied on the 5" EXcelerator to handle getting in and around the brush. Now that I spend more time with the 8" (solid) or 10" (open) DD coils for general use, I am going to do some more comparisons of smaller coils. I'd like to have a little more coverage (if possible) than the 3x6 'Shooter DD' from White's or the 5" while still getting decent depth, responsiveness, and trash handling abilities.
Yes, with summertime about here and a lot of activities shifting to locations away from school grounds, we need to be ready to follow activity. I enjoy my IDX Pro for the handling qualities in the woodchip playgrounds, but I have to also appreciate the MXT's abilities as this season of activity arrives. The MXT's hot performance on gold jewelry has rewarded me in seasons past, now I just need to find those high-use sites with the best potential for good jewelry loss. As a rule, they will be the ones that produce a higher coin count, too.
I trust everyone else is ready to do battle with their MXT and has at least one or two coils for their applications. I am also curious if others have found certain locations or neighborhoods in their area tend to provide a higher production of gold and silver jewelry? I am only at 7 gold rings so far this year, with five of those coming in April, May and June. I've had an increased number of other gold jewelry items these past few months, all coming from neighborhoods where I least expected it?
Happy Hunting to all!
Monte
Oh, I have managed to pluck some decent amounts of coinage and a decent number of gold and sterling silver jewelry items, but the coins have been thinned waaayy down! Now, with the arrival of summer (or at least it's supposed to be getting here?!?!) is when I 'shift gears' and get ready for more grassy lawn hunting.
Around here, many of the school grounds do not get used during the summer months, and even a few park playgrounds are habitually slow, so I keep my IDX Pro w/5.3 BullsEye at the ready for them, but start to rely on upper-end units, such as the MXT, for working the open sportsfields and wide-open park and school lawns.
To be honest, I am also going to be doing some field comparison works with a Garrett GTP-1350 and a Fisher CZ-70 Pro and/or CoinStrike. Since I will be toting a few models around with me on occasion, and am driving a modest-sized 4x4, I can't take along a large number of search coils. The 8" EXcelerator is my main coil to use on the MXT in grassy lawns and the like, or the 10" open-design EXcelerator for longer periods on larger areas with lower target count.
As I start to run out of 'cargo room' for my toys in the back seat area, I have to only take one extra coil most of the time. This is going to be rough for me because I usually use spring and early summer times to enjoy the weather 'bushwhacking' in some of the overgrown areas of a few Portland (OR) area parks. For the past year or two I have relied on the 5" EXcelerator to handle getting in and around the brush. Now that I spend more time with the 8" (solid) or 10" (open) DD coils for general use, I am going to do some more comparisons of smaller coils. I'd like to have a little more coverage (if possible) than the 3x6 'Shooter DD' from White's or the 5" while still getting decent depth, responsiveness, and trash handling abilities.
Yes, with summertime about here and a lot of activities shifting to locations away from school grounds, we need to be ready to follow activity. I enjoy my IDX Pro for the handling qualities in the woodchip playgrounds, but I have to also appreciate the MXT's abilities as this season of activity arrives. The MXT's hot performance on gold jewelry has rewarded me in seasons past, now I just need to find those high-use sites with the best potential for good jewelry loss. As a rule, they will be the ones that produce a higher coin count, too.
I trust everyone else is ready to do battle with their MXT and has at least one or two coils for their applications. I am also curious if others have found certain locations or neighborhoods in their area tend to provide a higher production of gold and silver jewelry? I am only at 7 gold rings so far this year, with five of those coming in April, May and June. I've had an increased number of other gold jewelry items these past few months, all coming from neighborhoods where I least expected it?
Happy Hunting to all!
Monte