I got the opportunity to field test the new 9.5 Imaging coil for the GTI 1500 and GTI 2500 Garrett Metal Detectors a while back. The new coil is a very rugged looking coil, quite different from the previous white round 9.5" Imaging Coil. It has a real nice appeal to it too. The elephant ears matched up nicely to the lower rod and the coil was held firmly in place with slight tightening on the threaded tightening knobs. The coil itself is similar to PROformance Series of RHINO TOUGH epoxy-filled search coils, which is Garrett's latest design. There was no noticeable difference in weight and assembly of the coil to the lower rod was in par with any other Garrett Coil I have purchased.
I managed to get two good relic hunts in the river valley, where I can still dig with ease. I hunted several piles of snow, accumulated from a busy shopping mall parking lot, and two hunts in a sports field where the frozen ground had to be opened up with the straight claws of a framing hammer. The very first observation I noticed, especially in the woods for the relic hunts was "stability, stability and stability". Anyone who has previously hunted with the GTI Series Metal Detectors will attest to the fact that running the machine with a high sensitivity makes the coil so sensitive (and deep) that the slightest hit from a twig, tree or rock sets it off, quite often a bell-tone signal. So, you had the option of lowering the sensitivity to decrease the falsing or you could or just repeat maneuvering the coil over the target to see if there was in fact a repeatable signal. Well, it is a real pleasure to hunt with that GTI 1500 with this new coil. Very little falsing with relic hunting and more precise quick target ID.
The coil was found to be just as sensitive as the older white colored coil, in that it easily picked up small 22 shells and projectiles at 4-5 inches with a good solid signal. Copper pennies were a breeze at 6-7 inches. I didn't find any silver coins, which are hard to get at the best of times, but I did get a couple of small musket balls. Sizing with the new coil was on par with the other stock coil. A dime would either read as a A or B sized object. Pennies, nickels and quarters read as B sized object. Of course, the more centered you were over a target, the more accurate the reading. My test garden showed similarities in depth for most of my buried pennies, dimes and quarters with sensitivity set at 3 - 6 - 12, with the white coil giving a clearer signal on my 8 inch deep large cent then the new one. However, a little scrubbing with the coil seemed to equalize the signal. I always have to factor in some human error as my backyard grass is not as level as it could be so +/- 1/4 inch in accuracy factored in to depth would make the two coils pretty well equal.
In trying to be as objective as possible, there was a situation where I hunted on some very cold days, 15.8 F/-9 C and after a while my machine would continue the oversize signal in audio for no apparent reason. I contacted Garrett about this, immediately returned the search coil as per instructions, and after a coil "autopsy" and many other of the coils tested under freezing temperatures, I was assured that I had a faulty prototype coil, the only one in the batch. So, the problem was identified, researched and found to be an isolated incident.
Over all, I am very pleased with this new coil design. It looks sharp and runs very stable. Using it on the GTI 1500 gives the impression of using a brand new machine. I see on the accessories page on the website that there is a coil cover available for this new coil too!
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<center><img src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b330/John-Edmonton/newcoiltwo2.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">
I managed to get two good relic hunts in the river valley, where I can still dig with ease. I hunted several piles of snow, accumulated from a busy shopping mall parking lot, and two hunts in a sports field where the frozen ground had to be opened up with the straight claws of a framing hammer. The very first observation I noticed, especially in the woods for the relic hunts was "stability, stability and stability". Anyone who has previously hunted with the GTI Series Metal Detectors will attest to the fact that running the machine with a high sensitivity makes the coil so sensitive (and deep) that the slightest hit from a twig, tree or rock sets it off, quite often a bell-tone signal. So, you had the option of lowering the sensitivity to decrease the falsing or you could or just repeat maneuvering the coil over the target to see if there was in fact a repeatable signal. Well, it is a real pleasure to hunt with that GTI 1500 with this new coil. Very little falsing with relic hunting and more precise quick target ID.
The coil was found to be just as sensitive as the older white colored coil, in that it easily picked up small 22 shells and projectiles at 4-5 inches with a good solid signal. Copper pennies were a breeze at 6-7 inches. I didn't find any silver coins, which are hard to get at the best of times, but I did get a couple of small musket balls. Sizing with the new coil was on par with the other stock coil. A dime would either read as a A or B sized object. Pennies, nickels and quarters read as B sized object. Of course, the more centered you were over a target, the more accurate the reading. My test garden showed similarities in depth for most of my buried pennies, dimes and quarters with sensitivity set at 3 - 6 - 12, with the white coil giving a clearer signal on my 8 inch deep large cent then the new one. However, a little scrubbing with the coil seemed to equalize the signal. I always have to factor in some human error as my backyard grass is not as level as it could be so +/- 1/4 inch in accuracy factored in to depth would make the two coils pretty well equal.
In trying to be as objective as possible, there was a situation where I hunted on some very cold days, 15.8 F/-9 C and after a while my machine would continue the oversize signal in audio for no apparent reason. I contacted Garrett about this, immediately returned the search coil as per instructions, and after a coil "autopsy" and many other of the coils tested under freezing temperatures, I was assured that I had a faulty prototype coil, the only one in the batch. So, the problem was identified, researched and found to be an isolated incident.
Over all, I am very pleased with this new coil design. It looks sharp and runs very stable. Using it on the GTI 1500 gives the impression of using a brand new machine. I see on the accessories page on the website that there is a coil cover available for this new coil too!
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<center><img src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b330/John-Edmonton/newcoiltwo2.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">
