I had made an earlier post regarding the Coiltek coil and old, bent nails.......

[Digger]

Part of my earlier post said:

I've dug several dozen deeply buried, bent, iron nails the past week or so that gave me the solid "dig me" signal from one direction. No matter how many times I circled the target, it always gave me that "dig me" response when swept in a certain direction. Over the years, I've dug enough iron trash to usually feel confident walking past most of those squeakers. But on the other hand, I've found enough old silver coins "on edge" at these sites that I didn't want to pass any of them up. So far, all of these have been those pesky bent nails. Oddly enough, just as find when I dig one of these using the stock coil, the old bent nail is found at the back-left edge of the hole. (about the 7:30 position) With the 6-inch, I can usually tell the difference by comparing the exact target location in Pinpoint, with the exact location in detect mode. But the size of the detection field makes it a bit more difficult with this coil, just as it does with the stock coil. As I said, if it weren't for the fact I've dug quite a few coins on edge in these sites, I'd probably passed up the majority of these "one-way" signals. But they looked enough like old dimes that I wasn't taking any chances. I need to spend more time with the tip of the coil "tracing" the target, to see if I can get a better grip on the location differences.

Having more time with the elliptical coil, I have been able to eliminate the vast majority of those pesky old bent nails. The "combination" that I've found to be most effective is the implementation of several tactics. I set Pattern One with some discrimination and Pattern 2 wide open. I like Ferrous/Coin for most sites, with a low tone on the ferrous targets. I typically hunt in discrimination if the trash is abundant. And I hunt with no discrimination if targets are few and far between. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the coil is extremely sensitive. So I set the Auto Sensitivity "one click" lower than with the Minelab coils. And, I set FAST ON. I have been running Fast Off with the Minelab coils, as I felt the processor was "keeping up" just fine. What I've found with using Fast ON with this coil is that the CTX will provide that old familiar "grunt" on the deep nails. It wasn't doing that (in the places I've been hunting) with Fast OFF. With all this in mind, when detect a target in one Pattern, I will confirm the TID in the other. Usually, with FAST ON, if a target "squeaks" in discrimination, it will grunt in non-discrimination. And if I happen to have multiple iron targets under the coil, Pinpoint Sizing will usually separate them for me, with a fairly accurate TID. If, after all that, I am still unsure of the target, I will tip the elliptical coil up on it's nose, and by using the wide open Pattern, trace the exact location. What I've found is, if the target remains in the same location as it seems to be when I sweep with the coil flat, and it doesn't grunt, it is likely something I would want to dig. If, however, tracing the target with the tip of the coil recognizes the target to have moved an inch or so, or if the location is the same and it grunts, it has usually been one of those old nails. Your mileage may vary. JMHO HH Randy

 

[LandOLincoln]

What kind of depth have you been getting? I dug a wheat at 7 inches yesterday, but was hunting an area with very few targets. The signal was strong and repeatable, but the numbers were a bit wonky.

 

[Jason in Enid]

What kind of depth have you been getting? I dug a wheat at 7 inches yesterday, but was hunting an area with very few targets. The signal was strong and repeatable, but the numbers were a bit wonky.

But I bet the target SOUNDED good didn't it? That's the main thing to indicate a diggable target.

 

[LandOLincoln]

Yeah the signal said dig me. Just wondering if he has any depth observations to go along with his nail experience.

 

[Digger]

I hesitate to post depth numbers, as each of us favor different settings and hunt in a variety of places. As a comparison, in the places I've been using it, I'm getting about 10% more depth than with the 6-inch coil when using similar settings. JMHO HH Randy

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

Great post Digger! Thanks Sir!

 

[silverchef]

Awesome post! I can't wait to try these tricks out as I have been finding tons of nails!