My experience with sef 12x15 on a gt

[Jiminsandiego]

I've used the sef 12x15 on my gt to work the wet sand for awhile now. It sure does cover the real estate much faster than the 10 inch tornado but other than that, I seem to prefer the tornado. With the sef I often have a target disappear in the hole after the first scoop or two. I know it's there so I take another scoop and then it shows. Makes me wonder if I'm missing coins and rings that are not laying flat. (The tornado does this also but much less often.) In the super black sand I get a lot of nulling with the sef even in auto and I've been using the sensitivity down to 4:30 at some beaches. It still is finding very deep,small targets but I feel there is more of the "headlights in the fog" thing going on, so I'm turning the sens down to stabilize it. None of this is scientifically tested by me, just my impression. The weight issue is not a big deal for me and it pinpoints just fine. All that being said I still haven't put the tornado back on because of the great coverage of the 12x15 and I know it's a great coil, I just have to learn how to use it better. I wish I could compare it to a WOT on my beaches. It paid for itself in gold rings so I don't regret buying it at all, just thought I'd right a post to try and get some pointers and opinions from other people that went from the tornado to the 12x15.
Cheers,
Jim

 

[synthnut]

Jim,
I think you are correct in your assumption ....The Black Sand and other iron, and also the trashy targets here in NY really don't allow that 12 x 15 a chance to get rolling ......It's so burdened down because of it's size ......I think that it's overwhelmed by everything ......Keep it for the dry !!.......I know it's a pain to bring a couple of coils with you, but if not you have to pick a happy medium , which brings me to the 10x 12 SEF which is almost as deep ....I don't think you would notice it ......It would give you a "happy" medium between the 10 and the 12x 15 ........ I'll be wiring in an S-12 Sunray on my Excal , and I'll post my findings....... It's 12.5 " diameter ......My beach is very similar to yours with the Black Sand , and I had a 10 x 12 SEF on my Sovereign ....It worked very well .....I am trying the S-12 as I have heard good things about it too !!.... I really like the 10" Tornado coil .....IT's a great coil , but you want a little more coverage when hitting the dry if you want to make any time ...... Good Luck ....Jim

 

[goodmore]

Every Sovereign and Excalibur owner loves the 10" Tornado coil. Every Sovereign and Excalibur owner is always trying to replace the 10" Tornado coil. I sold the S-12 because I have Shaun's amp. The amp didn't work so well on that coil. Too much lights in the fog thing. I'm going to spend more time with the 10" Tornado and amp to see if I can punch through some of the sand. Yes the coverage area is always a factor. But I'm looking for the depth. There is always an argument over which coil is best. The WOT for some. SEF for others. Stock for yet some others. I hope we all find that perfect setup. I really don't think there is a wrong answer. Just get out there and hunt.

But there is a beach called Atlantic City where the 8" Tornado becomes my favorite coil. The Iron makes a big coil and it's masking a real problem.

 

[synthnut]

Goodmore ,
You're on the right track .....You can more easily punch thru the ground with a smaller coil and it can take higher sensitivity too ...... Jim

I got the S-12 to use in the water as well as in the dry sand on the beach and don't need EXTREME depth ....More coverage is more what I need, and something not too big for the water ...... I was not gonna drag a 12 x 15 SEF in the water .....Jim

 

[Critterhunter]

The 15x12 was deeper for me in the sand then the 10" tornado and the coverage made gridding faster. On land in my high mineral soil (but so are my beaches...) the 15x12 didn't get as deep on coins as the stock coil, though it was more stabile. That's saying a lot because the stock coil is a great coil. Much better than the versions of it on the Explorer. The 15x12 did unmask a lot of coins on edge and such, though. Now with the 12x10 I seem to be getting coins deeper on land than stock, and yet it still has great coverage for the beach too. In my testing of both the 12x10 and stock coil on land the 12x10 will hit and ID a coin that the stock coil with the same exact unmoved sensitvity setting won't. Both SEF coils love coins on edge and run smoother at more higher sensitvity settings than stock. The 15x12 was too much drag in the water for my tastes. Using the tip or heal of the coil the SEFs pinpoint like a laser and will seperate even better, though they are great in the center too. Much tighter detection field left/right than a typical DD.

 

[Critterhunter]

One thing about small Sovereign coils...They get outstanding depth. My S5 is hitting coins around 7 to 8" or more. Still can't get over that as most machines on the market would have trouble getting that depth using a 9 or 10" coil in my soil. With some saying 12" with the 8" coinsearch coil people should think about a small coil for unmasking in trash and still getting deep, then a 12x10 for real deep stuff.

 

[Neil]

I've used the sef 12x15 on my gt to work the wet sand for awhile now. It sure does cover the real estate much faster than the 10 inch tornado but other than that, I seem to prefer the tornado. With the sef I often have a target disappear in the hole after the first scoop or two. I know it's there so I take another scoop and then it shows. Makes me wonder if I'm missing coins and rings that are not laying flat. (The tornado does this also but much less often.) In the super black sand I get a lot of nulling with the sef even in auto and I've been using the sensitivity down to 4:30 at some beaches. It still is finding very deep,small targets but I feel there is more of the "headlights in the fog" thing going on, so I'm turning the sens down to stabilize it. None of this is scientifically tested by me, just my impression. The weight issue is not a big deal for me and it pinpoints just fine. All that being said I still haven't put the tornado back on because of the great coverage of the 12x15 and I know it's a great coil, I just have to learn how to use it better. I wish I could compare it to a WOT on my beaches. It paid for itself in gold rings so I don't regret buying it at all, just thought I'd right a post to try and get some pointers and opinions from other people that went from the tornado to the 12x15.
Cheers,
Jim

James if your getting all that nulling at such low sens settings and even in auto and you think its the ground versus targets you have disced out, then your sweep speed needs to slow down a whole lot to allow the coil to recover as it adjusts for the ground. have you tried a small coil like an 8" one? just curious as to how high of a sens you could run that at the sweep speed you use. goodmore makes a point about this, Ive hunted the AC beaches as well and you can see the small flakes of iron, the smaller coils can do better than the larger ones there. So you actually might not be getting all the great coverage you think you are because of masking. Also how deep would you say your gold ring finds have been with the 12X15?

 

[erikk]

Every Sovereign and Excalibur owner loves the 10" Tornado coil. Every Sovereign and Excalibur owner is always trying to replace the 10" Tornado coil. I sold the S-12 because I have Shaun's amp. The amp didn't work so well on that coil. Too much lights in the fog thing. I'm going to spend more time with the 10" Tornado and amp to see if I can punch through some of the sand. Yes the coverage area is always a factor. But I'm looking for the depth. There is always an argument over which coil is best. The WOT for some. SEF for others. Stock for yet some others. I hope we all find that perfect setup. I really don't think there is a wrong answer. Just get out there and hunt.

But there is a beach called Atlantic City where the 8" Tornado becomes my favorite coil. The Iron makes a big coil and it's masking a real problem.

On a beach like that U drag out the Infinium LS, 10 x 14 coil & blow right through it

 

[synthnut]

erikk,
Funny you meniton a Pulse machine .....I was thinking the same thing and you posted it ..... On my beaches here in NY , I would not be moving from one spot for about a week !!......In NJ they are sanded in pretty badly this year, and a Pulse machine may be just what the doctor ordered .....Get your LONG shovels boys !!......Jim