Ok, looks like I joined the wrong site by mistake. My previous site didn't have that many Tesoro users, and I'm noticing this site to have a larger base. Anyways, I'll just re-post my comments from the other site.....In responding, I would like to hear from the Tejon users with prospecting experience to make any recommendations on my next coil. I would like better coverage and depth, but also the same STRONG mineralization advantages as the 5.75" coil. I believe this 5.75" coil is a must have if you're going to be gold prospecting with the only disadvantages being the loss of depth and coverage. I'm extremely happy with the way it handles mineralization, if Ican have a coil with increased depth and the same mineralization discrimination, I would sure as well get it....what are your thoughts on the DD 12x10, Vs the DD elliptical 8"?
Anyways, here's my previous post:
Ok, I was getting a little bit frustrated digging up the ghost signals (from my experience, mineralized soil can fool the tejon), so I went ahead and bought the 5.75" coil.
As you know, I'm using the tejon to gold prospect in fair to moderately bad soil conditions. When I bought the tejon, I was looking for a general detector that can also serve for gold prospecting. My reasoning was the following: one of the best relic hunters in the market can sure as well hunt for gold.
Anyways, here are my preliminary thoughts on the 5.75" widescan:
Perhaps I need more experience with this coil, but my first impression is a mixed bag. I'm definitely surprised by its behavior. For starters, pin pointing is much improved over the stock coil. I am now usually able to pin point targets within a couple of inches. Recovery time of items is now quick and efficient. I used to spend 3-5 mins recovering items, and now, i'm recovering them twice as quickly. This coil eliminates the use of a pin pointer.
Now for the not so good. And this, per haps, is a testament to the stock coil.
The depth of this coil is not so great. I'm generally finding targets 5mmx3mm (lead bullet shards, mainly) at no greater than 3.5".
I can see this not being an issue for coin hunters, since coins are generally larger. However, with nuggets usually not being the size of coins (one can only wish), I really am concerned at the possibility of leaving behind nuggets residing at greater depths. With the stock coil I found the same 5mmx3mm shards at 6+ inches,easily! So, in this regard I was shocked when I buried these same targets at 4+ inches only to watched them disappear.
Maybe I need to change the batteries, but I lost a lot of depth. Considering that no targets were found at greater than 4 inches, I am some what reluctant to recommend this coil for gold prospecting.
Also, no comment on the mineralization issues. I'm going to experiment more before I draw a conclusion.
UPDATE 3/10/10
I Played with the coil this morning, and I'm happy to report a noticeable difference in performance after a battery change.
After half a dozen hours of play, I can sincerely say that this wide scan coil turns the Tejon in to a formidable competitor when prospecting under mineralized soil. I have been using the stock coil since I got my Tejon, so I was surprised to experience the increase in stable behavior. By far, this detector is much more usable now that I got the 5.75" coil under my arsenal.
I hunted in an area composed of mild mineralized soil with the occasional patches of black sand. To my surprise, I was no longer chasing the false signals. I was hunting with the primary disk set to all metal mode, configured for a slight positive ground balance. I know a lot of people don't like hunting this way because the Tejon will squeal and scream away loudly depending on the ground, mineral concentrations. However, if you set the secondary disk to just above all metal, with the 5.75" coil, you're now able to discriminate against the ground minerals/hot rocks! When hunting, I was hearing all the mineral noises and was filtering out most noises except for the "screams" and odd bleeps. The screams, I would usually recheck under the secondary disk, while the bleeps I would immediately begin to dig up. Sure enough, the secondary disk would filter out most of the false targets found under all metal mode.
Working in this manner, I was recovering metal targets 8 out of 10 times.
One of my gripes, as noted in my original comments, was the fact that regardless how you adjust your Tejon, if you're using the stock coil, it will give you a positive signal if the mineral concentration is mild to high. Well, this issue is no more.
Please stay tune for a picture of the items I recovered...
UPDATE 3/15/10
Ok, I stopped procrastinating today and decided to post some pictures of my items. they are found at the bottom of this post.
As you can tell by looking at the them, the site was either some what pristine or had been hunted out by other detectorists. I had spent close to 6 hours and most targets were rather small compared to the targets at my other sites.
I will admit, though I had found bb's with the stock coil before (I never really paid attention to their depth since I did not find them often -recovery was often a bitch since their size made it difficult to pinpoint), the number of these smaller targets came as a surprise. Before you start questioning their depths, I will reveal that none of the smaller items were found at depths greater than 3 inches. Also, please note that with the exception of 1 item, the remaining 4 small items were actually lead remains and not bbs (since I don't think bbs are made out of lead, other wise these would have disintegrated upon impact). The smallest lead item (item 7) is even smaller than a bb (item 6).
I rarely found the smaller items with bigger lead shards, so I'm assuming other detectorists must have recovered the bigger items.
I performed a test to determine the capability of my new coil and buried a bb. Contrary to what other posters claim, I was not able "to detect bbs at +13 inches." In my testing, I found that unless mineralization is at zero, your Tejon running in all metal mode will be too loud to detect a bb buried at a depth greater than 3.5 inches. At these depths, it's almost impossible to distinguish a bb signal from the surrounding mineralization noise. The secondary disk will null out the signal.
Anyways, there you have it. Will I recommend the 5.75" wide scan?
Answer: YES!
One last observation, when you use this smaller coil, you WILL lose depth on your normal items by maybe 2-3 inches depending on the mineralization level.[attachment 155942 100315_154914.jpg]
Anyways, here's my previous post:
Ok, I was getting a little bit frustrated digging up the ghost signals (from my experience, mineralized soil can fool the tejon), so I went ahead and bought the 5.75" coil.
As you know, I'm using the tejon to gold prospect in fair to moderately bad soil conditions. When I bought the tejon, I was looking for a general detector that can also serve for gold prospecting. My reasoning was the following: one of the best relic hunters in the market can sure as well hunt for gold.
Anyways, here are my preliminary thoughts on the 5.75" widescan:
Perhaps I need more experience with this coil, but my first impression is a mixed bag. I'm definitely surprised by its behavior. For starters, pin pointing is much improved over the stock coil. I am now usually able to pin point targets within a couple of inches. Recovery time of items is now quick and efficient. I used to spend 3-5 mins recovering items, and now, i'm recovering them twice as quickly. This coil eliminates the use of a pin pointer.
Now for the not so good. And this, per haps, is a testament to the stock coil.
The depth of this coil is not so great. I'm generally finding targets 5mmx3mm (lead bullet shards, mainly) at no greater than 3.5".
I can see this not being an issue for coin hunters, since coins are generally larger. However, with nuggets usually not being the size of coins (one can only wish), I really am concerned at the possibility of leaving behind nuggets residing at greater depths. With the stock coil I found the same 5mmx3mm shards at 6+ inches,easily! So, in this regard I was shocked when I buried these same targets at 4+ inches only to watched them disappear.
Maybe I need to change the batteries, but I lost a lot of depth. Considering that no targets were found at greater than 4 inches, I am some what reluctant to recommend this coil for gold prospecting.
Also, no comment on the mineralization issues. I'm going to experiment more before I draw a conclusion.
UPDATE 3/10/10
I Played with the coil this morning, and I'm happy to report a noticeable difference in performance after a battery change.
After half a dozen hours of play, I can sincerely say that this wide scan coil turns the Tejon in to a formidable competitor when prospecting under mineralized soil. I have been using the stock coil since I got my Tejon, so I was surprised to experience the increase in stable behavior. By far, this detector is much more usable now that I got the 5.75" coil under my arsenal.
I hunted in an area composed of mild mineralized soil with the occasional patches of black sand. To my surprise, I was no longer chasing the false signals. I was hunting with the primary disk set to all metal mode, configured for a slight positive ground balance. I know a lot of people don't like hunting this way because the Tejon will squeal and scream away loudly depending on the ground, mineral concentrations. However, if you set the secondary disk to just above all metal, with the 5.75" coil, you're now able to discriminate against the ground minerals/hot rocks! When hunting, I was hearing all the mineral noises and was filtering out most noises except for the "screams" and odd bleeps. The screams, I would usually recheck under the secondary disk, while the bleeps I would immediately begin to dig up. Sure enough, the secondary disk would filter out most of the false targets found under all metal mode.
Working in this manner, I was recovering metal targets 8 out of 10 times.
One of my gripes, as noted in my original comments, was the fact that regardless how you adjust your Tejon, if you're using the stock coil, it will give you a positive signal if the mineral concentration is mild to high. Well, this issue is no more.
Please stay tune for a picture of the items I recovered...
UPDATE 3/15/10
Ok, I stopped procrastinating today and decided to post some pictures of my items. they are found at the bottom of this post.
As you can tell by looking at the them, the site was either some what pristine or had been hunted out by other detectorists. I had spent close to 6 hours and most targets were rather small compared to the targets at my other sites.
I will admit, though I had found bb's with the stock coil before (I never really paid attention to their depth since I did not find them often -recovery was often a bitch since their size made it difficult to pinpoint), the number of these smaller targets came as a surprise. Before you start questioning their depths, I will reveal that none of the smaller items were found at depths greater than 3 inches. Also, please note that with the exception of 1 item, the remaining 4 small items were actually lead remains and not bbs (since I don't think bbs are made out of lead, other wise these would have disintegrated upon impact). The smallest lead item (item 7) is even smaller than a bb (item 6).
I rarely found the smaller items with bigger lead shards, so I'm assuming other detectorists must have recovered the bigger items.
I performed a test to determine the capability of my new coil and buried a bb. Contrary to what other posters claim, I was not able "to detect bbs at +13 inches." In my testing, I found that unless mineralization is at zero, your Tejon running in all metal mode will be too loud to detect a bb buried at a depth greater than 3.5 inches. At these depths, it's almost impossible to distinguish a bb signal from the surrounding mineralization noise. The secondary disk will null out the signal.
Anyways, there you have it. Will I recommend the 5.75" wide scan?
Answer: YES!
One last observation, when you use this smaller coil, you WILL lose depth on your normal items by maybe 2-3 inches depending on the mineralization level.[attachment 155942 100315_154914.jpg]