Tabman, we certainly have the ticks and mosquitoes, but fortunately no poisonous snakes. We have to worry more about the armed pot growers and meth-heads around here :angry:
Kansa54,in air tests that tornado coil was giving me only about an inch to an inch and a half more depth over the stock coil on silver and clad. Copper, though, is a completely different story. For some reason this coil just loves copper and smacks it hard! I was getting 2 to 2 and a half inches more depth on Indians and copper pennies and 3 and a half more inches on a large cent.
Aside from air tests, the in-the-ground performance is pretty impressive. With my stock coil I'd hunted my yard down to the last beep, and the first time with this coil I uncovered a very deep wheatie which gave a clear, repeatable signal. It also pulled an Indian out of a farm house yard that I'd gridded a half dozen times or more previously. I like the coverage pattern too. It covers quite a lot of real estate with every sweep. Also, very small nails and bits of iron are quieter with this coil. You still get some clicks and chirps from them, but less so than with the stock coil.
On the negative side, it's more sensitive to EMI than the stock coil. I was standing under the electrical wire that goes from the house to the garage and I couldn't ground balance the thing. All metal was messed up - modulating up and down without moving the coil. I thought the thing was broken, but as soon as I moved out from under the wire, it was fine again. It never did that before with the stock coil. Also, this coil unfortunately loves bottle caps. I can't for the life of me tell the difference between a bottle cap and coin signal when using this coil, although I have hearing damage and someone with sharper ears might be able to tell the difference.
So far, though, the positives far outweigh the negatives. I'm definitely keeping the NEL.
Wood hunts are fun, but not during the Summertime around here. Too many ticks, mosquitoes and poisonous snakes for my liking.