swiftsword: said:
Thank you for your advice!
Monte, that's encouraging to hear; I think I'll get the 8" coil and see how that goes!
Search coil selection is based on three things:
• The type of site you're hunting.
• The amount of trash, debris or dense brush you are going to be dealing with.
• And the circuitry design and performance abilities of both the detector used and the coil attached to it.
I have some friends
(two I believe it is) who do not own a smaller-size coil, and one doesn't even own a mid-size coil. They just use the modern over-size 'standard' coil or an accessory or after-market bigger coil. The hunt beaches, wide-open parks, and private grassy yards. The tell me they have no use for smaller-size coil because they very seldom hunt trashy sites, encounter very few Iron Nails or other ferrous debris, and are just fine with the performance they get.
If that description fits the types of places you regularly search, then you might not need an extra coil. However .....
I have an uncountable number of detecting buddies and other friends who make sure they have a smaller-size coil and a mid-size coil in their outfit to best handle the very bad Iron debris cluttered sites, hunt around building rubble and demo sites, and deal with a lot of sagebrush, dense weeds, and brushy, challenging wooded areas where those smaller-sized coils are a must-have.
If that fits the hunting you might tackle, then you have two options:
1.. Get a smaller size coi for the detector you'll use.
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OR
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2. Select a different detector and appropriate coil for those types of conditions.
NO detector is perfect and some detectors might serve a person well for many applications, but not be the best pick for a different set of challenging tasks. That's why I have maintained a Defector Outfit of 2-or-more detectors since late 1971. From early '65 until then I did okay where I hunted with one detector at a time, but as detector designs started to improve, and different features/functions came available, and internal search coil changes were frequent, I had to adapt in order to be best outfitted for where I got out to hunt.
I have, at various times, owned a big assortment
(collection??) of detectors. Sometimes in exc4ss of 22 or 23 of them, but today I have trimmed my detector group to 4 older detectors I have for display and use in my seminars to demonstrate what we used t have and how we got to where we are today, and only 5 models for my personal, day-to-day detecting. Naturally it is always subject to change
if I add something new, different and with a useful purpose for my needs.
And because I devote the vast majority of my time hunting trashier sites, bushier locations, or working close to pipes, poles and metal structures, all but one of my detectors has a smaller-size coil, such as a 5" or 6", or a mid-sized coil, like the 5X8 DD or 5X9½ DD mounted full-time. Only one detector has a bigger-size coil mounted that I make use of for wide-open area, plowed fields, or a freshwater beach. That is a Garrett Apex w/8½X11 DD 'Raider' coil.
I like the 5X8 DD on a Vanquish or 6" DD on an Equinox for typical Coin & Jewelry Hunting, and I like the depth and VDI read-out at mid-depth to deeper those models can provide. But I already have detectors I like, better, for average daily detecting, and when it comes to tackling very Iron contaminated places, I have models and coils that I prefer over the Vanquish and Equinox, regardless of which coil those two have to offer.
But we are all different in what we might or might not like, and if you want a smaller-size coil for a particular detector you own, then for an EQ get the 6" round DD, or for the V-540 go with their 5X8 DD.
Monte
They’re smart. Even if they were to have the same connectors it ain’t gonna happen. Minelab will make sure of that…
