NEL coils on AT Pro...?

controlfreq

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May 5, 2018
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Gotten curious about NEL coils lately. Can anyone provide any reviews, pro or con, on the NEL coils vs the OEM coils? As with everything else, stability, depth, trash separation, ID and... well, anything else you can think of. I mean, can we ever have too much depth, accurate ID, and trash/target separation?

Are the AT and MAX coils the same? From what I think I know, the Garret coils are the same for both. Dont foresee getting a Max anytime soon but never hurts to plan ahead a little.

Thanks
 
I've got an AT Max and the NEL Storm and Snake coils. The Storm is pretty large and covers a lot of ground. As a noobie, it covers too much ground and it difficult for me to pinpoint, so I end up digging very large plugs. But it can detect very small and deep targets...which makes actually finding said targets difficult.

The Snake coil has plenty of depth if you are coin shooting. I've put it on twice in very trashy areas and was able to find a respectable number of targets. The trade-off with the Snake is that it doesn't cover much ground with each swing. It is a very small coil.

Too, the Storm is pretty heavy. I can swing the ATM stock coil for 10 hours a day and be tired, but my shoulder isn't wrecked the next day. If I swing the Storm for more than 4-6 hours, I'm hurting the next day. I'm not athletic and I'm a few years north of the half century mark, but the extra weight is noticeable.

If I'm somewhere that has the potential for old and deep targets, I'll mount the Storm. But the Snake is kept in the truck for now...the stock coil covers more ground and is sensitive enough to get the job done.
 
I ran 2 NEL coils on my AT Pro, the NEL Hunter and the NEL Thunder. Both are DD coils.

Right off the bat, I knew the NEL coils were winners. To begin with, while the NEL Hunter is actually slightly larger than the stock AT Pro coil, it actually had better target separation. I hunted an area that was riddled with iron rebar under the sod, and never could get anything other than iron signals off of it with the stock AT Pro coil. The first time I hit it with the NEL Hunter, I pulled a gold ring off, at 6" literally settled onto the rebar within 1/2 inch. I was tickled pink.

I purchased the NEL Hunter with the purpose of adding coverage to my swing, and instantly my find rate went up accordingly. About 9 months later, I went to the NEL Thunder with the goal of adding more coverage again. I've been very pleased with both of the coils. Their ability to separate is slightly better than the stock coil, but as with all DD coils, if the targets are exactly in line with each other (like 2 along the line of the DD cross over), it'll sound once. Hitting targets from multiple angles is a must.

Personally, I know folks who love smaller coils to get between the trash, I simply swing over it a couple of times and listen to all the sounds, and dig the ones that I like. Never had any problem pulling gold out of trashy sites with the NEL coils.

When I switched to the AT MAX earlier this year, I tried the Hunter first (worked fine), and then immediately swapped out to the NEL Thunder. The thunder wasn't supposed to be compatible with the AT MAX (NEL apparently makes one specifically for the MAX), but I've experienced ZERO problems with it. Everything from Florida beaches to school and parks... it's marvelous.

One thing to note, though, is that the bigger the coil, the heavier the lever. Your arm will take some getting used to the extra weight. For me it took about 2 months, each upgrade, to get back to swinging 4-5 hours at a time, dropping all the way down to about 2.5 each upgrade, with sore arms after.

Cheers!

Skippy
 
Yeah..I tipped my AtPro with the NEL Thunder a few years back when it was first introduced...Purchased the coil from a forum Distributor Sponsor even...I did a big write up about my initial experience and thoughts......crisp tight accurate definition, ergo balance, hopping coil, etc...My NEL Thunder paid itself off X2 in less than 12hrs on my stick!..Lucky? Yeah, but hey...the thing has paid itself off X10 since....more even if I took the time to figure...just in gold alone..

Do a search on the Forum if you want...lots of us Pro users tip our stock AtPro gear with NELS...they seem to handshake and get along pretty good...they hotrod up the basic rig....Sure a guy can do just fine with the stock Garrett 8x11...no troubles there either, I just needed a bit more of a larger footprint for what I do and where I do it in my short amount of time....

Time and Gold wait for Nobody!...The Pro tipped with a NEL makes for a good team...
 

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