Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Philosophy of smaller coil v/s larger?

B

BladeRunner

Junior Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2013
Messages
41
I’m in my late 40’s and probably of average intelligence... at best. :laughing: But can someone explain to me the philosophy of why a smaller coil is better than a big one in trashy areas? I think I understand that you will hit less trash, but doesn’t that also mean that you will hit less of the good stuff as well? Or do smaller coils do a better job of “filtering” out the junk?

Thanks in advance.
Bill
 
I look at like this: The right tool for the right job.

Try using a pair of pliers to individually pick up a bunch of toothpicks or small screws spread out on a table. Maybe doable, but not easy. Now do the same task with a pair of tweezers. Much easier to do.
On the contrary, try picking up a bunch of pencils or large screws spread out on a table using the same tools. Harder to do with the tweezers, but easier to do with the pliers.

A small coil can tweeze in between the trash and help lock on to "good" stuff where a large coil would pick up both at the same time and have a harder time discerning between them, but in a non-trashy area with larger targets, the small coil would take forever to cover the area and maybe not detect quite as deep.
 
When targets are close together the larger coil will have them both under its coil while a small one with the smaller surface area will only see the one.
 
Yep..Target separation is the idea. I really love mine, most detectorist will stay out of trshy areas but my little 3.75 will get in there and sift through the targets, get real close to fences, in between bushes/shrubs.
I lose a little depth but not allot, maybe an inch then when I have worked an area clean I can go back over it with the bigger coils.
 
AH! Got it! That makes total sense and I'm surprised it didn't occur to me.

Thanks for the help!

Shoot, now I guess I need to order a small coil. :lol:
 
BladeRunner said:
AH! Got it! That makes total sense and I'm surprised it didn't occur to me.

Thanks for the help!

Shoot, now I guess I need to order a small coil. :lol:
Click to expand...

Good decision.
I am a jewelry hunter and I did pretty good using larger coils for my first 30 months in this hobby.
Then I threw a sniper coil on one of my detectors just for laughs and started hunting many more trashy sites than ever before.
In the last 16 months I found many silver rings and bracelets in those trashy sites thanks to the sniper coil.
Better than that is the 18 pieces of gold I found in that same time frame.
Most in extremely trashy sites also thanks to those small sniper coils.
 
In most moderate to heavily trashy areas go small with the coil , dig and remove everything. Only then will extra depth from a larger coil be to your advantage. Larger coils can help you reach a greater depth but usually only after the shallower targets and trash is removed.
 
ohiochris said:
In most moderate to heavily trashy areas go small with the coil , dig and remove everything. Only then will extra depth from a larger coil be to your advantage. Larger coils can help you reach a greater depth but usually only after the shallower targets and trash is removed.
Click to expand...

Good answer!
 
ohiochris said:
In most moderate to heavily trashy areas go small with the coil , dig and remove everything. Only then will extra depth from a larger coil be to your advantage. Larger coils can help you reach a greater depth but usually only after the shallower targets and trash is removed.
Click to expand...

Sorry but you lost me. If you are going to dig and remove everything so you can use the large coil why would You need to invest in a smal coil?

Jpiddle
 
j piddle said:
Sorry but you lost me. If you are going to dig and remove everything so you can use the large coil why would You need to invest in a smal coil?

Jpiddle
Click to expand...

I don't go into these trashy sites with those small coils and remove everything, I go in with the idea of digging all solid signals whether they are good or trash.
It has been said that the larger coils will find all the signals with the small coils will, and this is true for the most part, however, it's not about getting all the signals its about getting the correct signal with the right info on every signal that you can.
Masking is a bigger problem than most people think, and using larger coils which have a definite possibility of getting incorrect information because of more than one target under the coil at one time is great.
By using the small coil I can get close to surgical precision and much better information on each target which I can examine one at time.
This way I can actually dig a ton less than having to dig everything at the site, and still find more faster and more efficiently.
I know this is true and I have proved to myself by hunting sites that have lots of trash as hard as I could, as efficient as I could II going slow and trying to examine each signal with big coils and yet by going back with the smaller coils I found so much more so easily... including some great targets like gold that I had missed in the past along with several other hunters at exactly the same site.
Again, 18 goal targets in 16 months... I believe a hundred percent that I might have been able to find a few of these but there is no way I would have found all of them by using only the larger coil.
Well, maybe I can find all of them using the big coil, eventually, but that would entail using much, much more time and if I did I would still be digging so much more trash then I already have and I still wouldn't have all 18 of those targets in my treasure pouch to this date.
Small coils let you work less and find more in a shorter time.
There is just no other way around it.
 
Both have their uses...I don't care how good you are with that big coil, you're going to miss stuff because of masking by iron, trash or multiple targets at once. If you've cleaned a spot pretty well of silver, go back with a small coil and you'll find more...the small coil will get you close to fences, next to rocks, in spots too tight for the big coil.
 
j piddle said:
Sorry but you lost me. If you are going to dig and remove everything so you can use the large coil why would You need to invest in a smal coil?

Jpiddle
Click to expand...



Mostly the point is a coil can only get as deep as the shallowest metal target under it. You can just use the larger coil until the ground is clean but pinpointing is more difficult and you have less information on what you will be digging. ( example ) Three nearby targets , small coil more likely to isolate each one and pinpoint the location making them easier to retrieve ,....the large coil more likely to just read all 3 as one , you think you dug it but surprise theres one or two more targets in there "somewhere". Small coil I may see the possibility of a good target right next to a bad one ,.....large coil almost always just gonna call it all a bad target.

Either way you wont see all of your available depth in trashy ground until the shallow targets are gone or atleast drastically reduced.
 
j piddle said:
Sorry but you lost me. If you are going to dig and remove everything so you can use the large coil why would You need to invest in a smal coil?

Jpiddle
Click to expand...

Re read the link in this post http://metaldetectingforum.com/showpost.php?p=1881330&postcount=3

Summery important point. You can have a paper staple or some other tiny object 3 inches down that will not produce a signal, BUT it will produce a halo and prevent the MD from seeing a good target like a silver coin an inch to the side and an inch lower (Silent masking) This is because you have this large cone field that sees both targets at once.

The small DD coil will produce the 1" wide field rather than the big round cone field and hit the coin before the staple. You would never know the coin was there nor the staple (not big enough to show a target) with a large coil. Makes perfect sense and after Christmas I am getting me a DD even though I only have 20 hours into the hobby. My park and yard have more trash then the city dump!
 
airscapes said:
Re read the link in this post http://metaldetectingforum.com/showpost.php?p=1881330&postcount=3

Summery important point. You can have a paper staple or some other tiny object 3 inches down that will not produce a signal, BUT it will produce a halo and prevent the MD from seeing a good target like a silver coin an inch to the side and an inch lower (Silent masking) This is because you have this large cone field that sees both targets at once.

The small DD coil will produce the 1" wide field rather than the big round cone field and hit the coin before the staple. You would never know the coin was there nor the staple (not big enough to show a target) with a large coil. Makes perfect sense and after Christmas I am getting me a DD even though I only have 20 hours into the hobby. My park and yard have more trash then the city dump!
Click to expand...

I completely understand the use of a smal coil. But I promise you if I am going to dig everything and clean out a area I can do it better and faster with a larger coil.
Think about it. Smal coil = shallow targets. Dig shallow targets cover hole until all shallow targets are gone. Now use large coil and redig the same area/holes.Not me.
Just my thoughts
Jpiddle
 
ohiochris said:
Mostly the point is a coil can only get as deep as the shallowest metal target under it. You can just use the larger coil until the ground is clean but pinpointing is more difficult and you have less information on what you will be digging. ( example ) Three nearby targets , small coil more likely to isolate each one and pinpoint the location making them easier to retrieve ,....the large coil more likely to just read all 3 as one , you think you dug it but surprise theres one or two more targets in there "somewhere". Small coil I may see the possibility of a good target right next to a bad one ,.....large coil almost always just gonna call it all a bad target.

Either way you wont see all of your available depth in trashy ground until the shallow targets are gone or atleast drastically reduced.
Click to expand...


Point is that if you are cleaning out an area to expose the deeper good targets it makes no sense to use the smal coil.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

O
Looking for iron
Replies
2
Views
183
jmaclen
J
maxxkatt
MyTrashyPark program for the XP2
Replies
5
Views
195
Big Boys Hobbies
Big Boys Hobbies
V
Trying out the legend
Replies
15
Views
573
markinmichigan
markinmichigan
W
Nox 600
Replies
13
Views
243
Big Boys Hobbies
Big Boys Hobbies
maxxkatt
Update your Profile and Signature
Replies
0
Views
82
maxxkatt
maxxkatt
Back
Top Bottom