I appreciate your replies:
Tahtsadatsago: said:
I am still in the process of learning my ORX, so my ability to help is very limited.
I have 3 coils (and a Deus) - the 9" X35, the 11" X35, and the elliptical HF coil. Thus far the only coil I've used is the 9" X35 coil.
It doesn't matter what make or model I have, how long I have had it, or how well I know it .... I always set out to learn something new.
As for search coils, the 9" X-35 coil is the 2nd largest in my Detector Outfit, and even when I get to know it well, it will see less use than my smaller-size or mid-size coils. My largest in-use coil is an 8½X11, and that's just for wide-open / low-target areas such as a beach or plowed field. I'd never have an 11" X-35 coil.
Tahtsadatsago: said:
I chose to start learning the ORX with that coil because I primarily hunt for coins (in areas densely littered with iron trash) and the available frequencies are relatively close to those frequencies I've typically used with other machines.
I mainly 'Coin Hunt' older-use locations, such a ghost town, RR depots and sidings, stage stops, or perhaps an out-of-the-way dance hall or recreation site. Mainly after OLDER coins and trade tokens, etc., and those sites I work are terribly infested with Iron Nails, rusty tin, and all sorts of ferrous and non-ferrous debris.
Most of my favorite detectors, that have helped produce the most keepers, have operated in the 10 kHz to 15 kHz range since about 1977. That continues today as well, including switching some SMF units to either 10 kHz or 15 kHz Single-Frequency at times. My FORS Relic is 19 kHz and assigned special duty in the very challenging ferrous-plagued sites I hunt. The ORX w/5X9½ HF coil is at 14.4 kHz in my '5' User Coin program, but 31.3 kHz in my '6' User Coin program. That '6' program is also specially assigned duty in high iron contaminated places.
Tahtsadatsago: said:
For the most part I've stuck with coin fast - though I have used coin deep on occasion - and basically stock settings. I have changed frequencies - mostly ranging between 8khz, 12 khz, and 17 khz. I have also changed reactivity on a couple of occasions (decreasing it to 2.0) just to experiment a bit. I change sensitivity to meet the conditions (higher when I can, lower when necessary).
When I got my first ORX I tried both of the default Coin programs and didn't care for Coin Fast. The default Reactivity of '3' was way too fast and it impacted detection depth and also caused a loss of some marginal responses. I checked other settings and determined a Reactivity of '2.0' to be the best., and as I always have I run my Sensitivity at or close to maximum, reducing it only to stabilize any EMI.
Tahtsadatsago: said:
I tend to be methodical when hunting and swing slowly. While I have not reached a final conclusion, it does seem that my results are better with a lower frequency and a lower (than the stock setting) reactivity. In a couple of areas (directly under power-lines for the most part) the lower frequency is much better behaved (as opposed to 17 khz).
I have always adhered to, and encouraged, using a slow-and-methodical sweep speed. The XP's can, however, work fine with a somewhat moderate to faster sweep-speed than may of the competitor's models
in a very clean, sparse-target environment. It's doable, but I still refer a slower, more deliberate sweep speed an ample overlapping.
Tahtsadatsago: said:
I have not saved a custom program, as I am still experimenting to find those settings that best suit my conditions/needs.
My soil is generally fairly mild; as a result I could get away with the stock ground balance. I still ground balance most of the time, but the setting seldom changes more than a couple numbers.
I haven't made any radical changes for my
'5 User Coin' or
'6 User Coin' Custom programs because adjustments that are too extreme often lead to impaired performance. Both Custom programs are based on the Coin Deep default program with the following changes:
'5' User Coin:
Sensitivity: '99'
Discrimination: '7'
Frequency: '14.4'
Reactivity: '2.0'
Iron Volume: 'On'
'6' User Coin:
Sensitivity: '99'
Discrimination: '7'
Frequency: '31.3'
Reactivity: '2.0'
Iron Volume: 'Off'
Tahtsadatsago: said:
I did take the ORX to a salt water beach (fishing area) and hunted the wet salt sand. Prior to ground balancing (to salt) it was behaving quite well in the dry sand - wet sand it was a mess. Once ground balanced to salt, the ORX did very well in the wet salt sand.
The ORX does have the 'Salt' function you can turn on, but I haven't been to a salty-area to check it out.
Tahtsadatsago: said:
I have not changed the discrimination from the stock setting. I've always had iron-audio on (thus far anyway).
I haven't had a reason to adjust the Disc. higher than '7', and the Iron Volume I prefer 'Off' for the more challenging places I hunt where Iron Nails are extremely dense
(aka very closely spaced).
Tahtsadatsago: said:
My plan is to familiarize myself with the ORX and the X35 coil, then go back and hunt the same areas with the HF elliptical coil. Unfortunately, life and the heat have put a damper on my hunting time, so that plan will be spread out over a much longer period of time than what I'd like.
I'll watch for your coil comparison comments.
Tahtsadatsago: said:
Once I am comfortable with the ORX I plan to concentrate on the Deus. Hopefully learning the ORX will help me learn the Deus.
Personally, I think the ORX is all the XP detector a person needs. Sone adjustment functions are not all that helpful, especially if misadjusted to extremes.
tnsharpshooter: said:
I have used x35 coil some on Deus.
X35 Coil has some of the low freq coil traits as well as some of Hf coil traits.
In iron highest band will see nonferrous lower freq bands won’t.
i agree, when Ihad an X-35 coil for a while last year, even though I used it very little it did seem to have some of those "low-frequency traits" you refer to. I was mainly working very nasty locations with unbearable amounts of Iron debris, and for those places I favored the 5X9½ DD HF coil, and my '6 User Coin' program at 31.3 kHz.
tnsharpshooter: said:
Lower freq band will ID higher conductors in modern trash better than mid or higher Bands.
Humm, I guess I didn't use it long enough because I saw very little difference in VDI performance between the two coils.
tnsharpshooter: said:
X35 Coil won’t see all nonferrous in iron the Hf coils will see.
We do agree on that point!
tnsharpshooter: said:
Ground sensitivity setting- I think X35 Coil has. This needs to be adjusted right. Not too high. Default setting is good imo. Hf coils don’t have this setting.
I didn't activate any other setting, and overall the two coils worked fine. I just need to see if there is a good reason for me to keep the round 9" X-35 around.
Monte
