Advice on which of my Coils to use in what circumstances

G'day to all Forum Members. Would love to hear some thoughts and ideas please.

I know it is a bit like how long is a piece of string - but which coil would you prefer to use out of the following and in what circumstances?

I have got the following coils in my arsenal:

NFA 12"x7" Mono
NFA 17"x11" Mono
Commander 11" Round Mono

The sum total of my dozen or so field trips are as follows:

I have used my 11" Commander Mono for my first 5 sessions and only found a fair bit of trash.

I then got myself a 12"x7" NFA Mono and in 4 or 5 sessions I have managed 4 small finds (0.17 - 0.30) in two separate areas as well as lots of trash.

I have recently got myself a 17"x11" NFA Mono and have used it for 2 or 3 sessions and only found bits of trash.

I have not used my 11" Commander Mono since acquiring the two NFA coils or finding my small gold pieces.

Whenever I use the 12"x7", I can't help thinking that I am not covering enough ground by comparison to the 17"x11" and that I am not giving myself enough of a chance to find anything.

Whenever I use the 17"x11" I seem to have a bit of trouble in actually locating the target (trash only at this stage) and want to switch back to my trusty 12"x7", which is the only one that I have had success with to date.

I am torn between swinging the larger NFA a bit quicker to cover more ground and get more out of my day, trying to find a piece/patch and changing to the smaller NFA to try and pinpoint a target.

Should I try the 11" on my patch? Or would I be better served continuing with the 12"x7" in that area?


I have sort of come to a bit of a crossroads in my learning and am not sure how to approach it - any ideas/advice would be gratefully received.

Cheers, Trev

G'day Trev,

With your selection of coils I would be using the 17"x11" to cover more ground, but you still need to go low and slow, as if there is any deep targets which maybe only faint signals you are likely to miss them if you are swinging to fast.  You will be covering more ground than you can with the other coils and once you have found any gold in the area with the 17"x11" you should try to work this area as thoroughly as you can until you think you have found all you can with that coil.  Then you should go back over the area with the smaller coils to see if you have missed any smaller gold.  When trying to locate your targets with the 17"x11" try just using the very tip of the toe of the coil this is how I usually do it when using the Eliptical coils, it does take a bit of practice.  I find the bigger round coils a lot harder to pin point than the Eliptical coils.  Like I said it all takes a lot of practice.     Hope this helps you in deciding which coil to use.  

Cheers.

Mike.

Mike54 wrote:G'day Trev,

With your selection of coils I would be using the 17"x11" to cover more ground, but you still need to go low and slow, as if there is any deep targets which maybe only faint signals you are likely to miss them if you are swinging to fast.  You will be covering more ground than you can with the other coils and once you have found any gold in the area with the 17"x11" you should try to work this area as thoroughly as you can until you think you have found all you can with that coil.  Then you should go back over the area with the smaller coils to see if you have missed any smaller gold.  When trying to locate your targets with the 17"x11" try just using the very tip of the toe of the coil this is how I usually do it when using the Eliptical coils, it does take a bit of practice.  I find the bigger round coils a lot harder to pin point than the Eliptical coils.  Like I said it all takes a lot of practice.     Hope this helps you in deciding which coil to use.  

Cheers.

Mike.

G'day Mike, thanks for that.
I feel as though I was probably putting the cart before the horse, by using the 12"x7" before the 17"x11"....it just feels/felt like I am not covering enough ground and kind of wasting too much time fine searching in areas where there is no targets at all, when I should have been using the larger one to get more coverage.
It is about a 2 hour drive to the goldfields and I only do day trips as such....so I feel as though I need to cover as much ground as I can to get the most out of the day.
I suppose I do need to be more patient and slow down and let it happen if it is going to.
Will take your advice with the larger 17" regarding the locating of targets, just found it so much more difficult to pinpoint with compared to my 12"x7" - which has become a security blanket of sorts, being my only successful coil to date.
Cheers, Trev

Hi Trev and welcome to the forum,

As a new in a hobby there is lot of post you can read and get little bit more knowledge about any detector and any coil.


My personal opinion and experience:

When i started the smaller coil was easier for me to detect.Less noise, more quiet detector easy to detect.
It was about finding any nugget.

12X7 is very good small/medium size coil.you ar not going to miss a lot with it.Sure it will not go deep as the bigger coils and will not cover bigger area as you sweep.But  you will find gold with it and deep pieces as well depend of size.I like it cos its elliptical and not to big so you can push it into bushes etc.

17x11 will cover bigger area and go little deeper.

General rule-bigger coil goes deeper and cover more area, but also attract more EMI.

Commander 11 inch coil is probably one of the most used coils in the past and its size is good to detect most of goldfields.And is great coil.

One of the thing to bear in mind is when deciding which coil to use at the certain area is a skill to read the ground and dept of the ground.

If the are is shallow then small coil will do the job.Only difference is area of cover.

If the ground is deep you sure waste time with small coil.

Read this post so you will get some idea about plants and ground reading:

https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t4797-plants-growing-around-gold-deposits?highlight=plants+in+a+goldfiends

Go low and slow and dig everything.
Listen to even small change in a threshold, doesn't even have to be a signal.If you not sure scrape little and investigate

As you get more experienced you will put bigger coils on

Good Luck,

All 3 coils are very good and proven gold finders.




GoldEN

golden wrote:Hi Trev and welcome to the forum,

As a new in a hobby there is lot of post you can read and get little bit more knowledge about any detector and any coil.


My personal opinion and experience:

When i started the smaller coil was easier for me to detect.Less noise, more quiet detector easy to detect.
It was about finding any nugget.

12X7 is very good small/medium size coil.you ar not going to miss a lot with it.Sure it will not go deep as the bigger coils and will not cover bigger area as you sweep.But  you will find gold with it and deep pieces as well depend of size.I like it cos its elliptical and not to big so you can push it into bushes etc.

17x11 will cover bigger area and go little deeper.

General rule-bigger coil goes deeper and cover more area, but also attract more EMI.

Commander 11 inch coil is probably one of the most used coils in the past and its size is good to detect most of goldfields.And is great coil.

One of the thing to bear in mind is when deciding which coil to use at the certain area is a skill to read the ground and dept of the ground.

If the are is shallow then small coil will do the job.Only difference is area of cover.

If the ground is deep you sure waste time with small coil.

Read this post so you will get some idea about plants and ground reading:

https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t4797-plants-growing-around-gold-deposits?highlight=plants+in+a+goldfiends

Go low and slow and dig everything.
Listen to even small change in a threshold, doesn't even have to be a signal.If you not sure scrape little and investigate

As you get more experienced you will put bigger coils on

Good Luck,

All 3 coils are very good and proven gold finders.




GoldEN

G'day Golden, Thanks for your input and the pointer to the post/topic, every bit helps.

I have now found seven lil' pieces for a scale busting total of 1.55grams all found with my trusty 12"x7" NFA - it really is my security blanket at the moment.

I have now had a couple more sessions with the 17"x11" and am still a bit vague on its operation/usage by comparison.

As I am a solo detector, I don't have anyone to actually learn from and am kind of bumping along, slowly picking up some knowledge here and there....as for ground reading, I know that I have a long way to go.

At times I feel as though I have the machine set up okay but am just wasting my time looking in the wrong areas/too deep ground, due to my lack of knowledge on reading ground/conditions.

Still, as I try and tell myself each time I go out, I am getting more experieced and any day out in the bush is a good day (however frustrating it may seem at the time) and that any gold is a bonus.

Cheers Trev

Hi G'day gold
The results your getting are very consistent with what is expected.Larger gold now days is very hard to find.A guide for the ellipticals is the width is close to a corresponding round coil plus a little more.This is why the results of the 11"mono and 17"x11" are similar.Surprising depths have been seen with both of these on larger gold than what you have found so perseverance is the key.If you get a chance try them on a test patch and the result will be clear,this will give you some confidence in the coils ability.
Remember the ellipicals have a great benefit of ground coverage particularly the 17"x11" I have used this coil quite successfully in the past.The tips are also highly sensitive due to the narrow radius.
Your 12"x7" is specific and should be used in situations known for small gold/species or very shallow ground but should not be your primary coil.You could use it for shallow diggings as well.

deutran wrote:Hi G'day gold
The results your getting are very consistent with what is expected.Larger gold now days is very hard to find.A guide for the ellipticals is the width is close to a corresponding round coil plus a little more.This is why the results of the 11"mono and 17"x11" are similar.Surprising depths have been seen with both of these on larger gold than what you have found so perseverance is the key.If you get a chance try them on a test patch and the result will be clear,this will give you some confidence in the coils ability.
Remember the ellipicals have a great benefit of ground coverage particularly the 17"x11" I have used this coil quite successfully in the past.The tips are also highly sensitive due to the narrow radius.
Your 12"x7" is specific and should be used in situations known for small gold/species or very shallow ground but should not be your primary coil.You could use it for shallow diggings as well.

G'day Deutran, thanks for your response.

Interested to read your view on the 17"x11" V's the 11".

I am thinking of benching the 17"x11" for a while and giving the 11" round a run as my primary patch/piece finder.

The only reason I have been continually reverting back to the 12"x7" is that it is the only one that I have found any gold with and it has become my favourite club in the bag.

Using that golfing analogy, I would not attempt to putt out with my favourite 5 iron or tee off with my favourite putter.....so without mixing my metaphors too much, I take the point that it should be horses for courses.

I was comtemplating this before your reply and feel like it could be better for me until I get the hang of the larger eliptical. Still trying to get my head around the depth of ground issue though and where exactly to (or not to) be searching in the first place.

Cheers Trev