CT GoldStalker vs NuggetFinder SL monos...

Have got all the Goldstalker series coils, i reckon they are a bit more sensitive than the Nuggetfinder coils, certainly lighter. The only direct comparison i have done is to compare the 16" rounds and as i said the Goldstalker was more sensitive. My coil of choice is the 18"x12" Goldstalker mono, light, good coverage but still a size that can be used in scrubby areas. Just my thoughts, mallee00 and the mutt

Gday beer beeper,
I have a Nuggetfinder 14 x 9 elep Mono and love it.It is nearly as sensitive as a coiltek 10in joey on the small stuff,but balances better in noisy ground.Depth capabilities are excellent as well and it matches the coiltek 17in mini ufo in hot ground.
Cant comment on the New Goldstalkers,but we recently tested a new 14in round DD from coiltek and found gold in an area of noisy ground that we thought we had cleaned out.

Hi All
Have 18X12 Coiltek Goldstalker find it has good response on gold but find it very prone to snagging on sticks and a little unwieldy I now prefer to use the new Nugget finder 20 inch round mono with a hipstick in deeper open ground. My main coil for working around the scrub is the new light 14x9 Nugget finder mono good to ground balance picks up the smaller gold and can swing it all day even though it is a open weave coil I dont have the snagging like the coiltek. Regards Dave

I used to run a 14X7 NF on my 4000. It was one of the real early fibreglass ones. It was a good coil. Sensitive and had decent depth. For one reason or another I ended up selling my 4000 and ended up with a good GP Extreme. I borrowed a 14X9 stalker and was totally blown away with it. It was very stable on the extreme in choppy ground and I was finding bits down to sub .1g and up to 1/2 an ounce at 14 inches. I was also digging junk targets at substantial depth with it as well. I ended up buying one straight away and I believe it to be a better coil than the early NF was. I have recently upgraded to a 4500 and the stalker performs just as well on it as it did on the extreme. It is easily picking up bits down to .03g and a nice 5.6g bit at around 10 inches.

A fellow I know has been running the 16 inch round stalker on a sd2100 and he has been doing quite well with it. I gave it a try on the 4500 and it was picking up shotty pellets no problems. I gave up on it as I was also digging junk at 2 feet plus with it and I was buggered from too much digging. I have also run a 16 inch NF mono and comparing the two (remember this is on different machines) I think the coiltek to be a better coil. I was working pushed over heaps in an open paddock so did not notice any snagging. I have not used the 18X12 stalker or any other NF coils yet.

Chris.

Had the 14"x9" Coiltek Goldstalker and traded it in on the new NF 12" elipical mono. Love it, great target respone and quiet and easy to fit into tight areas. Solid bottom so does not get caught up but the Goldstalkers have solid skid plates available now.
Paul

Pardon me for interrupting,
Most new blokes ask themselves the same questions about the after market coils while at the same time they are being sold a minelab machine with a minelab approved coil. There is 3 big players here.
If I could get a straight up point of view on any one of the three, be it mono and or DD, I would buy.
Bloody hard I know, as we all work different ground and use different machines.
I don't think there has been an independent test with some video footage yet. (In the last few months, since the release of the latest coils)
Has anyone got the time?
Brett.

How do the Commanders compare to these coils, are they that much heavyier? I`ve had great results with the 10x5 DD on heaps.
cj

I have the Commander 10"x5" DD coil and it is great for trashy areas and will pick up small bits easily and even got me a 29 grammer at Castlemaine of a heap that other people had already been over and probably walked away after just getting rubbish. I have also used the 8" mono Commander and have done extremely well with that in the past but now that I have the 4500 I use the 12" NF elip almost all the time. Ages ago I had the 15"x12" Commander DD but got rid off that due to the weight, which I feel is common t0 all the Commanders but not really noticable on the 8" and 10"x5"
Paul

I read everything at lease twice. Thanks for all the input as it is very much appreciated. Two of you seem to say that the GS is a bit better than the NF.

I sold my CT 14" round DD. I now have a NF 5x10" mono, 11" stock coil, NF 20" XP DD, NF 25" SL mono so I want to purchase mid sized coils and I need some feedback to help me make a buying decision.

I want to purchase a mono 9x14" GS or NF SL??

A mono 12x15" Commander, 12x18.5" GS, or a 12x24" NF SL??

(I do not want to purchase a 16" round coil.)

Also a round, mono 18" Commander, GS, or NF SL??

Should I buy all 3 GoldStalkers(GS) or all 3 NuggetFinder(NF) Super-Lites(SL) or some other combination?? Thank you for any help! I need a beer now then I wish I could go beep,beep,beep with the other hand looking for a nugget. Two pleasures in life at the same time!

Beer beeper,
Sounds to me like you have all the big coils you need.
Why not get the New NF 12in elip,the GS 14x9 and the GS 17in elip.
Skid plates are available for the Nugget finder SL elipticals.

hi all, just my 2 cents worth, i purchased a 4500 a bit over a week ago, and a 18 NF round mono last friday, initially was noisy etc but after playing with the settings i got it so quiet that i occassionaly had to swing the pick over it to make sure it was working !!! it was picking up stuff down to the size of a paper staple at a couple of inches, and it was blowing my ears off, a heck of a job sorting that from the dirt !!!!!
so personally i dont believe that they miss the smaller stuff, so needless to say that i am totally happy with the 18" round NF mono, regards, gary

Thanks Adam! I wonder why people would buy that new NF 12" mono(7x12") when their old NF 14" solid(non SL) mono(7.5x14") is a better size??


I PM you Gary but I do not know if you got it as I see no messages in my Sent Box? So I will cut and past and post my question to you here just in case:

WOW Gary!! That is just what I wanted to know. This year I just bought a 25" round NF SL mono but I have never used it in the field yet due to some personal problems but I will, so I do not know how it performs? One very important question from me, does the very small targets like the size of a paper staple, pick up on the very edge of the 18" round NF mono coil OR on the hot spot in the very center??

You may not be able to answer this question but I wonder how the old Commander 18" mono and the new CoilTek 18" GoldStalker mono compares to this(your) new 18" round NF mono coil in performance??

(In other words what has better performance GoldStalker or NuggetFinder SL?? Yes I know someone already said the GS had more sensitivity on the 16" sizes for them.)

Hi all, Well how long is a bit of string... Coils aint Coils sole,, It could go on for ever.. You can have the best of the best but if its not set up right ,,, You will be getting a good work out anyhow .. I use a 24+12 mono NF lite weight and it is fitted to a 4500 ..What can I say it is the bees nees both the coil and the ML.. and it found a bag full this year. from 78gr down to 0.3 of a gr.. over old workings and all.. I wouldnt say buy one,, its best to try one and then go with your gut feeling... Carn,t wait to get back next year...Have a good xmas and the best for the new year to all..Bob...

Coils and the machine they were tuned for is absolute critical to a final purchase. Until the release of the 4000 and then the 4500, Mono's were something left to the more experienced on the appropriate ground. DD Are the great all rounder But as they have a field like a paint brush that only achieve a shallow depth in comparison to a mono that has a cone shaped coil that hunts deeper, but this is worth thinking about. If a mono hunts deep with a cone shaped field then to truly cover the ground we must cover the ground under the coil at least twice with each swing, while moving forward.
As far as the different brands go. There all very good now. Weight is the most crucial factor as I see it. If you are fatigued from swinging then your concentration is down. When my concentration is down I have a break and then go back fresh later. It usually pays off.
The best tip I got was: get a hip stick and work all day without the usual fatigue. That takes all the weight factor out.

Part 2. Read the ground. Whats the point of lugging around a huge coil if the ground is only 12" deep. Same point, whats the point of swinging a 10" coil if the ground is 24" deep.
Golds heavy and will travel at the lowest point. Read the ground and put on the best coil to suit. Big is not always best, but these new coils that see deep and pick up small stuff are worth the investment.
Elliptical are the best all rounder when it comes to picking up small stuff while searching for deep ones, but for all out performance at depth, round win hands down. Again pick the ground.
Back to the brands: I guess it depends on the machine and coil you are using, to a degree. The feed back seems to change depending on the users set up and their stomping ground.
I like the Nugget finder's but that choise could easily change. Coiltek seem seem to be ripping into the market with some good coils now, while commander seem to be taking the rolls royce approach with, if it aint broke don't fix it.
Shame they cost so much, or I would buy multiple coils across the brands.
Brett.

Thanks for that!

CoilTek advertised this about their first elliptical GoldStalkers:

http://coiltekmanufacturing.com.au/new-products.html
"Designed for the new GPX detectors these Monoloop coils have opened up new possibilities in gold stalking. Testing suggested optimum sensitivity when compared to other Monoloop coils of similar sizes. Targets have already been found at excellent depths including an 1880 silver thruppence at 750mm on a GPX4000!"

I have found an 1879 Queen Victoria silver thruppence myself but it was just about on the surface. They are tiny and I do not have the coin in front of me but I would approximately say it is about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter. 750mm is about 29". This above was printed before the 15" and 18" round GoldStalkers came out.

SO about a 1 inch diameter coin at about 29" with a 9x14" or 12x18" GoldStalker mono. Take out a measuring tape and just see how deep 29" is!! THAT IS VERY HARD TO BELIEVE FOR ME!!!! Unless it is true and the GoldStalkers are BLOODY DEEP and SUPER SENSITIVE and deeper than the NuggetFinders and Commanders???? >>>Are they heaps better or not? Do they blow away the NF and Com. coils or are they about the same in performance? That is the question.

Im with you beer beeper 29 inches for a threepence is some thing I would like to see. Like Ive said I have a 24 by 12 NFmono... and I dont think it would see that in a air test might be wrong...Now Im not saying it didnt happen but would just love to know what setting,s were used...and the ground in which it lay...750 cm...????yes easy..that is a big statment..750mm......I picked up a 1866 sixpencs on top of the ground and a 7rg nug right under it @ 18 inches... Im a feet and inches man...the threepence may have been in a kero tin...smile...like the guy that had 6 stiches in his face where his wife hit him with some tomartoes the doc looked at him in disbelife until he said they were still in the tin....its not life or death and should be taken lightly ok...we all know how fish grow....Bob..

Hi,
Imho CT's gold stalkers are on par for sensitivity and slightly more roubust then the NF. So far zero complaints.

echidnadigger

I'm the inventor of the HipStick Thanks for your comment. quote:

"The best tip I got was: get a hip stick and work all day without the usual fatigue. That takes all the weight factor out."

Glad you like it! Thanks to JP's efforts OZ has more HipSticks then the rest of the world.

If any HipStick users have a photo and or story I'd love to put it on my web site detectoraid.com


Chris Porter

Beer Beeper wrote:Thanks Adam! I wonder why people would buy that new NF 12" mono(7x12") when their old NF 14" solid(non SL) mono(7.5x14") is a better size??

That's right, glad I'm not the only one. Why don't manufacturers understand that you need sensitivity and cover ground? Why don't they make a coil as sensitive as the 14"elip but even longer, say an 18x6" so you can get what you're looking for in half the time?

Beer Beeper, Both coils work equally as well as each other. I detect every other day and have destroyed a few favourite coils over the years detecting in shaley / rocky ground. I find that the new Goldstalkers are very very robust (yet light)... and that along with ground coverage is why i would recommend the CT 18 Goldstalker.

With the capability of the 4500 i would not use anything smaller then a 18 elip mono now. I want to find the deep big gold. (maybe I would run an 11 if cleaning a patch of really small nuggets).

And of course the coil is just a piece of equipment. 95% of the game is being very good with your machine and swinging long hours in meaniful locations.

cheers Tributer

Hi
Just to add my two bobs bit, I use a 16inch N/F Mono exclusively on a 4000 and would not use anything else. It finds me gold down deep and is so sensitive, have found gold down to .47 of a gram.

Ray

Coils aren't rocket science, so long as the manufacturer sticks to the recipe then no problems. However shape and size do have an impact, for the purposes of simplicity I will refer only to Monoloops for now, generally the larger the coil the lower the sensitivity to small targets close to the coil, this is because of two things one is a larger coil needs less windings to achieve the required measurements I mentioned earlier in the necessary recipe to make the whole thing work and secondly because the loop of the winding is further away a small target has less impact on the coil as a whole when close.

There are advantages and disadvantages in running larger coils, because they are less sensitive to objects closer to the coil they also ignore a lot of ground noise especially iron rich surface responses whilst at the same time offering a bigger field deeper into the ground, in some cases a large mono will work noisy shallow areas more effectively than a small mono thanks to the reduced sensitivity. However because they are physically larger they will also attract more interference (bigger antennae equals better signal).

Think of a mono coil as being two coils in one, firstly we have the loop or winding of the coil that transmits and receives as a whole where the whole coils circumference reacts to a target, but then we have the part of the winding that is closest to the target also reacting independently to the object (this is how we pinpoint with a monoloop). You can experiment with the various signals created by a monoloop by placing a target on the surface of the ground (make sure the area is free of other targets first ), then pass the coil at varying heights and pay attention to the response, when the individuality of the windings re-act to the response you will get a double blip as each side of the winding passes over the coil (the rest of the coil also re-acts to the target but in varying degrees of strength depending on distance, so you only hear the louder responses first). With practice you can soon come up with a lot of information about the size of a target, the depth it is located at and also the likely hood of it being a good target or not.

Now to get back to the original theme behind this thread, so long as a coil meets the strict requirements of the recipe required to make the coil work then the only other thing that comes into the equation is the shape and construction methods. The latest offerings from the aftermarket manufactures are pretty well on par with each other, I personally feel the Nugget Finder coils are a little more robust for professional use with the Goldstalkers coming in a very close second (The Commander coils are probably the most bullet proof of them all but weight holds them back). They both seem to have excellent sensitivity (remember there is not a lot of room to move in the adjustment of coils within the required recipe..... a touch more sensitivity perhaps, but not a lot more in outright depth, it is the detector that determines that assuming the coil meets the requirements).

If you want good coverage but at the same time don't want to pass up on too much sensitivity then the out of round or elliptical coils are the best preference, with a range of coils going from nigh on 24" down to 10" or so. The diameter of the coil determines how much wire is used in the windings even if the winding is stretched out into an odd shape, so in this instance a 18x12 elliptical mono will require more winds of wire to achieve the correct figures required by the recipe for the detector than a 18" round, so therefore has better sensitivity closer to the coil, an elliptical coil also benefits from the windings being quite close to each other on the sides so shallow targets will sound brighter and more obvious to the operator over a round coil on the same target.

For outright depth the round configuration is the best option, the transmit signal is equal punching into the ground and the receive area of the coil is equal picking up the resultant reflected energy. The reflected response will not necessarily be the same shape as the transmit so in some cases a mono will generate the signal differently depending on the direction of the swing and also direction of the approach to the target (this is why it is always a good idea to approach a target from different angles).

All in all the choices are pretty close, if you want to stick with the manufacturers recommend coils then go with the Commander coils, or take a peek at the after market guys and see if they have a size and shape that bests suits your detecting style.

Hope this helps a little,

Jonathan Porter

Gday all. Its been sometime now that the coiltek goldstalker coils have been out, just wondering what member thought of them compared to their old coiltek coils, as I have noticed that there have been a few people selling them (ebay etc.) Is there something wrong with them or are they just not happy with them? or do you just upgrade your coils every so often?
Regards Johnny

I use a 16" mono goldstalker and have no problems with it. I've found down to .2 and under with it.
Sorry I can't compare it with my earlier coilteks as they were on previous machines not my 4500.

I wouldn't let Ebay influence your desision, if you went through the listings you'll probably find more coils for sale of earlier models than you will of goldstalkers.
I read on forums all the time the ongoing debate coiltek vs nugget finder.. My humble and possibly wrong opinion is you wont do wrong if you choose either, pretty much neck and neck with both having strong points and weaknesses. Often it just comes down to price point for a given size.

Madtuna your right,
Last season my mate and I spent quite a few months (6-7) detecting in WA, He had a 4000 . and a few years doing decting. With a coiltek mono and dd.not sure on size.. My self 2 years decting, finished up useing a 4500 with a 24+12 NF mono. We went near gram for gram the whole time. In all sort of ground...I just like the lite weight of the NF.they look lite anyhow.Im sure its how you use them .Im sure that a good batt. is more important ,one that hold its volt,s all day..ei.. litIon. even on the GPs.it makes a big improvment..I started the year with a 3500 and a jellcell...so so..then went to a luckylark.on the 3500..BIG Improvment...Anyhow thats my 2 bobs worth for what its worth..bob