Cache Hunting Coil?

[BamaBill]

I have a White's MXT that I usually use for relic hunting and this thing will usually get some good depth on a good size target. However, my impression is that a lot of the small caches that are found are anywhere from 1 to 2 feet deep, or slightly more. What coil would be the most useful on a target the size of a mason jar lid or larger? Also, I want to be able to ignore small targets when I'm hunting a cache. At what size do I start get diminishing returns on depth?

 

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[gflores71]

I am using the standard 9.5 loop and get good depth. I have a Cache program for low trash areas with high gain and low sweep speed. I can pick up a 12" copper pan at over 3 feet. Remember your discriminator settings have to be set to accept -40 and up. I can pick it up just as well as my TM-808 can with the 9.5 loop.

I will try an Excelerator 18" DD coil in South America in December. I will try it out in my test garden and post results. I know there are mixed reviews about this coil but I will give it a try.

The MXT in Relic mode should work well, try burying some things and practice your settings. There is nothing more important than practice on different settings.

G

 

[Kentucky Kache]

I am using the standard 9.5 loop and get good depth. I have a Cache program for low trash areas with high gain and low sweep speed. I can pick up a 12" copper pan at over 3 feet. Remember your discriminator settings have to be set to accept -40 and up. I can pick it up just as well as my TM-808 can with the 9.5 loop.

I will try an Excelerator 18" DD coil in South America in December. I will try it out in my test garden and post results. I know there are mixed reviews about this coil but I will give it a try.

The MXT in Relic mode should work well, try burying some things and practice your settings. There is nothing more important than practice on different settings.

G

Is your 9.5 loop on an MXT?

 

[BamaBill]

Sounds like he has a DFX, the MXT doesn't work the way he describes. The thing is I didn't think you could get that kind of depth out of a DFX either. I for one, really hopes he does post the results from the 18" Excelerator coil. I'm looking at picking up a 14" and like he says, you really don't get an idea from the online posts, if this is a good coil. The reviews are so mixed.

 

[gflores71]

Sorry, forgot to mention, I do use a DFX. The MXT should work the same as a very tweaked up DFX. The XL pro gets the same depth as well. You sure can get depth out of these machines on large targets in low trash areas (woods). My test garden is in South America in a Mountain area very similar to California in terms of mineralization, just to have an idea, you can pan for gold in the same area. My deepest target is a 12" copper pan at over 3 feet.

The XL pro sounds different for deeper targets, its hard to explain, like a muffled beep for deep targets.

Cache hunting in areas with trash is almost impossible as superficial targets can mask a deep target. That is when a double box ( TF-900, TM 808 etc) works well as they do not pick up targets smaller than your fist. Once you mark possible areas with a two box, you need to go back with a loop detector and give shape to the targets and maybe see what the discriminator says.

I will head down there in December and will be there until mid January, I will post my results from there, as we have a satellite internet conection out in the woods.

G

 

[BamaBill]

Thanks very much for the information I'm looking forward to your review of the 18" coil.

 

[gflores71]

Some reviews state that they dont get any improved performance , but they are searching for coins. To me that would be a plus as long as it picks up larger than coin targets deep. Then again I only do Cache hunting and no coinshooting.

I will post results around the end of Dec.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

I've always wanted to try the 25" Magnum Force field coil, but they're almost as expensive as a detector.

 

[Mike(Mont)]

Remember with a VLF that the hotter the ground, the more trouble a big coil is going to give you. The idea that twice the coil size will get you twice the depth is not true. A larger coil can see a bigger target deeper, but a small target may not get any more depth. One thing you can do is to bury a target and see how deep you can detect it (in the search area). This won't be perfectly accurate, but it will give you an idea of what can you expect.

 

[BamaBill]

I for one, am not worried about smaller targets. In fact, I want smaller targets to disappear when I'm cache hunting. I'm not real interested in digging a nail at 2'. But, I don't have the money for a two-box detector right now either. So, I'm hoping that a larger coil will give me the depth I need for now.

 

[gflores71]

I will compare the 9.5", 18" and the TM-808 at the same time and post the #s.

 

[gflores71]

I just finished a week in the woods playing with my MD's. results:

Target: 12" copper pan buried at 110 cm (over 3 feet)
Coils: Whites 9.5 , Excelerator 18" DD second Generation.
MD: Whites DFX

I can pick up the target with the 9.5 coil in all metal mode, but it takes a preamp set at 4 to get a nice reading in the discriminator mode.

The 18 inch DD coil is heavier, the threshhold humm is not as smooth, any little bump or too much friction against harder plants will cause false beeps. Despite this, it picks up the same target much stronger than the 9.5 in all metal mode. It also picks it up in Disc mode much easier even with the preamp set at only 2.

second test performed with a single quarter for coinshooters.

quarter buried at 12 inches, both coils pick it up well in both modes. Remember that I do have my own programs with slow sweep speed, increased amp, etc etc. I mention this because with the factory coin program, coin &jewelry you can not pick up the quarter with either coil at that depth. The relic program does pick it up.

I think the 18" excelerator has little advantage, except ground coverage, over the factory 9.5 FOR SMALL TARGETS.
The advantage is with larger targets, very impressive in my test garden.
I think this is a great coil for open country CACHE hunting.

almost forgot, both coils pick up the large target better than the TM 808, hard to believe but true.

Hope this helps

 

[BamaBill]

gflores, I for one, very much appreciate your review. This gives me an idea that the 14" Excelerator will do the job I have in mind and for serious cache hunting I'll eventually have to get the 18" (will probably need to rig up a harness for that puppy though).

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Buenas dias mi amigo DR. Flores You posted ----->

"both coils pick up the large target better than the TM 808, hard to believe but true."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I presume that this is within their effective depth range ? How would that be translated into say 4 = 10 ft with the same sized object? And could this apparent difference be due to different detecting frequencies?

I must agree that most caches are in less than 4 -5 FT, however ----.

I still find the old Gardner with the 3 ' coil extremely hard to beat for caches "In open, clean ground". It was light, extremely well balanced, and faaast Imagine, a 9 - 10 ft wide pass / swing, and 3 -4 ft forward on each swing for comeplete coverage., plus posted depths of 18 ft (on a VW sized metalic / conductive object)

However, most caches are not in nice clean open ground, free of brush etc. sooo, larger coils may be far more difficult to handle effectively in normal brushy conditions than a two box unit, this, besides the weight factor.

Sooo, for caches I still tend to favor a two box detector with ground cancelling abilities, even a Garrett blood hound attachment might be preferable..

Incidentally, the 3 ft Gardner coil is very similar in appearance to the large open loop shown in your photograph. the Gardner large coil consists of a single turn of 3/8 th aluminum tubing with three turns of small wire inside, it is very light.. --- hint for present manufacturers

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[gflores71]

Joseph,
I just have not been impressed with the TM-808, inferior to the older TM -800. Two box units are good for open FLAT terrain. Any movement that is not leveled to the ground will cause shifts in sound (threshold) and since positive signals are weak they can be masked or confused for those oscilations. I found that 18" coil to be a better option than the two box, although the two box can still be used to differentiate between a small target and a larger one.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

OHIO Dr Flores my friend. If the two box detector is ground balanced properly, it should make no effective difference. In fact, I use them to search the old fashioned adobe walls which can run to 4' thick.

The old 3-D was the forerunner of ground balancing twinbox detectors. it could effectively be set to differentiate between ferrous and non ferrous, it did NOT discriminate as such.

For me, discrimination is useless. Since I look for caches, "all" detected targets are dug. ( no problem since this is my tigers job, after all, why did I marry her?)

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[gflores71]

Forgot to mention, the test above had better results when using 3Khz as the freq. on the DFX.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HOLA Flores: One important factor is that the two box - which incidentally is just a normal ground balancing detector with the coils separated for deeper penetation / effect - does not pick up the smaller materiel which can be very important around older human areas where old metal objects were simply tossed out in back on the dump.

I agree, if you know your detector, you can easily identify if it is a large deeply buried target or simply a smaller one closer to the surface.

Also it is easier to use in brushier areas, one can maneuver it easier than the delicate (?) larger normal coils.

I do not have the 808, i agree with you, it is a different detector. I have the 800, 3-D, and the 900 series.

A Fisher, sad to say, does not cancel the ground matrix. It can pick up conductive targets wth best of them, but at the expense of driving you crazy with other non metalic, conductive readings.

I see that while you are an excellent surgeon, I will have to teach you to fly and use a detector when we meet in Bolivia. hehehe.

Don Jose de La Mancha

p.s. The old 3-D was the best, but a bit of a chore to do the preliminay balance before ground balancing, but as a result, it is superior to the later ones with auto balance.

 

[gflores71]

Hello Joseph, I am in Miami now starting a practice. I think two boxes help but at this time I think my big coil will get most of the work on my trips. A new cessna is in the works for next year, as we have new incentives and you can write off up to 250K of your taxes. I just have to find a way to prove it is used for work, hahaha.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

OHIO DR Flores: you posted --->

"you can write off up to 250K of your taxes. I just have to find a way to prove it is used for work, hahaha."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doesn't prospecting and detecting qualify? How about mistresses? hehhe



Don Jose de La Mancha