Alright, here is my day 1 update using the 5.3 and DD2 10" coil on my mxt pro, instead of the 12" shipped coil.
6:30am - don't have an extra rod yet so I pulled my 12 off and put the 5.3 on. Haven't had breakfast or coffee due to eagerness to get out, so my will power is waning fast...
6:40am - i'm in the local kiddy park, 5.3 is TINY and i'm looking at the park thinking "it will take me 3.8 years to detect this place with this coil". Nevertheless I get going. Grounded the unit on the outer edge of the mulchy area and get rolling. Immediately go to the areas that are noisy on the 12... could get a few inches closer but the all metal park is not going to let me get close to anything (2feet-3feet). I'm a bit disappointed, but figure i'll just see how well it works around the area.
7:00am - been going 20 minutes strong. Not a beep, peep, or chirp.
7:15am - really getting frustrated... hovering over foil on the surface of the mulch and it appears the pinpoint area is about 2 square inches big at most if I am adamant at swinging over and over on the foil. Discrim is set to zero, set to 8 through +1, all same. A decent piece of foil will not ring up well.
7:30 - almost a full hour of actual use on the 5.3 and I think I know what I think about the 5.3
7:40 - walk back to truck, swap out to the brand new DD2 10" coil. Wondering how much I can get for the 5.3 if I list it to resell it.
7:45 - back in park, within 10 feet ring up a penny at 2 inches. Slide foot across surface and there it is.
8:05 - did quick sweap of the small part of the park, no hits other than the penny. A few deep signals but after digging and digging and not being able to pinpoint I gave up (pull tab rings). I go over the same foil I tried hitting with the 5.3 and it rings up great. Good signal, and wide range.
8:10 step off kiddy area into area I know about 500 people mingled in the day before. Almost immediately the mxt starts beeping over and over, high pitch, penny, quarter, dime, dime, penny... etc. within about a 5 square foot area I found the rest of my finds: 1 quarter, 2 dimes, and 5 pennies. all essentially on surface or just under the grass coverage. Took a while to undestand the pinpointing on the DD but think I got pretty decent by the end.
8:45 - several small digs, and surface looks for dimes and pennies came up empty with continued pings. Got a bit frustrated at my inability to pinpoint with the DD again already. Decide to head home as it is already getting very muggy and hot.
All said I enjoyed the DD2 10", did not enjoy the 5.3 but will give it another try, but am not sure yet that the 10" is any better than the 12. Granted I only have 2 hours of detecting in with it and will spend many more hours the coming week.
Anyone else find similar "early" experience with these 2 coils. By no means am I giving up, just had that high "I'm going to find gold expectation" I always have before going out *wink*.
JMB
