Tesoro Lobo fresh water hunting, is the DD coil worth it ?

[Acquisitor]

I'm currently using tesoro lobo with the standard coil, I find lots of gold in fresh water lakes, it easy finds bracelets, earrings and other things which other detectors have difficulties with.

However I'm not that satisfied with its depth, so the question is, should I try a larger coil too ? will it gain a significant depth boost ? what about the loss of sensitivity for fine gold ?

thinking about this 10x12" coil

 

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[Terry Soloman]

The stock eliptical coil is a double d coil. A bigger one will give more depth.

 

[Acquisitor]

ok sorry, you are right

well, what kind of depth increase should I expect with a 10x12" coil and would sensitivity for small gold (especially chains, bracelets, earrings) be dramatically reduced ?

 

[Sandman]

The larger the coil the less sensitivity to tiny gold usually.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

The larger the coil the less sensitivity to tiny gold usually.

I think that applies more to tiny gold nuggets and flakes than rings.... I have recovered some really small gold rings and gold earrings, earring studs as well using my large 15 inch coils, smallest gold ring was .06 of a gram. got 5 gold earring studs as well.... All the small targets were recovered fairly deep as well...

 

[Acquisitor]

so in your opinion its definately worth getting this coil ?
the problem with the standard elliptical lobo coil is the depth, I love finding earrings, chains and bracelets which others miss with their excaliburs and other detectors, but the depth of the standard coil is a bit disappointing imo.

 

[Terry Soloman]

If you are discriminating with the Lobo ST, then you are losing depth no matter what coil you pop on. Discrimination takes several inches off your depth with this machine

 

[Acquisitor]

well I hunt in water til my neck, my standard setting is disc at 1, however the switch is pointed at "disc". (yes I also dig up small iron)

what settings would you recommend for FRESH water hunting ?

 

[Terry Soloman]

If you are looking for recent drops you can discriminate out iron only - do not go above 3. If you want to go past 7", stay in ALL METAL all the time. For fresh water depth you can get a Minelab Sov and waterproof it it ($1200.00) or an Excal ($1400.00) and get 11"-13" in depth while knocking out iron (Fisher CZ; any good multi-frequency machine), but you won't pull gold chains with those machines like the Lobo will in All Metal.

 

[Acquisitor]

well I already have an excalibur, and have been pulling heavy and deep gold rings with it, then I bought a lobo and combine them now.
the question was "will lobo be anywhere near excalibur in depth, with a larger coil, while still being able to find small/thin gold"...


also, after having tested the lobo, it is my opinion that discriminating iron will reduce sensitivity on fine gold as well, thats why I dont mind digging out small iron. Also, I have found lots of gold near small iron, I think other hunters miss it since they get iron signal on their detectors.

 

[Acquisitor]

also, I see you have tigershark AND lobo.

do you think lobo is more sensitive for small gold than tigershark ? or is it exactly the same machine while one is being waterproof ?

 

[Terry Soloman]

also, I see you have tigershark AND lobo.

do you think lobo is more sensitive for small gold than tigershark ? or is it exactly the same machine while one is being waterproof ?

I have a "Sand Shark," not a Tiger Shark. The Lobo is more sensitive to smaller gold in All Metal only, not in Discrimination mode. They both give about the same performance otherwise. No VLF machine can beat the Lobo Super Traq on small gold in All Metal.

 

[Acquisitor]

ok thanks!
I just tested the lobo in all metal and in disc with tiny gold (chains, bracelets, ear rings), and all metal DOES go deeper, for the tiniest pieces even twice as deep,(for example 2.5" vs 5" for tiny earrings etc).

I dont mind digging the iron, I know relatively small fresh water beaches where people have been swimming for many many decades, its "hunted out" by excaliburs and other less sensitive detectors, however with lobo its a gold mine there are several gold items per square meter, not kidding, most of them are masked by small iron such as hair pins etc. I think its worth cleaning it completely.

 

[nuggetshooter323]

Just a reminder, the auto tracking only works in all metal. In disc mode the ground balance is factory set.

 

[Acquisitor]

well I switched to "all metal", and in some lakes with not too much trash, its awesome sure, there is some iron there, like hair pins, but I dont mind it, the best finds are chains and bracelets, and they are missed by most other detectors. but not by me

 

[Acquisitor]

so I ordered the 12x10 DD coil for my lobo, should be here on Monday, I will test it and post the results here, maybe someone will be interested.
will test micro jewelry, coins and gold rings/chains etc with both coils in all metal and disc.

it still surprises me that some people tend to think that putting a larger coil on the lobo does not increase depth, while others believe the depth should increase from an inch or two to "a lot".

 

[SpiritRelic]

well I switched to "all metal", and in some lakes with not too much trash, its awesome sure, there is some iron there, like hair pins, but I dont mind it, the best finds are chains and bracelets, and they are missed by most other detectors. but not by me

You got it going on! Perfect gold jewelry combo,you will probably go deeper with the 9x8 conc,but that would be a better relic type combo,i think the 12x10 will do you justice for what you are doing.

 

[Acquisitor]

ok so I tested the standard stock coil 10x5" vs the new 12x10DD coil.
test subjects were: 0.4gr small earring, 0.6r big but hollow earring, micro bracelet 1.7 gr, small bracelet 3.5gr, wedding band 3gr, huge seal ring 14gr. ALL 18k.

the big coil could easily pick the micro jewerly showing an increase of 1-3" depending in the subject
the wedding band gave about 4" increase, and the big ring can be picked up at 40cm or 1ft 4"

I like the results.

all testing was done in disc, where disc was set at 2

 

[nuggetshooter323]

It totally depends on the soil. In highly minerlized or trashy soil, a larger diameter coil "sees" more minerlization at a time. The 10x12 coil covers a larger area, so the increased input of more trash or minerlization puts a higher demand on the ground compensation, and this is when you lose depth. Tesoro hints at this concept in their literature on the 10x12 widescan because they say not to use it in trashy soil. In mild to medium soil with little or no trash, you could easily get 10"+. Add trash or minerlization and your depth can easily be cut in half or worse. In gold country, minerlization can cut your depth down to 1"-2". So if your uncertain about conditions, go over your hunting area with several sizes of coils. In the example of your trashy park, there may be pockets of clear areas that the 10x12 will punch down through and help you make a good find that the small coil would have missed. That's why I always use several sizes of coils when I go over an area.