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X-Terra Coils: Minelab Vs. Coiltek?


GB_Amateur

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I'm considering buying (yet) another coil for my ML X-terra 705 -- 15 inch DD operating at 3kHz.  Often Minelab and Coiltek offer complementary (different size/frequency/winding) coils, but in some cases, as what I'm considering, they offer coils that appear to be quite similar.  Given that the Coiltek costs about 50% more, I'm wondering if I should apply the "you get what you pay for" standard advice or save $100 for a future coil purchase.  :wacko:

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The new Minelab 15" 3kHz coil is the exact same Coil as the Coiltek WOT.  It's just grey, labeled Minelab and is cheaper.  I had one for a short time and it is a fantastic coil for the 705.  Very deep and quiet in bad ground.  Deeper than my CTX 3030 17" coil combo on dimes.  Well worth the price.

https://www.minelab.com/customer-care/product-notices?article=269779

Bryan

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On 1/7/2017 at 3:25 PM, Cabin Fever said:

The new Minelab 15" 3kHz coil is the exact same Coil as the Coiltek WOT.  It's just grey, labeled Minelab and is cheaper.  I had one for a short time and it is a fantastic coil for the 705.  Very deep and quiet in bad ground.  Deeper than my CTX 3030 17" coil combo on dimes.  Well worth the price.

Thanks, Bryan.  This is exactly the kind of response I was hoping to get here.  Show me a site that even comes close in cooperation/assistance among members!

What makes me a bit concerned is this:  I can understand why Coiltek&Minelab would go into a cooperative agreement here.  Coiltek apparently has a superior product and Minelab has the marketing and sales network.  What I don't understand (and thus makes me suspicious) is why the price went down so drastically.  One thing I've noticed about coils (not necessarily tied to one manufacturer) is how the prices fluctuate.  And it's not just the downward direction.  It's Minelab's business and decision to set the prices where they feel they will make the most profit in the short run and long term, and we've seen this in the past; it's no secret.  But are they going to continue to sell a coil they don't build (and thus share the profit) at 2/3 of what Coiltek was asking, or is this just a hidden introductory offer?

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Minelab could have made a quantity buy, versus Coiltek selling one here or there. Or maybe Minelab licensed the design and is getting it made in it's own facilities for less? Or consider this - Coiltek probably had to pay a good licensing fee to Minelab to make an officially approved X-Terra coil since they have a proprietary chip inside to sense the frequency. Minelab does not have to pay itself that fee. Look at how much a 5 x 10 Joey coil costs for a Minelab PI from Coiltek and then what the same coil costs from Coiltek to fit a CTX and you will see what I mean.

We can speculate all we want. If it was some unknown company I can see being suspicious but I personally sure would not be worrying about buying the coil if it has the Minelab name on it instead of the Coiltek name.

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1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I personally sure would not be worrying about buying the coil if it has the Minelab name on it instead of the Coiltek name.

Agree.  But actually my concern was a price increase in the near future from the market $190 (compared to the market $290 that Coiltek retailers  were charging).  As has been mentioned here before, price reflects more on what the sellers feel the market will bear than the manufacturing+marketing costs.  Maybe it's  $50 cost for them....

Just bought a used Coiltek, so I should be good-to-go.  Thanks for the helpful responses.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Regardless of the price you pay for the coil by coiltek or minelab, you have the same coil. Are you using this coil for coin hunting? If so keep in mind that it doesn't pinpoint well like a mono coil or smaller DD does. It is equally hot all around the coil. Ease up to the target with short side to side sweeps from all four directions using the top edge of the coil. You should really use a pinpointed with this coil choice. You will end up digging deeper holes with this coil so it may end up drawing unwanted attention if you are detecting in parks or peoples yards that you have permission to hunt. If you are intending to hunt gold nuggets then you need the High Frequency coil. With an air test on a 1 3/4 ounce nugget on a sensitivity of 26, I was getting a faint but definitely repeatable solid signal at a solid two feet.

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On 11/28/2017 at 9:23 AM, goldseeker4000 said:

Are you using this coil for coin hunting?

Thanks for that response.  I actually bought this coil used (for a good price, at least that's what I thought at the time...), tested it in the backyard, and then hung it in the cabinet where it's been sitting ever since.  Probably not my wisest buy, in retropect, not because it isn't a good coil but because I don't have much use for it (right now).

I likely thought it would be a good coil for deep coin hunting, which it probably is in a clean site.  All my sites to date are too trash infested to have any hope (for me, anyway) finding good targets.  I rationalize that this coil may be a good cache-hunting coil, but so far I haven't done any of that.

BTW, of the five coils I have for the X-Terra (6"DD and 15"DD at 3 kHz, 8" and 6" concentrics at 7.5 kHz, and 6"DD at 18.75 kHz) my favorite is the 18.75 kHz 6".  I'm encouraged by your other post where you say this is a great coil.  Up to this point I was wondering if I was the only person to ever own one!  Now, I'm talking coin hunting since I haven't taken it gold searching (don't live in that kind of gold country and only get to those once/twice a year; and my other detectors have traveled well on plane flights...).  For me, the iron wraparound has always been a problem at lower frequencies.  (Maybe I still don't have the settings tuned right.)  The small HF doesn't have that problem much.  I still don't have the 5"x10" DD HF coil -- standard on the Gold Pack.

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  • 1 month later...

GB Amateur

If you are considering a 5x10 coil for your X-Terra I highly recommend the Mars Sniper coil in the dual freq's  of 7.5 and 18.75 kHz.  They get amazing depths equal to the 10.5" ML coils. Using one in 18.75 kHz it is the best nickel hunter I have ever used.

http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,137674

Tom 

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