Interchanging Metal Detector Coils?

[Professor Hester]

I should have mentioned this before.

I have watched my friend do a lot of relic detection, I'm not interested in that, but I am interested in:

Coins and Gold. 

By the way, will a metal detector detect silver or nickel ore?  I retired from Alaska to Utah where there are a lot of old mines.

[RickUK]

The bottom line a metal detector is basically just lumps of plastic and some electronic component inside,on its own it wont find you anything and also it makes no odds if you have the most expensive detector on the planet,its the skill of the operator that makes all the difference.

Also no one detector or coil combination can do it all,exactly the same as no one golf club can do it all,with a budget of say $300 then the EuroTek Pro would be a good all round starter machine,coins are much easier to find and also the most common due to them being a everyday item but your other request of gold is not that easy.

You have mentioned a budget and also the types of items that you are intended on looking for but have you given thought to locations to detect,as that side of things you have not mentioned,you started out getting all technical and requesting a lot of detecting information but left out a lot of basic equipment requirements like digging tools, pinpointers and the other basic equipment.

You mentioned about will a detector detect silver or nickel ore,its a metal detector after all so the answer should be yes,trouble is and this is not aimed at you personally but a lot of new folks in recent years have seen these various high profile media shows about finding buried treasure and massive amounts of gold but in the ral world i am afraid its nothing like that.After many years detecting i have found some stunning finds i wont go into specific details but i also still find lots of every day junk its all part of detecting.

If you really want to get into the technical side of detector and want specific details then the Geotech forum is the one,and one of the co-owners George Overton is a very good friend of mine over here in the UK.

With me its all about getting out and enjoying this wonderful hobby of ours called detecting,although some folks get excited talking about how they own the most expensive detector or how many knobs and whistles and bells they have.

As you are just starting out,just get a basic setup and enjoy this hobby rather than getting into the real technical issues of a detector,and learn what its telling you is much more important than any electronic spec.

You give a experienced detectorist a basic detector and he will still find items but give a expensive machine to a novice and he will find very little if at all

[Professor Hester]

Side Bar:  I spent two years in England in 1961-1963, what city do you live in?

RickUK, thanks for your advice!

Getting Closer to a Decision

At first I was leaning toward EuroTek Pro; however, it operates at 7.6 kHz and according to what I have learned so far, the higher the frequency the better the detector will find small gold nuggets.  So now, I am considering Tesoro's Cibola because it operates bi-model, at 4.3 kHz and 14.7 kHz.   I think you can change  from one frequency to the other with a switch.  Am I wrong?   It has a 9X8 concentric coil and it is a VLF/TR detector type.  It is a little above my budget of $300, but after reading a series of reviews, it is looking more like the one for me.  At first I steered clear of the metal detectors that did not have LCD; but, I'll make an exception for the Cibola.

One thing the reviews did not mention was whether it would find gold nuggets.  But the reviews did have it finding gold jewelry.  Not the same, but close.  It works well on coins. 

Here is my question, will the Cibola work well finding small gold nuggets?  The reviews were silent on gold nuggets.  If you know this metal detector, let me know what you think.

Gentlemen, what do you think of my choice.

[Steve Herschbach]

The Cibola is a 14 kHz detector. The operating frequency can be shifted between 14.3 kHz, 14.5 kHz, and 14.7 kHz to help eliminate electrical interference. The Cibola is a fine detector suitable for most uses but nugget detecting is last on the list due to the lack of ground balance option. The ground balance is preset internally for average ground conditions. This means it cannot be adjusted for the more adverse ground conditions found in any gold bearing locations. It does not mean you cannot find a gold nugget with it, just that it is its weakest area of operation.

You have to start someplace and you have made a good choice in a beginners detector. For nugget detecting basic capability starts at a higher price tag.

[azblackbird]

On 3/8/2015 at 8:44 PM, Professor Hester said:

It is a little above my budget of $300

Keep your eyes and ears open on CraigsList and E-bay, and with a little patience you can score yourself a barely used Whites MXT for about that price. If I was looking for a good all-around detector, that would be the one.

[Sourdough Scott]

I don't even know if it is feasible. I was just wondering how a triangular shaped coil would work. I know nothing about making a coil or what it takes to make one work. Nor do I care to, as long as it works. Just seems that a triangle shape could get into some nooks and crannies that other shapes couldn't.

[Professor Hester]

Bounty Hunter Tracker II has an automatic and manual ground balance, but it operates at 6.6 kHz and a 7” coil; it will only search 7” deep but it only costs $82

I looked but I couldn’t find any other low-cost metal detector with a manual

ground balance.

If you have to have "Ground Balance" to be able search successfully for small gold nuggets, this one has ground balance.

[Professor Hester]

Would a Garrett search coil 8.5x11 DD Performance, work on

Bounty Hunter Tracker II?

[Mike Hillis]

That garrett coil will not work on the Tracker II.