X-coil Connection Update

[Norvic]

Regardless of the static, I am having a ball digging up gold, that is my agenda, I recommend to whoever wants a coil choice for the Z have a look at the X coils. IMO the talk of touch sensitivity is not so for the 3 coils I have, I have found the ferrite serves no purpose for me plus this talk of the coil you cut the lead to make the patch lead up for is sacrificial is just not true. As to "proper" testing of X coils, I made a decision to buy the 15" knowing full well there is always an element of risk, I was prepared to push the pram, well I`ve 3 prams now and they are golden lined.

Go with the negative stuff or go with the positive stuff that is up to the individual.

Money is the source of all evil, nah Phrunt huuuuuumans are, but we are seeing another old saying brought to life "Gold brings out the best in mans ingenuity, the worst in his nature"

 

[Norvic]

Nah, the touch sensitive I`m on about is when you hit rocks, the ground, grass shrubs etc in your swing, my 3 X coils are not touch sensitive but they are gold sensitive, the gold Monster coils I have are not touch sensitive but  also are gold sensitive. Thinking back, MLs "garbage" lid coil was touch sensitive and the first two I had also weren`t gold sensitive thus why they received the name garbage lid coils and were quickly made redundant, in comparison to MLs first attempts at large PI coils the X coils like most coils we are blessed with these days are simply light years ahead.

[jasong]

Phrunt, losses and error handling is much easier to deal with in digital communication. There is no circuitry in the Z coil (or is there??) so it must be analog only going in and out (other than the security chip comms).

Analog is notoriously susceptible to noise, and there is no real way to correct it or resend, there are no checksums, nothing. You have filtering. But filtering generally reduces sensitivity and/or resolution. It reduces noise but it reduces signal too in a lot of cases.

Any time you add a connector you add a potential source of noise both from inductive or capacitive sources or via mechanical motion unless it's somehow perfectly shielded and immobilized. That has nothing to do with detectors, just electronics in general. One way coils get touch sensitive when the windings, solder joints, or connections come lose as one example (hence why I only used potted coils on the GPX).

Another way coils can be touch sensitive is if they are weak and the winding flexes slightly when bumped.

I too am curious about the inner construction of the X Coils for these very questions, and if it comes apart easily I'm going to see what's inside. 

[Trent King]

Geez look at the shit fight mentioning a problem caused ?. You blokes need to spend more time swinging, less typing.

Great to see that Dave came and sorted it out for Steve.  You may need to recommend that not just anyone makes these patch leads if a little too much heat on the soldering iron can wreck the chip or you won’t get much detecting done, running around the country trying to problem solve would  be time consuming.

[jasong]

1 minute ago, phrunt said:

There is a small IC in the stock GPZ coils on an X-ray, not sure what it's there for.

Interesting...have you X rayed an X Coil to see if there is an IC in it out of idle curiosity?

[jasong]

Pretty sure that isn't an x ray man... 

To me the location and solder points on that board look simply like a way to terminate or connect the ends of the wires from each lobe, keep them immobilized, and send it on up into the shielded cable. I don't see an IC on there. No idea though, photo is small. 

I agree they could just disable the firmware security check. Charge $200 for that update instead of a patch cable that might induce noise, and then Minelab could make money off the X Coils at least a little bit instead of no licensing fee at all as it stands now. I mentioned that a few days back in the large pile of posts related to this subject that get rapidly buried. I was hoping it might elicit a response from JP inferring it might be on the drawing board before I cut my cable for good, but no such luck. If ML ends up doing that after I cut my cord I better be getting a free coil for the idea. 

[afreakofnature]

We need a comparison between the SDC 8” and the Z 10.”  Cause if they are similar it would make more sense to buy a used SDC for about $800 more.  Then you could turn around and sell it when or if Minelab releases a small coil, might be harder to resell an xcoil.  I need to do these things cause i cant afford to buy new all the time.  I need to resell and buy used to keep up.  So resell matters to me.  My two cents only.  Does anybody have a SDC and 10” xcoil to do this?

[madtuna]

X factor, ferrite balance, touch sensitivity etc..etc..

Those things aside, if it helps my gold tally I'm fine with that and the only way I'll know is by whacking one on the end of my detector.

While I respect Jp's opinion, I also respect Dave's opinion and that of others here having success with the new coils. I trust that thier observations and successes are true.

As for the moral aspect and legalities of cutting the cord or bypassing the chip or ML's I.P. or whatever you want to call it, I run 16ply rag tyres on split rims. Split rims for my Perentie cost $1500 a pop from LandRover. I got Toyota split rims, had the guts cut out and LandRover centres grafted in at a cost of $175 a pop. Does that make me a bad man?

[strick]

Disclaimer.... a rambling idiot is about to post...if I have to cut the connector off the end of my coil there is probably no way in hell ML is going to service or warranty that coil if there is a problem with it down the road. This is probably what JP is referring to when he talks about a "sacrificed coil"  That said ML would probably just send me a brand new coil if something was wrong with my coil that was still under warranty. My machine has been out of warranty now for a while and the only thing that has kept me from getting one of the X coils is that I don't get to hunt for gold that often. Not afraid of doing a little soldering here on my end so I might eventually get one if Minelab don't step up to the plate at some point. I've commented earlier in one of my posts that the "Key Players" other then JP have been silent on this X coil issue so it does make you wonder what is going on...if anyone cares to inform me please do via PM lol. Another thought since we all know that ML likes to save money...the chip in the plug is there a possibility that it is the same as ones they use in other machines ? could say a CTX plug/chip be cut and attached to a X coil ? is there even a chip in the CTX cable plugs?  

strick

[mn90403]

C'mon guys ... it's only money and gold.  What's the big deal?