Chuck (rr) .. How Is The 5x9½ HF Working Out For Coins?

[Monte]

I spend the bulks of my time in Relic Hunting environments where my greatest interest is in old Coins, Trade Tokens, buttons and other artifacts-of-interest ... all the whole dealing with modest to totally frustrating ferrous debris.  Nails and cut wire are one thing, but all the other ferrous junk, especially rusty tin and shards of decaying cans, present a different challenge.  Been at it for decades and favor smaller-size coils, but the XP folks won't produce a smaller-size coil for us, and I didn't/don't care for the Deus anyway.  But with the arrival of the ORX as well as the 5X9½ DD HF coil (mid-sized and not small but an improvement), I added a new ORX w/5X9½ HF coil to my Detector Outfit the first of June.

Impressed, I made a few adjustments trimming my arsenal, then bought another new ORX late September/early October with the 9" X35 DD coil.  Just wanted to see what it offered me in performance and I like it for some urban Coin Hunting in open grassy parks and such, and might grab it for open plowed fields or rangeland.  But my favorite set-up is my ORX w/slender HF coil that I specifically assigned to my Relic Hunting Detector Team.

As the year draws to a close for many detecting opportunities due to the drop in temperature and arrival of snow this week, I'm going to do some more thinning of detectors, but the two ORX & coil packages are going nowhere.  I need them due to my age, bad health and impaired mobility, and their light-weight and comfortable performance are letting me hang in there to continue to enjoy this great sport.  You said you ordered the 5X9½ HF coil about June, I believe, so with 5-6 months of working it I am curious what you think of it for your sites and coin-finding abilities.  care to share your preferred settings?

I hope you have a milder winter season than many of us will have to deal with, and if you get out, the best of success to you.

Monte

 PS: I'm naturally interested in other's experiences as well w/ORX, the elliptical HF coil, and how it handles the types of cite environments they hunt.

[Rick N. MI]

Nice report Monte. I'm thinking I need to add the 9.5x5 hf coil with my 9" hf coil.

I am really liking this detector. It is becoming my main detector. My main hunting will be in lakes and the waterproof kit works great. No problems. I keep the waterproof container with the box inside of my waders.

Give the Gold modes a try. In tests It seems to separate  better and goes very deep on gold.

[Ridge Runner]

Monte

  If would makes myself just keep that 5X9 on but my trouble is I’m in love with the 9” round HF coil . That 9” is my go to coil and it’s hard to turn my back on it . I can’t say the other wouldn’t be as good but at my age I don’t want to waste my energy to find out.

  I’ve got it and just need to make myself put it on until I know it. I say that because I don’t think you put a different coil on for a day and say you know what all that coil can do for you.

When I say energy I’m talking due to age I have only so much each day. When young I always had a full tank of gas . As time is passing me bye I find my tank on most days may not be over half full. Then like some here health problems can shorten that energy level even more.

 I don’t ask much but please let me die with a metal detector in my hand .

 Chuck 

[Monte]

Rick N.NI: Nice report Monte. I'm thinking I need to add the 9.5x5 hf coil with my 9" hf coil.

I was kind of torn between getting my ORX with the round or elliptical partly because a hunting buddy/dealer friend loves his Deus and both 9" and 11" round coils.  I don't care for the Deus, personally, but the ORX got my interests up, and since the bulk of my detecting is in very littered or confined places, I favor smaller-size search coils .... have since 1971/'72.  XP doesn't have a smaller-size coil, so I went with the 5X9½ HF DD coil because it was their smaller coil, and I consider this to be a mid-size, just as I consider a round 7" coil to be mid-size.

 

Rick N.NI: I am really liking this detector.  It is becoming my main detector.  My main hunting will be in lakes and the waterproof kit works great.  No problems.  I keep the waterproof container with the box inside of my waders.

And that is almost the same 'problem', if you will, that I have.  I liked the ORX w/5X9½ HF so much that it has become one of my favorite detectors to grab at many hunt sites.  The other 'problem' I have is that I do have other favorites, some of which have held that classification for quite some time.  They became a favorite and haven't really been 'bumped' due to a much improved unit taking its place.

 

One of the reasons the ORX is a great 'fit' in my arsenal is that, due to age, health issues and mobility limitations, I just can't get out and about like I used to or put in the time I would like to, and a lighter-weight, well-balanced detector helps me last a little longer.

 

Rick N.NI: Give the Gold modes a try. In tests It seems to separate  better and goes very deep on gold.

I can't gold nugget hunt like I did in the '70s and '80s, but I try.  Gold jewelry, and silver, is always welcome when I'm Coin Hunting.  I spend most of my time in brushy and iron littered Relic Hunting environments the bulk of the time and "separation" is only part of the process that makes a detector/coil combination perform well.  Some models are quick-response and fast-recovery performers when dealing with a lot of closely-spaced accepted targets, but lack the needed circuitry design to recover-and-respond when also taking on nails and other ferrous trash that is a rejected target because they can't recover well from handling the rejection process.  I'll be tinkering with the ORX Gold programs now that 'cabin fever season' has arrived.

 

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Ridge Runner: Monte

If would makes myself just keep that 5X9 on but my trouble is I’m in love with the 9” round HF coil . That 9” is my go to coil and it’s hard to turn my back on it.

Trust me, I know what you're saying.  For over five decades now I have maintained more than one detector (usually 2 to 5 and others up in the 10 to baker's dozen count) that are each equipped with my preferred search coil.  Some models I don't even have a standard coil for or any extras, and a few I do, IF  I plan to occasionally use them.

 

I keep extra coils on lower rods in my Accessory Coil Tote, but seldom get in there because each detector sports the coil I am most often going to use.  For example, I have 4 Tesoro's (2 models and 2 back-up duplicates) and all of them keep a 6" Concentric coil mounted because that's the only coil I like to use on them.  A 6½" Concentric stays on my modified IDX Pro, 7" Concentric stays on my F-44, and an 'OOR'  DD on my FORS CoRe.  I have 2 FORS Relic's and keep a 5" DD on the most used device, and a mid-size 5X9½ on the other.  Much like my ORX models, of which I bought a 2nd.  My most-used is with the 5X9½ DD HF coil, but I like the round 9" X35 coil for other applications, and to keep both coils ready-to-use, they are set with their own ORX.

 

Ridge Runner: I can’t say the other wouldn’t be as good but at my age I don’t want to waste my energy to find out.

Well, I guess I've been "wasting energy" a lot over the years, but that's fine.  I usually can tell in a short period of time by the testing I do.  Due to age and health I have to budget that evaluation time, but it doesn't take long because it has to come close to matching what other units I own and use can do.

 

Ridge Runner: I’ve got it and just need to make myself put it on until I know it. I say that because I don’t think you put a different coil on for a day and say you know what all that coil can do for you.

Just mount that coil and do some comparisons.  Since you like your XP and round 9" coil, do some quick-and-simple side-by-side comparisons to see if it comes close to the performance you currently enjoy.  That's what I do, and it doesn't have to do them a lot better, just do them well enough that you're pleased with the results.

 

The key I look for in evaluating any detector/coil combination to see what it CAN'T do for certain applications I would be using it for.  As an example, I wouldn't expect a detector with a 9" or 10" or 11" coil to keep up with the performance I get from a Tesoro w/6" when working tot-lots with a lot of metal structures so that wouldn't be a fair comparison to reject a model.   But if it is touted to perform really well in a very iron nail contaminated site, then I have two Test Scenarios I use to compare it against units I have that work exceptionally well.  If the new-to-me detector & coil CAN'T come close to matching their performance for that applications, then I have no need for it.

 

Some makes & models can make very good "multi-purpose" detectors for Relic Hunting as well as urban Coin Hunting needs, but others can't so they become more of a specific-application type model.  I own and use both.

 

Ridge Runner: When I say energy I’m talking due to age I have only so much each day.  When young I always had a full tank of gas. As time is passing me bye I find my tank on most days may not be over half full.  Then like some here health problems can shorten that energy level even more.

I've been waiting at the pump for a while to get service.  Injured my back at Compass in Sept. '88 and that started the slow-down process.  I could still get in a full day of hunting, but sometimes it was a little slower.  Diabetic issues and other ailments came to visit in '90 and never left.  Back got worse, was assigned a cane in March of '93 and impaired mobility started to get in the way and has really limited my hunt-time ever since.  Steadily declining as age increased and balance and mobility have decreased.

 

I even decided this weekend that I'm going to further trim some of my all-time favorite detectors from my Outfit because I just can't hunt for long anymore, especially if they are just kind-of on the heavier side.  To keep having fun and enjoying myself and maybe increase my hunt time to a couple of hours a day, I have to trim my Outfit to the lightest and better-balanced detectors I can tolerate.  Naturally my two ORX devices are setting a standard to compare others with.

 

Monte

[Ridge Runner]

Monte

  Getting old is not for the weak because you have to be strong to make it. The golden years are not so golden.

 My stepdad always said he wants to live to be a hundred and turn into a jackass then live to be another hundred. Well my wife called me a jackass the other day so I must be on my second hundred.

 Chuck