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9” HF Round Versus 5” X 9” Elliptical


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I have owned just about every XP coil variant except the 11x13  LF and X35 versions  (too nose heavy and flexed the stock shaft from my brief swing of the beast).  Almost exactly 3 years to the day I got my hands on a 9" HF round coil and I have never looked back.  I have used to the 9.5" elliptical and one of my hunting buddies swears by it and has had great success with it including some great deep finds, but it never quite clicked with me.  I like the 28 khz sweet spot on the coil and have done great with it at the beach, relic hunting, coin shooting, and contest hunting.  It just feels right and I don't question whether I am getting sufficient depth like I do when I am using the elliptical.  I sometimes use the 9.5" elliptical in tight swing situations, but that's about all.  I don't think the depth delta between the two coils is that significant, especially in mineralized ground or when hunting micro targets, but the 9" round just feels right overall for me whether it is attached to the Deus or Orx.  I know that is pretty subjective, but that's the truth.  

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14 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

I have owned just about every XP coil variant except the 11x13  LF and X35 versions  (too nose heavy and flexed the stock shaft from my brief swing of the beast).  Almost exactly 3 years to the day I got my hands on a 9" HF round coil and I have never looked back.  I have used to the 9.5" elliptical and one of my hunting buddies swears by it and has had great success with it including some great deep finds, but it never quite clicked with me.  I like the 28 khz sweet spot on the coil and have done great with it at the beach, relic hunting, coin shooting, and contest hunting.  It just feels right and I don't question whether I am getting sufficient depth like I do when I am using the elliptical.  I sometimes use the 9.5" elliptical in tight swing situations, but that's about all.  I don't think the depth delta between the two coils is that significant, especially in mineralized ground or when hunting micro targets, but the 9" round just feels right overall for me whether it is attached to the Deus or Orx.  I know that is pretty subjective, but that's the truth.  

The 9" coil seems like it would be nice for hunting  gold rings.      Could you use that combo in a park and  keep up with nox  for silver coins?

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8 hours ago, Dances With Doves said:

The 9" coil seems like it would be nice for hunting  gold rings.      Could you use that combo in a park and  keep up with nox  for silver coins?

It can run at 13 - 14 khz for "general purpose" target hunting.  I have hit old and deep silver with both Equinox and Deus.  In fact, at my "old silver" site each machine has snagged me a seated quarter.  Could it keep up?  Depends on the park conditions (trashy or not) and the familiarity and experience of the detectorist with the idiosyncracies of each machine.  If you primarily want deep silver, the x35 coil family is a better choice as it can run from just under 4 khz up to just above 25 khz.

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8 hours ago, Tom Slick said:

Chase shouldn't it be "I know that is pretty subjective, but that's the truth. I think." 😁

Well it's my truth, so I know that.  But of course my hunting buddy would have a different opinion.  And just like about anything metal detecting, ymmv.

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Thanks for the feedback everyone! The fact is I have used the elliptical coil - I had one of the first ones out. So I'm familiar with what it can do on gold nuggets at least.

The bottom line for me is there are other detectors and coil combinations I would use that do better on tiny gold. The elliptical HF coil runs with the best of them when other detectors have the same size coil for comparative purposes. But I don't play fair. The HF elliptical can't keep up with something like a Gold Bug 2 running a 4" x 6" concentric, the Gold Monster running the 5" round DD, or Goldmaster 24K running the 6" round concentric.

So for me I'd at this point in time, if I had to choose one, I'd pick the 9" round as still being extremely good on very small gold. The elliptical has an edge on the tiniest bits but truthfully there gets to be an aspect of hair splitting in gold bits weighing well under a grain. I'm used to finding nuggets weighing a tenth grain or less, but at a tenth grain means you have to find 4800 of those bits to have an ounce of gold!

There is a balance to nugget detecting between finding the tiniest bits and finding the little bit larger stuff that actually adds weight to the bottle. So I'd rather give up a little on the tiniest bits, to get more depth on nuggets weighing a half gram or a gram. That's what the 9" round offers. Overall I think it is a generally more versatile coil, with the elliptical being a little more a specialty coil.

They are both great, no wrong choice, it's just a decision for each of us as to what works best for us.

xp-deus-new-hf-elliptical-coil.jpg

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I have to say the 9” round hf is my favorite coil with the 9” X35 a close second. Then the two specialty coils-the 11” X35 for fields and anyplace that has a lot of ground to cover, and the elliptical hf for the most iron infested spots and where there are a lot of bushes, logs etc. where the size and maneuverability are a real asset. 

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On 6/5/2020 at 1:38 AM, Steve Herschbach said:

...

There is a balance to nugget detecting between finding the tiniest bits and finding the little bit larger stuff that actually adds weight to the bottle. So I'd rather give up a little on the tiniest bits, to get more depth on nuggets weighing a half gram or a gram. That's what the 9" round offers. Overall I think it is a generally more versatile coil, with the elliptical being a little more a specialty coil.

They are both great, no wrong choice, it's just a decision for each of us as to what works best for us.

I never tried the elliptical 9.5 HF coil , however I have been using for several years now the 9 white HF coil on my DeuS WS4.

For gold hunting I do not know but for coin shooting it is a great coil , perhaps the best coil that XP has ever made up to now …And ultra light , the 9 HF coil itself weights 320grams plus 20grams for the battery at the top of the lower shaft.  The only thing to remember is to use 14khz freq on low iron trashed areas, and switch to 30khz on trashy areas.

Concerning the depth perfo , probably the 9i HF coil will be a little deeper than the elliptical 9.5 on large nuggets . It is just a guess .. 

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I hope it's allowed to disagree here. People have their biases and everybody with much experience thinks they know it all. Point is every detector is different and needs to be treated as such. There's a youtube channel Gold Diggers MD from Australia the guy says the ORX with the Elliptical coil easily beats the Gold Bug, Equinox, and the Gold Monster on small gold. Now I admit the soil is different there. I also know the XP detectors need to be adjusted correctly. There are some youtube videos by Gary Blackwell. The Depar is the forrunner of the ORX. Not that hard to adjust if you know how. I've watched many videos where the person was doing comparative testing and they start the detector up with the coil on the ground or worse yet have another detecter running nearby when doing the comparison. Gotta have it away from any metal, and the manual doesn't explain it that well. Hold it three feet off the ground when starting up for 15 seconds. 

Whenever I hear somebody say their new detector does not work well I know it's because they don't have it set right. Just recently I read some posts on another forum said the Equinox would not hit a gold coin buried 5 inches. Another poster said the same thing about silver coins but that it hit pull tabs and pennies just fine. The answer given was send the detector back for repair. 

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8 hours ago, Contraption said:

I hope it's allowed to disagree here. People have their biases and everybody with much experience thinks they know it all.

Disagreeing is one thing. Speaking without any personal knowledge and taking a shot at those who have the experience that you do not... not so much. The thread is for people who have used the coils to explain which they prefer and why. What has your post to do with that? Are you seriously trying to tell me I don’t know how to tune a detector?

Frankly, I could care less about what salespeople say in YouTube videos. If you want to believe the ORX beats everything on the smallest gold, fine. But since I know differently from personal use it will take more than the fact you’ve watched a video to convince me you know better. You obviously don’t know the limitations imposed by coil size, and the fact a large ORX coil has a disadvantage compared to competitive machines running much smaller coils.

I measure the gold I have found with metal detectors in the last 45 years in pounds and have worked with nearly all the major manufacturers as a consultant as regards nugget detector performance. I’ve used every one of the detectors I discuss under real world conditions and do constant field comparisons. With all due respect to Gary,  I’ve found more gold nuggets in a day then Gary has in his life. And your qualifications are...... you watched a video by people with a vested interest in selling a detector? People who are literally paid salespeople on company payroll? Yeah, could not possibly be any bias at work there! :laugh:

https://www.detectorprospector.com/magazine/steves-reviews/metal-detectors-detecting-gold-prospecting-reviews/

I am biased for sure, biased to what I’ve seen with my own eyes versus what I see or hear from others. I have made a lot of money off gold as a professional prospector and so I take this stuff quite seriously. Opinions are a dime a dozen; I’ll put my actual experience nugget detecting with various detectors up against anyone’s when it comes to both the depth and breadth of that experience, worldwide, with different detectors, under different conditions. I’m also not here to sell anyone on anything. I could care less what people want to use, but I am willing to share what I know with people who are willing to listen. Bottom line is if you think an ORX with a 5” x 9.5” DD outperforms a Gold Bug 2 running a 4” x 6” concentric on the smallest gold nuggets, you are dreaming. But absolutely, don’t take my word on that or anyone else’s. Get them both and try them together and see what you think. Then come back and post a cogent explanation of why I am wrong. :smile:

 

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