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Detector Sensing Size And Type Of Coil?


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So most detector companies make different coils for their machines. So why don't they optimize programs for specific coil sizes? For instance with the Equinox would using Park1 with the 11" work just as good if you changed to the 6" changing nothing. You could go into Coil Size in settings and designate what coil your using and once done the detector would change each factory program to be optimized for the size coil you picked. I know optimized for one site might not be optimized for another, but factory settings have to be set where they are for a reason. It just seems that changing coils should require Sensitivity, Recovery, and maybe even frequency tweaks etc. to get the most out of a smaller or larger coil. It seems like a selling point to me.    

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Soil condition will very from place to place. Some ground is smooth as a babies butt that a large coil works great. The next location may be rocky ground and out comes that small coil. Who knows maybe that elliptical coil will work better than the 6” round one.

 I could go on and on to answer your question why but the best thing is watch lots of videos. Look for beach nugget and just plain coin hunting and I think this will help you more than I can ever write here.

 Chuck 

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But, how do you know they DON'T optimise ?
Modern machines like the ML Equinox have a 'security chip' that would/could identify itself as:
"Genuine Minelab 11 inch DD coil here". This info is read by the main control-box brains, so there's no reason it couldn't adjust to compensate ... increase the 'gain' on a small coil ( decrease on a large ) ; use different depth gauge calibrations so they stay true regardless of coil size ; change recovery speeds, maybe, or filtering time-constants.

And obviously, the XP Deus coil has plenty of electronics and micro brains inside it as standard, so clearly it knows if it's a 9" elliptic DD etc, it's programmed into it during manufacture. Hence a large coil can be programmed with data about gain settings, or possibly the analogue side of the electronics has a few component changes affecting amplifier gain.

However, it's pretty obvious that most machines don't have this ability. Any machine with a 'dumb' coil, with no integral amplifier or ID micro-chip/serial ROM, is unlikely to be coil-type aware.

However, some of the older Minelab's, like the Sovereign, etc have a pre-amp internal to the coil. There's no reason why the gain couldn't be modified to suit the coil size/shape. They have been reverse engineered, so the info is out there ... perhaps the electronics is identical between coils, I haven't studied the details.
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23 hours ago, longbow62 said:

So most detector companies make different coils for their machines. So why don't they optimize programs for specific coil sizes? For instance with the Equinox would using Park1 with the 11" work just as good if you changed to the 6" changing nothing. You could go into Coil Size in settings and designate what coil your using and once done the detector would change each factory program to be optimized for the size coil you picked. I know optimized for one site might not be optimized for another, but factory settings have to be set where they are for a reason. It just seems that changing coils should require Sensitivity, Recovery, and maybe even frequency tweaks etc. to get the most out of a smaller or larger coil. It seems like a selling point to me.    

Some do. Almost all recent Minelab detectors, for instance. Including Equinox actually. The whole chips in coils thing is not actually first and foremost about blocking third party sales. It’s about the detector sensing the coil, and changing parameters to match it. At a minimum, depth reading is adjusted for coil size. Even the White’s V3i had this feature, though you had to tell the detector what coil was attached in the menu, since the coils were not chipped. This has been going on at least since the Minelab X-Terra days. From https://www.minelab.com/usa/support/product-notices?article=273652

“Authorized Minelab/Coiltek X-TERRA coils are designed to automatically synchronise with X-TERRA Series detectors, as explained by our VFLEX technology description:

“VFLEX transforms conventional single frequency metal detection technology by including two microcontrollers (miniature computers), one inside the control box and one inside the coil. Every time the detector starts up, the microcontrollers establish communication via a digital data link. The coil microcontroller communicates the coil’s configuration, size and exact frequency, so the control box can generate a perfectly matched transmit signal. This significantly reduces distortion and increases Target ID accuracy.””

DBF8C864-76CB-47EB-83DE-451D107EA588.jpeg

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  • The title was changed to Detector Sensing Size And Type Of Coil?

On the Garrett AT series you are suppose to reset the detector if you change coils.

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