Miracles Do Happen - Arrow 4" X 18" DD Coil From Detech

[Steve Herschbach]

I have been lobbying for over 6 years - more like a decade - for somebody to produce a replacement for either the White's Bigfoot, or Tesoro Cleansweep coils. These narrow 18" long coils are superb at scanning large areas for relatively shallow targets, making them excellent for jewelry detecting in large fields, and for vacuuming up recent coin drops. They are so efficient at this that some planted coin hunts prohibit them as an unfair advantage. Also great for beach detecting recent drops, relic/coin hunting huge fields, patch hunting for gold nuggets, even meteorites. See my long thread here for details on the subject.

The short story is that the Bigfoot was a 3" x 18" figure 8 wound coil, specific to some White's models. This design has advantages, but is very hard to make, pretty much a hand made coil. And to really work best, a detector needs to be optimized for it (see additional post below). Barring some process breakthrough, I expected getting this coil back into production to be difficult at best. I therefore also concentrated on the Tesoro Cleansweep design as an option, as it is simply an elongated DD coil, much easier to produce properly in volume at lower cost, and with no oddball operating characteristics.

I tried to get Nokta/Makro in particular to make these, as they are generally open to new ideas, and I thought, and still think, a detector sold with this coil as stock would be a unique offering that would attract attention. That came to naught, unfortunately. Then, about a year ago Detech contacted me on another subject. I used that opportunity to once again bring up the elongated coils as an ignored market, and they seemed enthusiastic about pursuing it. But then nothing, silence for a long time. I pretty much gave up hope. I was contacted by another old detectorist on the subject recently, and said just that. I had lost the original contact info from Detech, and was resigned to these coils never happening again. And frankly, I have one, so I'm covered. I just wanted so much for others to be able to get their hands on these coils, especially for machines that never had them as an option.

Well, miracles happen!! I just was notified that Detech is producing a 4" x 18" DD coil that will be available soon (not sure how soon, but they may chime in on this thread hopefully). I do not know the weight or price, but with Detech I am sure that the price will be reasonable. The best part is that it will be for more than one brand of detector. The list I was just provided with:

- MINELAB'S EXPLORER / E-TRAC / SAFARI 

- FISHER'S F75

- TEKNETICS T2, G2, GAMMA / OMEGA

- GARRETT'S ACE AND AT PRO

- WHITES' DFX / MXT / M6

And so without further ado, let me give you your first look at a genuinely new product for some detectors, the Detech Arrow! One of my favorite all-time coils is the Detech Ultimate series, so I know they make some great coils. This is a niche coil, but one many people crave. I want to give a very personal thanks to Detech for doing this, as it is something I have tried hard for a long time to get somebody to do, and they have granted this old guys wish finally. Thank you!

 

[mh9162013]

I mostly coinshoot with my AT Max, so I'm definitely interested!

But I wonder if the AT Coil will work for the AT Max?

Garrett says all (or most?) of their AT coils are interchangeable among all 3 of their AT detectors. But as for third party coils, they can't say for sure either way. NEL says their AT Pro coils won't work for the AT Max. But according to metaldetector.com, their AT series coils seem to be largely interchangeable among the Max, Pro and Gold.

[phrunt]

Right. Time to get an Etrac.  I wonder which would be best to get one for out of my GBP, T2 or At Gold.... 

This is good news, good on Detech for bringing us the goods

[Swegin]

I have a strange feeling that this will be a big seller for them.

 

[GB_Amateur]

No price yet, of course, but I gotta think it will be reasonable, relatively speaking.  The White's brand Bigfoot that was compatible with their MXT was selling for ridiculous prices on Ebay after White's discontinued them.  Nice to see the MXT is one of the models that will be supported by this new coil.

I don't think that this coil will fit my detecting requirements, but I still see it as excellent news for the metal detecting world.  And if I decide I can't live without one, my F75 will get a new mate!

[Joe D.]

    Thanks Steve!! Awesome news! I'm definitely in for at least one!! I have an original Big Foot for my MXT Pro, but had to pay a premium (Not Ebay) for it! Maybe I can sell it, and get a "couple" of the new ones!! According to your list, I already have three of the detectors they will fit!! Can't wait to see the specs, and demos!!🥳👍👍

[Steve Herschbach]

I have the Bigfoot for DFX, which was what it was originally designed for. The figure 8 winding has built in EMI cancellation properties, making this coil actually deeper in some areas than more conventional coils, as it eliminates "silent EMI" issues. But the big advantage is pinpointing. The DFX cuts out the rear half of the coil, so only the front 9" works when you hit the pinpoint trigger. It works so well you hardly need a pinpointer at all. The Bigfoot coil, being a figure 8 winding, has a reversed polarity front to rear. The DFX corrects for this, but the MXT and M6 do not, so you get reversed signals front to rear on MXT and M6. They work, but this takes some getting used to. But for the DFX, it's a real dream coil.

The DD does have a couple advantages over a figure 8. There is a relative weak area in the middle of the figure 8 winding, where the coils cross. The DD does not have this issue, with a consistent signal front to rear. So MXT and M6 users will see an improvement in front to rear signal consistency, no signal reversals, and no dead spot. This polarity reversal would be an issue also for Garrett, Minelab, and Fisher owners also, so realistically DD is the only option for general sales.

Fisher, Garrett, and Minelab users, well, all I can say folks, this is a coil well worth consideration, an option you've not had up until now. It is 4" wide so depth is more like a 4" coil stretched out, not like an 18" round coil. Though it's a little better than that actually - in surface area you are getting more than a 4" round for sure. But really the name of the game here is coverage, and if you get used to one of these for walking a huge beach, sports fields, etc. smaller coils start to seem snail like. Jewelry hunters- just get one!

[Dances With Doves]

On a  hot machine like the gold bug pro that would be a good coil to cover  beaches and big  fields.Would that work on the Bounty Hunter  Time ranger  pro since this  machine is cheap?I have the clean sweep on my Tesoro bandito and it found me a 3/4 oz. 18k   gold chain at the beach.It owes me nothing.That is all that my buddy uses on the beach and he has done good with it too . Being able to use it on a AT pro in the water would be good for fresh drop coverage at busy beaches  .I would  like to see a 18kz. version for the x-terra too. I have a At gold and have not used it in the water  since I got the Nox.If they make a coil  for the AT gold  I would get one for sure since I hunt one beach in the water that is 1/2 mile wide and you can walk out about  800' from shore on normal years during the  summer.Over 250 boats will anchor here in the summer on a Hot weekend day.They have to be past the 500'  markers at this time from the shore.This lake has many rich people since it very expensive to have a dwelling on it and it is  over 15 miles long and about a mile wide.The founder of Paychex and the owners of Wegmans have homes here.The owner of Paychex came to my dad personally  and offered him to be a  original  investor in the company since they played cards together and he knew  my  dad had money to invest.Unfortunately my dad declined.Also I hear  Robert Deniro has a home here too.  

[Steve Herschbach]

18 hours ago, Dances With Doves said:

Would that work on the Bounty Hunter  Time ranger  pro since this  machine is cheap?

The Time Ranger Pro is a F19 with new stickers, so yes, these coils will work. The coil they list for the 19 kHz G2, will work on the G2+ of course, plus F19, Time Ranger Pro, and all Gold Bug variants except Gold Bug 2.

Coils made for the AT Pro should also work on the AT Gold and AT Max, just like Garrett AT coils work an all the versions. As long as they correctly match the AT spec, that is.

The F75 coils should also work on the Fisher F70 and Teknetics Patriot.

Once you add all the variants up it's a long list of models. Detech should compile the complete list just to be clear for people. For reference, here is the Fisher and Teknetics Coil Compatibility Chart

[Dances With Doves]

 I am glad they took Steve's  advice.Also  that  is one cool looking coil.If they make one for the Nox that would be a big  hit  for many.I will get one for my AT gold.