Greg at Golden State MD
Newbie
- Aug 1, 2003
- 3
- 1
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
IT'S HERE.... The New 12" HOT SHOT Search Head DFX/MXT
I?ll share what I know (so far)
..
The latest High Performance Alternative Coil for the DFX and MXT is about to be released in approximately one week.
The Hot Shot Multi-Frequency 12? Search Coil has been over 6 months in development to obtain optimum tuning. My initial testing impressions indicate a dramatic improvement over the stock 950 10? coil in terms of Depth, Scan Window, Ground Balancing, Power Line Noise (60 cycle) and Sensitivity to small GOLD. Here is a Mono Design (or Concentric) search coil that enjoys Double D-like characteristics (windowing & reduced ground reactivity) but without the loss of depth, discrimination, and ability to center pin point.
I am actually just starting a complete field-testing of this product when mated to the very popular MXT and planned to withhold this information for at least another week. Some family medical emergencies have necessitated me to break the news a bit earlier than I had planned with Jimmy Sierra?s OK (of course).
As most of you are aware of, larger electromagnetic fields are produced by larger coil designs. Although larger coils enable deeper detection depth, anything over 12? starts to actually lose sensitivity or signal on coins and rings. Keeping this in mind, Applied Creativity initially developed the lower frequency 12? Hot Shot for the Pro, Quantum and Spectrum XLT Series at 6.59 kHz, which increased performance over 20% and up to 30%. The newest 12? Hot Shot is slightly thicker but performance improvement over the stock 950 seems even greater!
Developing such a loop for the Multi Frequency DFX 3/15 kHz and 14 kHz+ Frequency of the MXT proved to be a challenge and called for a completely new re-design which eventually had to undergo months of engineering by Applied Creativity?s Wizard of Loop, James Karbowski, in order to achieve precise tuning for optimum performance.
Last Monday, I received the final prototype from DFX Expert, Dave Dana, who had been given the responsibility for test the DFX / new Hot Shot combo for the last several weeks. (Please refer to the DFX Web Site at www.dfxonly.com for additional details). Dave was sad to ?let go? of this High Performance loop which when mated to the DFX was locating extremely deep targets. Dave also dropped me the following note?. ?Hated to give this coil up! Should have told Jimmy it was stolen. I think you will like it. Dave. Well Dave, so far I don?t like it, I LOVE it (not as much as Jenzilla, my bride of over ? century but right there with my Yamaha FZ-1).
In checking out the dynamics of this loop by comparing it to the stock 950 Loop which comes with the MXT. I noticed that I got a significant signal response up to 3? further than the 950 and a very subtle response up to 6? more than the 950 when using a nickel or quarter and waving it through the filed horizontally or pumping down on the loop. I was carefully listening to the results using both the NEW Koss 3000s against the Jimmy Sierra Maxi Phone II, both preferred Headphones.
I set the gain at the preset level and compared ALL three modes of operation (Coin & Jewelry, Relic & Prospecting Mode). I was strictly listening to the audio response (rather than visual target ID) during my initial phase of air testing. Note: An air test is only one indicator of the detector (& loops) capabilities, but can give one an idea of loop characteristics and depth under almost ideal conditions. Ground Mineralization Loads can have an adverse affect on any detector & loop combinations sometimes reducing performance but sometimes increasing depending on halo effect etc. If a detector won?t detect a coin over 7? in the air, it certainly is not going to do much better in the ground in the ground? probably worse.
The Relic Mode being the most filtered of the three modes cut out the nearby sixty-cycle edge on the threshold, but the NON-motion filtered prospecting mode delivered the louder signal response. The Coin & Jewelry Mode likewise delivered an impressive response while keeping the threshold fairly stable. The beauty of the MXT is that with regards to the amount of sweep speed of its motion discrimination circuit, it is so forgiving, similar to the Quantum XT, so it would be almost impossible to walk over or ?tune out? the deeper targets, a danger found in other models I have used through the years.
The larger 12? Hot Shot seemed quieter over the 950 Stock search coil. The ability of any search coil to ?see? the target along the surface area is referred to as ?Scan Window? and the 12? Hot Shot has a far greater window over the stock 950, almost displaying Double D like tendencies however maintaining excellent discrimination characteristics sometimes lost with your typical Double D as in cleaner bottle cap reject. Unlike the Double D Configuration, the Hot Shot Pin Points directly in the center making it easy to size, shape & pinpoint the target.
How is it on GOLD? I took a small 2 grain nugget encased in a ?Jimmy Sierra Nugget Card? and the 12? Hot Shot responded with a surprisingly strong signal and dramatically better Scan Window over the stock 950 coil?. 5? + in diameter actually improving as the nugget?s distance to the coil was increased!
Beach Results:
I spent approximately three hours at a Half Moon Bay Beach testing the DFX/MXT Hot Shot, which I found successfully punched through stringers of black sand. Black sand has a tendency of overloading the circuits of more conventional metal detector & standard loop configurations I have used in the past. Once the circuit becomes overloaded, you can?t pick up a silver dollar even if it were lying shallow to surface.
In spite of this particular beach being heavily hunted by ?Deep? and the Boys, who likewise use the MXT/950 Combo, I was still able to locate coins and some larger targets over 20? that I just couldn?t get to despite a concerted effort using my long handle kick down sand basket.
Transition into the Salt Water:
While the DFX?s two Frequency Circuit virtually eliminates wet salts without having to reduce gain levels, while testing the MXT/Hot Shot, the transition into the ocean surf was smooth, with a minimal amount of falsing in spite of the fact I was running my gain level at about 4 to 5. Remember? Larger Coils do handle ground mineralization better than their smaller counterparts, so you will realize improvement in ground balancing characteristics using the MXT/HOT SHOT in-other-words, less ?REACTIVE? to the ground.
I have yet to fully test this loop, but I feel confidant the new multi-frequency 12? Hot Shot is going to be a great value in terms of performance and bang for the buck?. How many bucks? I spoke to Jimmy Sierra today and he said he plans to initially introduce the 12? multi-frequency 12 Hot Shot at $229.95. Remember, like all Jimmy Sierra Products, which I have grown accustom too (& the Old Man ain?t bad himself just a little too quiet at times), Jimmy stands behind his products, satisfaction guaranteed.
Availability will start as early as next week on a first come first serve basis, with production picking up by the end of August. Where to buy? ?. Your Local White?s Full Service Professional. Visit Jimmy Sierra?s web site for additional detail.
I hope to have completed a Field Test on the MXT/Hot Shot Combo by the end of September, which will also include portions of my trip via my much-anticipated treasure hunting trip to England via Discovery Tours. I also plan to bring the Quantum XT, maybe even the DFX as alternative detectors.
Hope this addresses our Friendly Forum Questions.
Greg Moscini
Trans Bay Metal Detectors, since 1983
Foster City, CA
[email protected]
I?ll share what I know (so far)
..The latest High Performance Alternative Coil for the DFX and MXT is about to be released in approximately one week.
The Hot Shot Multi-Frequency 12? Search Coil has been over 6 months in development to obtain optimum tuning. My initial testing impressions indicate a dramatic improvement over the stock 950 10? coil in terms of Depth, Scan Window, Ground Balancing, Power Line Noise (60 cycle) and Sensitivity to small GOLD. Here is a Mono Design (or Concentric) search coil that enjoys Double D-like characteristics (windowing & reduced ground reactivity) but without the loss of depth, discrimination, and ability to center pin point.
I am actually just starting a complete field-testing of this product when mated to the very popular MXT and planned to withhold this information for at least another week. Some family medical emergencies have necessitated me to break the news a bit earlier than I had planned with Jimmy Sierra?s OK (of course).
As most of you are aware of, larger electromagnetic fields are produced by larger coil designs. Although larger coils enable deeper detection depth, anything over 12? starts to actually lose sensitivity or signal on coins and rings. Keeping this in mind, Applied Creativity initially developed the lower frequency 12? Hot Shot for the Pro, Quantum and Spectrum XLT Series at 6.59 kHz, which increased performance over 20% and up to 30%. The newest 12? Hot Shot is slightly thicker but performance improvement over the stock 950 seems even greater!
Developing such a loop for the Multi Frequency DFX 3/15 kHz and 14 kHz+ Frequency of the MXT proved to be a challenge and called for a completely new re-design which eventually had to undergo months of engineering by Applied Creativity?s Wizard of Loop, James Karbowski, in order to achieve precise tuning for optimum performance.
Last Monday, I received the final prototype from DFX Expert, Dave Dana, who had been given the responsibility for test the DFX / new Hot Shot combo for the last several weeks. (Please refer to the DFX Web Site at www.dfxonly.com for additional details). Dave was sad to ?let go? of this High Performance loop which when mated to the DFX was locating extremely deep targets. Dave also dropped me the following note?. ?Hated to give this coil up! Should have told Jimmy it was stolen. I think you will like it. Dave. Well Dave, so far I don?t like it, I LOVE it (not as much as Jenzilla, my bride of over ? century but right there with my Yamaha FZ-1).
In checking out the dynamics of this loop by comparing it to the stock 950 Loop which comes with the MXT. I noticed that I got a significant signal response up to 3? further than the 950 and a very subtle response up to 6? more than the 950 when using a nickel or quarter and waving it through the filed horizontally or pumping down on the loop. I was carefully listening to the results using both the NEW Koss 3000s against the Jimmy Sierra Maxi Phone II, both preferred Headphones.
I set the gain at the preset level and compared ALL three modes of operation (Coin & Jewelry, Relic & Prospecting Mode). I was strictly listening to the audio response (rather than visual target ID) during my initial phase of air testing. Note: An air test is only one indicator of the detector (& loops) capabilities, but can give one an idea of loop characteristics and depth under almost ideal conditions. Ground Mineralization Loads can have an adverse affect on any detector & loop combinations sometimes reducing performance but sometimes increasing depending on halo effect etc. If a detector won?t detect a coin over 7? in the air, it certainly is not going to do much better in the ground in the ground? probably worse.
The Relic Mode being the most filtered of the three modes cut out the nearby sixty-cycle edge on the threshold, but the NON-motion filtered prospecting mode delivered the louder signal response. The Coin & Jewelry Mode likewise delivered an impressive response while keeping the threshold fairly stable. The beauty of the MXT is that with regards to the amount of sweep speed of its motion discrimination circuit, it is so forgiving, similar to the Quantum XT, so it would be almost impossible to walk over or ?tune out? the deeper targets, a danger found in other models I have used through the years.
The larger 12? Hot Shot seemed quieter over the 950 Stock search coil. The ability of any search coil to ?see? the target along the surface area is referred to as ?Scan Window? and the 12? Hot Shot has a far greater window over the stock 950, almost displaying Double D like tendencies however maintaining excellent discrimination characteristics sometimes lost with your typical Double D as in cleaner bottle cap reject. Unlike the Double D Configuration, the Hot Shot Pin Points directly in the center making it easy to size, shape & pinpoint the target.
How is it on GOLD? I took a small 2 grain nugget encased in a ?Jimmy Sierra Nugget Card? and the 12? Hot Shot responded with a surprisingly strong signal and dramatically better Scan Window over the stock 950 coil?. 5? + in diameter actually improving as the nugget?s distance to the coil was increased!
Beach Results:
I spent approximately three hours at a Half Moon Bay Beach testing the DFX/MXT Hot Shot, which I found successfully punched through stringers of black sand. Black sand has a tendency of overloading the circuits of more conventional metal detector & standard loop configurations I have used in the past. Once the circuit becomes overloaded, you can?t pick up a silver dollar even if it were lying shallow to surface.
In spite of this particular beach being heavily hunted by ?Deep? and the Boys, who likewise use the MXT/950 Combo, I was still able to locate coins and some larger targets over 20? that I just couldn?t get to despite a concerted effort using my long handle kick down sand basket.
Transition into the Salt Water:
While the DFX?s two Frequency Circuit virtually eliminates wet salts without having to reduce gain levels, while testing the MXT/Hot Shot, the transition into the ocean surf was smooth, with a minimal amount of falsing in spite of the fact I was running my gain level at about 4 to 5. Remember? Larger Coils do handle ground mineralization better than their smaller counterparts, so you will realize improvement in ground balancing characteristics using the MXT/HOT SHOT in-other-words, less ?REACTIVE? to the ground.
I have yet to fully test this loop, but I feel confidant the new multi-frequency 12? Hot Shot is going to be a great value in terms of performance and bang for the buck?. How many bucks
? I spoke to Jimmy Sierra today and he said he plans to initially introduce the 12? multi-frequency 12 Hot Shot at $229.95. Remember, like all Jimmy Sierra Products, which I have grown accustom too (& the Old Man ain?t bad himself just a little too quiet at times), Jimmy stands behind his products, satisfaction guaranteed.Availability will start as early as next week on a first come first serve basis, with production picking up by the end of August. Where to buy? ?. Your Local White?s Full Service Professional. Visit Jimmy Sierra?s web site for additional detail.
I hope to have completed a Field Test on the MXT/Hot Shot Combo by the end of September, which will also include portions of my trip via my much-anticipated treasure hunting trip to England via Discovery Tours. I also plan to bring the Quantum XT, maybe even the DFX as alternative detectors.
Hope this addresses our Friendly Forum Questions.
Greg Moscini
Trans Bay Metal Detectors, since 1983
Foster City, CA
[email protected]
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