Problems Finding Target with New Style Coils?

[LBJ]

Hi guys and gals,

Been away from the MD hobby for a few years. I have had a Garrett Fortune Hunter since 1984 or 85. Been very good and found a fair amount of coins with it. Never have had any trouble finding the center of the "X" where the coin is.

Now, yeasterday, a co-worked loaned me his BH Quick Draw II with the new type of open coil. I was having a very difficult time centering the target, in addition to getting lots of wild readings from Iron on the left to 50 centers on the right. All I found was 1 clad dime in 2 hours time.

My question: Are the newer style (open) coils prone to this problem in general or is it due to having been connected to a lower quality (no offense to QDII users) MD unit?

I am looking at buying a Garrett GTX550 that is not only much lighter but has a few more features than my old Garrett Fortune Hunter. It, of course, has the new open style coil that is not interchangeable with the older Co-Planer coils.

Thanks in advance!

PS, I also drug the Garrett F.H. out and went over the same yard I did 20 years ago and found my first ring. Appears to be brass, not the hoped for gold or silver, but a pretty neat find. Also found a clad quarter, 2 cents, and several brass and steel fittings off the yard guys lawnmower no doubt. Really kicked tail over that QDII!

LBJ
Fort Worth, TX

[Monty]

Well, since the "new style" coils are the only ones I have used, I am guessing you are just a little rusty since you have't been out in a long time. Also, you should have been able to eliminate the iron signals but I am not familiar with that particular detector. I am a Garrett fan myself and the little ACE250 is hard to beat for coin shooting and finding small jewelry. However, if you hunt any salty wet sand it won't work because it has a fixed ground balance. Welcome back to the hobby, I'm sure you'll be amazed at the changes in detectors over the last few years. I'm what you would call a new old timer! Monty

[LBJ]

Thanks, Monty! Yes, I got to surfing the MD sites and this Forum and looked at the Recent and Best Finds photos. Wow. That would get any treasure hunter's heart pounding. Some pretty amazing coins and rings out there being dug up on a regular basis. So, I got my MD out and started finding things immediately. The borrowed unit just wasn't user friendly, even when using the factory "coin notches" which are designed to block the unwanted items. Compared to the Garrett "solid" co-planer coil, the QDII open coil was no match. The co-planer coil is so accurate that many of my coins have been hit on the first penetration of my probe! I once scribed a 1944 Standing Liberty half dollar with a probe mark that way!

Thought I'd ask the question before I spent my money. I may just get out with the Garrett FH a while before buying a new model to see if I can live with it for a little bit longer.