Bigfoot for the DFX

[old_goldchaser]

Just wondering who else on T'Net with a DFX uses a bigfoot coil? I just got mine a few weeks ago and have posted about it but it still seems to be a rare coil. Actually saw a couple of guys posting trying to find a used one. i would figure the likelyhood of finding a used one that someone is willing to part with an impossibility...or pretty darn rare.

I did finally get to use mine this week and give it a workout. It did fair. I was able to cover alot of ground for sure, but I didnt seem to get the depth that I anticipated. Those of you who have had one of these coils a while, are there any tuning changes for the DFX that should be used with the bigfoot?

I really like this coil and want to get the best out of it.

When I used it the other day I used the standard coin/jewlery mode with no changes to it. My next trip out..likely not till next week now since we have weather that just moved in, I plan on making changes to see if they make any difference.
Suggestions would be appreciated.

 

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[TXcoindigger]

Hey old gold chaser
I have had my bigfoot now for about 2 months and like you I am not sure I am getting the most from it. I like the coverage and the light wieght. I am told it should get the same depth as the stock 9.5 coil but I am not convinced I am getting that much out of it.
I have used it on the beach here in Galveston and have been hunting ball fields with it digging everything trying to find the gold.
I can turn the ac to about 75 and the dcs to about 45 with a pag of 3 with no problems.
The pinpointing is different but not bad once you get used to it.
I am like you and not sure how deep this coil will really go. The typical target depth is less than 4 to 5 inches. While I like it I am not sure I am going to keep it and may sell it. Fortuntly it is probably worth as much used as we paid for it new.
I would like to hear from anyone else that has been using the coil to learn how deep targets have been dug. TX

 

[old_goldchaser]

Hey old gold chaser
I have had my bigfoot now for about 2 months and like you I am not sure I am getting the most from it. I like the coverage and the light wieght. I am told it should get the same depth as the stock 9.5 coil but I am not convinced I am getting that much out of it.
I have used it on the beach here in Galveston and have been hunting ball fields with it digging everything trying to find the gold.
I can turn the ac to about 75 and the dcs to about 45 with a pag of 3 with no problems.
The pinpointing is different but not bad once you get used to it.
I am like you and not sure how deep this coil will really go. The typical target depth is less than 4 to 5 inches. While I like it I am not sure I am going to keep it and may sell it. Fortuntly it is probably worth as much used as we paid for it new.
I would like to hear from anyone else that has been using the coil to learn how deep targets have been dug. TX

I am with you on this. I have been using it, and then took it out the other day. Was cold and windy....and I was freezing my hiney off and was detecting at an old church site. And I really wanted to use the bigfoot. But then it wouldnt balance. Didnt matter what I did, I could not get it to ground balance. Take it off and put a round coil on, and no problems with balancing. Put the bigfoot back on and go through the procedure and it wouldnt balance. Said the heck with it and took it off and just put my large DD coil on. Was disappointed for sure. Emailed Roy about it and he got back to me and gave me some things to do to check and see if it was something with the coil or not. Havent had a chance to follow up on his suggestions because of the weather. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice, and once I get done with some business I hope to get out and see whats up with it. Hope it was just somethng I was doing or a setting in the DFX. Will see. Going to take the DFX and my new Xterra out and do a comparison. Going to go to the old one room school house site that isnt far from my house. Never searched it before because its farmland and has been planted. But isnt now so want to get to it before he puts something in.

 

[TXcoindigger]

I have problems balancing the bigfoot as well. It installs preset level like it does at the beach in low miniralization. This is not suppossed to be a bad thing and when I check the balance it is always close to right on.
I am told the Minelab will go deep and almost traded my dfx in for one not long ago. I am interested in how your test goes. TX

 

[old_goldchaser]

I have problems balancing the bigfoot as well. It installs preset level like it does at the beach in low miniralization. This is not suppossed to be a bad thing and when I check the balance it is always close to right on.
I am told the Minelab will go deep and almost traded my dfx in for one not long ago. I am interested in how your test goes. TX

Well, I dont know if I would go so far as trading my DFX for one. I still love my DFX. I got the Xterra 705 because of the high levels of mineralization out here in Colorado and because a man who I trust implicitly when it comes to anything to do with metal detecting recommended I get one. The price and features of the 705 fit what I needed to fit that niche. But I do like my DFX and will hold onto it. It serves quite well most of the time.

One thing I do know about the bigfoot coil though. You have to have the front of the coil angled down to the ground at close to a 30 or 40 degree angle when you balance. That is supposed to take care of things and get you a proper balance. But when I took it out this last time even that wouldnt do it. It installed the presets but then it didnt seem to be stabe and kept falsing. Thats when I gave up on it for the day. Could it have had something to do with the location. Yea, it could have. One of the things I checked was to make sure there werent any power lines near or anything else that could entefer with the detector. There wasnt. I mean..I was 40 miles from anywhere and nowhere.

Anyway. going to to some testing later today. My appointment is showing up early...like about 5 hours early, so I wont have to wait around the house. Selling off some livestock..anyway..now my afternoon is going to be free and its supposed to be a warm day. At least 60 and little wind. Looking forward to it.

 

[TXcoindigger]

I have some friends who own both the dfx and the minelabs and say they each have thier strong points. They use each one based on the hunting conditions, what they are hunting for, etc. But everytime I see em they are using the minelabs. I bought the dfx, 3 years ago now because I need as much depth as I can get in our worked out, filled, parks in south Texas here, and I love the machine. Just now getting good at using it. LOL
The problem I have is personally I know i am not going to use 2 detectors. It is either one or the other. Once i determine which is giving me top performance the other will sit at home. So owning 2 is not practical for me. Thats why I am interested in your tests. If you are a dfx guy and know what it can do then you can honestly compare it to the ML.
fortunatly the ground here is not heavy with minerals so I am not sure the ML has any advantage for me in that area. It is just raw depth I am after for coin size objects. I probably need to buy a ML and give it a try myself to see if it really will give me more depth here in my soil.
Good luck with your business and happy hunting. TX

 

[old_goldchaser]

I have some friends who own both the dfx and the minelabs and say they each have thier strong points. They use each one based on the hunting conditions, what they are hunting for, etc. But everytime I see em they are using the minelabs. I bought the dfx, 3 years ago now because I need as much depth as I can get in our worked out, filled, parks in south Texas here, and I love the machine. Just now getting good at using it. LOL
The problem I have is personally I know i am not going to use 2 detectors. It is either one or the other. Once i determine which is giving me top performance the other will sit at home. So owning 2 is not practical for me. Thats why I am interested in your tests. If you are a dfx guy and know what it can do then you can honestly compare it to the ML.
fortunatly the ground here is not heavy with minerals so I am not sure the ML has any advantage for me in that area. It is just raw depth I am after for coin size objects. I probably need to buy a ML and give it a try myself to see if it really will give me more depth here in my soil.
Good luck with your business and happy hunting. TX

Thanks, yea, the DFX does take some time getting used to and getting good at using it. I had the MXT first and then went to the DFX.

The thing I look at is that I like to have a detector as a spare. They do break down, or develop problems. It happens. And when it does then you have to send it out to get fixed. And then, if no spare, you are the one sitting at home rather than being out detecting. Also, sometimes I go out with family and friends and they dont always have detectors so its nice being able to have one they can use though if they are newbies, the DFX or the 705 is a bit more than they need. Which is why I am considering getting a basic detector to have for such occasions.

Seriously though, there are likely to be occasions when having a spare can mean you being able to hunt. Just like tonight. I was told by the owner of the local drive-in that I can hunt it to my hearts content. If I had one detector and for some reason wasnt working properly...I would be stuck.

Being able to hunt a whole drive-in theater all by my lonesome doesnt come around every day. The owner is a novice detectorist...in fact, I was the one who got him into the hobby. He has detected the property some but mostly around the concession area and the parking spots closest to it. But thats it. And like I said, he is a novice. So I know there are lots of coins left. The theater was built in 1947. All he found were mostly clads from the 70's and 80's.

It doesnt hurt having a spare. Sh** happens. I like to be prepared. And I like to have a GOOD spare. I understand your point. And it does make sense in its own right. But consider getting an opportunity to hunt a spot, one that is limited to just a short time. And suddenly your detector isnt working. And you sold your other one just weeks before, or months before. Doesnt matter. Either you spend the bucks right away..IF you have them, and get another one while you send your busted one out...or you sit and wait for yours to be repaired..and hope it gets back in time. Why tempt fate?

 

[TXcoindigger]

Wow congratualtions on scoring an old drive in to hunt. That is pretty cool. Good point on the spare, everyone should have one. I started with an old Garrett groundhog new and then moved up to the Whites 5900 di pro and still have both of these machines for spares.
The dfx is the most expensive machine I have ever owned and at the time it was whites top of the line. So I am proud to have it. If I were to purchase a Minelab I would keep the dfx if I could afford to.
What I feel I need to do is try and find a good deal on the se and use it and compare its performance to the dfx. In the end I would probably then sell the one left sitting in the corner to recoup some of the expense.
I considered selling the Garret and 5900 when I got the dfx but they had sentimental value and are not worth much.
Good luck on the drive in. I hope you find some silver pocket spills.

 

[old_goldchaser]

Hoping to get over there to the drive-in this afternoon for a while, meaning Sunday afternoon. Likely wont have alot of time to hunt, but it will give me a chance to scan over a couple of areas to see whats there. Will be fun. Went out today...errr..yesterday for about an hour at an old one room school house site. Really couldnt get into it. The wind was blowing and it was so darn cold that my son and I just said the heck with it. Open prairie and a cold wind. Makes for a miserable time. It was supposed to be warm today and no wind. Was the opposite. Go figure...the weatherman was wrong again. But they can predict what the weather is going to do 5, 10 and 20 years in the future, but cant get the next days weather right. "gagggg" Yea....right.

You hadnt mentioned before that you had the older detectors. The 5900 is a good one to have. Perfect backup. Used to have one. Didnt keep it long, I had taken it in trade but I did use it some but I had my eye on other things at the time and ended up selling it..or trading it...cant remember right now what I did with it.
I have a number of detectors and have owned a bunch of them. My problem was/is I am always looking for the perfect one that is better than one that I have. My first detector was Garrett groundhog too. Gave it to my brother after I upgraded to the first Master Hunter. Then went on to the CXII and then the CXIII, and I have the GTI 2500 now. There wasnt much of a learning curve between the last two. Some differences, but not so much in using them. It was like going to an old friend.

The DFX has been a big learning curve. And still learning it. Its a fine machine and so configurable that its amazing what can be done with it. BUT, when I picked up the 705 and tried it, I was flabergasted. I was amazed at the look and feel and how well it worked. I had owned an older minelab Sovereign and I had liked it years back around the time I got the CXII and really liked it. Sold it for financial reasons. So that was my last minelab. But the 705 really surprised me.

I just need a warm day without any distractions so that I can compare the DFX and the 705 head to head. I have the location..the drive-in. Will see