Vaquero 9x8 stock coil vs. 12x10 DD coil

[TallTom]

I've searched through past messages and the claims are contradictory.

So I'm asking the question directly:
If you use the 12x10 DD coil on a Vaquero instead of the standard 9x8
concentric, do you get more depth, less depth, or about the same depth?

I'm specifically interested in average-to-mild mineralization, and I'm mostly
looking for coins and rings in parks, lawns, and beaches (dry sand, and
not black), but other feedback is good, too.

And does the answer change if you use supertune mode?
Or different Discrimination settings?

Thanks in advance to anyone who has used both and can tell me what
you've noticed about the differences.

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Put that Big Boy on the Vaq and you'll see at least 1.5" - 3" more depth depending on the soil. Word!

 

[TallTom]

Thanks, Terry! That sounds good.
Anyone else want to give an opinion?

 

[digger27]

In super heavy mineralization with also heavy iron content in the soil I saw no difference.
This was in unusually bad soil where no detectors or coils could reach any great depth.
In very good soil with low mineralization I never did any scientific tests but I believe they were about equal as far as the depths I was finding targets consistently.

I do not like how high tone bottle caps can mimic dimes and quarters on the DD coil, there are ways to tell the difference on many of these but a lot of them you just have to dig to see what you are really swinging over.
The concentric coil is way better with this type of trash and usually can be distinguished from coins most of the time.

What I do love about the big DD coil is that long scanning field which is perfect for covering large areas quicker than the concentrics can because you don't have to overlap as much.

Once I was at the end of a hunt moving way too fast around a large field sweeping that coil super fast too like a hockey player going down the ice on a fast break...you would have laughed if you saw me.
I was looking for one final good target, a "Hail Mary" target I call that, just hoping to get lucky and that time I did.

My vac was not supertuned, sense was probably about 8 and the disc was just below nickel and there was not a lot of trash in this area so I was just listening for any tone and I got a quick, short one even at the speed I was moving.
I stopped and went back to examine this target and it disced out right at the top of the tab level.
I dug it anyway and about 5-6" deep at the exact center of a 5" diameter hole I dug was a beaver tail tab laying flat.
I ran my Propointer around the hole before I closed it up and got another signal about 2" deep about 1/2' into the sidewall of the hole.
I dug out this target which happened to be a beautiful 14k woman's wedding band that in air testing disced out just under the 3:00 position, zinc.
Even at melt that one ring paid for the entire price of that big coil, and to this day I am convinced if I wasn't running with the Vaq that day and it's speed AND using that big coil with the long scanning field I probably would never have acquired that target or heard anything to make me stop and go back.
The possibility is there that it could have happened with the concentric, but the big DD coil and its one foot long scanning field made it a certainty.

 

[TallTom]

The same kind of thing has happened to me using my 11" DD on my Silver uMax.
That is, I'd be walking from one place to another, or back toward my car, and just
for the heck of it I'd keep swinging my coil. It's amazing how often I'd hit a good
signal. I really think I would NOT hit something so often with a concentric coil
under the same circumstances, because I was walking fast and not overlapping
my swings. The concentric just doesn't cover as much area during each
swing.

And that's a big reason why I like a widescan DD coil. I ordered one for the Vaq
yesterday (from Rusty's Detector's in Prescott, AZ, which I recommend, by the way)
and I hope to get it in a few days. I'm guessing I'll be using it all the time instead of
the 9x8 concentric, but we'll see. The light weight of the 9x8 is also a really nice
vacation for my swinging shoulder and elbow and wrist, so I might switch back
and forth between them more than I'm predicting right now.

Thanks for the feedback!

--Tom

 

[Detector Wars]

They are both bad coils, but the 9x8 is much worse. Check out NEL coils.

 

[TallTom]

They are both bad coils, but the 9x8 is much worse. Check out NEL coils.

Can you be specific what's bad about the Tesoro coils and what's better about NEL?
Is it depth? Discrimination? Consistency of signals? Durability? Weight?
Or what?

Thanks.
Tom

 

[Terry Soloman]

They are both bad coils, but the 9x8 is much worse. Check out NEL coils.

That, in my opinion, is a load of krap.

 

[TallTom]

Well, he hasn't come back and posted his reasons, so I have to guess
he probably doesn't have any good ones. Maybe he just likes the name
"NEL" or doesn't like Tesoro.

So far, I've taken out my new 12x10 DD coil on the Vaquero for a couple of
short hunts and really like it. It has good balance and the weight isn't bad
at all. I think it's lighter than the solid round 11" DD coil I have on my Silver uMax,
but I haven't weighed them to verify that.

The 12x10 has been great at finding clad dimes and copper pennies so far, even
in areas I've hit previously with the Silver, so that's a good sign. I haven't found
anything exciting yet, but I'm still learning both the Vaq and the coil.

I can feel my improvement with each hunt, and I'm hitting lots of diggable targets,
so things are looking good.

--Tom

 

[Detector Wars]

Well, he hasn't come back and posted his reasons, so I have to guess he probably doesn't have any good ones.

Yeah, that must be it, I guess that's that sorted.

 

[Detector Wars]

That, in my opinion, is a load of krap.

Where does this add credibility, I wonder?

 

[Detector Wars]

The round equivalent to the 12 x 10 is the round 11DD, tested them side by side, the 11DD is better in every way, sensitivity, depth, target separation is the same. There were two versions of the 11DD, the latter one lighter, and comfortably light. Kept my 11DD, sold the 12x10, it's that simple. I like some Tesoro made coils, and have one 15" round NEL which I like very much and will be my main coil on my Tesoro. I feel that I will only need two (most of the time), the 5.75" concentric and the 15" round NEL. Will be selling my cleansweep since the NEL has very good target separation. Good luck with whatever you purchase.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Well DW, I'll say this - you believe what you're saying is true. My opinion - and experiences, differ from yours. I find NEL and most other aftermarket coils (with the exception of some Coiltek coils on my Minelab GPX machines) way overhyped. The Tesoro coils - on my Tesoro machines, give me as good or better performance than any aftermarket coil I have tested and used. That is my opinion, credible or not.

 

[TallTom]

The round equivalent to the 12 x 10 is the round 11DD, tested them side by side, the 11DD is better in every way, sensitivity, depth, target separation is the same. There were two versions of the 11DD, the latter one lighter, and comfortably light. Kept my 11DD, sold the 12x10, it's that simple. I like some Tesoro made coils, and have one 15" round NEL which I like very much and will be my main coil on my Tesoro. I feel that I will only need two (most of the time), the 5.75" concentric and the 15" round NEL. Will be selling my cleansweep since the NEL has very good target separation. Good luck with whatever you purchase.

Thanks for the specifics. Your first reply didn't tell me enough details to take it seriously.
I didn't mean to insult your first reply. It just sounded like a dismissive insult to
Tesoro as making a bunch of junk. My experience made that seem like an inaccurate
and a flip response.

This reply tells me you've looked into the pros and cons and drawn some conclusions.
Thanks for taking the time to spell it out for us.

I've already bought the Tesoro 12x10 DD for my Vaquero, as I've mentioned here.
So if I get a chance to compare with a NEL or any other similar coil, I'll be interested
to see how they stack up. But so far, I'm happy with my 12x10 and I'm finding lots of
targets with it. To each his own!


Thanks again.

--Tom

 

[digger27]

I have found clad, silver and other old coins, silver and gold jewelry and plenty of other great targets with both the 10X12 DD and the 9X8 concentric shallow and deep.
Both seem to work perfectly fine in all ways so if these coils are bad then count me in as a very happy and satisfied bad coil user.

 

[Scanman]

NEL Coils are made in Ukraine, soon to be Russia by the looks of current events. If you purchase a NEL, good luck if you should need warranty work. On another detector site a member conducted air tests with a NEL Coil with a Tesoro, and the increase in depth was very negligible compared with several Tesoro Coils. I strongly recommend Tesoro Coils which are made in the USA!

 

[JR in Hohenwald TN.]

I run a NEL Tornado 12x13" on my Vaquero. I had the 12x10 on there before. In comparison the NEL out performs the 12x10 but then its a bigger coil. Both coils are good but the NEL does beat it in depth due to 13" width as opposed to the 10"width on the Tesoro coil. The tabs on the Tesoro 12x10 are better and the coil lighter(smaller) but the cable is 3 times thicker on the NEL. For relics I like the NEL better. Its one of the few aftermarket coils where I found it worked and was still stable and retained great ability to pull small items out. My friend has the 13" Ultimate on his T2ltd and its hot, much hotter than the stock 8.5x11" DD coil and lite.

 

[TallTom]

I run a NEL Tornado 12x13" on my Vaquero... The tabs on the Tesoro 12x10 are better and the coil lighter(smaller) but the cable is 3 times thicker on the NEL.

Are you saying you also like the thicker cable on the NEL? Does it wrap around
the shaft as easily as the Tesoro coil's cable?

 

[JR in Hohenwald TN.]

Yea. The thicker cable wraps around it easily. I can't believe the cable is so tiny compared to the NEL's cable.