Uncovering Buried Treasures: The Impact of Coil Size and Ground Coverage in Metal Detecting
When it comes to metal detecting, the size of your coil and its ground coverage are two crucial factors that can greatly impact your success in finding buried treasures. In this article, we will delve deeper into these two aspects and explain why they matter.
Coil Size
The size of your metal detector’s coil is an essential factor in determining how deep you can detect metals. A larger coil has a greater detection depth, making it easier to locate targets that are deeper underground. However, larger coils also have some drawbacks.
Firstly, larger coils tend to be heavier than smaller ones which can make them uncomfortable to use for extended periods. Secondly, bigger coils are less sensitive to small objects such as coins or jewelry and may miss valuable finds.
On the other hand, smaller coils have advantages over their larger counterparts. They are more lightweight and maneuverable which makes them great for covering rough terrain or tight areas such as between rocks or bushes where a large coil would be difficult to use.
Moreover, small coils are more sensitive to small objects like coins or buttons since they generate higher frequencies when passing over metallic targets. However, their detection depth is usually shallower than that of a large coil meaning they might not pick up deeply buried items.
The ideal size of the metal detector’s coil depends on what you’re looking for and where you’re searching. For example, if you plan on hunting in trashy areas with lots of iron debris such as old homesteads then a smaller 6-8 inch concentric searchcoil could be perfect for picking out good signals amongst all the junk.
However if you’re looking for relics from decades ago located at depths below 10 inches then a bigger elliptical shaped searchcoil around 11-15 inches should do the trick since it offers better ground coverage and deeper detection abilities.
Ground Coverage
Ground coverage refers to how much area your metal detector covers with each pass while detecting metals underground. Ground coverage is crucial because the more area you cover, the higher your chances of finding something valuable.
When it comes to ground coverage, elliptical searchcoils are generally better than concentric ones. This is because they have a longer detection range and wider search area which means that you can cover more ground in less time.
For example, if you’re searching for coins on a beach or park then an elliptical coil with a length of 11-15 inches should provide adequate ground coverage while still being maneuverable enough to weave between people walking around.
However if you plan on detecting relics in open fields or wooded areas where there’s ample space then bigger coils with lengths up to 18-20 inches will help you cover more ground faster and increase your chances of discovering some hidden treasures.
Another factor that impacts ground coverage is the sensitivity settings on your metal detector. If your detector has high sensitivity settings then it can pick up signals from deeper down but may also be triggered by mineralized soil or small bits of metal debris scattered throughout the detecting area. Lowering sensitivity levels will allow for better discrimination between trash and valuable objects but at the cost of reduced depth penetration capabilities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, when selecting a metal detector’s coil size and shape it really boils down to what type of treasure hunting you’ll be doing most often as well as what kind terrain conditions exist around your desired location. While larger coils offer greater depth detection abilities they can sometimes miss small targets like buttons or coins due their lack in sensitivity whilst smaller coils might not find anything deep below surface level but excel at picking out those tiny finds such as jewellery lost underfoot.
Ground coverage plays an important role too since it lets us scan large areas quickly thus increasing our odds of striking gold (or silver) so-to-speak! So go ahead and experiment with different sized elliptical shaped searchcoils until one feels just right for all those adventures ahead!