GPZ 10" Xcoils

[andyy]

I got out this morning to do a review on a new Russian10"  Xcoil that I received for the GPZ.  But let me state firstly that I am not a dealer, I paid for this coil myself and have no self interests other than reporting what I find as I see it.  So here it goes:

I headed off to the gold fields of Arizona at about10:15pm last night.  It was 105F outside but it was dropping.  So it looked like this was going to be a fairly comfortable night for detecting.  The goal of this trip was:

1) compare the Russian 10" Xcoil to the 14x13" ML coil in respects to finding gold

2) check ferrite balance

3) check knock sensitivity

4) review overall design

The first patch I tested was one in which I had only found small gold (nothing over .3g).  In total, I am lucky if this patch gave up 15 grams, but it was very fun.  And I gridded this area to the best of my ability.  Rough dimensions are 50'x50'.  It is unlike any of my other gold area I have been to.  There is no quartz on the ground, but seems to be a basalt looking grey covering up a red gossan type material (which the gold is in) There are areas on this hill where you cannot swing a detector it is so hot.  And hot rocks are the norm, here.   Once on location, I began with the standard coil, dropped the ferrite ring and ground balanced.  I also followed up with noise cancelling, etc.   Then I proceeded to recheck an area which had a dense concentration of nuggets, previously.  I found nothing but I succeeded in warming the machine up.  No knock sensitivity, threshold was a little ratty with the EMI, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I ran the most conservative settings I know.  There are much better settings, but I wanted to know how the coils would operate without optimization.  Settings are below:

     High Yield/Normal/Sens=4,Vol=8,Thresh=25, tone=53, Vol Limit=7, Ground Balance Mode=Semi Auto, Audio Smoothing= off, Ground smoothing= off

Next, I switched to the 10" coil.  Used the ferrite and checked knock sensitivity.  all was good.  It also, had the same level of noise as before.  so I began hunting.  after 15 minutes or so I had a target and it was a small nugget.  and then another.  At this point I just wandered through the area I had gridded and found a couple more.  Total to this point was four small nuggets.  I didn't want to spend all of my time here so I headed back to the truck.  On the way I checked a wash that I thought I checked previously.  Apparently not good enough.  I found two larger nuggets, now I am up to 6 nuggets for the trip.  But back to the truck  I went to check patch #2.

Now this is where it gets interesting.  It is about 5 minute drive to my new area.  The gold from this area *did* come from quartz stringers and the local metamorphic rocks.  The largest piece found was 5 grams and I believe I found a little over an ounce in total.  Most of it from two washes but some from the adjacent hillside.  Anyways, after parking I started my slow walk to the patch with the 10" coil.  After getting my wits scared out of my by what I think was a bobcat, I continued to the area.  I immediately noticed a problem.  The coil was very noisy.  I tried everything I could and tried to rebalance to the ferrite. But it would not work.  So then I walked back to the truck and got the std coil.  This coil ran smoothly.  So it wasn't my imagination.  Then I switched back again to the 10" coil without rebalancing to the ferrite.  No problem.  It was smooth.  As soon as rebalanced to the ferrite ring, it was out of wack again.  So this was frustrating.  I never did check knock sensitivity as the ground noise was already an issue.  By this time it was 4am and I decided to call it a night.

So it seems that while the coils work well in some areas, there are the areas that will give some issues.  The only way to trick it is to use your std coil and lock in the X-balance and then switch coils without rebalancing to the ferrite ring.

Another note I would make about this new coil is that the coil wire itself is thicker and does not like to go into the shaft.  After multiple changings, I found that with a little mid shaft rotation, it helped with this immensely.  The standard coil wire drops right in.

That is really all I have on this, for now on this coil.  I will let you know if I find out anything further.

(gold sizes in grams: .05/.07/.08/.21/.19/.71 = 1.3g)

       

Edited July 5, 2019 by andyy

[nuggethunting]

Hey Andy,

   Great report on the new X-coils.  Hopefully they can get the issue corrected where you can use the Ferrite ring and not have to trick the detector or coil.   

In my opinion, Minelab could have sold hundreds of 11" round coils if they stuck with what they originally told us.  I think with a Minelab 11" Round, stock 14x13 and larger 19", there wouldn't be too many uses for aftermarket.  The GPZ is very powerful when it comes to sensitivity and depth, so one smaller coil might have made the majority of the GPZ users happy.  

Keep us updated on any further reports or findings.  Thanks! 

[Walker]

I agree! Thanks for taking the time to report. I guess Better get one and give it a go. Hey Rob? Do you have some?

[andyy]

I will add a few details:

1) if you're in Saturated ground (a lot of AZ ground is) then there will be some places that the 10" coil will not run well

     - I am working to test various ferrite balancing alternative to solve this and will hopefully have feedback soon

2) to run the Xcoil, you have to make an adapter cord (zoom in on my 10" coil pic).  this requires you taking one of your current coils and cutting the end off of it to modify it.  (lots of soldering required)

3) the coil from Russia comes with ONLY the coil.  No arm included like the 19" does

So there are still things being worked out.  But if you are in really dire need for a smaller coil, this is the closest thing.

Andyy

Edited July 12, 2019 by andyy

[nuggethunting]

Hey Andy,

   Thanks for the report.  As we talked about in the past, the guy that came down to show me the X-coils only had a few designs.  He will be coming back from Russia this Winter with more stuff and will stay longer.  It will be interesting when someone can just manufacture or build the coil adapters to eliminate that headache. 

Walker - Right now they are only being sold in Russia to my knowledge.  There are a lot of bugs I think that need to be worked out before they become available here in the US for retail sale.  Hope all is well on your end. 

[andyy]

I also know people who have worked on making their own chip, as well, but the connector becomes an issue as it looks like Minelab bakes their own.

The coils *are* currently available for purchase out of Australia.  But they will ship from Russia.  Some orders (like mine) arrive quicker, others take a bit to get through Russian customs.

I am sure Minelab will have a product come out to compete.  That is the good thing about the Russian coils.  It puts the pressure on Minelab because it proves that Minelab lied to everyone in saying they cannot fit the wire.  In truth, they just don't want competition for the SDC

By the way Rob - the only bug I am aware of (for the GPZ) is with the ferrite balance in saturated ground (as I found in one instance).  Are there others you have heard of?

Edited July 15, 2019 by andyy