QED General Purpose Coil - Is there such a thing?

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Dec 11, 2020
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Emerald, QLD
As per the title question I am finding that I am getting confused in regards to coils. I have a 2nd hand QED that came with a 8" coil on it but due to covid I have only used it a couple of times. I am asking about a general purpose coil specifically as the plan is to use the detector when we go travelling so one time it could be for gold and then the next it could be for coins and whatever of interest that comes up.

Is there such a thing as a reasonable to good general purpose coil or do you need to have a specific coil for each specific type of detecting? Not a full timer or someone that is looking to make any money out of anything and just want to use the detector as a fun activity.

The amount of coils you see for sale (on here and elsewhere) is a bit overwhelming so how do you decide?
 
Hi Rodt. The QED is a pulse induction type detector. Saying that it has no discrimination & you will find your self digging all targets including a large amount of junk. A VLF detector is more suited to coin & relic hunting Cheers hope this helps. Dave.
 
Just use the 8" coil that it came with, if your just doing the odd bit of detecting, there is nothing I would describe as a "General Purpose Coil" but the 8" coil will find gold or it will find coins and or relics and plenty of junk.

Learn how to use the detector with the coil it has first, as a different coil will make no difference if you don't know how to use and setup the detector properly, then the next step is where to use it properly

cheers dave
 
Dave law said:
Hi Rodt. The QED is a pulse induction type detector. Saying that it has no discrimination & you will find your self digging all targets including a large amount of junk. A VLF detector is more suited to coin & relic hunting Cheers hope this helps. Dave.

Thanks Dave and yeah am aware of this. We also have an XP ORX VLF but the wife has her hands all over that. If I don't use the QED I am relegated to being the shovel boy :D . Have read a fair bit about the QED and have started practicing using it in different areas and listening to the tones (ie: high to low vs low to high). Not every location is a gold one though so reckon I still should be able to use as a general detector so that I can get out and about
 
davsgold said:
Just use the 8" coil that it came with, if your just doing the odd bit of detecting, there is nothing I would describe as a "General Purpose Coil" but the 8" coil will find gold or it will find coins and or relics and plenty of junk.

Learn how to use the detector with the coil it has first, as a different coil will make no difference if you don't know how to use and setup the detector properly, then the next step is where to use it properly

cheers dave

Thanks mate. Yep need to practice and get used to it a lot better than I currently am. Definitely aware it will only find something if I walk over it :D
 
Rodt said:
As per the title question I am finding that I am getting confused in regards to coils. I have a 2nd hand QED that came with a 8" coil on it but due to covid I have only used it a couple of times. I am asking about a general purpose coil specifically as the plan is to use the detector when we go travelling so one time it could be for gold and then the next it could be for coins and whatever of interest that comes up.

Is there such a thing as a reasonable to good general purpose coil or do you need to have a specific coil for each specific type of detecting? Not a full timer or someone that is looking to make any money out of anything and just want to use the detector as a fun activity.

The amount of coils you see for sale (on here and elsewhere) is a bit overwhelming so how do you decide?

G'day

There is not really such a thing as a general purpose coil, but the things to consider would be what coil would best suit the situation you are using the detector in, for instance if you were using it for gold prospecting then a larger coil of about 11" to 14" in size would be useful to cover more ground and get more depth, the 8" coil would also still be of use in rocky rubbly areas and scrubby spots where maneuvering the coil can be difficult, so you would have all the basis covered there.

When using it for coin hunting being a pi machine it will make you crazy trying to detect junky ground where most of the coins seem to be, so using the 8" coil would be the go as it will give you a better target separation, a larger coil in those areas will just give you multiple signals on each sweep and make it way too hard to detect, but if you are using it on a beach then the bigger coil will cover more area, unfortunately without a discrimination feature you will be digging some deep rubbish as well.

There is a coil made by Coiltek that is called the "Platypus" its a 12x8" eliptical coil and the upside is that it is waterproof so it can be used at the beach or in creeks, and for gold detecting, it will give you better ground coverage if you are in the gold fields and also on a beach too so that may be an option as well, I am not familiar with the QED so you may have to ask around to see if it will run ok on it, as far as I know they will run many of the same coils as the minelab pi's do?
cheers

stayyerAU
 
Thanks mate. I suppose I asked the question as the more I was reading and looking at forums such as this one it is very evident that there are an absolute gazillion different coils around.

Trying to understand what coils are good value etc is an absolute nightmare for a beginner like me so was hoping that there may have been a simple solution so that I don't always think that the coil might be an issue

Cheers

Rod
 

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