Quote
Monte
It's really just a mid-size search coil you really need to find.
I have a couple of excellent what I consider mid-size for the M6 as well as for the MXT Pro and that is the 9" spider coil and 8x6 SEF Coil....both more than capable for working the open areas.
My M6 w 7" or 4x6 will do as much or more in your test situations.
One of those might do a little better, but I don't think so, and I know the two combined are not going to be great picks. The Test Scenarios I used, the M6 w/4X6 scored '32', with a 4X6½ '35', and the 6X8 SEF only made it to '29'.. The new 7" Detech DD didn't do as well, and I know didn't match the Apex, V-540 or Simplex +.
Ok, a few corrections here. We never tested the 7" Detech coil. I didn't have it yet. The three coils that I did have at the time of your test and you took notes was: The Whites 4x6 shooter. The Detech Excelerator II 4.5x7" coil and the Whites Eclipse 5.3. Each of the elliptical DD coils made it in the 30+ on your test with the 4x6 shooter doing the best. It was not the 6x8 SEF that failed with only 29, that was the Whites Eclipse 5.3 coil.
Besides, both those M6 coils are smaller than the better 'fringe-size' and 'scouting-size' coils, and you don't need a smaller-size coil because it wouldn't match the Relic or CoRe in performance in the really nasty environments.
I agree 100% however, I still favor a smaller coil like the 7" Detech or the Detech 4.5 x7" for the simple fact that a bit smaller coils will slow you down: ie..the bigger the coil the faster you try to cover an area. The smaller coils keep me in check, if you will, and I tend to do a slower methodical sweep speed vs, a larger coil. I'm perfectly happy swinging a 7" coil all day.
Then there are the other considerations when it comes to detector choice, such as:
Tone ID Modes or design:
Apex - 5-Tone
V-540 - 5-Tone
Simplex + 2-Tone and 3-Tone
M6 - Single-Tone or drive-you-nuts 7-Tone
Ground Balance / Ground Phase read-out:
Apex - Yes, numeric GB references
V-540 - No GB option
Simplex + - Yes, numeric GB reference
M6 - None
Iron Audio Volume Control:
Apex - Yes
V-540 - Yes
Simplex _ - Yes
M6 - No
Excellent Ergonomics and Light-Weight / Well Balanced:
Apex - Yes
V-540 - Yes
Simplex + - Yes
M6 - (Use your imagination)
I better quit. Don't want him to be stuck inside all winter all mopey and depressed.
Monte
Yes features are nice, in fact, I have posted numerous times that I wish the Fors Core would have had Iron Audio Volume. It doesn't. But I continue to use it and because of lack of features, I hear everything from Iron on up the scale, I do this for the simple fact, there are not too many other machines out there that will do in iron infested sites like a Fors Core. Features are nice, but I put performance first. And I extend that thought to the M6 and MXT Pro as well. They may not be feature-rich, but in their simplistic/performance way......they do work fine.
Its been a long day. They say a picture is worth 1000 words. So I randomly picked 7 pictures. So technically this is a long post 7000 words + what I actually typed

This is possibly the longest post I have ever made...............
Pic # 1 The big brother of the M6, the MXT pro. 1891 Morgan Silver dollar
Pic #2 an M6 find, a 1903 barber half dollar
Pic #3 M6 find, Pheasant Pendent
Pic # 4, my most recent and last find of the year using the M6, an 1894 Barber Quarter, the token was found with the MXT. The two finds that made me realize it was a shame to throw the M6 and MXT in the closet not to be used again for almost 5 years
Pic # 5 M6 finds, a neat ghost town key fob and 1899 Barber Quarter
Pic # 6 M6 find. 1900 barber quarter with excellent detail.
Pic #7 MXT Pro 1910 Barber Half and token
CoRe,Relic & Racers
MXT All Pro & M6
Big Red 440
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2020 10:47AM by Monte.