Speculation being the key word:
I'm assuming GemQ has used a bigger coil (Coiltek prototype perhaps
) & like me hasn't seen any problems using one.
I was sceptical at first on depth with the 17x13, but after using it a bit more last year, it appears to be ok & has certainly pinged some deep targets for me.
That's not to say everyone would be happy with it & no doubt there are some people that might find it less than they expected in their area.
Speculation isn't really helpful though.
I find the whole "the GPX6000 won't get big or deep gold" banter laughable to be honest as I've pinged some decent bits at good depths.
All large coils seem to get a bit of bad feedback at times. There's a lot of people that seem to think by putting on a bigger coil (on any detector) the big, deep gold should just jump out of the ground for them.
As anyone that's spent time going over areas with a larger coil knows it can be a long & sometimes fruitless process. The big, deep gold isn't always there.
First off, I really like the 6000 and I am not in the "the GPX6000 won't get big or deep gold" club at all.
We have found many multi ounce pieces with ours.
My partner apart from two very brief stints trying out the NF exceed 12x7 and the Coiltek 14x9 Goldhawk has exclusively used the 11"ML.
I on the other hand have been constantly swapping between those calls as well as the 17"ML and 14"ML DD.
My partner will not carry a pick (she says it slows her down lol) . Where we operate mainly most (90%+) nuggets are in the top 2-3 inches and easily retrieved with just a scoop so this is not a major issue.
So when she finds a deeper nugget I wander over and dig it for her.
This gives me an opportunity to compare whatever coil I have on against her 11 ML, we have been doing this since we obtained the 6000's among the very first batch.
My observations in
our highly mineralised ground over many thousands of nuggets are,
1. We have had quite a few nuggets found with the 11 that the 17 won't pick up even with 2-3 inches topsoil taken away.
2. Both the NF and Coiltek coils mentioned are not as good as the standard 11ML close but not as good with the NF slightly exceeding the Coiltek, this was a surprise to me as have always preferred aftermarket coils on our other Minelab machines apart from the 2300.
3. The 14" DD is a strange one, definitely gets fewer nuggets and is shallower than the 11 on nuggets but it finds many more specys per use time than any of the other coils.
A further comment would be that even though we prefer the 11 over the aftermarket (NF and CT) coils the aftermarket ones seem more resilient as we have returned and had replaced 6, yes SIX ML 11 coils that have definitely been faulty and one 17 that may have may not have been faulty but was tested and replaced.
There is SPECULATION ( that word again ) and photo's on other forums (DP being one) where coil makers have taken apart 6000 coils and found generally what they consider poor shielding and misplaced ground wires in them. I don't know as not a coil winder or electronics expert.
What is somewhat disturbing is why after over a year of promoting a bigger coil NF has now taken all reference to it away?All know that if produced it would be a best seller.
I have been eagerly awaiting this most probably along with thousands of others as a 6000 with a large well functioning coil would be a killer.