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I figured that after putting around ten hours on the 14 X 9 Coiltek coil it was time for a review.
First off contrary to the title, this is no Mickey Mouse coil.
At a couple ounces heavier that the Minelab 17" coil it is a beast to swing.
However by shortening the shaft up about an inch it became very comfortable to handle.
Being 3" shorter that the 17" coil I also had to shorten up my stride to be able to overlap the swings.
I tend to cover far too much ground while walking so taking smaller steps is not a bad thing.
For any of you up here in Canada the good news is that this coil is just as reactive to the older nickel based "clad" coins as the 5 x 10 coil is.
Those coins sing out with a very peculiar trill that crosses between a sweet high tone and an iron grunt.
Once you get used to that, picking out those nickel based coins is a snap.
I have been asked how the Coiltek coils react to the more modern steel based coins and unfortunately they do not identify those coins as coins.
That is not to say that you can not find those coins, far from it.
It just takes concentration. Listen to the tones is my best advice for anyone who hunts where steel based coins are the norm.
The CTX will produce a very mellow blurp upon the first pass which will change to a total iron grunt on the return.
If the target is within 2" of the surface 75% of the time it will be a coin.
I doubt that this is only a Minelab problem (Minelab detectors are the only ones that I have used so this is based upon my own experience) but anything that is threaded, be it a nut or a screw, will trick the detector into thinking that a good target is below the coil.
Screws, for some reason will always come in with a high tone and nuts will be much lower into the foil like brass area.
I don't mind pulling either of these types of targets because if I passed on them I know that I would be passing on some keepers.
On Wednesday I decided to try an area that causes havoc with the 17" coil.
This area has a lot of EMI interference, the 14 X 9 handled it with no problem whereas with the 17" coil on I would have constantly been hitting the noise cancel button.
There was only one keeper from that area. It is not much but it was still fun to find.
The best find of Wednesday was a real surprise find for me.
I pulled this teeny tiny silver ring out at 6"
That is my pinky finger and the ring does not reach the 2 3/4 size marking on the mandrel.
Thursday saw the return of the infamous PocoBill.
I say that because the last time he was over here he pulled a very sweet looking gold ring chockablock full of British hallmarks.
The area we hit that day was challenging for two reasons.
Firstly it was dryer than dry and secondly the freshly cut grass left between 4 and 6 inches of stubble on the ground.
]The extra weight of this 14 X 9 coil came in really handy in this stubble.
Rather than bouncing along over top of the stubble like a lighter weight coil would have, this one tends to settle down as low as the stubble will allow.
While Bill was doing his best impression of a drunken sailor by going here there and everywhere in the field, I chose a patch that was approximately 30 meters by 35 meters and gave it the scorched earth treatment.
Anything that was not iron was coming out.
Before anyone asks the batteries and the ceramic ram were eyeball finds.
The first keeper of the day added to the yearly total. 
The second keeper of the day was another shocker for me.
While walking along a beaten pathway in the stubble this ultra small silver pendant came out at 4".
Now 4" is not an incredible depth by any means.
But under the ultra dry conditions and the size of the pendant I think that this find truly shows what the 14 X 9 is capable of.
First off contrary to the title, this is no Mickey Mouse coil.
At a couple ounces heavier that the Minelab 17" coil it is a beast to swing.
However by shortening the shaft up about an inch it became very comfortable to handle.
Being 3" shorter that the 17" coil I also had to shorten up my stride to be able to overlap the swings.
I tend to cover far too much ground while walking so taking smaller steps is not a bad thing.
For any of you up here in Canada the good news is that this coil is just as reactive to the older nickel based "clad" coins as the 5 x 10 coil is.
Those coins sing out with a very peculiar trill that crosses between a sweet high tone and an iron grunt.
Once you get used to that, picking out those nickel based coins is a snap.
I have been asked how the Coiltek coils react to the more modern steel based coins and unfortunately they do not identify those coins as coins.
That is not to say that you can not find those coins, far from it.
It just takes concentration. Listen to the tones is my best advice for anyone who hunts where steel based coins are the norm.
The CTX will produce a very mellow blurp upon the first pass which will change to a total iron grunt on the return.
If the target is within 2" of the surface 75% of the time it will be a coin.
Screws, for some reason will always come in with a high tone and nuts will be much lower into the foil like brass area.
I don't mind pulling either of these types of targets because if I passed on them I know that I would be passing on some keepers.
This area has a lot of EMI interference, the 14 X 9 handled it with no problem whereas with the 17" coil on I would have constantly been hitting the noise cancel button.
There was only one keeper from that area. It is not much but it was still fun to find.
I pulled this teeny tiny silver ring out at 6"
That is my pinky finger and the ring does not reach the 2 3/4 size marking on the mandrel.
Thursday saw the return of the infamous PocoBill.
I say that because the last time he was over here he pulled a very sweet looking gold ring chockablock full of British hallmarks.
The area we hit that day was challenging for two reasons.
Firstly it was dryer than dry and secondly the freshly cut grass left between 4 and 6 inches of stubble on the ground.
Rather than bouncing along over top of the stubble like a lighter weight coil would have, this one tends to settle down as low as the stubble will allow.
While Bill was doing his best impression of a drunken sailor by going here there and everywhere in the field, I chose a patch that was approximately 30 meters by 35 meters and gave it the scorched earth treatment.
Anything that was not iron was coming out.
Before anyone asks the batteries and the ceramic ram were eyeball finds.
While walking along a beaten pathway in the stubble this ultra small silver pendant came out at 4".
Now 4" is not an incredible depth by any means.
But under the ultra dry conditions and the size of the pendant I think that this find truly shows what the 14 X 9 is capable of.
Nice finds.
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