02-26-2017, 12:06 PM
As you probably heard, I ordered and received a NEL Tornado over this weekend. I was able to get it out to that test area I was talking about but only for 3 passes (totalling around 9 foot wide, with about 16 feet to go or 4 passes roughly) as the wind was blowing so hard at 40F that I had to actually swing by walking backwards in order to keep my face from freezing off and eyes from watering so that I couldn't see!
In reviewing some (of which there are few) youtube videos prior to my purchase of the Tornado, I heard that some of the guys out there were having some problems with erratic behavior, noise, etc.... (One fella actually had the coil on in reverse because the connector was on the left side instead of the right.) I closely followed a few simple steps to insure proper operation from the time I turned on the detector. Step # 1 was to factory reset the AT Pro, which is not very complicated, just hold down the ON switch until the machine turns on, where instead of coming on in your previous settings, will come on in Standard Mode in Coins, with the sense at 2 notches below full. Step #2 is the ground balance, which is recommended at half sensitivity, and from which you can up your sensitivity at will.
Following these rules, I did not encounter any of what I would call abnormalities. My very first find was a 1981 Jeff. And only at about 6 inches. Although on my prior hunt I had thought that I cleaned the area out pretty well of pull tabs, can slaw, foil, etc..., my digs were of the very same, but much less by far. When sweeping the coil I was careful to overlap each sweep by about half. I did the first two passes (about 75 yards long) with the sense at full and Pro Zero, no discrimination. I was amazed that the little squeeks, which would only occasionally show a digital above 70, and only in one specific direction, turned out to be an itsy bitsy little rivet and a very small chrome plated brass machine screw, both at about 6 or 7 inches. I didn't even hear these with the 8.5x11 and I dig everything usually above 50. I will say that the side envelope of the Tornado is smaller. What I mean by this is that the presence of deep iron/mineralization close to the side of the coil, but not on the target, does not affect the result too much as with the stock Garrett. I guess you could say that the Tornado has a tighter field. On the third and last pass I turned the Iron Disc all the way up to 40 but left everything else the same. The larger iron objects came through the discrimination intermittently, (i.e., horse shoes, tacks, iron junk.) but the digs were about the same as the first 2 passes. One thing I noticed about the first 2 passes in full Zero mode was that the iron was louder than what the Garrett coil reported.
All in all I have to say that the Tornado looks for now to be a real keeper. Tone clarity is pretty good and it's overall sensitivity to smaller objects is damn good. Although I didn't find any gold or silver with it on the first short trial, I was impressed by it's mid tone abilities, especially that first nickel 2 minutes into the trip.
I felt that weight was a non issue. IMHO I actually don't think it's any heavier than the 8.5x11 although it is by a few oz's, and it's definitely lighter than my SEF 10 x 12 for the SE Pro.
So I'll keep you informed as to further developments as time goes on, but it looks like this coil is going to stay on the machine for a while.
Ed/Ohio Dirt Fisher
In reviewing some (of which there are few) youtube videos prior to my purchase of the Tornado, I heard that some of the guys out there were having some problems with erratic behavior, noise, etc.... (One fella actually had the coil on in reverse because the connector was on the left side instead of the right.) I closely followed a few simple steps to insure proper operation from the time I turned on the detector. Step # 1 was to factory reset the AT Pro, which is not very complicated, just hold down the ON switch until the machine turns on, where instead of coming on in your previous settings, will come on in Standard Mode in Coins, with the sense at 2 notches below full. Step #2 is the ground balance, which is recommended at half sensitivity, and from which you can up your sensitivity at will.
Following these rules, I did not encounter any of what I would call abnormalities. My very first find was a 1981 Jeff. And only at about 6 inches. Although on my prior hunt I had thought that I cleaned the area out pretty well of pull tabs, can slaw, foil, etc..., my digs were of the very same, but much less by far. When sweeping the coil I was careful to overlap each sweep by about half. I did the first two passes (about 75 yards long) with the sense at full and Pro Zero, no discrimination. I was amazed that the little squeeks, which would only occasionally show a digital above 70, and only in one specific direction, turned out to be an itsy bitsy little rivet and a very small chrome plated brass machine screw, both at about 6 or 7 inches. I didn't even hear these with the 8.5x11 and I dig everything usually above 50. I will say that the side envelope of the Tornado is smaller. What I mean by this is that the presence of deep iron/mineralization close to the side of the coil, but not on the target, does not affect the result too much as with the stock Garrett. I guess you could say that the Tornado has a tighter field. On the third and last pass I turned the Iron Disc all the way up to 40 but left everything else the same. The larger iron objects came through the discrimination intermittently, (i.e., horse shoes, tacks, iron junk.) but the digs were about the same as the first 2 passes. One thing I noticed about the first 2 passes in full Zero mode was that the iron was louder than what the Garrett coil reported.
All in all I have to say that the Tornado looks for now to be a real keeper. Tone clarity is pretty good and it's overall sensitivity to smaller objects is damn good. Although I didn't find any gold or silver with it on the first short trial, I was impressed by it's mid tone abilities, especially that first nickel 2 minutes into the trip.
I felt that weight was a non issue. IMHO I actually don't think it's any heavier than the 8.5x11 although it is by a few oz's, and it's definitely lighter than my SEF 10 x 12 for the SE Pro.
So I'll keep you informed as to further developments as time goes on, but it looks like this coil is going to stay on the machine for a while.
Ed/Ohio Dirt Fisher