HEY Jeff! I just bought a Minelab!

[Michigan Badger]

Haha! Howdy there Jeff. I done did it and ordered a new detector. I finally decided upon the Minelab Sovereign GT with 10" DD coil after reading again some of your posts and those of others.

You're a good guy and I trust you. If it turns out to be junk I'll cut you out of my will

Okay...she'll be here about next Thursday so we shall see what we shall see.

Expect me to bug everyone here for help learning this machine.

Comments anyone?

Badger

 

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[jeff of pa]

Good Choice in My opinion Badger.
Once you'v learned it, you may want to add
an S1-Probe & a 15" W.O.T. Coil.

Not Much I can tell you right now till you get out & use it.
Except when you do, First go to a place you have Hunted heavy & found Great old Finds.
Turn the Disc.'s, all the way Counter Clockwise,
Turn the Sensitivity all the way Counter Clockwise
till it clicks on Auto. (Till you learn it fully) trust me
it will be alot smoother. I still hunt in AUTO. Despite
others trying to tell me 1:00 to 12:00 position
is best. I believe auto is pulling sensitivity
up alot higher when ground condition allows, without you knowing it.
Then hunt with small side to side SLOW Strokes.
When you get a signal Just sort of "Wiggle" the Coil over the Target.
I dig them all.
IF your like me, you will be amazed at what you find.
and as you learn it you'll be even more amazed.

 

[jeff of pa]

almost forgot,

An unusual Reaction at times with the Sovereign.

Small Very Deep coins sound Large, almost like your sensing
their Halo along with the coin.

Small Shallow Coins Sound their size.

Although it Talks about the Older Sovereigns,
It still Applies. Read everything here on the Sovereign.

Before Using it.

& Review after using it as often as needed.

http://www.frontiernet.net/~jvokes/detecting.htm

 

[Michigan Badger]

Good Choice in My opinion Badger.
IF your like me, you will be amazed at what you find.
and as you learn it you'll be even more amazed.

Thanks much Jeff. I've been checking all over the place and the people who are really into hunting tell me Minelab and many of them still favor the GT of all the models. So I thought I'd go with this one first. Maybe early next spring I'll try the SE.

Right now I've been having fun playing around with low cost detectors and it's been very interesting. I've been using the Tesoro Silver I and II and also the new uMax. Man! I've had a great time. Mostly just wheats and indians but in our area that's like finding CW buttons down south.

That little puny Tesoro uMax fixed with the 12x10 concentric coil is so good it's almost hilarious. Last night after dark I stepped out into the yard to try the 12x10 on the uMax and my 3rd hole produced an 1900 indian well over 10 inches deep. I was shocked! I'd totally hunted that spot so many times you can still see the outlines of previous plugs all around that spot.

My yard was once a very key location in our town from about the 1850's to about 1900. Back in about the 1940's a lot of fill dirt was added to this location. Thus the super deep coins, etc.

I can't wait to see what the Minelab can do. One reason I got it is because of it's reputation of being so good around iron. The problem with all Tesoros fixed with large coils is they love iron. Coins sound different from iron but rings and jewelry are very close so I really have to dig all deep positive signals. The wife is getting sick of me digging the property up all the time so that's why the Minelab.

Thanks again,

Badger

 

[jeff of pa]

Yes even with the Disc turned all the way down.

you should null out over 90% of it.

 

[muleskinner]

My guess is you're gonna love the sov. i think it's really cool how they just null on iron, and pick up the rest. After a while you'll be able to tell how big the iron is also, just by the null. So you'll know that you might be going over an artifac that may interest you. The sovereigns do go deep also, but it sounds like you were getting depth with that tesoro that will be hard to beat.
Best of luck
Muleskinner
PS. You guys try to leave something left in michigan for me to find.

 

[Michigan Badger]

My guess is you're gonna love the sov. i think it's really cool how they just null on iron, and pick up the rest. After a while you'll be able to tell how big the iron is also, just by the null. So you'll know that you might be going over an artifac that may interest you. The sovereigns do go deep also, but it sounds like you were getting depth with that tesoro that will be hard to beat.
Best of luck
Muleskinner
PS. You guys try to leave something left in michigan for me to find.

Thanks Muleskinner! I think most detectors today get great depth with certain coils. The uMax with stock 8" coil is a 5-8 inch deep machine. BUT it really comes to life with that 12x10. However, when it comes to ignoring nails and such one has to stay with the little coils. It's kind of strange how that a buried rusty nail gives a sound simular to a buried ring but once I dig the nail it's discriminated out totally. Oh well, with the GT all that will change for the better.

Hey too...I'm from Western Michigan myself. I lived in the village of Spring Lake and also lived for years in Grand Haven. I did a lot of detecting all over those areas from about 1968-1993.

HH,

Badger

 

[Michigan Badger]

Yes even with the Disc turned all the way down.

you should null out over 90% of it.

I just remembered I'm going to need headphones. What do you recommend?

Badger

 

[muleskinner]

Let me know when you find a good pair of headphones. I've got a pair that Kellyco thru in with the deal on my detector. Those are a pretty cheesy pair. They do have volume knobs on each side, that's a good feature, but they don't cover the ears real well. They also raise hell with my glasses.
I also bought a smaller pair yesterday, even with the detector volume all the way down, it will blow out your eardrums. So now I need to find a radio shack and buy an in line volume control.

 

[EBCIII]

As to headphones. I have been real happy with my Sun Ray Pro gold. Volume control, sound limiter switch, nice ear coverage. Here is a good review, Beale.

http://www.sunraydetector.com/sun_ray_pro_headphones_field_test_article_w&e.htm

 

[jeff of pa]

I have a Pair of KOSS from KELLYCO.

as muleskinner said they Don't cover the Ears.
But great Volume & Tone.

Lately I have been using TROY PRO phones
because I won them. TROY tried to talk me into taking
a Carry Bag instead. He said they won't work on the Sovereign.
But I refused & he sent them. They work great
& Have good Ear coverage. Not sure if he Adapted them to work
with the Sovereign or What.

 

[Mirage]

Badger - welcome to the family! Is this your first minelab? I bet it is a good machine. It's on my list of machines to try.....maybe next summer.

Bob

 

[Michigan Badger]

Badger - welcome to the family! Is this your first minelab? I bet it is a good machine. It's on my list of machines to try.....maybe next summer.

Bob

Thanks. No, I owned the Excalibur back in 2005. I had intended to work the streams around here but developed a bad knee so I ended up using the Excalibur as a land machine. I didn't like it at all. It seemed shallow and had a very slow re-tune. I even sent it back to Minelab and they said it checked perfect. I sold it soon after.

I've done some checking and communications with lots of people using Minelabs and I think now I just didn't understand the Excal. Minelabs, as you know, aren't your average "beep n dig" machine. They're top notch latest technology and definitely not "beep n dig" machines. At least not when hunting deep and trashy sites.

I didn't order the GT for is depth as much as for it's ability to work around iron. Depth is no problem in my area because even our oldest finds here are easily within the range of most any model Tesoro, Whites, Garrett, etc. In fact, even that little Silver uMax with 12x10 coil can pull coins from 10+ inches. No, depth isn't the deal here, it's dealing with iron. This ground is loaded with it.

Thanks much and hopefully with some help I'll master this machine and find those things I've been missing.

Right now I'm working on a deal to buy a nearly mint 15" WOT coil for the GT. Jeff recommended it once I'm ready for it.

Badger

 

[jeff of pa]

Badger - welcome to the family! Is this your first minelab? I bet it is a good machine. It's on my list of machines to try.....maybe next summer.

Bob

Thanks. No, I owned the Excalibur back in 2005. I had intended to work the streams around here but developed a bad knee so I ended up using the Excalibur as a land machine. I didn't like it at all. It seemed shallow and had a very slow re-tune. I even sent it back to Minelab and they said it checked perfect. I sold it soon after.

I've done some checking and communications with lots of people using Minelabs and I think now I just didn't understand the Excal. Minelabs, as you know, aren't your average "beep n dig" machine. They're top notch latest technology and definitely not "beep n dig" machines. At least not when hunting deep and trashy sites.

I didn't order the GT for is depth as much as for it's ability to work around iron. Depth is no problem in my area because even our oldest finds here are easily within the range of most any model Tesoro, Whites, Garrett, etc. In fact, even that little Silver uMax with 12x10 coil can pull coins from 10+ inches. No, depth isn't the deal here, it's dealing with iron. This ground is loaded with it.

Thanks much and hopefully with some help I'll master this machine and find those things I've been missing.

Right now I'm working on a deal to buy a nearly mint 15" WOT coil for the GT. Jeff recommended it once I'm ready for it.

Badger

UH-OH !

The Sovereign is a Land Version of the Excalibur

 

[Michigan Badger]

UH-OH !

The Sovereign is a Land Version of the Excalibur

They work for almost everyone else so it should work for me.

I'm thinking there was something wrong with my Excal. even though the company didn't find it.

Or, more likely, I failed to properily learn the machine.

I'm not worried about it at all. I'd say 19 or of 20 THers who bought the GT loved it. The same is true of the Excalibur.

And beside all this, I only paid $350 postpaid for this near mint GT. I just bought a near mint 15" WOT with lower shaft postpaid for $140.

So, it's boogie time!

 

[Tubecity]

This post has my interest. I tinkered with MD'ing 25 years ago with
a $80 Radio Shack machine, then life came along. I got serious about it 3 or 4 years ago & re- started with a BH Quik- Draw. For a beginner I can't knock it, it hasn't lied to me too often. I usually find what it tells me & at what depth. For a simpler machine, it is still better at doing its job than
I am. But I'm ready to move up & am leaning heavily toward a Minelab. Glad to have these type of posts & the experience of the
MD'ers on this site.

 

[Michigan Badger]

This post has my interest. I tinkered with MD'ing 25 years ago with
a $80 Radio Shack machine, then life came along. I got serious about it 3 or 4 years ago & re- started with a BH Quik- Draw. For a beginner I can't knock it, it hasn't lied to me too often. I usually find what it tells me & at what depth. For a simpler machine, it is still better than
I am. But I'm ready to move up & am leaning heavily toward a Minelab. Glad to have these type of posts & the experience of the
MD'ers on this site.

Glad you like the post. Many have found great things with a BH. I have great respect for all the major brands. I really like all of them.

I have a good friend who owns and loves the Garrett Ace 250. A good friend who is a major promoter online for Nautilus detectors actually uses a Whites MXT and prefers it to the brand he's most known for selling. I think that's humorous

But then I know lots of people who swear by Nautilus machines. One of my very good detecting buds (years of experience) thinks the new Fisher F75 is the greatest machine ever made.

I have liked the Tesoro Tejon (my personal favorite) for many months now.

You see; they're all good. Some may just be a little...gooder