Is The Minelab Sovereign GT DEEP?

[Michigan Badger]

I just purchased a Minelab Sovereign GT that hasn't been delivered yet.

I also purchased a 15" WOT coil for it.

For those who have used this machine...

Is the Sov. GT deep?

Anybody ever use it with the WOT?

Do tell all.

Badger

 

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[txkickergirl]

I am interesting in knowing too. I will tell you that the small 5" coil surprised me with its depth, and I know the 12" picks up some small items like mini balls loud and clear at 10".

 

[jeff of pa]

Although I own the Older XS-2 I have no reason to Believe
it isn't as deep or deeper. (At least more Sensitive.)

Once you learn it, yes, it is very deep.
It won't get the depth of the Explorer on small silver
of course, (maybe with the Stock 10.5) but if you move your coil slowly
and listen Closley. you'll find coins & relics
at great Depths.

WARNING !

If you use the W.O.T. Coil in deep mud areas.
Be Prepaired to dig Can size objects, Arms Length & Deeper.

if you Don't Believe me, Ask "4/DB" or "whitesPA"
I'm almost Sure, "4/DB" has seen me Laying on my Side
Cheek in the mud, with my Long handled Scoop in hand,
to Reach 12oz. Conetop Cans. & "whitesPA" has seen
the Amount, depth & small Sizes of some of the Gold
Rings I have dug.

I'm not saying the Sovereign is Magic.
But IF you Learn it, it is Amazing.

The 15" W.O.T. coil, can take Credit too.

Being a DD Coil it is Very Sensitive to small objects, &
you cover more Area without missing much.

Only Draw back, IF there is Bits of Iron.
Even with Disc. turned all the way down.
When you get a Good Signal, & switch to
All Metal to Pinpoint, You will hear several signals
under the coil at times, making you Dig several
pieces of Iron at times, to get to the Coin.

You Must Always RE-Check Holes if you pull out Iron
especially.

One additional Note:

In All Metal if it Nulls out, it is most likely
Hot Rocks, Or Disintigrating Tin.
BUT if you got a good signal inn Disc.
DIG. the Goodie is mixed in.

 

[erikk]

I use a WOT with an EX2 and all I can say is get a good shovel!!

 

[Sandman]

Is the Sky Blue? Badger you will be suprised at just how deep it really is and when you put the WOT coil on it, you will regret having to dig such deep holes.

Jeff hit the nail on the head with an accurate discription of what to expect. If Neilo or Max chimes in you will get a repeat.

Good Luck,

Oh, strap a long bike flag to your hat so when your deep in the hole still digging you will warn others not to step in the hole.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Thanks to all who posted so far...keep em coming.

I also posted a similar thread on the minelab forum. So far only one response over there. I get more here.

I do remember that my Excalibur was deep on iron. I never could get the hang of deep coins though. I recall it wasn't worth a flip on fresh buried targets.

But, that's all behind me and I plan to learn this machine because I figure if I learn it I'll be brave enough to order a new SE next spring.

I like challenges and that's one of the reasons I decided to have a go at the Sov.GT. Another is I've heard that once learned it's supreme for trashy sites. Depth I'm not really all that concerned about.

Although I did like sandman's suggestion to use the bike flag

Badger

 

[jeff of pa]

The Sovereign is No Better on Freshly Buried Targets, or Air tests.

It isn't made for that.
It has to Analyze the
ground around the Object in Conjunction to it.

The Sovereign does Not like Air.
IF you lift one inch off the ground, you probably
loose 2 in the ground. You need to Scrub the ground
to get it's full potential.

 

[jeff of pa]

on the other hand, except for Weight,
the Sovereign & Wot combo would probably be Great
for Competition Hunts.

Most coins are Shallow.
& if you run around Swinging
an inch off the Ground Fast.
Your only going to reach 2 to 3 inches in depth.

& probably Clean up

 

[Michigan Badger]

The Sovereign is No Better on Freshly Buried Targets, or Air tests.

It isn't made for that.
It has to Analyze the
ground around the Object in Conjunction to it.

The Sovereign does Not like Air.
IF you lift one inch off the ground, you probably
loose 2 in the ground. You need to Scrub the ground
to get it's full potential.

Thanks Jeff. One thing I did with my Excalibur was test it in air and then the same target buried. In air it barely got about 6 3/4 inches on a silver quarter. The same coin buried I got a good signal at a measured 10 inches (very mild wet backfill soil). I only did this once and I assumed at the time it was just a fluke of some sort and didn't pay much attention to it. Soon afterward I sold the machine. Since I've always been a believer in air testings I couldn't bring myself to test more. Now I'm not so sure. This time I'll really check this out with mostly long time buried objects. I have a method of digging where I can judge pretty close the actual depth of the target.

It's kind of funny but the method you describe for using the GT is very much like that I use for all my detectors. Years ago I found out that to find the deep stuff one does have to swing slow and low. If one moves too fast with a Tesoro one will only find shallow clad and memorials. Oh, maybe an occasional old coin or shallow silver. To get the old stuff with a Tesoro you move along at a snail's pace, make smaller swings, and listen for those tiny little weak beeps that break-up slightly. A big mistake Tesoro users make is only listen for those definite solid hits. The good targets are easy to miss if the swing and forward movements are too fast. Also, with Tesoro one needs to use the biggest coil possible since this is how the great depth is achieved. The hottest machines in Tesoro are the uMax models with the 12x10 concentric coil. These will eat the Tejon for breakfast when it comes to depth.

I think Mr. Gifford knows this because he told me in a post that they may soon make a 12x10 concentric for the Tejon. That DD is great but DD's can't match a concentric of the same diameter when it comes to raw depth.

If you want a little pass time fun, sometime get one of those little Silver Tesoro uMax machines (or any uMax model) and put a 12x10 on it. Hunt like you would with the GT. I've dug pennies better than 10 inches deep with this rig. But the problem is, it also grabs every old square nail at those extreme depths. That's why I need the GT.

Thanks much!

Badger

 

[Loosemoose]

The Sov GT is mt first real detector and I've had it now for four months.
I hunt in the wet sand, and it goes deep, real deep!
To get some idea, when I'm in the states, I hunt probably the most detected beach in socal, I'm usually one of at least two other mders there. Given that, I regularly pull coins out that have been in the sand for a long time. Were they missed by the other guys, or ignored because they read as coins?
The GT will pull out small items like earing backs, or jeans rivets from 14 inches plus in the wet sand, my first gold ring came from about 12 inches down. As for depth, I've dug holes at least two and a half feet deep looking for a target that started out as a small return, but ended up being an aluminium can.
There is a price to pay though, and thats sweep speed. If you sweep fast, it seems to be too much for the processor to handle, and you won't get any returns. This machine responds best to "hurry up and slow down, way down" .
Hope this helps.

 

[Mirage]

I don't have much to say on the GT but I have used two separate 15" WOT coils on two different Minelab machines. One I had with my Minelab Quattro and now I have a different one on my Exp II.

DEPTH IS OVERRATED on this coil. The fact is the Minelabs get deep with any coil. The 15" will get you about an inch deeper. This is my humble opinion.

Bob

 

[jeff of pa]

I don't have much to say on the GT but I have used two separate 15" WOT coils on two different Minelab machines. One I had with my Minelab Quattro and now I have a different one on my Exp II.

DEPTH IS OVERRATED on this coil. The fact is the Minelabs get deep with any coil. The 15" will get you about an inch deeper. This is my humble opinion.

Bob

I'v heard this since the WOT came out.
as far as the Explorers go.

Not sure why, but it dosn't seem to help Depth on them.
just Coverage area.

Maybe something to do with the Processors & swing speed.

 

[EasyMoney]

Maybe this will help.

My Sov Elite Pro gets 8" on the beach with the stock coil in disc. With a 12.5" Excellerator it gets 9". Not much change, but when loaded with the Excell the Sov beats my other detectors when loaded with their stock coils, but ONLY if I put it on. Otherwise it gets the same depth as my cz and other detectors. The Excell sounds a bit iffy though, tough to always know if it's a good or bad target.

The big coil isn't good for finding real tiny stuff like earring studs, but of course, neither is the 10" either. To do that I switch to my nuggett hunter detector and leave the Minelab in the van.

 

[jeff of pa]

The big coil isn't good for finding real tiny stuff like earring studs, but of course,

the 15" WOT sure does on my sivereign.
it even finds BB's & Thumb tacks.

Smallest I can Find in my collection this fast.

all different Depth, NOT Surface Finds.

I know I'v found much smaller.

A. Earring 1" X 1/4"
B. Stud 1/2"
C. Part of Airliner 1/4"
D. 1964 Memorial 1/4" from Ring or was pin.
E. Babies 14K Christining Ring or Neckless ring 1/2"
F. Zipper Pull 1/4 X 3/4
G. 22 Short Shell 5/8"

Susquehanna pin 3/8"

 

[Michigan Badger]

DEPTH IS OVERRATED on this coil. The fact is the Minelabs get deep with any coil. The 15" will get you about an inch deeper. This is my humble opinion.

Bob

I think you overstated your point, Bob

You may be right in the 1 inch theory if you limit this to very small targets. But I know for a fact that when it comes to larger targets the WOT is a lot deeper. I believe one could use this coil to locate privy holes.

I'm selling my WOT because it is way too deep for me. I use a full size shovel at my camp sites and even with it I've had to give up the dig several times. I dug quarter to about half dollar sized pieces of copper and tin scrap at depths way beyond the GT with the 10" Tornado coil. For targets 8 Reale or larger sized I say the 15" WOT would have an easy 5-6 inch advantage over the stock coil.

But for coin/jewelry hunting I'd say the WOT is best for ground coverage. I'd guess more like a 3 to 4 inches of depth gain on targets that size over the 10 inch coil.

But like you wrote, maybe for like tiny stuff it wouldn't be but 1-2 inches more.

But hey! out yonder even just 1 inch can sometimes mean a lot.

Badger

 

[jfx55]

if you really no your machine. and know how it talks to you a so-called wots is just another factory put on (remember the old hot head coils) waste of money. in my humble opinion.

 

[Michigan Badger]

if you really no your machine. and know how it talks to you a so-called wots is just another factory put on (remember the old hot head coils) waste of money. in my humble opinion.

Well, we're all welcome to our opinions

But one thing we must not forget is, all coils either find or miss buried targets. No coil is able to make a target deeper or shallower. Coils can only report on what they're able to "see."

If old coins in an area normally run 5 inches with the 10" Tornado coil, then old coins will tend to run 5 inches deep with the 15" WOT. This could easily make one say "Heck! this WOT isn't any deeper than the stock coil!"

But then the day comes when one gets this signal way too deep but since one has nothing better to do one digs it up. WOW! how'd that bust half get here?!!! Thank you WOT!

If I didn't have a very bad knee problem I'd only use the WOT. I have to limit myself to holes about 8 inches deep so the WOT is out for me.

 

[muleskinner]

Hey Jeff I'm glad you mentioned you found a BB. Because I did about a month ago, I just sat there in disbelief. I'm not sure I want to hunt with a machine that finds old BB's. As the rest of you Minelab users can attest, these detectors start talking as soon as you turn them on. It's learning the language that's getting me.
If any of you hunt the old sites you'll find the copper washers they used in old rivets really sound off. They are probably a little bigger then a quarter inch in diameter, and probably 30 thousands in thickness. And the machine acts like it found a silver dollar! Those things have been buried over 100 years!
Anybody with a Sovereign better buy a good pinpointer, because your gonna be finding allot of small targets.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Hey Jeff I'm glad you mentioned you found a BB. Because I did about a month ago, I just sat there in disbelief. I'm not sure I want to hunt with a machine that finds old BB's. As the rest of you Minelab users can attest, these detectors start talking as soon as you turn them on. It's learning the language that's getting me.
If any of you hunt the old sites you'll find the copper washers they used in old rivets really sound off. They are probably a little bigger then a quarter inch in diameter, and probably 30 thousands in thickness. And the machine acts like it found a silver dollar! Those things have been buried over 100 years!
Anybody with a Sovereign better buy a good pinpointer, because your gonna be finding allot of small targets.

The same is true of the Sovereign GT. Any time I dig a coin it's easy pinpointing and finding the target after digging. No extra pinpointer needed.

But those targets you can't find are tiny pieces of metal you can't hardly see with the naked eye. It took me a while to figure this out. At first I thought the machine was falsing on me.

There are two great myths spread about Minelab machines:

1) they don't do well in air tests. My Sovereign is as good in air tests or better than any other brand I've ever owned. This is in both all-metal and discrimination modes.

2) they don't pinpoint well. The whole thing is learning how the DD coil pinpoints. Once you get that down they're dead on. Most of my holes now are about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

Until they develop a truly new type of detector, Minelab has the best product. Others are good, but Minelabs have the current technology advantage.

Badger

 

[geckokid]

The Sovereign is No Better on Freshly Buried Targets, or Air tests.

It isn't made for that.
It has to Analyze the
ground around the Object in Conjunction to it.

The Sovereign does Not like Air.
IF you lift one inch off the ground, you probably
loose 2 in the ground. You need to Scrub the ground
to get it's full potential.

Thanks Jeff. One thing I did with my Excalibur was test it in air and then the same target buried. In air it barely got about 6 3/4 inches on a silver quarter. The same coin buried I got a good signal at a measured 10 inches (very mild wet backfill soil). I only did this once and I assumed at the time it was just a fluke of some sort and didn't pay much attention to it. Soon afterward I sold the machine. Since I've always been a believer in air testings I couldn't bring myself to test more. Now I'm not so sure. This time I'll really check this out with mostly long time buried objects. I have a method of digging where I can judge pretty close the actual depth of the target.

It's kind of funny but the method you describe for using the GT is very much like that I use for all my detectors. Years ago I found out that to find the deep stuff one does have to swing slow and low. If one moves too fast with a Tesoro one will only find shallow clad and memorials. Oh, maybe an occasional old coin or shallow silver. To get the old stuff with a Tesoro you move along at a snail's pace, make smaller swings, and listen for those tiny little weak beeps that break-up slightly. A big mistake Tesoro users make is only listen for those definite solid hits. The good targets are easy to miss if the swing and forward movements are too fast. Also, with Tesoro one needs to use the biggest coil possible since this is how the great depth is achieved. The hottest machines in Tesoro are the uMax models with the 12x10 concentric coil. These will eat the Tejon for breakfast when it comes to depth.

I think Mr. Gifford knows this because he told me in a post that they may soon make a 12x10 concentric for the Tejon. That DD is great but DD's can't match a concentric of the same diameter when it comes to raw depth.

If you want a little pass time fun, sometime get one of those little Silver Tesoro uMax machines (or any uMax model) and put a 12x10 on it. Hunt like you would with the GT. I've dug pennies better than 10 inches deep with this rig. But the problem is, it also grabs every old square nail at those extreme depths. That's why I need the GT.

Thanks much!

Badger

How does it compare to the Tejón?