Thinking of buying a Sovereign GT but...

[Murph]

The tone ID on the sov can provide tons of info to the hobbyist. I was thrilled when I received my sov as this is exactly the type of detector I was looking for and I don't know of another outside the minelab family that is capable of this. IMO in areas where targets are reasonably spread out there is no need for any discrimination or a meter once you get ear trained.

Once again the problem (at least for me) comes in trashy areas. The bombardment of tones can make it difficult to pick out the good from the bad. On the rare occasion I hunt a trashed out area I use a general disc setting just under a nickel and not silent search but a thresh that is just to the point of inaudible and move vary slow keeping in mind the machine is nulling, which at this setting I can not hear, and needs recovery time. Good targets still break through. I have found that the notch dis on the sov has vary narrow bands and it is possible to disc out about 70 percent of pull tabs while still leaving the nickel. You are now left with a coin/silver and
?% gold setting and I suspect with all the discrimination a slight loss of depth. About the same performance you could get out of a less expensive detector for trashy sites. On the other hand when you do hit other sites IMO you have the best machine money can buy and also one that will be stable for salt water beach hunting if you ever take it on vacation with you.

But then again thats just me; I could be wrong.

 

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[NeilinFR]

About this notching out pennies, I meant to say Zinc pennies.

No, zinc or copper cannot be disced out or notched out. Thats why I asked if this guy has ever used a Sov as his comments indicates he hasnt. Same thing with the comment on the disc setting when hunting for rings.
Any detector you have will show you were most rings fall, its no different with the Sov.

I have some years on the older Sov and many also on the Excal's. Still some detectors are different from each other because of various manufacturing processes.

It has been my experience that around 90% of the gold rings are at nickel and above with most pull tabs being under nickels. That leaves some rings in the foil range. Due to the shape of the foil and orientation to the coil and the sweep direction it will read different numbers on any meter. To suggest that numbers on a meter will always show the id is silly. No offence, but this is not a exact science with regard to the ID'ing of an object.

You can take that Two cents to the bank
Sandman

Ive never seen a pulltab that reads below a nickel and sovs do not knock out zinc pennies and that is not a manufacturing difference at all. My hearing is pretty good but not that good that I can always tell pennies from quarters or dimes on a sov, that is what I like about the meter. It will tell you very consistently where a penny will fall and determines for me the upper end of where I will dig. Alot of people wont bother with a meter on a beach and dig the upper end tones but I dont hunt as often as I used to and want to maximize my time.
Your post was not offensive and I hope mine wasnt either. I do ask you however to recheck your readings and post again as Id sure like to see what a pulltab looks like that reads below a nickel. The rectangular ones that are on soda and beer cans today are above a nickel as are the beaver tailed ones, the open ones from the 60s and 70s.
Please also recheck the zinc penny on your sov/excal.
Thanks much and good hunting to you,
Neil

 

[Sandman]

It has been my experience that around 90% of the gold rings are at nickel and above with most pull tabs being under nickels.

Most pull tabs being under a nickel is a typo or my meds acting up again.


Something must be wrong with my Sov Gt because it will notch out a zinc penny. I just tested it with some newer Zinc.

Pulltabs come in many shapes and sizes. True most are below a Nickel, most of the rings are really in the pull tab range or above depending on what alloy they are made with. White gold can read lower closer to foil, but the way the tone ramps up and down is an indicator of the target. I don't trust meters, but the new improved one by Minelab could be better. I always found that the orientation of the target in the ground or the swing direction can change the numbers on the meter. Just my thoughts. Didn't mean to get you roiled up and get roiled up also.

Have a nice Holiday season and take care,
Sandman

 

[TwT]

Something must be wrong with my Sov Gt because it will notch out a zinc penny. I just tested it with some newer Zinc.

I just tested mine also, it did notch out a new pennie.

 

[NeilinFR]

Something must be wrong with my Sov Gt because it will notch out a zinc penny. I just tested it with some newer Zinc.

I just tested mine also, it did notch out a new pennie.

Id like to hear from others on this. Ive got two GTs and one Sov XS and none will notch out a zinc penny.
Thanks for sharing,
Neil

 

[Willy]

Off on a bit of a tangent, I like to use the Xterra 70 ring(gold/platinum)/jewelry hunting because I can knock out all the high conductors and not have to listen to that racket. ..Willy.

 

[Keppy]

I can ...notch... out any thing on my ..Sovereign.. and i can tell just about what is in the ground by tone.But then i have been useing... Sovereign's... since about ..1992...............==Jim==

 

[Dan B]

Well my new Sovereign arrived today. Sure is a lot of assembly required!

I did a few air tests, and it seems like it really likes gold. Nice smooth, high tones for a variety of gold rings. I tried some scrap (foil, alum etc) and the low varying pitches were pretty distinctive. It should be fairly simple to tell the gold rings from the junk.

That's the good news. Now the bad news...

It nulls over Canadian nickels, dimes, loonies and quarters. That might not seem like that big of a deal, except that I live in Canada, and that's what is in the ground! Older silver coins sound good, but old Canadian nickels sound a lot like junk. It may be hard to tell those apart.

I do have a meter coming, and that book on using the Sovereign and Excalibur, so I'm not giving up yet.

This machine may need to be used exclusively for the beach if I don't get this coin thing sorted out. I can use my Tejon for coin shooting. It's pretty good at that!

Did I mention how heavy the Sovereign is? Good thing I have the hip mount bag, because this beast has to be double the weight of the Tejon!!

Dan

 

[Willy]

Tolja so, tolja so, nya, nya, nyanyanya! That's one reason why I turfed the Sov. & Excal. How many $1 & $2 coins do you want to pass up? Thing is, sometimes it WILL ring on the Loonies and Toonies and other time... can you live with that uncertainty? ..Willy.

 

[NeilinFR]

Dan those coins that it nulls over, do they have some iron in them? Im not in Canada and not familiar with your coins.
I am however familiar with your Molson Golden....
If you ordered the Clive Clynick books you did yourself a favor as he hunts in Canada and has really learned the Sov/Excal well. He hunts alot in all metal, that might be something you want to give a try. For me its been easier with the pinpoint all metal mode versus the tracking/fixed all metal mode. Im still learning them though.
It sure does weigh more than the Tejon but it will find you some nice stuff once you learn it. I have a new Excal on the way, they are even heavier but I will mostly be using that in the water.
Good luck with your Sov, great machine!
HH
Neil

Well my new Sovereign arrived today. Sure is a lot of assembly required!

I did a few air tests, and it seems like it really likes gold. Nice smooth, high tones for a variety of gold rings. I tried some scrap (foil, alum etc) and the low varying pitches were pretty distinctive. It should be fairly simple to tell the gold rings from the junk.

That's the good news. Now the bad news...

It nulls over Canadian nickels, dimes, loonies and quarters. That might not seem like that big of a deal, except that I live in Canada, and that's what is in the ground! Older silver coins sound good, but old Canadian nickels sound a lot like junk. It may be hard to tell those apart.

I do have a meter coming, and that book on using the Sovereign and Excalibur, so I'm not giving up yet.

This machine may need to be used exclusively for the beach if I don't get this coin thing sorted out. I can use my Tejon for coin shooting. It's pretty good at that!

Did I mention how heavy the Sovereign is? Good thing I have the hip mount bag, because this beast has to be double the weight of the Tejon!!

Dan

 

[Willy]

Yup, they all stick to a magnet.. even the new pennies. Regarding hunting in all metal.. can you imagine the fun to be had on a freshwater beach, especially one where they used to burn scrap dimensional lumber? ..Willy.

 

[Dan B]

Clive's book should be here very soon. I will see what he has to say, but Willy is right about passing up loonies and toonies. I'd hate to take my Sovereign out, and then have to return with the Tejon to get what I missed. I don't have that kind of time. I have 3 children, 5 and under, so my detecting time is limited. I need to be able to make the most out of the time I do get to spend hunting.

If this doesn't work out, keep an eye open for an unused GT for sale!

Dan