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A hint for hunting old house yards that are full of iron and trash...

J

jbow

Active member
I have a site like that and sometime I hunt it with my Sovereign GT and it is a constant null. I asked for some help with it in another post.

I was on the phone with David @ Dixie metal detectors and we got to talking about it. He told me what he does in high iron and it really helped. Switch to silent search mode, lower the threshold so that it does not chatter. That really helps. On this particular site the threshold is really useless because you cannot swing 6" without nulling so the threshold is more of a nusience than a help. The silent search mode fixed it right up.

Hope this helps someone.

Julien
 
Hi Julien,

Have you tried this advice and can you please elaborate a little for me?
I thought silent search was searching without the threshold in disc(its easy enough to mod the older sovs this way), while you would still have a threshold in all metal.
Personally Ive always liked the threshold as it lets me know when Im going over iron and when to really slow down and move the coil around in different directions.
If this method works for you then please explain a little more how it does work, Im always up for a better way to hunt iron laden sites, which most of mine are.
Thank you,
Neil
 
I prefeer to know when I am in a heavily iron midden area , but I am a firm believer that whatever works for you is what you should be doing .....Kudos to you Jbow
 
I like the threshold as it lets me know if I am going too fast and also will let me hear a good target close to a trash item where silent search will not many times.Now silent search is good too as I have seen with my GT in area where targets are far and few so you don't have to listen for the low tone growl of iron that much, but as soon as I start hitting good target i switch back the threshold so I can hear what is going on.
This silent search in iron area you may not hear as much of the tones coming and going on iron, but once you know your Sovereign it seem like we just ignore the nulling of the iron, but will hear the good signal next to it you wont hear in silent search I feel.
If it works for you then I would use it, but for some of us we like to hear what is all going on and let our ears tell us more about these signals.
 
I find that I cannot hold a threshold unless I am in auto. But... running in silent with the threshold turned downed to about 10:00, I can hunt without worrying with the threshold level, which is not happening anyhow.
I tried it just a little and liked it, found my first eagle button with it set this way.
Now... if I were at the beach or in a park hunting coins maybe i'd like the threshold better but in the older yards around here it don't work well. Our county is iron mining country and full of hot rocks and a property that is old and full of junk and with the ground... I can't hold a threshold so silent search seem's right to me. Am i missing something...?

Thanks,

Julien
 
unless I am in auto and hten it's hard. That is the kind of place I am talking about. I have been to the point of just not using my GT because I cannot make it work right. The slient search make's it a little easier. I am open to suggestion though. I have been thinking about having my GT checked out but it seem's to work ok in other areas that I travel to so I think it's just my area.

J
 
Hey Julien,

In silent search, what you are missing is the location of where disced out items are located. Nulling of the threshold is what tells you to go extra slow and at different angles to the nulled area, the idea being that you might locate a good target being masked.

If your in an area that has so much iron your in a constant null, youve definetly got your hands full. I would pick the areas that are most likely to produce coins and swing very slowly and work a small area from different angles.

Maybe the next time you get a target check it both ways and see how it responds with each and do that a few times and you should get a feel for which works best in those sites.

When you hunt in silent search, you set your threshold in all metal and then switch to disc and set silent search right? It almost sounds like your setting your threshold in disc.

Thank you,
Neil
 
you might try hunting in all metal which would allow you to size your targets well and you could just dig the coin sized targets. This would help if alot of the iron is larger than a coin. It could also unmask some coins for you.
 
It is probably the ground you are hunting in as it has too much iron in it being it works better elsewhere.Now with the silent search I can't see where that will help any being it is nulling all the time, but with the threshold you may be able to hear a target close to trash better. I would make sure you have the disc turned off and if you have to run auto sensitivity so be it, but would hunt with a 5 inch or 8 inch coil, not the stock 10 inch one as it will be too big for this area I feel.
That is how I would hunt this area if it was me.

Rick
 
and it's funny. With the T-2 I hear small iron EVERYWHERE but the GT does not see most of it. It still only run's well in AUTO at this site. It will begin to get stable at 3:00 but I have not found anything deep with any machine here. Deepest I have found anything good is about 5". Hard, hard ground. Another funny thing... I have found some of literally everything at this site from all kinds of bullets to a sutlers token smaller than a dime and thin as paper... I use all three machines there. The GT, Tejon, and T-2 and the other two... the Tejon and the T-2 are supposedly hotter on small stuff and I think they are but this week I found the first two eagle buttons I have found in nine months of hunting, with the GT... both were about 2" deep. The place is a hard red clay hilltop a 4 acre bad lawn... more rocks than dirt.
Still, it is a great site and it keep's giving.

Sorry to ramble but this site just does better for me and the GT in Auto and silent seem's really no different from threshold as long as I am in auto. I have never heard anything make the threshold barely move like you guys talk about. I swing really slow and if I hear a hit it coem's on strong everytime.

Julien
 
When you hunt in silent search, you set your threshold in all metal and then switch to disc and set silent search right? It almost sounds like your setting your threshold in disc.

Well... no. Should I be? I tried it again today and as long as I stay in Auto I can hunt in threshold it just doesn't hear all the small iron that the T-2 does. If I hunt in manual sens I go to silent. Do I need to GC in AM if I switch to silent?

Thanks,

Julien

PS... I am sort of relearning the GT. I got a T-2 last July and used it exclusively until about a month ago getting ready to use it at a planned hunt. Now I am trying to give the GT another shot and it's hard to go back to it but I am making myself do it because I realize that it is a good machine and I want to use it at it's full potential. It has given me tow Eagle buttons already this week. So, it's working, I am just trying to get comfortable with it and be sure I am using it the best I can. Also, I said in another post but i'll say again... everything on this site is shallow, never found anything deep here it may be there but I have not hit it.

Julien
 
it may not work though because of all the small iron and iron ore. Like I said there are not many coins there, lot's of bullets, some buttons, tokens, multiple old pocket knives... just a wide variety of period stuff.

Thanks,

Julien
 
It sure sounds like the GT is also seeing all this iron as it is nulling is it not?? This is what is nice with the GT as it hate iron and it will null over it. The T-2 I had also was very hot on small items and it too would see some of the smallest target and had to use the UniProbe to find many of them.
Now when you talk silent search and it is nulling as you say then it has no threshold so it is running in silent search already,but with the switch not set to silent search you have a better chance of the detector seeing a good target close to iron I feel.
If you do decide to use the silent search option you do set it in all metal pinpoint to a slight hum, then switch back to disc and switch the silent search switch to silent search.If it was me and this site I would run disc with iron mask on and a threshold, the 5 inch coil and try the manual sensitivity around the 12-1 o'clock position if I could, if not it would go to auto and go very slow so it has a chance to see all the targets. The iron will null and everything else will give a signal and go by the tones and the meter reading. Those tones I can get to start climbing without locking on I would be digging plus those that lock on to a good number.
 
Julien I would check your GT manual to be sure, but on the older sovs you take the electronics out of the control housing and then move a jumper over one spot and that puts you in silent search. Then when you go to hunt, go to all metal, adjust threshold and switch to disc and you are hunting with no threshold. I would guess the GT is the same except you dont have to open up the control housing, you have a toggle on the face of it.

Id stick to manual sens also, just turn it real low and see how you do. Ive found coins 6" deep with the sens on the lowest position(fully clockwise which is opposite of most detectors). LIke Rick said also, the smaller coil will help a great deal.

Neil
 
Its not as sensitive as the tornado coils and will work better in iron. Its a sweet coil, still my all time sov favorite coil.
Neil
 
That is one sweet coil for sure and the one I recommend to learn the Sovereigns with as the tones seem so much easier to hear. I had forgot about that one as to me I like it better that the 5 inch coil and thought it was just me.This coil does go deep too at the site I have been to. That is the coil I picked all those deep coins with I posted the picture of a week or 2 ago in that park in Fargo.
Anyway that for mentioning it Neil as I had forgot about it.

Rick
 
Julien: you will find that what works for one, may not work for all. What I mean is: use the mode you like to run. If you use it long enough, you'll get the most out of it. However, it doesn't have to be the only mode to hunt in. Sovereigns are very versatile, and can be adjusted to suit many ground conditions. I suspect you are hunting in negative ground that has a lot of ferrous oxide thrown in. Tough ground to hunt, but you obviously are getting some results. I use All Metal a lot, but that's the only time I listen to a threshold. In trash I use the Silent Search mode and have no problem hearing nonferrous targets in and amongst iron. I've used the Sov's for going on 15 years and they still amaze me. Keep me posted on your finds, your due a big one. Good hunting, David@Dixie
 
[quote Rick(ND)]It sure sounds like the GT is also seeing all this iron as it is nulling is it not?? This is what is nice with the GT as it hate iron and it will null over it. The T-2 I had also was very hot on small items and it too would see some of the smallest target and had to use the UniProbe to find many of them.
Now when you talk silent search and it is nulling as you say then it has no threshold so it is running in silent search already,but with the switch not set to silent search you have a better chance of the detector seeing a good target close to iron I feel.
If you do decide to use the silent search option you do set it in all metal pinpoint to a slight hum, then switch back to disc and switch the silent search switch to silent search.If it was me and this site I would run disc with iron mask on and a threshold, the 5 inch coil and try the manual sensitivity around the 12-1 o'clock position if I could, if not it would go to auto and go very slow so it has a chance to see all the targets. The iron will null and everything else will give a signal and go by the tones and the meter reading. Those tones I can get to start climbing without locking on I would be digging plus those that lock on to a good number.[/quote]

This is pretty much what I am doing because I cannot use manual sensitivity higher than 3:00. The GT doesn't see all the small iron like the T-2. The T-2 grunts many times more than the GT nulls. I have tried the 5" coil and just cannot get used to it and the 10" work's ok there. I just have been toying with the silent search. I'll try setting it up the way you said. I dig those tones that start to climb but they, so far, have all been junk or trash. The eagle button I got yesterday read 157 on the metersame as the one I dug the other day... just like a pulltab, i'm glad I dug it. I really don't know why I did, I was sure it was a pulltab... but is wasn't.

Thanks.

J
 
I'll keep at it.

J
 
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