aka sorex pro AND DEUS ON 14 INCH LARGE CENT

[calabash digger]

yeah Ive been hunting with mine a few times and does real well in the test garden ,depth is great. I took it with me today and man it was just bad it wouldnt ground balance correct and false and I was just fighting it. I put it down I dont have time to fight a detector. I love the depth and tones of these machines but the ground balance is just to finicky for me. So yes I am a spoiled american that doesnt want to fight a machine to get it to operate at peak performance. M y friend bought one and has had the same problem with the ground balance,maybe its our soil. When it works it works great but when its bad its bad, so mines for sale. A deep machine, wish the ground balance wasnt so finiky.

 

[amberjack]

yeah they are right on the edge that's for sure all the nulling on the minelabs for the most part is iron and the MFT hears it all .....could drive a fella nuts

I bought mine to see if the hodo can save me some digging in modern parks for gold and deep old stuff. I will give them at least 100 hrs. each and make a decision then to sell or go another 100 I think these detectors get passed around because we are spoilt but there's this little thing in the back of my head saying spend some time with these they have a little secret in them for me , maybe I am insane its quite possible and maybe not time will tell I guess.

AJ

 

[azsh07]

I found the hodograph was VERY useful in iron....more so good targets next to iron that SOUNDED no different audio wise from say iron that was rusty that was Falsing high low. Basically Audio was not able to distinguish between rusty iron giving low and high and iron next to a good target also giving low high audio But the Hodograph was way different...there was a very distinguishable difference in the trace between the two.

The other exremely useful target was deep large iron like oxe shoes. These were always identifiable immediately by their trace. They tend to really sound great on ALL machines esp[ecially if deep and lying at a specific angle with the fat end straight up. The graph was spot on while the audio was sounding pretty good.

As for say trying to see a difference in the graph between a pulltab and a ring..no way. Not saying you won't discover one but I never did for situations like that. Now for rusty bottlecaps I could tell from the form of the trace...that was a for sure most of the times.

 

[azsh07]

I always manual ground balance...on just about every machine no matter who makes it. I may do an auto GB to get close but then I tune it correct by manual GB. Too many machines never nail the GB at neutral.

But I can see how the GB would bug a person....it just has to be done different than what most are used to....and if you are not comfortable with it...why keep it. Too many great machines to choose from to stick with one your not happy with. I like the AKA machines but hey...I rotate what i own like I change socks...detectors come and go daily. It's fun to try different machines. SOme have stuck around longer and some have hit the classifieds the same day the box arrived on my door step..

 

[calabash digger]

don't get me wrong I like the machine except for the ground balance ,the depth is great. Another negative is the crooked shafts whats up with that? That's really crazy AND ITS A COMMON PROBELM but hey the performance is good.

 

[jimz49]

Here is an explanation why your sorex was sounding off in bad/trashy ground. This was taken from another forum.

Signum's Gain is a combination of hardware and software. Setting Signum's gain on low will weaken signal prior to it being handled by the metal detector's processor. This will reduce the signal before it's processed and dynamically increased.

S-Pro's Gain is just software. The gain (menu) has no impact on the input signal and is applied after the signal is already handled by the detector's processor. Because of that the S-Pro will get over blinded on heavy trashy sites. To overcome that the A-Gain control is used to control the input signal prior to it being handled by detector's processor.

Sorex Pro's Gain, as stated above, it is a software setting. Setting Gain on low doesn't reduce strength of signal prior it to being handled by detector's processor, but reduces overall picture to the detectorist (whilst signal is being strong at the same time). This becomes noticeable when ground signal is strong or when site is trashy and setting Gain on low doesn't prevent metal detector from being over blinded by ground signal or lots of iron. S-Pro's hardware Gain is set on middle and has no connection with software Gain (menu)

 

[amberjack]

I had to put mine on Tesoro / Whites combo shafts no wobble now and I use Whites lower rods.

these things are just different than what we are used to and how they react and how the settings work I am about 10 hrs in on each and not in a position to give out advice other than to read a lot and best to know its going to take time to learn them or it and really the choice is do I want to learn them if yes then there is going to be some growing pains / if no then get rid of them/it.

but I do not think from my limited experience that there is any short cuts having said that I have made a few good finds with mine already so they work just not like we are used too.

AJ

 

[azsh07]

I have hunted with 4 different models from AKA for 3 entire seasons.

They are really fairly easy to setup and run once you have an understanding of what can cause them to go all gollywonkers on you.

First will always be the ground balance..make sure it is slightly positive if not a tad more. A positive GB in most ground around the globe will keep this and many otehr machines quiet verses neutral to and especially slightly negative. this is why preset machines are always preset quite a bit positive...just look at a Tesoro with no GB. A positive GB will not affect depth much if at all unless you are grossly way off but it will stop a lot of false hits from the ground.

Second is the coil calibration from swapping coils....this can seriously throw off your day.

If you run a Berkut then the recover speed as well as signal Threshold will screw you royally if you set them too slow for recovery and too sensitive for the threshold sensitivity. Now the recovery does affect depth quite a bit and more so than the gain usually. I forget...but I think this setting goes 1-19 I think...if so i run it at around 9-12 depending. Unless the ground is super mild loam or sand.

Signal gain does not affect the false hits that much unless you have the manual A-Gain knob on a Sorex Pro then turning down the transmit signal gain will help some. But the software Gain function set high can make it chatty but not really much help if you are getting those false ghost hits. Again this is usually a GB issue or issue with local ground minerals...which kind of are the same thing.

Easy way to tell on all AKA machines is what does the threshold channel do. if it makes no audio sound (Signum and Sorex) or on the Berkut does not rise...or even nulls out but the disc channel is hitting with a high tone then this is a response to ground...either minerals or a hot rock or again not enough positive GB.

For people having tough times with this issue learn how to adjust the GB manually. You should be able to go to manual GB in clean ground and sweep the coil side to side and make sure you have a level ground signal line...not one tilted to either side....or just lower the coil and listen to the threshold channel. Then adjust manually for a nice slightly positive GB audio. Seriously you can make it quite positive..not loose any REAL depth and shut the machine the heck up.

One must learn to manually GB offset slightly positive or dean neutral if one wants to have a stable machine with AKA. Once learned it is snap to do. We have just been spiled with auto GB...kind of like few people can drive a standard transmission truck anymore much less Three On The Tree that i learned on.

Now if you are falsing on rusty iron...well all machines will do that and this is where the graph tells all....but I am not sure what type of falsing some are experiencing.

i only ran into ONE location where I just gave up and this was at a colonial Garrison right on a tidal salt marsh. the ground was so laden with salt the machine just would not shut up> The ground was saturated from Spring melt...the salt flats are just 5oo feet away and the rusty iron in the ground...combined with the previous issues...Oh heck I gave up. The only adjusment that helped was flipping the power switch off.!!!

I will say IMHO I found the Berkut to be more prone to ghost hits than either the Sorex or the Signum. this is just due to the way it operates as well as the plethora of adjustment and sub menus you can fiddle with. The other two models do not have that many settings that can make them get those ghost hits. Most adjustments are choosing presets or simply changing coil gain settings,,,or choosing between a variety of audio responses. Which is why I like the Sorex and Signum best

 

[calabash digger]

I wasnt on bad ground but it was freshly tilled ground,I know it talks about that in the manual. Ive had it running smooth and get the ground balance deal but it wouldnt shut up and I just threw it down that day. I probably will just pass it on but I really like it but dont want to be in the field fighting a machine. can someone post pics of the whites shaft used. I have the mars shaft but its to heavy.I might give it another whirl in the field,really want a signum for the depth BUT I need to learn how to ground balance these machines.

 

[amberjack]

I agree GB is key and work out from there and yep no ground grab and off you go LOL well not as we know it Jim.

the rest is understanding how they work and I think you have explained it pretty well .

and like you said learning to drive them is a bit harder but once someone gets the hang of it do it with eyes closed nearly !

again we are spoilt with turn on and go detectors and I like them too and this is just a challenge I guess.

thanks again!

AJ