Anyone still using the old Minelab Soveriegn XS?

[Drenthe]

I am still running with my old XS and have come to understand it better after I bought my excal. I am interested to here from anyone who is still using this machine and what they like best and the least about it.

 

[Rick(ND)]

One of the best Sovereigns ever made is the XS. This is the one I learned on and it had the 8 inch coinsearch coil that is still in demand today yet, these coils were the best to learn the Sovereigns with as the signals seem to last longer so it is easier to understand.
One thing which some like and others don't is the plug in battery system as it had a wire that plug into the packs where as the XS2 and XS2a had the drop in which held the battery in place with the covers, but sometimes the cover would become lose and lose connection of the battery. With the plug in pack you had to make sure you didn't break the wire while pulling on the plug, but if you were careful it worked great.
Mine lab don't make batteries for these older Sovereigns anymore, but found a company that makes a 2800 Mha plug in pack only so some of the XS2 and the XS2a has to be changed over to the plug in packs.
The XS and the XS2 were both really great detectors and now the GT is the top one now, but the XS and the XS2 are still one great detector.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

The Sovereign XS metal detector is my current unit.Like Rick said batteries can still be found.(www.onlybatterypack.com) or you can make the rechargeable packs and alkaline holders yourself.Very simple easy to mount on a custom rod asm and built like a tank.For the money no better deal and one of the best detectors ever made.For non believers hope I get a chance to hunt with someone using a GT. HH Ron

 

[synthnut]

Ron,
I'll let you know if I find much of a difference from what I can remember about my GT .....I have an XS coming to me for a water machine ......I got right up next to my Excal and was ready to cut the cable and ...................Good running Excals are a rarity any more !!... I couldn't do it !!.....I have coils all ready to go , but I just couldn't sever the juggler !!....LOL !!....I bought some nice Aqua colored Plexi for my SE water machine , but its on back order from the place i ordered from ....so I will stick my "on the way " XS in a box and let her ripp !!.....I'll kaep you posted ...Jim

PS....I've heard nothing but GOOD about the XS ......My only hope is that it does NOT like hot rocks as much as the original Sovereign did !!......

 

[Drenthe]

My son and I went to the beach with the old XS and my new excal. He picked up just as much coin as I did (in the sand, mostly dry) and I managed to snag a few more rings than he.
Pretty good for a 15+ yr old machine. We still use the factory vintage coil and I am going to do a little research and see if we can improve on that. Or maybe I shouldnt fix anything that aint broke?

 

[Drenthe]

I am also wondering if a meter would make be of value on this machine. I have the old Minelab meter, but it seems to be pretty worthless.

 

[OldBeechnut]

Xs2 in Waterproof bag, with cable clams, Shaun's amp, 8 inch excal II coil, Hidden cables, remote Discrimination/PP rocker on handle, packet in a small back pack. Very light weight, took it for a test spin this past week. Takes a few minutes to get the setting down, then backpack it........The sovereign was very smooth and at home in the ruff salty surf. .................After working and using both, Excalibur's and the Sovereign Xs2, I have to say from my experiences so-far, both are BBS Technology, but differ in many ways.

 

[JCPinCt]

I still use an XS, and it is in a waterproof box for water use. I usually use the SR12" coil on it, but sometimes I use the old horseshoe 7" coil. I did change the 3 1000uf electrolic caps for new ones recently, but I haven't gotten out yet to see if there is any difference. I sometimes get a choppy sound while in the water, especially on indian cents, and I want to see if new caps might make a difference. It is a known fact that these caps lose some of their 1000uf stability after many years of use. I have a GT also and use it on land, but other than a bit more smoothness in the signal, I see no real difference.

 

[synthnut]

I"ve used my newly aquired XS for the last couple of days that we had some nice days before it SNOWED AGAIN !!......This is gettin old !!!.....Anyway , I am finding that the XS is the most mellow of all the Soveriegns that I have owned ....The sensitivity can be run up a LOT higher than you can run the Sens on the GT !!..... The GT seems like it has more power and hits targets harder ..... It seems more crisp sounding too !!.... The XS almost sounds " sleepy" next to the other Soveriegns that I have owned .....Very mellow !!.....Still hit's targets , but does not slam them very hard ......Does anyone else notice this on their XS ? .....Thanks , Jim

 

[Rick(ND)]

The XS is what I started with and have used all the different Sovereigns and the XS and the XS2 are great detectors and ones i recommend highly if you can find one, I like these better then the XS2a and the Elite as they had power and got me deeper coins in with trash too plus the XS and the XS2 seem to be more stable as you are seeing also. Now the GT does have more power and for some is harder to use as it does seem to false a little more on iron until you get to know it and learn how to tell the difference between a false and a good target. I run the sensitivity the same as I did with the XS and the XS2 and that is around the 11 o'clock position most of the time. Maybe this is why so many run the lower sensitivity on the GT than I do as they want the smoother threshold which they can learn the Sovereign which I did already and want the deeper targets and can run higher.

Good luck with the XS Jim and feel you will be very happy with it, just give it some time.

Rick

 

[synthnut]

Rick ,
I'll give it some time ..... I guess I'm use to running the GT with the extra juice it has ....You're surely right though , it does not false nearly as much as the GT did , but I already knew the false in comparison to high toned targets .... Funny how your ears and head is already Q'd to know what to expect !!....This was a marked difference from ANY Sovereign I have run ......Thanks for the reply ...I appreciate it .....Jim

 

[fenixdigger]

My biggest complaint was that I had to dig deeper holes, not a bad thing. I have put a Butterfly coil on it and the hole depth is crazy. We buried a drink can at 3 1/2 ft and it hit it like it was on the surface. We were doing this to check our Gemini 3 and just happen to check with the Sovereign.

 

[Critterhunter]

I've never had a problem with learning what is an iron false hit on my GT. No more hard to learn on it than any other machine I ever owned.

 

[Rick(ND)]

If you are this could be why you don't notice the iron falses like many of us do that run a higher sensitivity to get to those deep targets others have missed. If you don't get fooled and dig some iron once in a while or get any iron falses you are missing some of the deeper good targets too.

 

[synthnut]

I would venture to say that I can run my XS up as high as 12 o'clock or so to have the same sensitivity that I got with my GT at 3 o'clock ......Does that sound like a fair assumption to anybody that has run both machines ? .....jim

 

[Critterhunter]

If you are this could be why you don't notice the iron falses like many of us do that run a higher sensitivity to get to those deep targets others have missed. If you don't get fooled and dig some iron once in a while or get any iron falses you are missing some of the deeper good targets too.

Didn't say I don't dig iron here and there, just that it's no more of a problem on the GT than it was on any other machine I've owned. Sure, I dig iron...but 9 times out of 10 I knew it was going to be iron but dug it anyway just to be safe. If people pay attention to what a machine is telling them issues like this aren't a big deal once they learn the langauge and traits. For example, I have a friend who always complains about getting fooled by can shards giving decent coin signals...and on many machines he's owned over the past 5 years. But that's the cause of the problem...he keeps switching machines and so he never learns the language of one.

And I don't always run in Auto or low sensitivty either. I let the site tell me where to run it via my buried dime test. I'm finding the 12x10 wants as high of sensitivty as possible more often than a lower one, but not always. On the other hand, the 15x12 often wanted a lower than max stable sensitivty more than a max stable one. Again, in my ground and my high minerals. Even the stock 10" coil gives me better ID at depth with a much lower than max stable setting at certain sites.

That's another good point for people. Max depth with good ID can be very different from one site to another. By sticking a dime in the ground I can judge just how deep a coin's ID will start to degrade. At some sites it may not sound deep, but I know the ID can be suspect at that depth...and so will dig junky signals at certain sites that sound shallow enough not to give me problems but I know that at that site they will even at those shallower depths. An easy 7" dime at one site might give a very bad response at 5" at another.

 

[Barry NY]

Joe - your back pack setup looks more like Bride of FrankenXS....