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I'm having a little problem getting the Sovereign set up on a Pluggers rod I have. I put the case under my elbow and adjusted the lower rod so the coil is right in front of my feet, but the weight is balanced to much in back. The coil keeps springing up and I'm fighting to keep it down. I don't want to lengthen the lower rod I want it right in front of my feet.
What can I add in weight to the coil to bring it down that won't screw up the signal?
Mike,if you can give us a photo of your setup,your problem could probably be solved in a couple of minutes.I usually have the control box mounted under my elbow.With this configuration its more compact,easier to transport,store and for me has a better balance. Good Luck Ron
I'm photo illiterate but I'll try moving the armcup+v notch back and see what it does. This coinsearch coil is pretty light. I found if I move the lower rod out about 12" then it'll balance but then its so far in front of me I can't see it.
If you are using Pluggers shaft then I feel if you move the handle (the grip) back a little more will put more weight to the front of the shaft so the coil will stay down more, it changes the pivot point. This is what I like about Pluggers shaft as they are adjustable to different coils and still balance, just move the handle back for lighter coils and forward for heavier coils.
When I set my machines up I try to get the shaft at just the right length where I can keep my back and arm straight and at that position the coil is just skimming over the top of the grass without me having to bend or reach. I keep the coil right in front of my feet and only swing about two feet wide like that, because I feel it's more important to be worried about what is right in front of me than what is 2 feet to either side. I also have the arm cup set up so it's hear my elbow if not right over it, because I've seen people move their arm cups forward on the arm and that puts more stress on your arm and shoulder. With my arm in the cup and holding the grip, I try to adjust the grip so that my arm is straight and there is no need to bend my arm or my wrist. I've seen people have the grip on machines too close and they are having to bend their wrist to hold the grip. That leads to fatigue as well. 99.9% of all the pain people get while hunting long hours is because they aren't keeping their back, arm, and wrist straight. The only time I'll sweep real wide is on the beach or when in the woods looking for any signals to indicate an area of activity. Once found I slow down and go back to keeping the coil right in front of my feet.
I moved it back temp. and all it did was make it so I had to shorten the lower rod. I want it so my arm will hang down loose with the coil right in front of my foot.
I'm going to try putting a small bag of sand on the coil.
Do you have any idea as to how much weight you need to add to get it balanced? Does your coil have a coil cover on it? If not, a coil cover may be enough to balance it out.
I'd be worried the sand my bias the ground signal on the machine perhaps? You might want to think about attaching a led weight to the shaft just in front of your grip. Only problem is the closer it is to you and away from the coil the more weight it needs to be in order to get the COG (center of gravity) wright. In building my own RC electric plane designes, the COG point is critical or the plane won't even fly. Nose heavy it will fly fine, but even a tad tail heavy and it's out of control. We often put led fishing sinkers inside the foam body near the nose to get the COG proper, but the further back from the tip you are forced to mount the weight the more weight you have to use to leverage the balance to the proper COG point.
You might also consider some form of weight that serves a purpose. You could put corruplast (a sign material that is ribbed like cardboard when you look at it's cut side) on the bottom of the coil as a solid coil cover. This stuff is tough, waterproof, and is smooth as silk so it will aid the coil sliding over the ground. I've often thought of using it on my coils as a solid cover when hunting in the woods to avoid branches getting stuck in the coil. You could zip tie it to the coil. If you do, melt the holes as that will prevent ripping if it should hang up on something.
This sign material is often being used for those illegal advertising signs stuck on telephone poles and such. Check with your city and if they are illegal then you are doing them a favor by taking one down to use. Just don't touch political signs as that's a felony to remove. Also, some gas stations use this stuff for like Pepsi signs and such. I've found it in their dumpsters when I was looking for some to build a plane (it makes for good tough tail fins and such).
This sounds crazy but I took the handle off completely and just held the rod where the handle used to be and it feels great! it balances perfect and I can make comfortable sweeps. I'm going to buy a rubber/plastic bicycle grip and slide it up the shaft where I want it.
In the event I can't get it to work any other ways this seems OK with me , and lighter too! I'l also try siliconeing layers of plastic under the coil cover to see if that works, but I doubt it could be more comfortable.
You want to find a bike end bar which is sold as just about any bicycle store. These are hollow aluminum and so very light. I use them on both my land and water shafts. Don't worry about the odd angle some have sloping slightly left or right (depending on which side of the bike they attach to). I find the slight bend of one to the left makes it even more comfortable as I'm right handed. The bend near the base is so slight anyway that it's pretty much straight up and down in that part of it. They usually make more of a bend near the top. Cut off the excess length with a hacksaw, and you can pick and choose the perfect rubber grip to slide over it. Use some dish washing soap to make it easier to slide on. When it dries it will not go anywhere.
I never liked the stock grip as it never felt comfortable to me, so even though my water shaft is the stock shaft I replaced the stock grip on it too like I did on my lightweight land shaft. The grip on my water rig is ultra comfortable. Some kind of material that is more "gel" than rubber and it makes it very comfortable. Plus the stock grip has a foam cover which holds water. The rubber grip cover on my land rig is a different type but just as comfortable, and being rubber doesn't hold mud or dirt like the stock grip.
For my land rig I have a remote pin point switch wired to my GT. It plugs into a stereo jack on the back of the control box and then snakes inside the shaft to the base of the hollow bike end bar and right up through inside of it. I left this end bar longer so the overhanging part of it is still there (but cut down to only needed length). The switch for my remote PP switch is installed inside the end bar and it's toggle hangs down right in front of my index finger just like it should on any real detector.
Ironically though I almost never use PP mode anymore and prefer to PP in discriminate, but I guess it would be useful should I decide to hunt in all metal to see if that gives more depth and can just throw the switch to check the target in discriminate. Still haven't played with that much to see if all metal or PP is deeper. I can configure the switches any way I want on the GT and then the remote will toggle between both modes just by flipping it.
PS- Some end bars are a tad too big to clamp down good on some shafts I think. If that's the case just line the shaft right there with a little Teflon tape, or you can put some dabs of locktite around the two mounting surfaces and when it dries it will lock it in place. I had to do that with my land shaft as it's a lighter grade of aluminum for the upper shaft than stock.
You can see pics of both shafts and grips in the Sovereign accessories sticky.
I find just using the upper and lower shaft w/o a handle , just straight up and down feels more ergonomical holding it like a spear. its comfortable and my elbow stays buried in the armcup.
I'll get some tape on it where I'll hold it and tomorrow afternoon I'll take her out for a few hours.
