Chestmount, hipmount, or shaftmount??

[jbow]

How do you mount your detector box? I weighed my GT with stand, S-1 probe, and Digisearch all mounted and with a SR 5" coil...it weighed in at about 7 pounds. Now this doesn't bother me too much with the 5" coil but when I use the 10.5" coil it does bother me. However, I notice that if I try taking the box off the shaft then the detector becomes really unbalanced and doesn't seem to feel that much lighter...but I have not tried it in the field, just fooling around with it in the home. I use a belt, beside the one in my beltloops to hold a pouch and a Lesche digger tool.
If I were to hip or chestmount...what would you recommend I do? I am wondering if I should try out an 8" coil. The X-Terra50 and the Fisher ID-Edge are looking really good to me for casual detecting or for the first couple of rounds on a property.

Hints?? Help??

Thanks,

Julien

 

[Rick(ND)]

Julien,

With the 10 inch coil on have you tried moving the hand grip or arm cuff for better balance?? This is why they are movable to help balance it better.
I used to hipmount my Sovereign until I got the GT, now I shaftmount and with the control box under the arm cuff it is not too bad.
I got a extra Sovereign XS on a straight shaft Bill in CA (Plugger)made and with the meter on it is balance so nice it almost feels weightless. I got one of the shafts for my GT and haven't had time to get it set up right so it will balance as nice as my extra XS does.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

All a matter of preference and as Rick states its all about balance which can be adjusted...I do know one thing years ago hipmounted every unit I ever used and when I had a hip problem went to the rodmount. Believe me hipmounting after rodmounting is a whole different ballgame and does put strain on the coil cable and connector. Gosh over the years seen many mods on Sov's that seem to work for many so would experiment to see what works for you. Do remember we all have different arms, strength, length and are all different heights so what works for one may not work for another and it does pay to experiment..They also have strap devices but it puts a strain on your back as the weight has to go somewhere when taken off your arm..Indeed many companies are coming out with lightweight units so its your call..

 

[jbow]

I'll check that out. The balance isn't too bad with the 10"...it's just a little heavy, but i'll check it out. If i take the box off with the 10" coil on the shaft it feel's badly out of balance to me... I don't like the way it feel's then at all. My cuff is just in front of my elbow but I guess I could move both the handle and the cuff forward and balance it a little better. I had not thought of this...THANKS!!!

J

 

[jbow]

Thanks Dan,

I have several bad discs in my upper spine so I may be better with the strain on my arm where it does nothing more than tire me out a little. I am looking at getting a more lightweight detector with the idea of using it if I have limited time at a site or to go over any site for the first couple of times...or in a park or something... I'm thinking about getting wither a Fisher ID-Edge or and X-Terra50....probably i'll get the X-terra.

I'm going to try and adjust the balance a little, however I do switch back and forth between a 10" and a 5" coil... maybe I should get an 8" too...heh.

Thanks,

Julien

 

[Bob C]

Think of a coil heavy detector as an off-center seesaw. If you pull the shorter side away from the center, the longer side feels lighter.
You want to move the arm cup back not forward.
Bob

 

[Dan-Pa.]

A prime example is the Whites XLT, when they changed over from the Eagle Spectrum the box was moved further back..A good way to mod an older Sov. is to remove Minelab armcup, put on an XLT armcup with velcro and as it don't have any feet you can move the box back several inches further. Try it and you might be surprised..remember a 5 lb box of feathers or 5lb box of iron weighs the same, but weighting and ergonomics can indeed make it more comfortable...