FIRST SOVEREIGN PREFERED IN AUSTRALIA

[candycane]

I am on a 2 year work visa in West Australia and just bought my first detector a "Tejon" in 11/07. First thing I noticed,if there was a Sovereign being used,it was either the first one made or the GT. Asking question's about the Sovereign,I was told that the first one is a better machine,but if it stops working,a person can't get parts for it and into the trash can it goes.If it could be fixed,most of the user's would go back...Is this true or maybe..........Brandy

 

[Rick(ND)]

This was discussed earlier and was told all Sovereigns are repairable yet, but the cost may be more than the detector is worth as a used Sovereigns are selling very reasonable. I have tried all the Sovereigns myself and feel the XS was a better than the original as it seems to be more sensitive here in ND, but maybe in Australia the original works better. What I find was the iron mask on the first one plus the new GT could be turned off so for coin hunting it wouldn't see a coin next to iron while when on it could, but may false a little more on iron. Now on the GT I find it came back so you can turn it on or off and also you can set it to track the ground if ruining in all metal as in disc it don't make any difference. All metal is good if you are prospecting, but for coin hunting I find the disc with the multi tones to be much better for me anyway with the iron mask on and a threshold so a person can hear the slight change in the threshold. Over all I find that the GT is the best of all I have used, then the XS and the XS2.

 

[Neil]

I completely agree with you Rick about the best Sovs and that order although Ive never tried the Elite so cant comment on that one.
Lets not forget minelab named the 2nd Sov the XS which stood for extra sensitivity.
I never liked the drop in battery packs on the models after the XS except they fixed it good when they made the GT/Elite and I guess it would be the Advantage and Eureka as well. Those nimh packs sure are a nice design and also have good long run times.

I would also ask candycane how many people told you this as your post indicates you asked quite a few people. I cant speak for everyone in NJ let alone a country

 

[candycane]

[quote Neil]I completely agree with you Rick about the best Sovs and that order although Ive never tried the Elite so cant comment on that one.
Lets not forget minelab named the 2nd Sov the XS which stood for extra sensitivity.
I never liked the drop in battery packs on the models after the XS except they fixed it good when they made the GT/Elite and I guess it would be the Advantage and Eureka as well. Those nimh packs sure are a nice design and also have good long run times.

I would also ask candycane how many people told you this as your post indicates you asked quite a few people. I cant speak for everyone in NJ let alone a country[/quote] Mr Neil,I am working with the Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service and I am in all the major gold fields of West Australia attending to medical treatment. I am 5' 1" and weigh 95 lbs and have tried to swing a Sovereign. It took 2 hands and I lasted 10 minutes. Basically,all machine's I see here are the sovereign or the super gold machine's. I would say maybe 10 people I asked this question and was told that the first one would go deeper and it is more stable..Just relaying what I was told.

 

[JoeSWFLA]

n/t

 

[UK Brian]

Think I missed something here. Whats your size or weight got to do with ?

I agree with Neil that the XS's were introduced as having extra sensitivity and they also soon gained an RF shield which was an added advantage. Unfortunately with the new machine came the new and inferior coil. The Mk 1 had better depth and target seperation but it wasn't all down to the ability to switch iron mask off, the original solid white Coinsearch coil had a part to play. Fit a Coinsearch to the XS and enjoy better performance and its a little lighter. As with everything in metal detecting there's a drawback. In this case its that the coil is only rainproof so no pushing it down into deep water.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Another angle that you might want to consider. I talked to a fellow last year who had a Sovereign. The particular repair that was needed, would have cost him $95 if he sent it back to the factory in Adelaide. Instead, he took it to the local TV repairer and it cost him $15! While a TV radio repairer may not be able to effect all repairs on a detector, given the similar nature of the technology compared to TV's, then I'd say that there would be a good chance that they can fix it, particularly if it's a hardware problem. a software problem would have to go back to Minelab, but how often would you run into one of those.
Mick Evans.
P.S. I live in NSW.