I just got a sunray S-8 for My GT and on its maden voyage i got a 1911 barber dime , so thinking thear was more out thear i headed back with the 10" tornado coil thinking i may have missed somthing deep ,, well i found no more silver , thear is some hot rocks and Iron junk but today i took the 10" coil to my in ground 6" dime wich is 2 ft from concreat cement and i just could not get that dime to come thru with the 10" coil no matter what i did i would get what sounded like a false signal , so i figured hay lets try the S-8 so I did and to my suprize it got the dime very well and i mean with a good signal , I then tried the 15" WOT and it faltered as well sounded like a false could not clear it up , the two coils are not badd coils but for some reason the S-8 could do what neather could do in this spot and ground as it is today this may have been why i got the barber dime the little s-8 handles the ground a bit better next to Iron and in pinpont it is very deep , one trick i found is dont ground balance in the fixed all metal and you get an extra 2" depth to say the least this coil will pull things out whear the other two cant squeezz in
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Good news if you are thinking about the S-8 for sovereign GT
- Thread starter GunnarMN
- Start date
david bull
Well-known member
Gunnar;please elaborate on the ground balance issue.I was under the impression that the sovereign had automatic gb due to the 27 frequencies transmitted.
JimmyCT
Well-known member
Maybe with the larger coils they hit on other metals in the ground. You sure the ground is free and clear? The smaller coil will seperate much better as you know... so maybe there was something else close by that was masking the dime with the larger coils. This was the case at the carnival grounds. My larger 10" tornado walked over quite a bit. Then when I got the tornado 800, coins started appearing in all the iron junk. I love my tornado 800 as it is the coin sniffing detective. 
GunnarMN said:
David , yes the GT does have auto ground balance, BUT when you 1st turn it on it is positive, untill you turn on the ground balance and pump the coil , so when i turn it on i just dont ground balance it , or just pump it one time when i ground balnace it gets less depth in all metal but may handle really badd ground better the disq mode can not be ground balance it has a ato digital filter as well as the pinpont mode, , now Jim quarter man soon to be jim dallar man . I do think the ground is badd its full of magnitite and is very dry that is black sand and it makes it very dificult in disq mode the smaller coil handled it better thats all i know when i had the ts800 it also got this 6" dime very well could be bits of Iron in ground from all the rusty nails , in pinpont i can get the dime with 3" of books on top of the ground , In the St croix valley thear is magnetic basalt and if a coin is only 2" under this the disq will not pick it up it may give a null but put it in all metal and 7" 8" on a dime its coming thru with a very nice diggable signal my other detectors could not do this hopfully I will get out again befor it freezez its been getting down in the 20,s at night not much time left.
Ground balance is something for the all metal mode, not disc mode. I understand this is for those that want to do prospecting and relic hunting so you can pick up iron. It is best to run all metal and in track mode if the ground is changing a lot, but if not then run it in locked after you have ground balance in the track mode.. Also from what I have seen on auto ground balance if you check out a target by swing the coil over it for a while it is best to lock the ground balance or it will track out the target you are trying to check out.
The S-8 is a great little coil and feel I don't need to go any smaller for my trashy sites as it does great by going slower and listening close. The 8 inch coinsearch is also a great coil, but not waterproof and this coil also does a real good job too. I haven't tried the 8 inch Tornado coil yet as every time i seem to get one to try i wind up selling it.
One thing I really like on the S-8 is it seem to be able to pick up coins close to trash better than any Minelab coil I have used, I feel it can be the hot band in the coil is a bit narrower so it can separate better.
The 10 inch Tornado coil is the first big coil made by Minelab I really like and it does a great job too even in some heavier trash, but you have to go slower too.
For the Sovereign I have tried most all the coils and find the S-8 will take care of my small coil the 10 inch Tornado coil for most of my detecting while the S-12 does good coverage, sensitive and will even do good in some of my old parks I detect. The S-12 has got me 13-14 inch coins around a old merry go round that other trash was around, but had to go real slow and listen real close.
I did the Field test for Park use on the S-12 and took it to the most worked out park around just to see what it could do and was surprised at what I was able to find others plus me missed before. Maybe this is why it is hard to find a used one as those that have them keep them like the S-8 coils.
Good luck and hope you are able to get out more to try the S-8 before the ground freezes up.
Rick
One thing I really like on the S-8 is it seem to be able to pick up coins close to trash better than any Minelab coil I have used, I feel it can be the hot band in the coil is a bit narrower so it can separate better.
The 10 inch Tornado coil is the first big coil made by Minelab I really like and it does a great job too even in some heavier trash, but you have to go slower too.
For the Sovereign I have tried most all the coils and find the S-8 will take care of my small coil the 10 inch Tornado coil for most of my detecting while the S-12 does good coverage, sensitive and will even do good in some of my old parks I detect. The S-12 has got me 13-14 inch coins around a old merry go round that other trash was around, but had to go real slow and listen real close.
I did the Field test for Park use on the S-12 and took it to the most worked out park around just to see what it could do and was surprised at what I was able to find others plus me missed before. Maybe this is why it is hard to find a used one as those that have them keep them like the S-8 coils.
Good luck and hope you are able to get out more to try the S-8 before the ground freezes up.
Rick
Neil
Well-known member
earthlypotluck said:Maybe with the larger coils they hit on other metals in the ground. You sure the ground is free and clear? The smaller coil will seperate much better as you know... so maybe there was something else close by that was masking the dime with the larger coils. This was the case at the carnival grounds. My larger 10" tornado walked over quite a bit. Then when I got the tornado 800, coins started appearing in all the iron junk. I love my tornado 800 as it is the coin sniffing detective.
GunnarMN said:
I agree EPL, smaller coils can and will help in those kind of locations.
I would tend to agree with all of you with your thoughts on the use of various coils ......The one important issue with the Sovereign is the fact that it does NOT handle masking well at all compared to other detectors ......The smaller the coil, the less targets available for the Soverereign to pick up, and the less targets that will be there to maks good targets ......So for example , if you are hunting with a smaller coil that does not pick up the iron that is off to the side of the Silver coin , it will not mask the Silver coin ....... It's sort of a Catch 22 .....You want to hunt the park with a larger coil for more coverage , but you will now have a better chance of masking good targets ..... I have personally witnessed a Sovereign that I was hunting with , COMPLETLY miss a Barber dime that my buddy was hitting loud and clear with his E Trac ...... I adjusted that Sovereign every which way I could to hit that coin , but no cigar !!...... The park was a trashy park and the larger coil picked up trash that was around the Silver Barber dime and masked it till it could not be heard ...... This, and many other reasons , is why I use my E Trac on the dry soil , and I take my Sovereign to the beach where there is les of a chance of masking .....Jim
I have witnessed the E track also , its great at getting between Iron , and other junk just look at the E track fourum , full of silver coins the seperation on the etrack is far better than the sovereign, a few guys let me use thears and i know its deep and i know it finds coins right next to trash I think jim should get one and try it out he may pull more dimes than ever from the carnival site,
JimmyCT
Well-known member
This is what happened at the carnival lot - I graced the lot with the 10" tornado many times and not one piece of silver. I literally walked right over them with the larger coil. Once I purchased the Tornado 800, I went back to the same exact spot and pulled out many wheat cents and silver roosevelt & merc dimes. Synthnut I have a question for you: Were you both using the same size coils? Thanks - Jim
synthnut said:
Critterhunter
New member
What you are experiencing with that 8" coil hitting the coin while the 10" and WOT wouldn't isn't necessarily due to trash masking the coin. If the soil is bad enough with black sand, hot rocks, etc...a larger coil is taking in too much ground matrix and washing away the coin signal. One way to compensate and what you should try when using one of the larger coils is to lower the sensitivity setting. That makes the coil less hot, sees less ground, and might give you a good signal on the coin.