got a sov gt coming this week

[Andy/Memphis]

have used a elite years ago beach hunting deepest machine looking for old silver at old house an park sites what would be the best setup

 

[gear box]

If you can I would suggest getting a meter right away,it will help tremendosly in helping you to understand what the machine is telling you. It will also shorten the learning curve. I just used the basic new guy start up setting's in the manual when I got mine. After awhile I used
1 disc off
2 notch off. (I use it occasionally where I''m overwhelmed by too many tab's)
3 sensitivity wherever I get a smooth running machine. I try to keep it around 10:00 to 12:00.
4 threshold on
5 toggle in pinpoint
6 iron mask off ((because I haven't got much experience with it yet)
7 band 2. The manual say's you won't see a difference in the performance of the machine,although several pro's here say that band 2 is best with some slight difference's from band 1 so that is where I have mine.
The GT is a fun and simple machine with very good depth without all the hassle of screens and menues. I think you'll like it.
Good luck with it,Gary

 

[ToniSteve]

Hello,
Which meter is the best?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[gear box]

Most people like the sunray meter but it isn't being made anymore. There was a used one for sale just yesterday I think it was on E-bay for $140. Minelab makes one and these are good meter's also. I have one that I got off of e-bay with a stand that get's the meter above the handle for better viewing fo $79. These come available every now and again but you can alway's get a new one. I don't know how much a new one is but beleive they are aroun $175?
Good luck,Gary

 

[crazyman]

Because my ground can change quite a bit from site to site especially from land to beach I use the bobbing method to set my sensitivity similar to power balancing that I've used on some Whites detectors I've owned. Once you have the other settings set the way you want find an area that is clean and with the coil in the air set the sensitivity to minimum and the threshold to a slight buzz. Now start bobbing the coil like your ground balancing while advancing the sensitivity just until the threshold nulls or goes silent. Now slowly back it off while still bobbing until the threshold returns. You now have the sensitivity set for optimal performance and depth for that particular ground. Make sure you adjust your swing speed to your sensitivity setting to keep a steady threshold. I found this tip in the archives here and it has worked very well and I am digging coins deeper than I've ever dug in the past. If your hunting in heavy iron don't be afraid to use less sensitivity or even auto to help you separate the iron falses from good targets close to iron.

 

[gear box]

Hey Crazyman that bobbing method is only for all metal right? Or have I missed something?
Thank's,Gary

 

[crazyman]

Gary, no it's done in the discriminate mode. In bad ground the threshold will null if your using to much sensitivity in disc. with the coil on or near the ground. I use this method to get maximum depth when hunting for deep coins. I slowly bob the coil while adjusting my sensitivity but you can also just make slow short sweeps while making the adjustments. I do the slow bob and then recheck it with short slow sweeps. I'm sure there are other methods but this seems to work perfect in my ground.

 

[gear box]

Crazyman, thanks for that tip. I used to do this 35 year's ago with the old whites machines. I didn't think it was applicable anymore. I sure will use it from now on. Thank's a million. Are you really crazy? Just kidding have a good one
Good hunting,Gary

 

[crazyman]

Gary, I read about this tip in some old posts here. I can't remember who suggested it but it has worked well for me. I used to use this method in discrimination mode with my old Whites 4900/5900 detectors in real bad ground and on some black sand beaches. I never thought about doing it with the Sovereign when I first starting using it until I read the old post.

 

[gear box]

Thank's again Crazyman that's one of the best tip's yet.
Gary

 

[Critterhunter]

I'm going to have to try that bobbing method. I currently just find what I think is clean ground and slowly increase the sensitivity as I keep sweeping over the same spot. Once it starts nulling I back it off a hair. I'm finding I can run at max sensitivity at many sites, but at others I'm usualy maxed at around the 11 o'clock position. One thing that does bother me is I'm wondering if the nulling is coming from iron or too high a sensitivity when I experience it. Haven't figured out a way to tell the difference yet. I'm worried that I'm dropping sensitivity too low when it's just iron I'm hitting, and as I lower the sensitivity to a point where it no longer is going deep enough to hit the iron the machine is keeping a steady threshold. The bobbing method might prove more useful for this reason. Or, I guess I could sweep over an area in all metal to make sure there is no iron and then adjust it in discriminate over the same spot.

 

[crazyman]

Using slow short sweeps works just as well if there is no iron close by. If you get a null over iron your threshold should return with the low iron buzz letting you know that the null was iron. Using max sensitivity makes your sweep speed a bit more critical so you will get more nulls if your over sweeping the coil. For general hunting large areas I back my sensitivity down more so my sweep speed is a little more forgiving. If I get in an area where I know the coins are deep I will then use max sensitivity and slow to a crawl.

 

[Critterhunter]

I know this machine needs to be worked slow to notice the deep stuff, but I'm finding that to clean up the ID on a deeper target I need to pick up the sweep speed to a medium to fast "wiggle" to pull the proper ID out of it. This is much like the QXT in that respect, in that in order to pull a good ID out of a deep target I would do short quick sweeps over the target. This got your ID another inch or so of additional depth. I'm not finding that the GT needs as slow of a sweep speed when searching as I feared. When working the words and scouting out areas of activity where there are any targets present (you often hunt for long periods with any target being heard) I can pick up the sweep speed a good bit and just pay attention to the threshold. Even if I just nick a target with the edge of the coil the threshold will change, and then I'll slow down and work that area with a slow to medium speed, investigating deeper targets with a quicker short sweep. I hear silent search will allow you to pick up the speed even more but haven't tried it yet.

 

[JHM]

If I were scouting a larger area with few targets, I would use all metal. You can hunt as fast as you want. When you find a target, slow down the sweep speed if it breaks up it's iron.

 

[Canewrap]

That's a good tip that would probably apply almost any detector.