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Hello Rick (ND) and other GT users

Rick (SJCA)

New member
Hello Rick (ND),

Not sure if you saw my last post to you about 1 1/2 or 2 months ago. But I finally couldn't wait any more and modified my GT with the remote switch, as I was going crazy without a switch. I, also, finally took the plunge and bought a Minelab meter for it, thanks to your report on the Patriot meter and the use of any meter for your type of hunting style. Although I mostly dig everything, it sure it nice to have the meter when I'm pressed for time and want to look for something specific.

I'm sure enjoying the GT now, more than ever, with remote switch and meter. The other day I pulled a wheatie out at 8-inches and it ID it correctly (Sun Ray S-8 coil). When I was modifying my GT (a two evening process), I had to use my MXT during lunch hour for a short 30 minute hunt at a local park, because my GT was still cracked open on my desk at home, and I have to admit that I was sure missing my GT. Don't get me wrong, as I still like my MXT a lot, and there are places and situations where it will out shine the GT, but I'm sure getting hooked on the GT; definitely more than I thought I would.

I saw one of your post and notice you stating you have a Uniprobe. How do you like it? I have a Sun Ray probe for both my MXT and GT. I am considering getting a Uniprobe for a back up probe or when I want to lighten the load of either detector by taking the Sun Ray off from time to time, but they sure are expense. Do you think they are worth it? Does it false a lot (I'm thinking how the bullseye, Auto Max and similar types do that) Which do you like better; Sun Ray or Uniprobe? Do you have the loop/rod set up for it to use a detector? If so, how well do it work? I have a Surf Master PI I use quite often when at the beach. Just wondering if the Surf Master went down for some reason, would the Uniprobe set up work as well? Of course, at that price for the whole setup, I might as well buy another PI Pro.

Now that you have use your GT for a bit, what are your thoughts about it? Any regrets? Would you rather have your Elite to hunt with instead? Has the GT surprised you yet? Any comparisons with some of the guys with Explorer II or Quatrros? This is my first Sovereign and a first for any Minelab, so I have nothing to compare it with, just trying to learn it own characteristic. So far, every signal I get or my friend gets with his Quattro, we both can detect it. I do notice that the GT seems to respond to iron more than his Quattro. Off to the edge of some iron targets, I can get them to wind up on the tone, but then when it comes to centering (pin pointing mode), I notice that I'm off to the side of the target a bit. But with his Quattro, it just nulls the whole time. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing about the GT. Does yours do the same thing? I can't say that this is the correct way to ID iron, because I'm afraid of a good target might be next to the iron. Have you found a good target next to iron yet with the GT? Did it respond differently than just iron winding up on tone? Was centering the target different from discriminate mode to all metal pin point mode? Have you discovered a trick way to differentiate between to two situations if your GT is doing the same thing like mine?

Here is a description of my modified GT. I used the same switch that Whites uses for the MXT, DFX, XLT etc. Pulling the trigger brings it into pinpoint mode, releasing it turn it back to iron mask on and pushing the trigger forward turns off iron mask. I did this as there are times when I find hunting without iron mask on is actually better. I, also, put in a reverse switch in the control box on the front panel so I can hunt in all metal by pushing the trigger forward and center is still iron mask on and pulling it turns off iron mask. This way, in situations like Golden Gate park, where the GT goes nuts with discrimination on (because all the interferences from the big city) and I have to back the sensitivity down to nothing just to calm it down and depth is greatly sacrificed, I can choose this mode and not really loose that depth. I'm not sure if you have noticed this, but the All metal/ Pin point (or even better, the 'track') mode can hold a more stable threshold in situation describe above and you can still keep sensitivity up, as I have noticed that the sensitivity knob affects both all metal modes and discriminate modes. Then, once a target is located, check with discrimination, to decide if you should dig it or not. This isn't always that easy if the machine is really going crazy in the discriminate mode, but at least you know you are over a target and might be able to tell if it is the target causing the tone change versus the interference (plus interference, at times, causes the machine to go up and down on tone, and not stay around a certain tone range like a good target would). Of course, very weak, weak signals will be hard to tell if the interference is greater than the target signal, so those I just dig once heard in all metal, since I can't tell what it is in the discriminate mode (target signal versus interference); just to make sure I didn't pass something good. It is weird but the volume knob on mine also affects the threshold stability in all metal/pin point mode. I usually keep it 3/4 up or less in that mode, as anything greater causes it fluctuate too much to differentiate between a weak target or the fluctuating threshold. Does yours do this? However, in 'Track' mode and all metal, it isn't affect as much by the volume control (and it seems to have a more stable threshold), which is why I have been using this mode more and more, when interference won't allow me to use the discriminate mode.

On very weak signals, does your meter read a little higher than the actual target, at times? It doesn't stay up higher than the actual target for long but fluctuates between a range of numbers. For example, a nickel, if it is on the fringe of being detected, doing the sovereign wiggle, I can get it to read anywhere between 130-135 on the lower end to 155-159 on the high end. On the average, when looking at the changing numbers, you can tell that it is mostly averaging out and hanging around the 140 range, but it is certainly up and down a bit.

And my last question. When pin pointing weak signals, do you find that you can detect a target in discriminate mode deeper than it can detect in all metal mode? There have been many times that I can't pin point a target in all metal (no change in threshold at all), but yet hear it in discriminate mode. It is, also, weird that there are times when I can't hear a threshold change in pin point mode, but then switch to 'track mode/all metal' and can hear a real obvious change in threshold to know where to dig. This doesn't always work either, but has helped quite a bit in tough situations on determining where to dig. Do you have any suggestions when nether of these tricks don't work?

Any ways, that is all for now. Thank again for all your expertise and answering my questions, as I greatly appreciate them.

Take care and God Bless.

Sincerely,
Rick (SJCA)
 
There is a lot of question here and I know I will miss many of them, but will try to do the best I can.
I like your set up, looks good and want to add a remote pinpoint switch to mine too. From use i feel the new GT may be the best Sovereign series I have used. The others are OK too, but feel this GT is a bit more sensitive and been hearing the signals better plus I have been getting very accurate ID on my Sun Ray DTI 3, even great on the deeper ones. On my other Sovereigns I notice after I get over 8 inches deep the ID would be trying to climb with sometimes making it to the correct ID and sometime not quite making it. With the GT I seem to get it always to make it to the correct ID no mater how deep it has been.
Now you mention iron on the GT over the Quattro, I found I dug many more piece of iron (nails) with the Quattro and my Explorer than I ever do with the GT. I find the GT is fooled more than the other Sovereign series, but no where close to what the Explorer does for me. I take and try to do the Sovereign wiggle over what I feel is a good target so that I know it is repeatable and wiggle the coil back so I know where this target starts at, then I will come at it from a different angle to see if it is still in that same spot or if it has moved. If it has moved a little it is OK, but if it seems to move a lot it is probably a false signal off of iron. To be sure I will try from a different angle or go to all metal pinpoint and pinpoint it doing my 90 degrees pinpoint so i have the target right under the center of the coil. Now I while I hold the coil still over this area I will switch back to disc and slightly wiggle the coil and if it sound good it is good, but if it just nulls even after you have moved the coil a few inches it is iron. It is not too often i dig a nail unless it is real deep and very iffy as I just want to make sure. A good target will always repeat and you should be able to get it to repeat coming from more than one angle and not move in disc. There is a few that just sound too good from 2 angles and nulls from 2 angles that is a coin next to iron.
I have never had any luck in the all metal mode at all for my type of hunting and have always felt the disc goes deeper than the all metal mode as i have experienced more then once a good signal in disc and not a thing in all metal pinpoint, on those i have to do my pinpointing in disc mode by coming from a different angle with the tip of the coil. I can pinpoint good doing that.
If Sun Ray makes a probe for the detector i am using it will have one on it, but if Sun Ray don't like for the Tesoros and my Shadow X5 I had then I have a Uniprobe to use. I fee the depth is better with the Uniprobe, but it is not a disc probe so it will see all metal and makes it a little tougher finding the coin in with nails. I had that happen with my X5 as it sounded good, but had to dig 5 nails before I found the IH penny, with the Sun Rays you can reject the nails and find the good target. Out of all of the pinpointing probes I have used the Sun Ray and the Uniprobe are the best, the rest to me just don't do it for me. Cost wise the Uniprobe are expensive, but mine built into the headphones are the better buy as the Headphones part is some of the best headphones too so if you look at it this way the headphones are worth $90 of the total cost. The one thing I don't like about it is that the toggle switch can get turned on too easy and if you don't notice it the battery will be dead when you need it on your next hunt.
I have always run my volume on my Sovereign wide open and adjust the volume on my headphones so i have the max target volume for those deep targets as the threshold volume stays the same with the volume control as it just reg target volume. I also never turn off the iron mask as i want to hear the coins next to iron,if you turn it off you may not hear the good target close to iron, but it will null more and not give a false signal on iron so it may be quieter running.
In the last couple of weeks I have hit a couple of farm yards doing some Field testing to see if the GT is missing anything. I went over a area about 16 feet by 70 feet slow with the GT and got 12 Wheaties and a IH penny and maybe 1 or 2 nails, went back the next day with my Explorer XS II to see what the GT missed. I got 4 or 5 pull tabs (got none with the GT as I knew what they were) did get a kids ring and dug a good 10 rusty nails, but no coins. To me it showed the GT did a great job of getting the coins and not the trash. Most of These coins where deeper than the length of my Lesche digging tool as I dig out a plug the length of the tool and 90 % of them were still in the hole when I used my S1 probe as I had to go 1 or 2 inches deeper. I estimate these were all between 7-9 inches deep. I went over another ares with the Explorer and dug a couple of Wheaties and a few new coins plus some nails. i went back with the GT and got 4 Wheaties and another IH I missed with the Explorer, not saying the Explorer couldn't get them, but it seems like the GT I could hear and understand them better.
I just tried another one with the GT this past week and pulled out 19 Wheaties, 2 silver Rosie's, a buffalo nickle 2 small cheapie rings and around 10 new coins. I took the Explorer back Monday and for the first hour I only dug rusty nails as they sounded deep and iffy like a coin would. Then I got 2 Wheaties in with some nails and a trade token I had missed with the GT.I think I just hit them just right with the Explorer and feel the GT would have seen them too.
Some of this has to do with how well you know the Sovereign and how well you know the Explorer, I find the tones on the GT and it changing the tone when ever it sees a a target is what helps for me, now with the Explorer it changes and back to the normal threshold tone and it is so quick I may miss them, but the Sovereign i know when I go over a different target . After you use yours for a while I think you will see you will be able to tell when the tone changes you will know if it is a tone to check out further or one to pass up.
I too have a MXT and it is the one my wife uses and I have used it too and find it is one great detector and the best Whites I have ever used. The MXT is a fun detector to use and you can go so much faster with it than the Minelabs, but it wont get the good target like the Minelab will that are in with the trash as it will average out many target while the Minelabs you will be able to hear the different target. One I recall was witht he Explorer I got a nickle reading, so I would check it from a different angle and now it was a silver reading, so I tried from another angle and it was a rusty bottle caps reading. I dug a plug and seen a war nickle in the plug, but right above it was a rusty bottle caps off to the side a bit. run the coil over the hole and it was a nice silver reading, put the probe in the hole and found a merc as the Explorer seen all 3 of these targets separate. The Sovereigns I have done the same thing with as i can get several different signals of different coins or trash in the same hole. The more you use the GT the more you will understand it, after 8 years I am still learning with the Sovereigns.

I hope I was able to cover most of your questions.

Rick
 
That's a neat idea on the budget dust boots. If you want something a little more "OEM" looking, I got these from David@Dixie for my Elite a year or so ago. The rubber boot is part of the nut and the nuts replace your existing ones. Very easy to unscrew the old and screw on the new...just takes a few minutes.
 
I'll have the same boots tomorrow from David@ Dixie. David, still had a few left and I bought them from him yesterday. I'll be putting them on tomorrow afternoon. I also got the meter, meter mount and stand from David for the GT. The stand just clips on in front of the control box. I'll take a picture later and post it.

Mike
 
Yeah, I also took the hipmount pouch and took the clear plastic hood off the pouch and I'm using the rest as a control box cover. Works really well too and looks good I think.

Mike
 
Hey Mike (Ky), Where did you get you stand, or did you make it? If so, how well does it work in the field, and how did you make it? Does it tip over easy in the field? Curious minds want to know! HH
 
I bought the stand from David @ Dixie Detectors in Madison,Tn. It works very well in the field and doesn't turn over very easy. It's pretty stable. I'm really very happy with it. I wouldn't be without it now. I know David does have some more in stock.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Hello Rick (ND),

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my seemingly endless list of questions.

And Thanks Mike, for the information on where to get the dust/dirt cover tips for the switches. They sure are expense, but certainly makes the GT look nicer with the finishing touch.

Rick, after reading your post, I'm looking forward to trying some of your great tips in the field.

I do understand what your talking about when it comes to All metal/pin point mode or All metal/Track. Because I, also, have noticed that the GT seems to be able to detects something the deepest in the discriminate mode. I just have trouble pin pointing a target in discriminate mode, when it can't be heard in All metal/pin point. But I will try your suggestion using the tip of the coil at different angles. I only resort to those other modes when I'm in an area where the GT is going crazy in discriminate mode. There are times when I have to turn the sensitivity knob completely clockwise and it is still going crazy. This is when I get desperate to resort to anything just to keep hunting and that is those two modes I described. When the sensitivity is that low in the discriminate mode, the MXT will out do the GT for depth. Normally, I would get the MXT out when the GT gets bombarded with interference, but when my father-in-law comes with me on a hunt, he is using my MXT.

But your right about the discriminate mode working better and more reliable on good targets and better depth. But when I'm using those other two modes, I did notice from a test in the garden that the All metal/pin point works, the majority of the time, better than the All/metal track mode. On one target I was shocked at the results, as in the All metal/pin point and discriminate mode, the zinc penny jumps at you with a loud audio volume. But that same target, in the All metal/Track mode, I would have walked right over that target if I didn't know it was there. I checked at many angles and barely heard the thing; and it was only 3-inches down. After that test, I felt that even though you can get a more stable threshold (when the GT is getting bombarded with interference in the discriminate mode), it is a useless mode, at least for me, if it going to miss a coin only 3-inches down (and I've heard some deeper coins in that mode, but the fact that it missed that coin worried me). It is just weird how sometimes, but not often, the All metal/Track actually pinpointed a target for me better than All metal/pin point mode to assist me in where to dig on a deep target.
But if I can learn your technique on how to pin point in the discriminate mode on deep targets, I will, hopefully, never have to use those others modes again.

Any way, thanks Rick (ND) and everyone else for taking the time to read my post and giving your input, as I appreciate all the help.

Take care, have a great weekend and God Bless,
Sincerely,
Rick (SJCA)
 
Works out about the same way here, Rick.

That is provided that these are actual targets, and not fresh buried test coins.
That opens up a whole can of worms you don't want to get into.

HH
 
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