Rick (SJCA)
New member
Hello Rick (ND),
It has been awhile since I have been out here, but I see you finally took the plunge and bought the Patriot meter and, of course, then sold it. I have been curious about that meter for sometime, but couldn't see spending that kind of money for a meter. I saw you ordered one and I was waiting to hear your review of it, before I did anything. I would have bought it if you gave two thumbs up. Thanks you for the great review and saving me money. Not that the meter is bad or anything, as it looks like a great meter and many people love it. But I'm starting to not like having meters on my detectors after using the Sov GT without the meter.
My first detector as a kid had no meter and couldn't even discriminate ferrous and non-ferrous; it just made a noise to any metal. I found a lot of great things with that detector (several gold rings, plus other cool things). I left the MD scene for quite sometime, but finally came back after 30+ years later. I bought the XLT thinking that I was going to make a killing out there, since it was way more sophisticated then my old kit I built and could go way deeper (my oldie could go maybe 3-4 inches at best).
I hunted with the XLT for 4-5 months, before I got caught in another hobby that consumed 5 more years before I got back into MDing. But during that time I found lots of coins (enough to pay for the detector) and several silver rings and lots of odds and ends. But I was surprise that I didn't find one gold ring.
Well five years later the bug bite me again, and I heard so much about the MXT and how great it was at finding gold. So I bought it. I certainly have no regrets buying it, as I like it way more than my XLT. Well after hunting with it for several months and having a great time, I realized that I haven't found a gold ring. I could tell by using the MXT, that it was hotter on low conductive targets than the XLT ever was, but still no gold.
I then bought the Sov GT after conversing back with you a few times. I certainly have no regrets now. As you know, at first I hated it. I had no idea what it was telling and I was going crazy not knowing what I was digging out of the ground. But it finally dawned on me that this was like my oldie when I was a kid but way more sophisticated. It could tell non-ferrous versus ferrous with great accuracy and it could go deeper than anything I ever owned. As I kept digging things, I noticed that I was finding cooler things than I ever have in quite sometime.
My biggest mistake was relying on the TID too much. I now treat the MXT as if it doesn't have a meter. I just listen to the sounds more and have found more. I finally pulled my first gold ring, last month, since I was a kid and have even found some silver coins at heavily hunted parks, which I haven't been able to do. Owning the GT was an eye opener for me in more ways than one.
Not that I'm crazy about a meter, but I seen a picture of yours and I like the way it stands tall so it is easy to see. It sounds like Sunray has made several versions of that meter. Is that true? Which one do you have?
I see that you have been experiencing the same things with the GT I was telling you about when I was at Golden Gate Park and a beach in Carmel and that being it was falsing all over the place. I had to back my sensitivity to 2-3 O'clock sometimes just to keep it stable. Minelab is great for depth when you can crank the sens to Max, but when you have to back it down to 12 or more then my MXT is, most likely, going to do better in the field, as it ran smooth in both those areas with the gain pasted preset 9. What I have been doing in situations like that, which seems to help, is hunt in pinpoint mode with sens to Max (or close to Max), as this seemed to have a more stable threshold. Then once a target is found, switch to discriminate mode to tell if it is worth digging. Oh by the way, have you noticed that the volume control seems to affect the stability of the threshold in All metal mode/pinpoint. Start with your volume at max then back it down and you will know what I mean. So I usually back the volume down when hunting like that to 1 or 2 O'clock. Any less, although the threshold gets even more smoother, and depth is starting to be noticed. Not sure that this will help you, but it has been working for me. Normally, when the GT acts irritable in certain location, I would just get the MXT out of the car, but when my father-in-law comes with me, I'm left with no choice but to make the best out of the situation with the GT and that is it. Oh, one other idea, but it doesn't work all the time but has on occasion. If the GT is acting up, before I start hunting in the other mode I just describe to you above, try hunting in discriminate mode without the iron mask on, as this has helped settle her down in areas of interference. Have you found a better solution when it is getting interference like that and acting up?
Which brings me to my next question. Switching back and forth between All metal and Discriminate Mode is driving me crazy. I still can't believe that Minelab hasn't put a switch on the handle yet. These guys come up with some brilliant machines, but yet you wonder if anybody is really home at the same time. Even the new meter, at least where it mounts, wasn't thought about at all. Any ways, I was wondering, is there a modification out there yet for the GT to put a remote switch? Remember, this is now a 3 position switch versus all the past were 2 position (I believe). Do we really have to wait for the 2 year warranty period before installing one, as I don't think I can wait? I switch back and forth constantly. Hopefully, if it had to be sent in for some repair or other issues down the road, the guys at Minelab won't be to hard on us guys if a switch mod has been done, as this should have already been done years ago on previous models at the factory, let alone on the new GT. What are your thoughts?
Lastly, how has the GT been performing for you these days? Is she surprising you yet? Have you compared it against any of your Exp II friends (and only when you can run your sens at Max). A friend has a Quattro and the same size loop as mine (Sunray 8 inch). He still hasn't found a target that the GT couldn't detect. In fact, I found a few that he couldn't pick up, even with his sens to Max (18-20). We never dug up any of the targets to see what the GT was screaming about, but maybe next time we should, as I'm very curious now to know.
Any ways, I believe that is all the questions I have for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this and reply, as I greatly appreciate it Rick.
Take care and God Bless.
Sincerely,
Rick (SJCA)
It has been awhile since I have been out here, but I see you finally took the plunge and bought the Patriot meter and, of course, then sold it. I have been curious about that meter for sometime, but couldn't see spending that kind of money for a meter. I saw you ordered one and I was waiting to hear your review of it, before I did anything. I would have bought it if you gave two thumbs up. Thanks you for the great review and saving me money. Not that the meter is bad or anything, as it looks like a great meter and many people love it. But I'm starting to not like having meters on my detectors after using the Sov GT without the meter.
My first detector as a kid had no meter and couldn't even discriminate ferrous and non-ferrous; it just made a noise to any metal. I found a lot of great things with that detector (several gold rings, plus other cool things). I left the MD scene for quite sometime, but finally came back after 30+ years later. I bought the XLT thinking that I was going to make a killing out there, since it was way more sophisticated then my old kit I built and could go way deeper (my oldie could go maybe 3-4 inches at best).
I hunted with the XLT for 4-5 months, before I got caught in another hobby that consumed 5 more years before I got back into MDing. But during that time I found lots of coins (enough to pay for the detector) and several silver rings and lots of odds and ends. But I was surprise that I didn't find one gold ring.
Well five years later the bug bite me again, and I heard so much about the MXT and how great it was at finding gold. So I bought it. I certainly have no regrets buying it, as I like it way more than my XLT. Well after hunting with it for several months and having a great time, I realized that I haven't found a gold ring. I could tell by using the MXT, that it was hotter on low conductive targets than the XLT ever was, but still no gold.
I then bought the Sov GT after conversing back with you a few times. I certainly have no regrets now. As you know, at first I hated it. I had no idea what it was telling and I was going crazy not knowing what I was digging out of the ground. But it finally dawned on me that this was like my oldie when I was a kid but way more sophisticated. It could tell non-ferrous versus ferrous with great accuracy and it could go deeper than anything I ever owned. As I kept digging things, I noticed that I was finding cooler things than I ever have in quite sometime.
My biggest mistake was relying on the TID too much. I now treat the MXT as if it doesn't have a meter. I just listen to the sounds more and have found more. I finally pulled my first gold ring, last month, since I was a kid and have even found some silver coins at heavily hunted parks, which I haven't been able to do. Owning the GT was an eye opener for me in more ways than one.
Not that I'm crazy about a meter, but I seen a picture of yours and I like the way it stands tall so it is easy to see. It sounds like Sunray has made several versions of that meter. Is that true? Which one do you have?
I see that you have been experiencing the same things with the GT I was telling you about when I was at Golden Gate Park and a beach in Carmel and that being it was falsing all over the place. I had to back my sensitivity to 2-3 O'clock sometimes just to keep it stable. Minelab is great for depth when you can crank the sens to Max, but when you have to back it down to 12 or more then my MXT is, most likely, going to do better in the field, as it ran smooth in both those areas with the gain pasted preset 9. What I have been doing in situations like that, which seems to help, is hunt in pinpoint mode with sens to Max (or close to Max), as this seemed to have a more stable threshold. Then once a target is found, switch to discriminate mode to tell if it is worth digging. Oh by the way, have you noticed that the volume control seems to affect the stability of the threshold in All metal mode/pinpoint. Start with your volume at max then back it down and you will know what I mean. So I usually back the volume down when hunting like that to 1 or 2 O'clock. Any less, although the threshold gets even more smoother, and depth is starting to be noticed. Not sure that this will help you, but it has been working for me. Normally, when the GT acts irritable in certain location, I would just get the MXT out of the car, but when my father-in-law comes with me, I'm left with no choice but to make the best out of the situation with the GT and that is it. Oh, one other idea, but it doesn't work all the time but has on occasion. If the GT is acting up, before I start hunting in the other mode I just describe to you above, try hunting in discriminate mode without the iron mask on, as this has helped settle her down in areas of interference. Have you found a better solution when it is getting interference like that and acting up?
Which brings me to my next question. Switching back and forth between All metal and Discriminate Mode is driving me crazy. I still can't believe that Minelab hasn't put a switch on the handle yet. These guys come up with some brilliant machines, but yet you wonder if anybody is really home at the same time. Even the new meter, at least where it mounts, wasn't thought about at all. Any ways, I was wondering, is there a modification out there yet for the GT to put a remote switch? Remember, this is now a 3 position switch versus all the past were 2 position (I believe). Do we really have to wait for the 2 year warranty period before installing one, as I don't think I can wait? I switch back and forth constantly. Hopefully, if it had to be sent in for some repair or other issues down the road, the guys at Minelab won't be to hard on us guys if a switch mod has been done, as this should have already been done years ago on previous models at the factory, let alone on the new GT. What are your thoughts?
Lastly, how has the GT been performing for you these days? Is she surprising you yet? Have you compared it against any of your Exp II friends (and only when you can run your sens at Max). A friend has a Quattro and the same size loop as mine (Sunray 8 inch). He still hasn't found a target that the GT couldn't detect. In fact, I found a few that he couldn't pick up, even with his sens to Max (18-20). We never dug up any of the targets to see what the GT was screaming about, but maybe next time we should, as I'm very curious now to know.
Any ways, I believe that is all the questions I have for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this and reply, as I greatly appreciate it Rick.
Take care and God Bless.
Sincerely,
Rick (SJCA)