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Hi mr bill i am geting a used minelab ELITE can you gave me some setting,s for the beach and wetsand i will be going in blacksand too.
- Thread starter Johny uma
- Start date
midalake
TROLL
I am hunting my Elite in Mexico right now. I work only the wet sand and water. I can give you some guidelines.
First find where can set your sensitivity level. Do this by doing an air test with a quarter, turn your sensitivity up all the way and start backing it off, keep passing the quarter across the coil so you can just barely hear it. As soon as you notice some loss of depth, slightly turn the knob back and mark the spot. This will allow your detector to talk to you better and it also will not false as much set there.
Setting your threshold is a personal thing. I use very good headphones so I set mine almost silent [i also hunt in all metal mode almost all of the time here] At the most in my opinion your threshold should be set in such a way not to drive you nuts.
As far as black sand goes, you will know when to back off of your settings. The black sand needs to be pretty thick to effect my machine. Depending on conditions I have back off my sens and sometimes I have back off on my threshold. Experiment on your area to see what works best. With black sand you want to try to maintain as much depth with out the machine chirping too much. I usually work 5 of 7 days down here, so I am really fresh on my settings now. If you have more specific questions let me know.
First find where can set your sensitivity level. Do this by doing an air test with a quarter, turn your sensitivity up all the way and start backing it off, keep passing the quarter across the coil so you can just barely hear it. As soon as you notice some loss of depth, slightly turn the knob back and mark the spot. This will allow your detector to talk to you better and it also will not false as much set there.
Setting your threshold is a personal thing. I use very good headphones so I set mine almost silent [i also hunt in all metal mode almost all of the time here] At the most in my opinion your threshold should be set in such a way not to drive you nuts.
As far as black sand goes, you will know when to back off of your settings. The black sand needs to be pretty thick to effect my machine. Depending on conditions I have back off my sens and sometimes I have back off on my threshold. Experiment on your area to see what works best. With black sand you want to try to maintain as much depth with out the machine chirping too much. I usually work 5 of 7 days down here, so I am really fresh on my settings now. If you have more specific questions let me know.
thanks i saved that and am going too use it i hope too get my detector too day in the mialit is nice too have a frand too help out. thanks i will lite you know, after the snow stop,s i hope soon!Art (NWOH)
New member
Are you talking about the kind of air test with the coil on the ground and waving the coin over it?
Just curious.
I set mine up (GT, 2a) for dirt hunting by playing with the sensitivity over a weak target to see what setting will allow the coil to be lifted the highest. I will back down from this setting if conditions make it necessary.
One fellow suggested a while back to set sens to max then start bobbing the coil up and down whlie turning sensitivity down slowly until the detector stops nulling.
Tried this in some places and came up with the same settings as my usual method, but in some other places it did not work.
HH
Just curious.
I set mine up (GT, 2a) for dirt hunting by playing with the sensitivity over a weak target to see what setting will allow the coil to be lifted the highest. I will back down from this setting if conditions make it necessary.
One fellow suggested a while back to set sens to max then start bobbing the coil up and down whlie turning sensitivity down slowly until the detector stops nulling.
Tried this in some places and came up with the same settings as my usual method, but in some other places it did not work.
HH
midalake
TROLL
Actually no Art. I recommend an out right air-test. Away from any type of interference. some kind of picnic table or something steady non conductive outdoors. Also use some type of stick taped to the coil rod for reference this way there is no guessing on if there is any loss of depth or not. Make that mark on the rod at max sens, sweeping a coin back and fourth, then start backing off[use your head phones].........the machine will show you the way. I have owned four different Sov machines, the loss of depth usually happens around the 10 O'Clock area. But can vary. In the air is the purest way, nothing to taint the results. After you set it don't worry what type of ground you put it in or ocean, it will not make any difference. Do not forget to turn back slightly when you find that depth loss area. Maybe around 1/16 of an inch to 1/8 [not much]. I do not know why but when you set up the machine like this is just seems to Purr. I hunted today for about 3hrs. I dug so many targets, i have had ice on my shoulder twice. I also was following my friend today with his Whites, PI yes it is a deep machine, but lets just say he missed a few. One thing i want to add, with the machine set up this way, I cannot tell you the amount of just the faintest ticks i have heard. In the beginning I used to test every one by cranking up the sens to max..........I have never ONCE heard a target get louder or stronger.........I must have tried 100 targets this way, now I don't even bother. hope this helps........
HH Dave
HH Dave
Art (NWOH)
New member
You must hunt some pretty good ground. Around here there are places where ground conditions and/or noise will simply not allow that high of a setting.
Your method is not going to work all the time here because it does not take ground and noise conditions into account.
The coil bobbing method will also not work here all the time. If there is enough iron content, it will work........but if the particular place is very low on iron content, you can bob the coil at max sensitivity without a null.....and lose half your depth by running at max.
HH
Your method is not going to work all the time here because it does not take ground and noise conditions into account.
The coil bobbing method will also not work here all the time. If there is enough iron content, it will work........but if the particular place is very low on iron content, you can bob the coil at max sensitivity without a null.....and lose half your depth by running at max.
HH
midalake
TROLL
I agree that one cannot run that high of a setting all of the time in all conditions, but this method will allow you to run at what I think may be the best setting if you can. Also do not be afraid to turn down your threshold a little to silent mode and keep your sensitivity up. Especially if you hunt in Disc mode. Sometimes I think you can get more depth and loose the chatter with turning the threshold down.
Myself I run the threshold so I can hear it at all times for the reason I can tell if it is nulling or just a faint tone change letting me know the coil has went over a different target.
Now on sensitivity I feel if you are new to the Sovereign would be to run it in auto until you learn the tones better so it will be easier to understand, then I run mine as high as I can and yet to keep it stable. I find I can run mine at the 11 o'clock position most of the time, but if I want to go real slow and listen for the deep ones I can go about 9 and work the tone changes to try to get the tones to start climbing. In most areas I like to keep the threshold coming and going and it is is nulling too much I go slower, or will turn down the sensitivity more and it is very rare I go less then the 12 o'clock position as i will swing the coil slower then lower it any lower.
Now on sensitivity I feel if you are new to the Sovereign would be to run it in auto until you learn the tones better so it will be easier to understand, then I run mine as high as I can and yet to keep it stable. I find I can run mine at the 11 o'clock position most of the time, but if I want to go real slow and listen for the deep ones I can go about 9 and work the tone changes to try to get the tones to start climbing. In most areas I like to keep the threshold coming and going and it is is nulling too much I go slower, or will turn down the sensitivity more and it is very rare I go less then the 12 o'clock position as i will swing the coil slower then lower it any lower.
Art (NWOH)
New member
When you turn the threshold down enough to lose chatter(falsing ??) two things are happening........
sensitivity was set too high in the first place, and you have turned the threshold down to the point that weaker audio will not come through the audio circuits.
I will not run silent search. period.
I start out with sensitivity at 11-12 o'clock and turn it down if necessary.
Volume is always set to max.
Sometimes will crank up discrimination if the electrical interference is really bad.....most of the electrical interference registers below nickel on the meter.
HH
sensitivity was set too high in the first place, and you have turned the threshold down to the point that weaker audio will not come through the audio circuits.
I will not run silent search. period.
I start out with sensitivity at 11-12 o'clock and turn it down if necessary.
Volume is always set to max.
Sometimes will crank up discrimination if the electrical interference is really bad.....most of the electrical interference registers below nickel on the meter.
HH
adam in cal
New member
[quote Art (NWOH)]
Sometimes will crank up discrimination if the electrical interference is really bad.....most of the electrical interference registers below nickel on the meter.
HH[/quote]
Is this right ? I will try it next time I run into some, one place in peticular I hunt it is fine during the day but at night they have these lights on , and it makes my machine go haywire, last time I just split if I encounter it again I will give this a shot, altough I hate discriminating its better than driving home grumpy...
Sometimes will crank up discrimination if the electrical interference is really bad.....most of the electrical interference registers below nickel on the meter.
HH[/quote]
Is this right ? I will try it next time I run into some, one place in peticular I hunt it is fine during the day but at night they have these lights on , and it makes my machine go haywire, last time I just split if I encounter it again I will give this a shot, altough I hate discriminating its better than driving home grumpy...
Since reading CJC's book, Ive been examining A/M tones by switching from Disc to A/M. Especially after getting a high threshold tone after a null. A twist on the old "Reverse disc method". I know this thread is about threshold/sensitivity settings, but you mentioned turning your threshold volume up so that you don't miss signals. While comparing Disc/AM signals I have been turning my threshold way way down to a point that with my hearing it is almost inaudible. Then I boost the sound by adj volume up on my headphones. I read somewhere that this will allow weak signals to get through the threshold. But I am technically challenged when it comes to detector electronics. CJC states that deep signals can only be heard by "A Perfectly Adjusted Threshold". The question is what is perfectly adjusted???
Is there a preferred bench mark setting. Bottom line - in general do you believe it is better to turn your threshold higher or lower when searching for deep targets. Don
Is there a preferred bench mark setting. Bottom line - in general do you believe it is better to turn your threshold higher or lower when searching for deep targets. Don
Art (NWOH)
New member
Far as I can determine when using disc mode.........
There is quite a bit of leeway on both my 2a and GT on the threshold setting.
A bit of experimenting is in order because we have different hearing.....
For me when target volume is set to max and headphones are adjusted for a strong but not painful hit on a surface target, the threshold should be adjusted low enough that it is not irritating. In general I don't even notice it after a few minutes unless it drops out or changes pitch. I can turn it down until I can't hear it at all (but no farther) or I can turn it up enough to hear over moderate traffic or wind noise without losing weak targets. With the threshold turned up because of noise, when it gets quiet again it will be loud enough to be annoying.
If you turn the threshold too high, it will cover up the weaker hits. If you turn it into the lower third of the adjustment, weaker hits will be blocked from coming through the audio ckt. You can verify this for yourself with air tests. You can really destroy sensitivity by turning both volume and threshold to full minimum . try that with an air test. Takes a pretty good hit to get any audio that way. You may still see a meter response at 8-10" but will have NO audio until 5-6".....the audio of a detected target will have to be strong to overcome the shut down audio ckt.
There is some leeway in disc mode....because the Sov "punches" the audio.......compresses it. The audio is jumped way up above the threshold during normal operation. Makes it about impossible to miss a weak audio hit.
But watch out for threshold change hits without target audio. If threshold is too low you will never hear it.
All metal.....
Audio is not compressed and will fade into the threshold as signals get weaker. Running volume low will cost you depth because you will not hear the weaker hits.Max volume will push the hits as high as possible above the threshold.
Running threshold too high will require much stronger hits to be noticeable above the threshold. Running threshold too low will make it difficult to hear very weak hits.
I think you can run a little less threshold in disc mode and get away with it because of the compressed audio, while in all metal the threshold needs to be just high enough to be noticeable all the time so you won't miss a weak hit. A little bump will need to be loud enough that you don't miss it.
A bit of experimenting on your part is in order to determine just what you feel are practical settings.
HH
There is quite a bit of leeway on both my 2a and GT on the threshold setting.
A bit of experimenting is in order because we have different hearing.....
For me when target volume is set to max and headphones are adjusted for a strong but not painful hit on a surface target, the threshold should be adjusted low enough that it is not irritating. In general I don't even notice it after a few minutes unless it drops out or changes pitch. I can turn it down until I can't hear it at all (but no farther) or I can turn it up enough to hear over moderate traffic or wind noise without losing weak targets. With the threshold turned up because of noise, when it gets quiet again it will be loud enough to be annoying.
If you turn the threshold too high, it will cover up the weaker hits. If you turn it into the lower third of the adjustment, weaker hits will be blocked from coming through the audio ckt. You can verify this for yourself with air tests. You can really destroy sensitivity by turning both volume and threshold to full minimum . try that with an air test. Takes a pretty good hit to get any audio that way. You may still see a meter response at 8-10" but will have NO audio until 5-6".....the audio of a detected target will have to be strong to overcome the shut down audio ckt.
There is some leeway in disc mode....because the Sov "punches" the audio.......compresses it. The audio is jumped way up above the threshold during normal operation. Makes it about impossible to miss a weak audio hit.
But watch out for threshold change hits without target audio. If threshold is too low you will never hear it.
All metal.....
Audio is not compressed and will fade into the threshold as signals get weaker. Running volume low will cost you depth because you will not hear the weaker hits.Max volume will push the hits as high as possible above the threshold.
Running threshold too high will require much stronger hits to be noticeable above the threshold. Running threshold too low will make it difficult to hear very weak hits.
I think you can run a little less threshold in disc mode and get away with it because of the compressed audio, while in all metal the threshold needs to be just high enough to be noticeable all the time so you won't miss a weak hit. A little bump will need to be loud enough that you don't miss it.
A bit of experimenting on your part is in order to determine just what you feel are practical settings.
HH
Art (NWOH)
New member
It will help provided most of the noise is giving mid-low readings and tones. Blanking some of it out with discrimination will reduce the sheer quantity of noise you are hearing. Might be a good time to use silent search also...one less jumping noise problem.
Keep the sweep slow. Most noise is quick....not the same duration as a valid hit. "Blip" is bad......."Bllliiiippp" is good.
And noise does not repeat in the same place.
HH
Keep the sweep slow. Most noise is quick....not the same duration as a valid hit. "Blip" is bad......."Bllliiiippp" is good.
And noise does not repeat in the same place.
HH
Art (NWOH)
New member
You noticed I said that silent search might help, but I have said before that I won't use it myself.
Not the first time I have issued a contradiction. It has to do with how I feel that things may work best for you. I think that we relate to our detectors differently, so you and I would probably not do things the same way.
HH
Not the first time I have issued a contradiction. It has to do with how I feel that things may work best for you. I think that we relate to our detectors differently, so you and I would probably not do things the same way.
HH
Art (NWOH)
New member
Just like your TV Don......
You don't have to know what's inside or how the innards work.
You only have to worry about the part that you can control and use it to it's best effect.
Spending a few minutes playing around on a few targets rather than digging or walking away immediately will tell you a lot about how effective your methods are. It's time well spent.
You get a better understanding of how things are going to work . Don't be afraid to experiment a little. Find out for yourself what is optimum for your purposes at your location with the equipment you are using.
At least if you dig everything that you play with, you won't have the same kind of problems I have.......
I defy anyone to stomp a sand scoop into my front yard in august.
HH
You don't have to know what's inside or how the innards work.
You only have to worry about the part that you can control and use it to it's best effect.
Spending a few minutes playing around on a few targets rather than digging or walking away immediately will tell you a lot about how effective your methods are. It's time well spent.
You get a better understanding of how things are going to work . Don't be afraid to experiment a little. Find out for yourself what is optimum for your purposes at your location with the equipment you are using.
At least if you dig everything that you play with, you won't have the same kind of problems I have.......
I defy anyone to stomp a sand scoop into my front yard in august.
HH