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Iron Mask?
- Thread starter JHM
- Start date
Art (NWOH)
New member
The GT hits on iron and hot rocks a lot worse than other Sovs when the iron mask is on. This can drive you nuts.Turning it off makes it quieter with fewer iron and hot rock hits.
HH
HH
Art (NWOH)
New member
Does not seem to make much if any difference, but it could fool you into thinking there is......
With the mask on, it hits on iron and hot rocks worse, but will also find coins in iron better....you would think it is more sensitive. Try it on individual targets and you don't see much difference.
There were some of the guys kicking around the iron mask thing before the GT came along. The question was....does the iron mask off/on (can be fudged into other Sovs) make any difference in depth? The answer was.......iron mask ON was a bit deeper. Hard to tell why it turned out that way. Could have had something to do with the iron content of the soil. I can't tell any difference with my GT .
My soil has some iron...subsoil tends to be yellow to orange....causes a lot of nulling when moisture is not uniform at different depths, and when there is a lot of electrical noise present. Please note that you don't always hear electrical noise, as in falsing....you get falses because something about the noise looked like targets. High levels of noise void of target like spikes will never sound off, but will degrade performance.
HH
With the mask on, it hits on iron and hot rocks worse, but will also find coins in iron better....you would think it is more sensitive. Try it on individual targets and you don't see much difference.
There were some of the guys kicking around the iron mask thing before the GT came along. The question was....does the iron mask off/on (can be fudged into other Sovs) make any difference in depth? The answer was.......iron mask ON was a bit deeper. Hard to tell why it turned out that way. Could have had something to do with the iron content of the soil. I can't tell any difference with my GT .
My soil has some iron...subsoil tends to be yellow to orange....causes a lot of nulling when moisture is not uniform at different depths, and when there is a lot of electrical noise present. Please note that you don't always hear electrical noise, as in falsing....you get falses because something about the noise looked like targets. High levels of noise void of target like spikes will never sound off, but will degrade performance.
HH
Art (NWOH)
New member
From the standpoint of the older Sovs not being as bad as the GT around iron and rocks, I think it would be an advantage to use an older Sov.
I also have a 2a besides the GT, and find it to be easier to distinguish between iron trash and iron trash with possible good targets mixed in with the 2a. I have never dug a rock with the 2a. Never a hit. The most it ever did on a rock was null...in both disc and all metal . Yes..a null in all metal from a rock. Must really knock the detector out of wack for a moment.
Depends on what you really want. I get along with the 2a better than the GT....from the performance standpoint. My 2a with a 12.5" Detech coil beats my GT in sensitivity , target seperation, and target ID (both audio and meter readings).
That should start something!!!!!
HH
I also have a 2a besides the GT, and find it to be easier to distinguish between iron trash and iron trash with possible good targets mixed in with the 2a. I have never dug a rock with the 2a. Never a hit. The most it ever did on a rock was null...in both disc and all metal . Yes..a null in all metal from a rock. Must really knock the detector out of wack for a moment.
Depends on what you really want. I get along with the 2a better than the GT....from the performance standpoint. My 2a with a 12.5" Detech coil beats my GT in sensitivity , target seperation, and target ID (both audio and meter readings).
That should start something!!!!!
HH
Beachcomber
New member
If you hunt with manual levels of sensitivity and if you use the same level of sensitivity for your testing of the Ironmask on and Ironmask off you maybe right. However with the Ironmask off the machine so much quieter which allows you to hunt with the sensitivity higher so in actuality it is possible to get more depth with the Ironmask turned off. On my GT when hunting the beach if I have the Ironmask turned on I can not run the sensitivity any higher than the 12 oclock position because of all the noise. Which as you mentioned can drive you crazy! But with it turned off I can hunt with my sensitivity all the way up to the 11 o'clock position and sometimes even as high as the 10:30 position which does give it more depth. I never use Auto Sensitivity. I have been hunting with the Ironmask off now for several years and regularly dig coins and rings in excess of 15" with the added bonus of hunting with a nice quiet enjoyable machine to hunt with 
JMHO
HH
Beachcomber
JMHOHH
Beachcomber
Art (NWOH)
New member
That's one thing I never tried.......optimizing sensitivity with iron mask off. I always left sensitivity in the same place that I set it with iron mask on.
Have to try that some time.
You hunt beach, I hunt trashy places. Don't know how it will pan out, but will give it a try.
I can see that you could run sensitivity higher in iron mask off if mineral or hot rocks are a falsing problem with iron mask on. I have had to turn iron mask off or lower sensitivity in places like that, but need to see if optimum sensitivity is the same when those conditions don't exist.
You came up with something that I never thought about testing . Congrats BC.
And long time no hear.
HH
Have to try that some time.
You hunt beach, I hunt trashy places. Don't know how it will pan out, but will give it a try.
I can see that you could run sensitivity higher in iron mask off if mineral or hot rocks are a falsing problem with iron mask on. I have had to turn iron mask off or lower sensitivity in places like that, but need to see if optimum sensitivity is the same when those conditions don't exist.
You came up with something that I never thought about testing . Congrats BC.
And long time no hear.
HH
Art (NWOH)
New member
I determine optimum sensitivity by the Andy Sabisch method. This comes up to 12 o'clock on the GT in most places. Some times conditions require a lower setting, so I can't really run at optimum.
There are only a few spots where mineral/rocks cause a lot of noise, but don't remember right now if I was attempting to run at optimum or not. It was out in the middle of nowhere where the chances of finding anything were slim.
Most places the combination of noise and iron require lower than optimum also. What will be important to me is if optimum is the same between both iron mask settings, or if it changes when the detector can be ran at the optimum level and not turned down due to problems caused by hunting conditions..
HH
There are only a few spots where mineral/rocks cause a lot of noise, but don't remember right now if I was attempting to run at optimum or not. It was out in the middle of nowhere where the chances of finding anything were slim.
Most places the combination of noise and iron require lower than optimum also. What will be important to me is if optimum is the same between both iron mask settings, or if it changes when the detector can be ran at the optimum level and not turned down due to problems caused by hunting conditions..
HH
Beachcomber
New member
I realize land hunting is different and you usually have a different set of circumstances than us Beach Hunters but if you are hunting a wide open field or park where the trach isn't to bad I think you will be able to see the difference that I am talking about. I usually hunt on the edge of stability so when I turned off the Ironmask the first time and heard how much quieter the detector was running the first thing that happened was my had reached for the Sensitivity knob to bring it back up to the edge of stability Only this time it stayed it stayed much quieter without all the broken signals. Let me know how it works out for you in your area. The reason you havnet' seen me to much over here is that I spend the majority of the time on the Beach and Water Forums. I only get over here once in a while.
HH
Beachcomber
Only this time it stayed it stayed much quieter without all the broken signals. Let me know how it works out for you in your area. The reason you havnet' seen me to much over here is that I spend the majority of the time on the Beach and Water Forums. I only get over here once in a while.HH
Beachcomber
Beachcomber
New member
I don't' know what Andy's method is but the method I use on the beach is to raise the coil about a foot or so above the beach and then fairly quickly bring the down to within an inch of the beach. If the Threshold nulls I know I have my sensitivity too high and I lower it until it's just at the edge of nulling as I lower the coil to the beach.
HH
Beachcomber
HH
Beachcomber
Art (NWOH)
New member
I read about setting up a Sov/Xcal in one of Andy's books that came as a freebie with my 2a.
Essentially, you adjust sensitivity to get the strongest hit possible . When setting up on a weak target, this has always worked for me.... best depth , audio, meter reading. Raising the sensitivity higher loses depth and degrades target ID ....even if you could turn sensitivity all the way to max without falsing.
I have tried bobbing the coil to see how fast it nulls. In some locations it nulls pretty fast without much motion, while other places it does not want to null at all. Ground conditions at work here.
I set up Andy's way, then if the dirt or trash wants to null out too much for my desired sweep speed then I back down the sensitivity.
Gotta love hunting conditions screwing up making any definite rules.
HH
Essentially, you adjust sensitivity to get the strongest hit possible . When setting up on a weak target, this has always worked for me.... best depth , audio, meter reading. Raising the sensitivity higher loses depth and degrades target ID ....even if you could turn sensitivity all the way to max without falsing.
I have tried bobbing the coil to see how fast it nulls. In some locations it nulls pretty fast without much motion, while other places it does not want to null at all. Ground conditions at work here.
I set up Andy's way, then if the dirt or trash wants to null out too much for my desired sweep speed then I back down the sensitivity.
Gotta love hunting conditions screwing up making any definite rules.
HH
Beachcomber
New member
I will have to give that method a try. Thanks For me it's the saltwater that seems to determine the highest level of sensitivity that I can use rather than the beach minerals.
HH
Beachcomber
HH
Beachcomber
Art (NWOH)
New member
Hard to say,BC.
Mineral in the water, sand, dirt, rocks.....
Andy's book said that some fellows were hunting and not finding much, except for one guy who was finding a lot. Comparing notes, the guys who were not getting much were running at max sensitivity...the guy finding a lot mistakenly turned the sensitivity all the way clockwise(down), thinking he had it maxed out. Seems the best setting will be somewhere in between. Andy's method is the best thing I ever heard about. It works . Works in dirt as well as on the beach (it was a beach hunting book).
My GT likes 12 o'clock when possible. My 2a likes 11 o'clock. No difference really......the knobs are indexed an hour different so they are really the same. Have not seen the need to take 5 seconds to make them match. No idea what you will come up with. Could be different settings for water, wet sand, dry sand.
Doing it Andy's way, (sort of)...I will keep lifting the coil on a weak target and adjusting sensitivity until I get to the point that the coil can be lifted to the highest point. A target that was initially weak can get pretty strong when you lower the coil again.
My 2a seems to match between all metal and disc. Not too sure about the GT. There are inherent problems with track, lock, and pinpoint that can play havoc when the coil is lifted.
Try it out once. A couple hours difference on sensitivity can cost you a lot or find you a lot. I think this has something to do with the balance between ground noise levels and target levels. Signal to noise levels that make a lot of difference in how well the detector can process what it sees.
Only takes a minute. I would make sure it is NOT an iron target.They ping worse when the sensitivity gets cranked....could fool you.
I have my own test to do when I get around to it about the iron mask sensitivity setting.
Bed time for now.
HH
Mineral in the water, sand, dirt, rocks.....
Andy's book said that some fellows were hunting and not finding much, except for one guy who was finding a lot. Comparing notes, the guys who were not getting much were running at max sensitivity...the guy finding a lot mistakenly turned the sensitivity all the way clockwise(down), thinking he had it maxed out. Seems the best setting will be somewhere in between. Andy's method is the best thing I ever heard about. It works . Works in dirt as well as on the beach (it was a beach hunting book).
My GT likes 12 o'clock when possible. My 2a likes 11 o'clock. No difference really......the knobs are indexed an hour different so they are really the same. Have not seen the need to take 5 seconds to make them match. No idea what you will come up with. Could be different settings for water, wet sand, dry sand.
Doing it Andy's way, (sort of)...I will keep lifting the coil on a weak target and adjusting sensitivity until I get to the point that the coil can be lifted to the highest point. A target that was initially weak can get pretty strong when you lower the coil again.
My 2a seems to match between all metal and disc. Not too sure about the GT. There are inherent problems with track, lock, and pinpoint that can play havoc when the coil is lifted.
Try it out once. A couple hours difference on sensitivity can cost you a lot or find you a lot. I think this has something to do with the balance between ground noise levels and target levels. Signal to noise levels that make a lot of difference in how well the detector can process what it sees.
Only takes a minute. I would make sure it is NOT an iron target.They ping worse when the sensitivity gets cranked....could fool you.
I have my own test to do when I get around to it about the iron mask sensitivity setting.
Bed time for now.
HH
Beachcomber
New member
Well I will be going to the beach today so I will give it a try. One thing I notice with the GT if I get my sensitivity too high is the deep targets get a smeary (kind of hard to explain) but not the normal kind of weak signal. If I lower the sensitivity a little the signal cleans up. This usually only happens on beaches that are steep with large grained sand as these beaches have a lot more air in them which allows for a much higher sensitivity setting than find grained densely packed flat beaches like we have in Southern NJ. Central NJ Beaches have the larger grained sand. Will give your sensitivity setting method a try today.
HH
Beachcomber
HH
Beachcomber
Treasurechic
Well-known member
Hey guys, I puchased a Sov. GT off the forum for a great deal and will have it this week so any helpful info on this machine would be greatly needed. What is the name of the Sov. book you guys mention by Andy Sabisch? It sounds like a hot book for tips on this machine...... I would definately have to get one!
Art (NWOH)
New member
Treasure hunting with minelab metal detectors Vol. 1
It's mainly about beach and water hunting, but what is beach anyway? Just a different flavor of dirt.
HH
It's mainly about beach and water hunting, but what is beach anyway? Just a different flavor of dirt.
HH
Art (NWOH)
New member
"Smeary" is a good way to describe target response when the sensitivity is getting too high. Iron will start talking to you right around that level.
There is a difference in response also when you use different kinds of coils. Minelab and detech coils peak out nicely for me, but the S-12 will continue to get louder with increasing sensitivity, but the tone and ID will start to drop off and it will start sounding like crap...you could pass up good targets with the sensitivity too high because of this. May be a result of the VERY narrow detection window of this coil.
HH
There is a difference in response also when you use different kinds of coils. Minelab and detech coils peak out nicely for me, but the S-12 will continue to get louder with increasing sensitivity, but the tone and ID will start to drop off and it will start sounding like crap...you could pass up good targets with the sensitivity too high because of this. May be a result of the VERY narrow detection window of this coil.
HH