:minelab:problems with sov.gt:help:

[SEMPERFI61]

have a new sov.gt ,bench tested the coil.does not seem like it does not have any depth?may be the set up is wrong?need some feed back believe this machine does better on disc.mode right?? whats the best set up for testing this gt?appreciate any feedback as to what it should be getting on bench test.i have the 10" coil.
has the nevada office changed since the new take over?thank you.
semperfi61@suddenlink.net bill

 

[labeachbum]

My first hunt with my GT............ my 2 Issues were that The Sensitivity was set to High (like your setting) and sand stuck in my coil cover.................once I cleaned my coil cover, and tuned down my Sensitivity to like (1 o clock) ........ I soon was digging almost all my target at well over 12 inch's at the beach.

 

[Rick(ND)]

They do not air test well at all as far as depth, but actual targets that have been in the ground for years the depth is something you have to see to believe. It does go deep in the ground, but air test may only show 5-6 inches on a quarter, but in the ground my deepest quarter was around 13-14 inches.The Sovereigns have to see the ground to work correctly, so air test and freshly buried coins will not test very good. Using the Sovereign in freshly dug soil will not be as good as those that are in areas that the ground hasn't been disturbed for year.
Air test do work good to help learn the tones of different object and that is about it.
To me the Sovereign work great as my hunting is in the ground of old area and not in the air as I never seen a coin floating in the air.

 

[goodmore]

I never seen a coin floating in the air


I guess you nevr played Mario on the Nintendo. Coins floating everywhere.

 

[Nauti]

Hi Bill,i've just done an air test for you with two different coils...the 10" and the joey 10"x5".I set the gt in disc mode and used two different sensitivity settings,12 o clock and as far around as it would go before clicking back into auto.Here are the results....
1.joey coil set at 12 o clock........9 inches
2.joey coil set at full sensitivity......11 inches.
3.10" set at 12 o clock....11 inches
4.10" set at full sensitivity...... over 12 inches.....my scale only went up to 12 inches.
Maybe i have the only gt in the world that air tests well.....all i keep hearing is how poor they air test but how much deeper they go in the ground.The test results i have here are the maximum i would expect the coin to be picked up in the ground(clean ground).Over 12 inches on a quarter would be some hole and is about as deep as i would want to dig.Rick has had one in this range which shows what the gt is capable of.I do not understand why mine seems to be the only one capable of excellent air test depths though....bit strange that one.
ps i'll do a ground test on the quarter if you want me to.
Regards,Neil.

 

[midalake]

I am with Neil. ALL of the Sov series units that I owned have air tested well. That is not to say that I have never pulled targets deeper than an air test because I have. I think I had an XS at one time that did not air test well and this unit did not seem to pull depth in the ground either. It is very important to air test to get your sensitivity set in the right place.

Dave

 

[Critterhunter]

Air testing will largely be due to the amount of RF noise the machine is picking up. Auto will change with that, and manual will give you bad jumpy audio and ID if it's too hot with the nearby noise even if the sensitivity is set to what somebody reported depths for. As they said, BBS/FBS machines need to "see" the ground in order to produce max depth. I think the digital "filtering" gets confused when no ground signal is present for it to compare the target to. That's also why you should lay the coil flat on the ground when you first turn it on before hunting. For air testing, it might be better to keep the coil up in the air so the machine only sees that to set it's self up. Still won't do as well as in the ground, though.

 

[Sandpiper]

Don't worry about the bench test, it does have the depth. Just not bench testing in all situations. As far as all metal and disc. I have found that disc goes far deeper in MY AREA. So all that get better depth in all metal your area I do believe you - just not here.
Your setting above are pretty much the way I run mine, sen. between 10 and 11 o clock and maybe on band 2, I will switch between track and fix at times and sometimes run on pinpoint which seems to give a broader signal, volume at 3/4 to full and I do a little other tweaking that seems to add to depth. I will switch around in my hunting area to where it seems to operate to the greater advantage.

 

[SEMPERFI61]

n/t

 

[SEMPERFI61]

n/t

 

[Rick(ND)]

Some will have the coin close to the coil and get a signal, then keep moving it further out until they don't hear it. I do mine the other way and that is start about 18 inches away from the coil and swing it back and forth and move it closer to the coil until I hear a good repeatable signal. going from the coil out will show more depth as it locked on to that target and holding on to it longer, this can also be like the Sovereign wiggle as once you get a signal the tone is good and then wiggle it the signal will get better.
Myself i find there is quite a difference in the depth if you start with the good signal and go away from the coil then starting from way out and coming in with the target. Try it and see what you think.

 

[Nauti]

Just tried it and it does not make any difference at all.....i'm still getting the same results.

 

[Neil]

Don't worry about the bench test, it does have the depth. Just not bench testing in all situations. As far as all metal and disc. I have found that disc goes far deeper in MY AREA. So all that get better depth in all metal your area I do believe you - just not here.
Your setting above are pretty much the way I run mine, sen. between 10 and 11 o clock and maybe on band 2, I will switch between track and fix at times and sometimes run on pinpoint which seems to give a broader signal, volume at 3/4 to full and I do a little other tweaking that seems to add to depth. I will switch around in my hunting area to where it seems to operate to the greater advantage.

your pinpoint should give you a tighter response, the broader response is from the tracking/fixed mode all metal which closer resembles the disc mode response. its always good to tweak the settings especially on a deep target to make sure youve got your unit adjusted as best as possible for your ground

 

[jim/wpb]

MInelabs do not air test well. Fields tests are a whole lot different. Put in a test garden and then try it. I beach hunt a lot and the 10" Tornado coils can easily whisper out a quarter at over 16".

I also use it to relic hunt and finds three ringers at an easy 16"+.

 

[Nauti]

How can you say that minelabs don't air test well when i have just had over 12" on a quarter in an air test.My minelab quattro used to air test well,people i know who own explorers have good results in air tests and Dave has just said that his sovereigns have air tested well.There is no way that a sovereign will only air test 5-6" on a quarter as said in a previous post unless it is faulty,it is being tested in close proximity to electrical interference or the settings are wrong.If my machine would only get 5-6" on a quarter no matter what settings i tried i would be sending it back to minelab to get it looked at.I would like to see some gt owners do a little air test on a quarter....away from electrical interference.......then post the results up.Do the tests on a couple of set sensitivity settings such as the 12 o clock position and say 2 o clock position so that anybody who wants to have a go can work from a standard setting.Run the machine in disc,in threshold,no discrim,no notch and see what happens.Get the results up so we can all see if the sov truly cannot do well in an air test.(Make sure you say what coil was used).
After we have done this test maybe we can all have a go at the garden test.Dig a 16" hole and bury a quarter at the bottom.Then wait a few weeks for the ground to settle before testing the detector on the target.I do not need to do this test with my gt because i know for a fact it will not pull a quarter at a MEASURED 16 inches no matter how long it has been in the ground.

 

[Rick(ND)]

Sovereigns dont air test well for depth or get good depth in disturbed ground like freshly plowed feilds. I say this from Experience with all models of the Sovereigns i have used, the XS,XS2, XS2a, Elite and the GT.
I dont remember getting 12 inches on a quarter in air test, but have dug a barber quarter at over 12 inches with a S-12 and many of pennies and dime at 10-11 with the 8 inch coinsearch coil with the same Sovereign.
I think you are right about having other post their air test by laying a yard stick to acually get some good acruate readings. I also would like to see others try from the coil out to see where they lose a signal, then try it from way out and come in and see where you will get a signal you would dig. Would be interesting to see what others are getting. We also have to decide on what sensitivity is used and wonder if we should do this test in auto sensitivity so results are equal, then we can try at 12 o'clock postion to and see what that will tell us.

 

[Nauti]

I've just done an air test on a 1967 dime with the gt and little joey coil.On the auto setting i'm getting around the 6" mark with a good repeatable signal.When i put it at the 12 o clock position i'm getting 7.5",again with a good repeatable signal.I would expect the 10" tornado coil to do a little better than this.This is a good distance in air on a small coin by any standards.......it deepens the mystery further

 

[Critterhunter]

I agree that the FBS/BBS machines do not air test as deep as they will go in the ground. The computer needs a ground load to compare the target to in ordere to achieve best performance. However, if there is very little nearby electrical noise I can get maybe 10 to 12" or so with the 10" coil, but that's from memory and I wasn't testing that in particular. I wouldn't argue that there is no way the machine won't get some good depth in air tests so long as the electrical noise is low and the sensitivity is maxed out to highest stable setting. All I'm saying is that you should expect the machine to get even more depth in most ground conditions.

He's also right about BBS/FBS machines not doing well in freshly disturbed ground. Oh, they'll do fine and still probably beat most machines on the market in depth at those sites, but they won't do as well as they can had the ground not been disturbed. That's why a lot of FBS/BBS guys keep a second machine on hand for hunting recently plowed fields and such. Many of them like the Xterra for this. That's also not to say that most machines don't also have a problem with freshly moved ground. Many do. In fact, after I hunt a construction site or where the ground has been moved I'll hit that same spot 2 to 6 months later, then maybe a year later as well, because the target signals will clean up and get better as the soil settles and hallows start to form around targets (which helps them to conduct their signal in the coil's detection field). I've found even on other machines I've owned that I'll find more targets and better signals as the ground ages a bit months later. You just have to play the odds...try to hit the place once within a month or two to beat the competition, but then hit it about a year later when the signals will be even better.

Which reminds me of an old product KellyCo used to sell. Don't think they do anymore but I remember seeing something that I think (?) was called the Depth Doubler. It was a box that had a crank generator in it. You stuck two probes into the ground at a certain distance apart and then cranked the generator to ionize the ground matrix. It was supposed to charge the ground and thus the targets with a magnetic field that made them more easily seen by your detector. Always wondered if that really worked or if it was hype?