New Soverign

[Bowie]

I read where some of you ,rather what you want in a new Soverign. So, is there a new Soverign in the oven??
I have Whites,never used another brand. Came very very close to getting an ETrac a couple months back,but fought it off.
I hunt mainly in fields, woods at old home/plantation sites. So far, Ive enjoyed my XL Pro however it isnt made any longer and parts are getting slim for them.
Seems Ive read, the Soverign is better in mineralized ground than less mineralized soil. So far, all of the places I hunt are very less mineralized, so, could someone educate me on that also??
Could you also inform me of the best "available meters" for it, and what would work best for what hunting Ive described.
How does it perform in iron infested sites? Are you able to hear, nails and such, as in looking for an old long gone building(s). Can you cruise with it until you find such a spot,swinging a bit faster,then swing slower or is it a must slow sweeper??
I have to admit, you guys make a person want one,lol.
Thanks,
John

 

[Ron from Michigan]

John,I have used an XL Pro and really wanted to like this analog unit.From my experience the Sovereign will ID targets that most other detectors won't even detect as a bad target where the discriminate has signed off because of depth.I remember one hunt at a picnic site in grass where more than a half dozen silver dimes where found at 12 plus inches with the Slimline 10 inch coil.The Sovereign sweep speed can be faster with a smaller coil and still have excellent depth,but slower is better for those deep targets.Once learned most user's prefer the Sovereign over other detectors.My suggestion a 180 meter is a must and a good probe because of the depth.I have the S-1 probe on my Sovereign and it works great.The DetectorPro Pirate PI worked very well but interfered with the Sovereign a quick flip of a switch on my old Timber Wolf headphones at least stopped the unwanted noise.Bottom line there are very few detectors that can ID targets as well as the Sovereign including the XL Pro. HH Ron

 

[crazyman]

and I've been using the Whites 5900/6000 series including the XL Pro for over 20 years but for depth in mineralized ground the Sovereign is deeper and even though I haven't used the meter yet if the meter ID is as accurate as the tone ID then there's not many detectors that can match it. The XL Pro is an excellent park detector and is deeper than most if you know how to set it up and use the needle on the analog meter to ID deeper targets that don't lock on. In my mineralized ground the XL Pro will hit a dime with a good signal and target ID lock to about 6 inches max. After that you have to know the machine well to go deeper. The Sovereign has been hitting dimes down to 9 inches so far with a good high tone ID with a proper sweep over the target in dirt and even deeper on the beach. It uses a much slower sweep speed than the XL Pro but in large areas like parks and beaches I use less sensitivity so I can fudge a bit on the sweep speed and the 10 inch coil with the rod extended for a wider sweep and can cover a lot ground as quickly as some other slow sweep detectors. For the deepest coins and in the trash you have to go much slower.

 

[Bowie]

Thanks for the reponses so far. I knew from reading it is a slow swing speed. There are times,especially in a pasture or woods where I like to move at a decent speed listening for a concentration of iron(nails) indicating a structure of some sort once stood there. Then I really slow down and hunt that spot. Ive received permission to hunt an old plantation,several thousand acres. Been in the folks family since before the civil war, but they have no idea where all the old structures stood. They can show me spots where older buildings once were,but they dont go back as far as the 1800s.
Ive had good times with my XL Pro,but I feel its time to move on and try new things.
Do any of you guys use your soverign in places like a modern park filled with all the various metal trash?? If so, do you go to the 5 inch sunray coil??
Thanks,
John

 

[Rick(ND)]

Like anything new you have to learn the Sovereigns and be willing to learn more each time out with it as the more you use it the more you will learn and soon you will be wondering why you never bought one before. There are those that use it one day or so and sell it as it is different as they don't like it and all the tones it has, but this is what we call the Sovereign language that once learned you will see it will tell you good targets from the bad plus those close to iron that other detectors have missed over the years.
There is 2 things the Sovereigns hate, iron and speed so it has to go slow and once you have a little time on it you will see that iron may sound good at times, but is one way signal or signals that move so it is easy to tell iron from a good target. In most cases Iron will null and if you don't get fooled once in a great while you can miss some deeper good targets too. Depth depending on the site and how much you have learn of the Sovereign will impress you and others too,
As Ron says the 180 meter is a must and I feel the S-1 probe is too as this detector can see deep and many signals can be lost once the ground has been opened up and this is where the S-1 comes in.
With the Sovereign and its tones and meter reading as the meter will read what you are hearing with the tones so ID is so very accurate, but it sees so much more than other detectors is why you have to go slower so it can read every single target and report it to you. Once you get a signal that sounds it could be good the next thing is to swing the coil back and forth over just that signal and not anything else trying to get the best tone and meter reading, it will look like you are just wiggling the coil back and forth, this is what we call the Sovereign wiggle.
My opinion is if you want to try a Sovereign you can pick up a used one reasonable with many having the 180 meter and even the S-1 probe on them and if you find you don't like the Sovereign you can always resell it again and not lose any or very little money, if you like it then you can sell it and get a GT if you want to upgrade. If looking for a used one you can PM me as I know of a few with the Sun Ray DTI 2 meters and the S-1 probe that went to a GT or a E-Trac.
I didn't like mine the first few times out, but stuck with it and learned what the Sovereign was telling me and my worked out areas come alive again with many older and deeper coins others and myself have missed for over 25 years with our other detectors. Been using a Sovereign since 1996, own others and use others too, but the Sovereign is the one I will keep one around at all times and feel the Sovereign will go down in history as being one of the best all time detectors.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Well one son is comming home from Indy for Christmas eve.The other son with my daughter in law and grand kids are headed for her family in SD. HH Ron

 

[Bowie]

Do you guys use the shoulder bag or mount it on the rod and do you use the minlab shafts or aftermarket setup? I can swing my XL Pro for several hours,take a few minute break and continue on. From reading, I get Sunray no longer makes the meter so I guess it would have to be the Minelab meter. If I bought new,it comes with a 10 inch coil, what would be a good smaller coil?? Ive been looking at Kellyco,but I really dont want any of the extras that come with the detector, so that is money thrown away. Also what I get from reading, a Sunray Probe is a must???
Thanks,
John

 

[kered]

Keep an eye on the clasifieds here on the forum, some nice fully equiped machines come up now and again at bargain prices, as it happens you just missed one, same goes for meters and S-1 probes

 

[dfxone]

John, in my opinion, if you are hunting the salt water beach you do not need a meter or a probe. You just need a big scoop to scoop the target out, many times with one scoop. Some of the big scoops will scoop a target down to 8 to 10 inches in the sand. If you are hunting parks, athletics fields etc. you will need a meter and a sunray probe I/M/H/O. Yes I would recommend chest mounting the control box with a binocular harness. Minelab sells the new GT's with a straight shaft, and you can hunt hours longer with this setup. GH, Don

 

[rufus3898]

i wear my box around my waist abdd have no problems. i can swing all day with no fatigue. hanging it around the neck sounds like a pain in the neck! best to find out whats the most comfortable to you. HH

 

[dfxone]

rufus3898, the binocular harness does not hang from the neck, it goes over the shoulders and snaps onto the minelab hipmount bag D rings and can be adjusted from belt length or chest length. Look up binocular harness in the search engine. They can be purchased where they sell binoculars, I purchased mine for about $15.00 including tax, well worth the extra money in my opinion. Happy New Year, GH, Don

 

[rufus3898]

I had no idea such a product existed! thanks for the sharing the harness. I thought it was just the regular over the neck strap! I'm gonna have to order one to try out! Thanks and HH

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I did a search for binocular harnesses and most of these look like a perfect fit for the old Sovereign pouch rings.

 

[ToniSteve]

For what its worth, there is a binocular harness with a water proof bag.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0072757713320a&type=product&cmCat=perf&rid=0987654321&cm_mmc=Performics-_-CSE-_-nextag-_-02902902&mr:referralID=d425d592-f342-11de-a274-000423bb4e79

No dimensions though.



Steve

 

[vfr800]

Here is Badlands site you could call them. That is one hell of a Bino set up
http://www.badlandspacks.com/bino.php