Observations of learning the Sov Elite

[fir469]

Well I have quite a few hunts with the Sov Elite under my belt at this point. I've found a half dozen silver coins, buttons, relics, and some other goodies with it thus far in only a month. I've been hunting some sites previously pounded with my DFX, Musketeer, and by a few others with a V3, an ETrac and others.

I will say this for starters... you must go SLOW. The slower the better for sure. I'm getting the hang of running manual sens at all my sites and it wasn't that hard of an adjustment after I read a lot about it. Thankfully most of my sites (at least where EMI isn't a problem) I've been able to run at about 11 oclock to 12 oclock on the sens with a smooth steady threshold and no falsing or nulling.

I've determined for the most part (still get fooled 1 in 5 times) what a deep rusty nail false signal sounds like. In most cases where the nail gives off a strong or even weak high tone or good response, that response tends to be broken, choppy, or non repeatable from different angles. Also the pinpointing pushes it outside of the initial detection spot which is a great indicator. Good Nonferrous targets repeat from all angles even if they are choppy or broken they still repeat whereas iron tends to null and chop.

I've been finding a great number of very tiny targets, most the size of a pea or smaller. These targets often sounds like coin signals or good repeatable non ferrous targets but very weak in signal strength and with a small pinpoint footprint. They sound like deep targets but in fact end up being tiny targets at 1-4".

Silver is unmistakable for sure... Definitely has a much sweeter smoother response then even a clad coin does, they just seem to sing silver. Also shotgun shells are easily determined now as well, they give that sweet midrange sound but tend to chop or breakup if the firing pin in them is still present due to its iron content. They often pinpoint odd as well.

I've found that pinpointing is much easier when the tone switch is placed in Fixed mode rather then varying tones. It creates a more solid and precise pinpoint much like a VCO pinpoint. I feel it's much more accurate then varying tone pinpoint mode.

Not sure what else to say at the moment, but I will throw more observations up as they come in. BTW I'm using a Sov Elite with the old 10" BBS Coil. I will be purchasing a 12x10 SEF when funds allow and can't wait to get it... I know it will leave this junky BBS coil to closet duty. I need that seperation the SEFs offer for my iron laden sites.

-Jason

 

[crazyman]

Nice report Jason and you are learning the Sovereign the correct way by analyzing each target and how they respond in the ground as opposed to in the air. I have a habit of sizing the target especially when I get questionable response. It's basically the same as pinpointing in discrimination mode where I wiggle the coil while pulling back and seeing where the target disappears at the tip of the coil. I visually mark the target and then pull the coil back and see where it disappears on the heel of the coil. If it is the same spot I sometimes dig but I usually turn 90 deg. and repeat it. If the target point changes or moves I leave it.

 

[fir469]

That's exactly how I pinpointed with the Musketeer as it was razor sharp in accuracy pinpointing at the tip of the coil, I never used pinpoint mode. With the Sov however, and it could just be where I'm hunting and the shear volume of ferrous targets I'm weeding through, that I can't get the same accuracy in pinpointing with the tip like I did with the Musky. The tones change as you back off as does the signal strength. The Musky had the same target strength from tip to toe... The sovereign I notice that you're only getting your clearest signal and proper ID tone when centered over the target. My DFX was the same way in that aspect. The Sovereign is a beast with its ability to weed through the iron. I'm sure I'm not getting all the good targets that are in there since I'm not using a smaller coil, but it sure has pulled more in iron then my DFX would have...

 

[matthias]

Thanks for your observations. This is my first season MDing. My GT is one of four machines I am learning, so I need all the help I can get. I have a 10x12 SEF for it which I am finally getting used to. I wish they made a 6x8 SEF for the Sovereign. HH. Matt

 

[Ron from Michigan]

You are off to a good start.Suggestion when another coil is purchased sell the old BBS 1000 coil.You may want to consider the Sunray S-12 a tried and prove performer on the Sovereign.

 

[Critterhunter]

Shot gun shells are easy. They often give a worbly sick sound depending on direction, and read some where in the 150's or so depending on brass size. My ID chart lists the common ranges for those sizes in VDI response. I've dug enough of them hunting the woods to tell exactly what they are. Once in a while you'll get one (usually a medium or high brass size) that will give a rather good penny and some times coin signal.

With the stock 10" coil I use the heal of the coil to PP. Walk it while wiggling towards your feet until the target just sounds off. This might not be a perfect response because you are right at the edge of it. I'll do this in discriminate or PP. Some times I prefer one over the other. Which ever can pin the target down from two different directions. Some times discriminate may move it off a bit or the two spots don't line up, and some times PP does the same thing. Not all coins are going to PP right at the same spot in both modes. Trash or a coin on edge can throw it off. That's why I don't like to rely on PP mode to tell me if it's moved and should be iron, because I've dug plenty of non-iron targets that do that. I mainly go by the audio and VDI response to tell if it's iron, not where PP says it is. Also, the odd thing with the 12x10 is that often pinpointing a target and then doing it from another 90 degree angle will have the two spots about 3 to 4" apart from each other. I use the tip of the coil for this. I'm not sure yet if it's the coil or if I'm just not used to it. The 15x12 was right at the base of the V. I'm finding that the 12x10 seems to sound off a little further away from the tip in some way, yet it won't give a perfect response until the target is about a half inch into the coil from the base of the V. I'm still playing with if I should use that (best response) and then reference a half inch or so inside the V, or if I should use the first indication of any kind of response (just a slight sound off) and then go by the base of the V or a little further out from it. On the other hand, I have noticed the tail of this coil seems to do it much like the 15x12 right at the base of the V, so I might just start using that. I prefer the tail when water hunting anyway.

 

[fir469]

Another observation after quite a few more hunts. Deep iron nails, in particular for some reason the flat nails that are usually about 1-2" long and quarter inch wide but flat, tend to respond with a sweet coin type signal. However, I have noticed that they tend to not be as repeatable as good targets and they also sound like a deep coin but much quieter. They don't have that same sharp clean tone to them of a coin... They sound very soft and quiet like the response hot rocks give on many detectors. Also when the hole is opened, the signal tends to vanish or the null comes through due to the matrix being disturbed. Also in most cases these nails tend to be in the front right or front left corners of the hole lol.

Also, does anyone know why the Sovereign responds to small brass and copper pieces with such a low conductive signal?? I was finding many pieces of flat copper about postage stamp size and smaller that rang as nickels or below... I figured they would tone id higher then that...

I've also settled into a comfortable swing speed for most sites, about 3 seconds from right to left and 3 seconds back. So a 6 second full sweep. This seems to provide adequate coverage speed while still not missing any targets. This is for fields mostly, woods tends to be a bit slower swing since u hafta get in closer to trees and obstacles.

Hope some of what I'm reporting can help others learn this machine a little easier...

-Jason

 

[Critterhunter]

I'm also swinging slower with the 12x10 than I used to with the stock coil. I believe this is due to me ending up calibrating sensitivity much higher than I was able to do for best response with the stock coil or 15x12. Most say the higher the sensitivity the slower the sweep speed and vise versa.

Not sure why those targets would read that low. Are you sure they were copper? I did yesterday dig 3 pennies that read like 161 on my meter. At first I was sure they had to be indians because certain years can read that low due to metal content. When they turned out to be regular pennies I was shocked. On any machine due to certain ground conditions coins can and will read lower than they should. It just happens less on these BBS and FBS machines due to them not being pumped around by the ground minerals as much. Anybody else dig a coin that you have no idea why it read so differently on your Sovereign? I'm not talking about due to trash nearby but rather just the odd make up of the ground and perhaps moisture content that day.