Only one problem to report with the Sovereign Amplifier...

[Tony]

...it has rendered my steel hand scoop obsolete as it is now in detecting range with the Amplifier on....

This is a problem that I'm very happy with.....plastic hand scoop on order.

This Amp puts out some serious power.

I managed to hunt with the Sov GT with SENS @ 9 o'clock (just out of auto), DISC with Iron Mask on, and the Amp turned all the way to Max......barely a false signal to be heard on the beach.

.....managed just a few coins but they were all green and ranged in depth from about 11" to 15" deep.....

Tony.

 

[Art (NWOH)]

Sounds like a problem I had with a 14" Detech. Had to carry the digger behind my back. The bugger pulled almost a time and a half the current that other coils do. Too freaking hot.

HH

 

[Tony]

Sounds like a problem I had with a 14" Detech. Had to carry the digger behind my back. The bugger pulled almost a time and a half the current that other coils do. Too freaking hot.

HH

....yes, I was also swinging the 15 x 12 SEF coil.....

 

[plugger]

That's amazing! With my 15x12 I couldn't get the Sens below 12 o'clock at my beach, too much black sand I guess. I use a metal (hand) sand scoop and I hang it on the handle of my big knife on my belt almost behind my back until I hit a target. I can wave it waisthigh above the coil and the GT sees it! 15", wow, that makes my back hurt just thinking about digging that deep! I'll stick with the S-8, 10" is deep enough for this old guy! Even at that, I have been finding alot of deeply colored coins that were overlooked by the small army of THers who hunt these beaches every day and that's why I am using the AMP every time out. If they missed these deep coins, I know they missed some deep rings too! Gotta love those Whites guys, walking fast, swinging fast, about 6" off the sand and leaving everything below 4 or 5 inches to us Sov users. If they want to be very successful they'll have to follow the tourists to and from the beach! LOL!

Plugger

 

[Tony]

G'day Plugger,

As mentioned in an earlier post...the majority of my local beaches have a nice off white colour sand (pale golden colour really)....there is no black sand at all on 90% of the beaches. The sand is very deep though but does compact at about the 12" level.
Also, EMI noise is minimal which allows power settings to be really wound up.

I use the Noise Cancel whenever a bit of EMI creeps in. Did this yesterday thinking I was running too much power but by changing from Band 1 into Band 2 (or vice versa depending on location), totally silenced the EMI.

Even detecting on saturated beach sand, there was still minimal falsing (nulls).

There is one beach that has a large stormwater runoff section....the sand here after heavy rain is a cocktail of black sands, land sands, etc and this ground requires power settings to be reduced way back.

And yes, my back is a bit sore today.....might need to do some warm up stretches next time....so much for leisurely detecting.

Here's some photo's of my typical beach sand,
The photo with the hole is actually 24" deep.

Tony.

 

[plugger]

Dang, wished my sand looked like that! It would sure help the tourist trade around here! HH!

 

[Tony]

Yes, we are lucky.

This is actually a winter shot, taken the other day.

Summertime, the beaches are raked and groomed each morning. Some of the other beaches are a bit whiter than this.

Now you can see why I'm into deep seeking detectors.

I have dug down with a shovel to 6 feet in depth to see if it ends....stays the same but you eventually hit a solid shell layer and some limestone bedrock...but no black sand.

I think it's because there are almost no rivers to feed the black sands to the beach. There is also no industry to cause problems.

Roll on summer....

Tony

 

[Ray Hogan]

What I mean is, would having the amp allow you to maybe swing the Sov a little faster than you normally would and still be as "target sensitive"....or does the amp basically just affect detection depth? Ray

 

[Tony]

What I mean is, would having the amp allow you to maybe swing the Sov a little faster than you normally would and still be as "target sensitive"....or does the amp basically just affect detection depth? Ray

Ray,

The detector remains unchanged in it's overall operation.....just puts out a deeper transmit signal into the ground.

I'm a slow swinger by nature....a wide sweep takes me about 3 seconds.

As far as I can tell, it is still hitting the smaller bits with the same sensitivity.

The great thing about the Amp is that with the press of a button, the detector reverts back to stock performance so it's very easy to cross-reference targets...this clearly shows the advantage when the Amp is on and set to an appropriate power setting, which for my conditions is about 95% of available power from the Sovereign and the Amp.

Tony.

 

[OldBeechnut]

Hey Tony, Thanks for keeping us up to date on the Amp, First could You try a couple things for me. Normally does Disc go deeper in your area or All metal? Second could you do a compare in each on a deep signal, and see what the depth difference is in Dry and Wet sand with the Amp on and then off .... Thanks for your time and accurate updates.....Obn/Joe

 

[Tony]

G'day Joe,

I can answer some of your questions already....

1. DISC is definitely deeper than AM (stock Sovereign or with Amp). I feel that DISC is 15% deeper than AM.

2. I have a buried test target at a quiet section of beach (it is a small coin placed at the bottom of plastic pipe, filled with sand and buried flush with ground level)
The stock Sov GT in DISC can pick this up at a maximum depth of 11"
The Amped Sov GT in DISC can give me a similar response at 13 1/2"

The depth advantage (when the Amp is maxed out) is consistently not less than 15% to as much as 20%. Closer to 20% if anything.
For my beach conditions, I can wind everything up to near on full power...even in saturated beach sand but not if the coil is submerged.

I'm confident these results would be the same for all sand...dry, damp, wet, etc.

A deep coin that I got the other day was just a hint of a good tone in DISC...this is with the Amp on.
I switched the amp off and re-checked the signal....nothing.....removed an inch of sand.....nothing......removed another inch....nothing......removed another inch and a bit.......just managed a repeatable tone in DISC....and finally switched to AM...nothing...removed another inch....threshold change (target) in AM.

I have a small section of plastic which is 4" x 1", so I use this when scraping sand away an inch at a time. I think it is quite accurate when measuring depth advantages on targets.

I really feel the Amp suits my beaches really well down here for reasons mentioned previously......other beaches heavy in black sand and EMI could be a different story so I really wanted to stress that point.

I hope this helps,
Tony.

 

[OldBeechnut]

Perfect!! I like the break down and your detail..Thank you! Hey, not to be nosey...but where are you located near..You have convinced me that it helps alot...it will be a winter project for me. Still torn-en between this and a new PI or just do both...thanks a million! Obn/joe

 

[Tony]

Perfect!! I like the break down and your detail..Thank you! Hey, not to be nosey...but where are you located near..You have convinced me that it helps alot...it will be a winter project for me. Still torn-en between this and a new PI or just do both...thanks a million! Obn/joe

I'm about 10,000 miles to your South East (or South West) in Perth, Western Australia.

A friend from the USA said it reminded him of San Diego.

Tony.

 

[kered]

if you both get the amp on the Sov you never know you just might meet each other on one of the deep ones, hmm wondering if one of these could be made for an Etrac or even waterproofed for the excali

 

[Barry NY]

Kered - i had a conversation with Shaun regarding it for the Excal. It could work, but you would be cutting the cable and voiding any warranty if you have one. Also, on previous posts it seems that the amp does not like the salt water - so you would be good only for wet sand to dry...

 

[kered]

Kered - i had a conversation with Shaun regarding it for the Excal. It could work, but you would be cutting the cable and voiding any warranty if you have one. Also, on previous posts it seems that the amp does not like the salt water - so you would be good only for wet sand to dry...

i could use a plastic bag not many electrics like Salt water
On a serious note, maybe its time to send my XS2aPro in for a service and get rid of some of the cobwebs and use it on the sand with the amp
I take it they fit all Sovs?

 

[Tony]

if you both get the amp on the Sov you never know you just might meet each other on one of the deep ones, hmm wondering if one of these could be made for an Etrac or even waterproofed for the excali

Who gets the target then ????



Tony.