Original Soverign depth

[dirt lizard]

How can I get more depth out of my Soverign? I seem to only get normally about 6 inches max every time I dig. Does the GT or Elite go deeper?

 

[dewcon4414]

Must be dirt hunting. My GT gets great depth. When you say 6" on what kind of targets? Now........ what coil you using? Smaller coils can run more sensitivity with can put them depth wise as deep as a larger coil in trashy areas..... yet they pick thru it better. Depending on minerals and near targets larger coils should give you more depth. Headphones can affect what you hear........... but in a lot of cases you tune your ear to only hear those loud high tones. Concentrate on the weaker signals that repeat. Next find a deep target and do some adjustments........ found targets are better for real adjustments. Do you know someone in your area who also has a Sov? If so do some testing....... swap some coils or headphones. Also....... something to consider there may not be targets much deeper than you are digging.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

Another Question. Are you running the Sov sensitivity in Automatic or adjusting it to the conditions that you are encountering. Also those deep targets take a lot of concentration to be able to hear. They will still be High Tones but very weak. To find the deep targets Low and Slow are a necessary evil.

 

[Rick(ND)]

I started with the XS in 1996 and used every model over the years and tried 2 of the originals Sovereigns made back in the early 1990s and was not impressed with the originals, but some really like them. The XS and the GT are my favorite models, but yet my deepest coins were found with my coinsearch coil was the XS2. in the right conditions 12 plus inches has happened quite often, but depth comes with experience too as you have to know your Sovereign well, go real slow and listen good as some of these signals are small and weak and when you get one of these signals going super slow and then do the Sovereign wiggle over only that small area the signal will get better and ID better too, sometimes the tone and the meter ID is trying to climb as you do the wiggle, but just cant make it as it is so deep, but is trying to climb let you know it is a good target. I run my sensitivity around the 10-11 clock position and sometimes in the max depending on where I am and how slow I want to go as I find the higher the sensitivity the slower I have to go. I dint use my notch and run the disc at 0 or just up a little as I want to pick up alum foil as I know I can get the smaller gold rings.
Just got to remember to go slow and listen to those faint signals and the more you use it the more you will learn about this great detector and the deeper your finds will be.

Good Luck
Rick

 

[dirt lizard]

Must be dirt hunting. My GT gets great depth. When you say 6" on what kind of targets? Now........ what coil you using? Smaller coils can run more sensitivity with can put them depth wise as deep as a larger coil in trashy areas..... yet they pick thru it better. Depending on minerals and near targets larger coils should give you more depth. Headphones can affect what you hear........... but in a lot of cases you tune your ear to only hear those loud high tones. Concentrate on the weaker signals that repeat. Next find a deep target and do some adjustments........ found targets are better for real adjustments. Do you know someone in your area who also has a Sov? If so do some testing....... swap some coils or headphones. Also....... something to consider there may not be targets much deeper than you are digging.

I'm digging dirt and using a BBS 1000 coil. I'm swinging slow and getting weak signals but my Rons meter is barely picking it up and giving me bouncy #'s.

 

[dirt lizard]

Another Question. Are you running the Sov sensitivity in Automatic or adjusting it to the conditions that you are encountering. Also those deep targets take a lot of concentration to be able to hear. They will still be High Tones but very weak. To find the deep targets Low and Slow are a necessary evil.

I'm running it in a little of both trying out which one works better but I can't seem to notice. When do you use auto sensitivity?

 

[GeorgeinSC]

Until I learned what the Sov was telling me I used Auto. (actually still learning) Since then I set the sensitivity as high as the ground will let me. I run sensitivity at the point that the Sovereign only occasionally falses. I have dug wheat pennies down 9 to 10 inches.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

On those real deep targets you can not totally depend on any meter to tell you for certain what the machine is seeing. Those deep targets will still have the sweet high tones that are associated with good targets. A few days ago I went to an Former National Guard Armory that I have worked hard a few times. I dug five targets. One nickel that was only about three inches down that I had obviously missed previously. However i was proud of the three memorials and the one dime that I dug as each of those coins had a nail , nut, bolt come out of the dirt with them. What made me dig was the tones that I was getting. The meter was worthless in finding those coins as it was all over the place due to the iron masking the target. .

 

[Rick(ND)]

Yes George this is what you see when you get to know your Sovereign and why I say those deep and not so deep good targets will have the tones and meter trying to climb but just cant make it to the correct numbers. I have had good luck using the 180 meter along with the tones being my bad hearing the meter to me is a must and help me find many of those deep targets by just wiggling the coil over just that small area and watching the meter . My lowest meter reading was 135 on as merc dime, but I could hear a faint reading and the tones and the meter reading were trying to climb as I was doing the Sovereign wiggle. Using the S-1 probe this dime was around 10 inches deep.
With the Sovereign I was able to pick up a Franklin half that had a big rusty bolt on top of it as I had the null of the iron, but going slow I could hear the high tone and got the meter to read 180 doing the Sovereign wiggle over just as small area.
The Sovereign is a amazing detector for those that have the patience to learn it and as you see you learn something more every time you use it and I feel it is one of the all time favorite detectors of those that learn it.


Rick

 

[GeorgeinSC]

Rick you are right about patience and time. It does take both. I thought about a month or so ago that I had ruined my GT. Dipped it into about an inch of salt water. Brought it home, Checked to see if there was any water in the unit. There was none and no evidence that water had gotten into it. I put it in a bag or rice for three days. Then took it apart and used electronic cleaner on everything in the machine. Put it back together and said a prayer over it. Took it out today clad fishing and dug $8.75 and 60 + stinking lincolns out of a tot lot. Worked perfectly.

 

[dirt lizard]

I think that's what I'll do for the time being till I get to know it as well. The auto mode seems a little more forgiving as far as learning the tones on a soverign. I keep the threshold at about 12 oclock or until it is barely noticeable. I'll be getting a brand new coin search coil for it soon in a trade I made with a friend. Maybe this will change my game.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I think the older BBS coil can be a handicap with performance.This coil is unstable and noisy,which can be more difficult locking on faint targets.Rick mentioned in one of his early post of making the cord shorter,four feet instead of eight.This lightens the coil, more stable and better sensitivity.I tried this myself a while back and was pleased with the results.