Setting Sensitivty

[Critterhunter]

Found this to be the case with my Explorers as well...

I found that often I get better depth with a lower sensitivity than what is max stable. I stick a silver dime in the ground at fringe depth for that site and then adjust sensitivity for best response. You want to get the coin at the fringes of depth to where you can just muster a good response with the right sensitivty setting. Something real high but stable might null or degrade target response, and often around 2PM or so was the best setting where as 10PM might be stable too but gave a worse response. Do short wiggles over it to try to achieve best response. Once set, try normal sweeps over it at different rates of speed. Sometimes it wants a faster hunting speed, sometimes lower. Use that speed while hunting, then do the short ones over it to pull the best ID. Also, the speed of the real short investigation sweeps or wiggles is sometimes faster or slower. Remember both speeds while hunting. In my soil I do this calibration with all my coils. Sometimes they respond best at max sensitivty that is still stabilte, while others they want it lower.

 

[tomtomnc]

Critterhunter, I think your right on with the lower power setting. Sometimes we just want to run the Gt on full power but running at half is all that is needed sometimes. I had the batteries just about near low when i started to hit on mercury dimes. Power turned up and I was doing well on Minnie balls at 8" but no dimes. Power started going down (low battery) and i started hitting on old dimes at 5 and 6 inches. So now I'm thinking run at medium power and lets see what happens next time out.

 

[Rick(ND)]

Do your testing on actual targets that are normally in the ground by using the Sovereign or Explorer in actual targets that are in the ground for years as this is what most of us hunt, I feel you spend too much time doing air test, burried coins and test them than doing actual hunting of targets where things are much different and where you learn your detector from experience.
I think you will find most that have used these detectors and mastered them will tell you that what you learn on how well they operate and get max out of them learn from actual Field use and very little from air test and burying of coins.
I found that air test do not get the depth on targets, give the same ID as those that have been in the ground for years. Done several test on actual in the ground before digging some of my deep targets and auto got nothing, turn the sensitivity down below the 12 o'clock position and got nothing, but at the 10 o'clock position got a signal that by going slow then working it with the Sovereign wiggle got a good repeatable signal that cause me to dig down around 10 inches for the nicest gold ring I ever found with nails around this area and a lot of pull tabs too as it was under a old bleacher that was torn down. When out of the ground the tone was different and ID different too. Same thing around a old merry go round that was hunted for years went slow and got a real questionable signal when my sensitivity was around the 10 o'clock position, lowered it to the 12 o'clock position and really had to work to get any kind of a signal and at 2 it was nothing no how, went back to the 10 and went to the 9 and seen I could get it and dug down over 14 inches (Was using a S-12 of Sun Rays) and got a barber quarter with a buffalo nickle, there was a good 2 inches dirt, then 10 inches gravel then around a another 2 inches of dirt and almost gave up on it. With the help of the Sun Ray S1 probe was able to find it. I could go on with other such test on actual targets in the ground, this is why I have always said you learn something new each time out with it on actual hunt that is different then any air test or preburried targets. I will say the Sovereigns, Explorers/ E tracs and even the X-Terras will give better depth on in the ground actual targets than any air test will, at least for me and many others across the country.

Don't get me wrong as there is time for air test and preburried targets too, but the real test is the actual in the ground test of actual targets.

 

[erikk]

Do your testing on actual targets that are normally in the ground by using the Sovereign or Explorer in actual targets that are in the ground for years as this is what most of us hunt, I feel you spend too much time doing air test, burried coins and test them than doing actual hunting of targets where things are much different and where you learn your detector from experience.
I think you will find most that have used these detectors and mastered them will tell you that what you learn on how well they operate and get max out of them learn from actual Field use and very little from air test and burying of coins.
I found that air test do not get the depth on targets, give the same ID as those that have been in the ground for years. Done several test on actual in the ground before digging some of my deep targets and auto got nothing, turn the sensitivity down below the 12 o'clock position and got nothing, but at the 10 o'clock position got a signal that by going slow then working it with the Sovereign wiggle got a good repeatable signal that cause me to dig down around 10 inches for the nicest gold ring I ever found with nails around this area and a lot of pull tabs too as it was under a old bleacher that was torn down. When out of the ground the tone was different and ID different too. Same thing around a old merry go round that was hunted for years went slow and got a real questionable signal when my sensitivity was around the 10 o'clock position, lowered it to the 12 o'clock position and really had to work to get any kind of a signal and at 2 it was nothing no how, went back to the 10 and went to the 9 and seen I could get it and dug down over 14 inches (Was using a S-12 of Sun Rays) and got a barber quarter with a buffalo nickle, there was a good 2 inches dirt, then 10 inches gravel then around a another 2 inches of dirt and almost gave up on it. With the help of the Sun Ray S1 probe was able to find it. I could go on with other such test on actual targets in the ground, this is why I have always said you learn something new each time out with it on actual hunt that is different then any air test or preburried targets. I will say the Sovereigns, Explorers/ E tracs and even the X-Terras will give better depth on in the ground actual targets than any air test will, at least for me and many others across the country.

Don't get me wrong as there is time for air test and preburried targets too, but the real test is the actual in the ground test of actual targets.

Air tests are only good if you are going to hunt in the air and a test garden is only good if it is as old as the coins you are seeking

 

[fwcrawford]

There seems to be much discussion pertaining to sensitivity settings on the Sovereign.
I have been using one for about a year and am finding coins in heavily hunted sites although they are in the 5 to 7 inch range and these were found while using the "auto" setting.
The reason I have used this setting mostly is due to solid nulling while swinging the coil if I set the sens. in manual mode.
I have one site that I have tried and the only way I can get the detector to maintain a stable threshold is to run only in auto.
I am not swinging too fast as I have found on many occasions, if I set the sens. to say around 2:00, as soon as the coil moves it goes silent.
I believe the ground is iron rich, but not trashy since I have tried all metal and the detector maintains a smooth threshold.
I also used this detector at a saltwater beach and found that I could set the sensitivity much higher than hunting inland.
In fact, even in the wet sand I was able to run high sensitivity settings without any problems.
Now with that said, I am assuming when you folks are talking about sensitivity set at about 2:00 or higher, you are still able to maintain a stable threshold while swinging the coil... Is this right?
I am afraid by having the sensitivity set too high and the constant nulling, I will not be able to detect the deeper targets.
Am I right in this assumption!

 

[synthnut]

Sensitivity is all according to the makeup of the ground being detected ....... You will have a better chance at hearing targets in highly mineralized soil at lower sensitivity settings .......When you have a neutral sand / soil you can run a lot hotter ..... The amount of trash , and also the amount of clay has a lot to do with how well you will do with sensitivity set too high also ...... I don't think that there are any set rules on where to go wtih your sensitivity .....It's all acording to where you are and what you soil/sand is made up of ...... Auto is safe problably at least 85%of the time .....but there are cases when even AUTO is too hot ......Jim

 

[Rick(ND)]

Auto is recommended by Minelab to use until you know your Sovereign, then switch to manual to get the max depth. In auto the threshold runs much smoother and to me now that i know the Sovereign I say it runs too smooth as it does miss a lot of the deeper targets. The whole idea of the threshold i feel is once you know your Sovereign it is important information from that threshold about those deeper targets. When you are new to it a smooth threshold will help you learn its tones and such and after you know it well you want the max depth you can get and with the smooth threshold it can give you the info you need to get the deep one and those close to trash,
Now what is a smooth threshold to one may not be what is for the next person. For those that know the Sovereign well knows we only hear the threshold come and go and changing all the time, many time i can do a sweep and all I hear is a null, so in this case I slow down the swing of the coil so I hear some threshold, solid null no good, but by slowing down the swing of the coil i will hear some of the threshold and listen for the the good tones trying to sneak though. When I say slow I mean slow trying to hear everything you can, took me over a hour to go around a 3 foot diam tree in a well worked park, but found over 10 old coins around it that were deep. If the coins are only 7 inches deep manual or auto will sound the same, but get over 10 inches and auto will not give you a signal at all.
On the sensitivity I find if I hold the coil still or in the air and it chatters the sensitivity is too high, if not i will start swinging and adjust my swing speed to I hear the threshold come and go and listen to those tone changes and those good tones on the edge of a null and then check them out further, by just swinging over that small area trying to get a better tone yet.
When you get one of those deep iffy signal and before you dig try different sensitivity setting and see what auto and lower sensitivity can do for you, I find I can run max at time, but rare and mine is mostly around the 11 o'clock position with most of my real deep targets are around the 9-10 o'clock position, but have to swing slower and pay more attention to each signal.

Rick

 

[Art (NWOH)]

Forget cranking it up or cranking it down. Forget "majic settings'. Forget 'staged' testing.

You have to find out what is going to work best with both sweep speed and sensitivity settings right where the coil is on real targets. NOT 50 ft away in some odd direction. RIGHT where the coil is. Don't expect the same setup and search method to remain the same every day at the same location....ground and noise conditions can change a lot.

There are tricks too about the ground. Layered moisture screws things up. Consistently moist or dry seems to work best. The detector gets to see and adjust itself for a consistent ground condition that way instead of having to reach some compromise that is not really right at any depth.

Layered moisture ...particularly damp on top and dry underneath...tends to light up the iron content and cause a lot of nulling.

Noise also increases the nulling problems. It seems to light up the mineral in the ground...particularly the iron content. I am not talking about noise as in what you hear in the headphones. That is created by false target audio. When a noise spike resembles a real target enough, it will generate audio. There is an awful amount of noise that does not generate these false responses. You would never know that it is there, but the detector does. It chokes the detector and hides good targets. The lower the frequency spectrum looked at, the more noise there is.

HH

 

[fwcrawford]

Thanks for the in depth answer Rick.
Next time I go out, I will play around with the sensitivity settings on actual in ground targets to see what kind
of results I get.
I believe that there are many more coins at this one site I have been searching and have already found 87 wheat pennies, 1 silver quarter, 4 Indian head cents, and 4 merc. dimes.
The oldest coin so far is an 1897 IH cent, but I believe with the age of this park, there should be some
Barber coins in there, but may not be reaching them due to using Auto setting on the Sovereign.
I was just concerned about the nulling going on even at slow sweep speeds.
Perhaps I need to slow down even more and listen very closely to the threshold and any high tones that sound off.
I will post my results after this test.
We recently got about 4 inches of rain in the area and I plan on getting out Sunday, so this should be very good conditions for locating those deep targets don't you think?
I am also using the stock 10" coil as this is the only coil I have at this time, but I like its performance and coverage.
Thanks again,
Felix

 

[Rick(ND)]

Good to see you around yet Art and hope everything is going good for you.

I feel if a person really wants to know their Sovereign and do good with it you have to use it and learn it and as you say not every one will use the same settings and some will change from site to site, you just got to know your Sovereign. If some would spend the time using the Sovereign they spend doing air test and other test and posting over and over the same thing they would become very good with their Sovereigns and have some great finds posted.
My excuse why I don't have the finds to post is I am unable to get out anymore because of health and it is cold and frozen up here in ND.
Art I am sure you remember when this forum had some questions ask by the new users we all tried to help and most did well if they spent the time to use it and learn it, but we seen some great finds being posted, but now we don't see much for finds do we?? I sure wish we would see more finds being found with the Sovereigns or Excalibur's to keep people interested in buying these great detectors so Minelab wouldn't even think of discontinue them.
Good luck to you Art and good to see your post again as you and a few others and myself have spent the time to know your Sovereigns and have the great finds to show we do know our Sovereign.

 

[Art (NWOH)]

Good to see that you are still around too.
I seldom read much of anything here anymore. Got tired of all the same old questions and mile long threads. Got tired of banging my head against the wall.

I don't detect any more. Just one of the things I have gotten into then later back out of. Have other main interests now.

Keep your feet warm and your beer cold.

HH

 

[Rick(ND)]

Just go slow and easy at any spot you think could hold the deep and old coins at, dig a few of the real iffy ones too that the tones are trying to climb, but just cant make it being so deep as this is where I seen some nice finds.
If you have the 10 inch Tornado coil you have a good one, but maybe if it is super trashy you may need to worry more on separation and less on depth and get a 8 inch or maybe a 5 inch coil. I feel I have done good with the 10 inch coil in moderate trash being it is a bigger coil, never liked the 10 inch coil until the Tornado coil came out on the Elite and GT.


Good luck on this site and hope you will have some great finds to post for us all to see.

 

[Critterhunter]

I've calibrated my sensitivity on deep undug targets too and slways matches the buried dime test I did there. What I'll do is calibrate to a buried dime and then while hunting if I come acrossed what I think is a deep tab (since they are plentiful and don't take long to find) I'll re-adjust sens to see if it wants it the same and it always does. The tab needs to be at fringe depth though or the differences in setiings won't show. Then dig it up. If it aint a tab then don't trust the setting. You need to set it on something where you know what the VDI # should be.

I believe too that the hunting speed and wiggle speeds are largely dependent on the sens setting. Higher sens= slower sweeps or wiggles, lower sens=faster sweeps/wiggles....but the ground matrix can also determine this. That's why I test/remrmber the sweep speed/wiggle on my buried dime once sens is set and then use that. Re-test it over a deep tab or something.

 

[Critterhunter]

There seems to be much discussion pertaining to sensitivity settings on the Sovereign.
I have been using one for about a year and am finding coins in heavily hunted sites although they are in the 5 to 7 inch range and these were found while using the "auto" setting.
The reason I have used this setting mostly is due to solid nulling while swinging the coil if I set the sens. in manual mode.
I have one site that I have tried and the only way I can get the detector to maintain a stable threshold is to run only in auto.
I am not swinging too fast as I have found on many occasions, if I set the sens. to say around 2:00, as soon as the coil moves it goes silent.
I believe the ground is iron rich, but not trashy since I have tried all metal and the detector maintains a smooth threshold.
I also used this detector at a saltwater beach and found that I could set the sensitivity much higher than hunting inland.
In fact, even in the wet sand I was able to run high sensitivity settings without any problems.
Now with that said, I am assuming when you folks are talking about sensitivity set at about 2:00 or higher, you are still able to maintain a stable threshold while swinging the coil... Is this right?
I am afraid by having the sensitivity set too high and the constant nulling, I will not be able to detect the deeper targets.
Am I right in this assumption!

You're doing fine. Yes, a stabile threshold is a must. I have found that Auto gets me coins that manual will miss and vise versa. If the ground is causing nulling Auto will act sort of like ground tracking and keep the threshold stabile. I have found coins in Auto that I plain missed with my Explorers having gridded the area both ways with them, yet Auto on my GT turned up easy coins such as a standing liberty quarter at around 6 or 7" with no trash around it. I prefer Auto when hunting things like old paths with a lot of stones/hot rocks, real bad soil, or tons of iron in them because Auto keeps the threshold steady while even real low manual causes nulling. Auto for bad ground is a winner IMO.

 

[Critterhunter]

Do your testing on actual targets that are normally in the ground by using the Sovereign or Explorer in actual targets that are in the ground for years as this is what most of us hunt, I feel you spend too much time doing air test, burried coins and test them than doing actual hunting of targets where things are much different and where you learn your detector from experience.
I think you will find most that have used these detectors and mastered them will tell you that what you learn on how well they operate and get max out of them learn from actual Field use and very little from air test and burying of coins.
I found that air test do not get the depth on targets, give the same ID as those that have been in the ground for years. Done several test on actual in the ground before digging some of my deep targets and auto got nothing, turn the sensitivity down below the 12 o'clock position and got nothing, but at the 10 o'clock position got a signal that by going slow then working it with the Sovereign wiggle got a good repeatable signal that cause me to dig down around 10 inches for the nicest gold ring I ever found with nails around this area and a lot of pull tabs too as it was under a old bleacher that was torn down. When out of the ground the tone was different and ID different too. Same thing around a old merry go round that was hunted for years went slow and got a real questionable signal when my sensitivity was around the 10 o'clock position, lowered it to the 12 o'clock position and really had to work to get any kind of a signal and at 2 it was nothing no how, went back to the 10 and went to the 9 and seen I could get it and dug down over 14 inches (Was using a S-12 of Sun Rays) and got a barber quarter with a buffalo nickle, there was a good 2 inches dirt, then 10 inches gravel then around a another 2 inches of dirt and almost gave up on it. With the help of the Sun Ray S1 probe was able to find it. I could go on with other such test on actual targets in the ground, this is why I have always said you learn something new each time out with it on actual hunt that is different then any air test or preburried targets. I will say the Sovereigns, Explorers/ E tracs and even the X-Terras will give better depth on in the ground actual targets than any air test will, at least for me and many others across the country.

Don't get me wrong as there is time for air test and preburried targets too, but the real test is the actual in the ground test of actual targets.

Rick, this aint exactly my first rodeo. I've owned/used many machines over the years and the Explorer and Sovereign are the first machines I've used that get less depth or at least destroy the target quality if you try to max out sensitivity in my soil. Of course actual hunts provide useful info, but that does not exclude all the valuable info that can be obtained from testing. The two compliment each other. Would you tell a pilot that flying a simulator is a waste of time in prepping for the real thing? Of course not. I prefer as much info as possible and that includes actual in field hunting as well as staged testing. And by the way, I wager that I've posted more finds on here in the past year than most if not all others so I did my part.

 

[Neil]

there is a little more at stake with a pilot than a detectorist isnt there? what happened to you comparing yourself to a doctor?

The point is get out there and hunt and learn the detector and quick playing around like you always seem to do. test, test, test, and you still havent figured out most of what the sov will do so what the heck good are your tests. get out there and hunt and get some real experience.
you have had your sov slightly over a year and one has to wonder how many times youve actually hunted, based on some of your posts I would say not much at all. Dont you ever wonder why you spend alot of time replying to your own posts? Sometimes you will reply more than all others combined. alot of words dont necessarily have alot of meaning.

What is the point of your post here anyways? It sounds like your trying to instruct but your guessing at the same time. and I love the Explroer remarks here, where theres no one to dispute them.

 

[Neil]

bracelet is 55.5 grams 14k, ocean beach find

gold coin/love token from a drained lake bed.

both with a sov xs with coinsearch coil, good combo!

 

[chuck ky]

try finding a target then raise and the sensitivity to see how it affects the signal. where i hunt i found that i would lose the target completely when the sensitivity was lowered to 3 o'clock

 

[chuck ky]

try finding a target then raise and lower the sensitivity to see how it affects the signal. where i hunt i found that i would lose the target completely when the sensitivity was lowered to 3 o'clock

 

[Neil]

chuck thats what I do, besides paying attention to the threshold for ground response. some beaches minimum sens is required, that is usually those with power lines over or nearby. today I ocean beach hunted and was able to get my explorer up to 29 in manual on the wet sand, its all site dependent as some have stated and the targets at the site are the best for determining your correct settings.