Critterhunter
New member
I'll add a few more things about using the Sovereign for a newbie. A few tips to help you get up to speed quicker. A few of the basic settings to use (more detail later in this post), like noise band 2 to match the coin charts in the meter sticky, as well as to use Iron Mask ON for best ability to pull coin signals out of iron and give a tad more depth. Also, that the sensitivity dial goes backwards- the further left you turn it the higher the sensitivity goes, and that you should hunt in Auto for a while so you can learn how the machine should act when stable. That will greatly help you when trying to ride sensitivity high in manual. I like a little instability right at the edge of sensitivity, but for sure you need to crawl with your sweep to keep the threshold from dropping out too much when you do that.
If sensitivity is too high the machine will null out, especially if you are sweeping too fast. How to tell then if the null is iron, too fast of a sweep, or too high of sensitivity? Re-sweep that same spot ultra slow where you got the null. Is the null always there? If it is then it's iron, but if it's not then you are either riding sensitivity too high or sweeping too fast. Always try slowing down your sweep speed to see if the threshold stops nulling out so much before you decide you need to lower your sensitivity. With mine riding a bit unstable I can easily tell if a false hit here or there is due to the machine being a bit unstable, or if in fact it's a deep target. If you aren't sure then just wiggle or short sweep a bit fast-ish over that spot and see if something is there.
With the super deep stuff, don't just assume it's trash by the initial hit or tone. You need to wiggle over it and try to pull a deep coin signal out of it. Often a deep "trash" signal is only because you are doing your long sweep while hunting or just nicked it with the coil. You need to get right over it and wiggle or short sweep at a somewhat faster(ish) speed to see what's up. Notice the tone first. Is it hinting a high tone in there? Then it could be a coin. Then look at the meter if you are using one. Are the numbers trying to climb? Then it could be a cone. Is it stopping and locking on a # well below 180? Then that's the target's ID, but if it continues to try to climb or bounce up and down then it might be a super deep coin. Notice how loud it sounds. Does it sound deep enough to be a coin giving you this kind of trouble? If it doesn't sound that deep then chances are it's odd shaped trash and the ID is just jumping around because the trash isn't shaped uniformly to lock onto one number.
Also, you'll see more of a pattern to the "climb" (if you want to call it that) that is less random with a coin, while trash will tend to bounce around without much rhyme or reason if it's odd shaped. And, sometimes deep coins won't lock until you work your way around them and wiggle from just the right spot. Whether that's due to them being on edge or masked could be the case. If you hear hints of a high tone on a target (even if it's not deep), then work your way around it while wiggling. On edge or masked they can do that and only lock on in just the right angle on them. I've even tested on super deep coins laying perfectly flat with no masking and for some odd reason they would only give a good ID from just the right angle on them, probably due to the ground matrix from different angles. For sure any deep sounding stuff you need to work all the way around and see if they will start giving a high tone or a climbing ID. Some deep coins might only sound and look like junk until you do that, but often they will hint a high tone to make you notice and work around them, but sometimes it's only going to be a low tone until you get just the right angle on them while wiggling.
Screw caps gave me fits when learning this machine. Now they are easy. They'll often give a "wobble" or "warble" sound from one angle and the ID will dip below 180 a bit here and there from that angle. They often are going to be shallow so if you hear that on a shallow "coin" chances are it's a screw cap. Deep coins can mimic this but you'll know by how deep they sound that they might be a deep coin. If it's super shallow and doing that then chances are it's a screwcap.
Coins on edge can also mimic this a bit, but they are distinctly different once you learn them. Instead of giving a "warble" sound from one angle, they'll do a kind of high/low/high/low type of see-saw up and down audio while you work around them. Usually though in one angle as you work around them they'll finally lock in as a perfect coin signal. Even if they don't lock from one angle, that up/down/up/down audio they give while working around them is very unique. It's distinctly different from pretty much any trash that can mix a coin signal in and out of it's response. Whenever I hear that unique high/low sound as I wiggle over and around a signal I get excited, because even a shallow signal like this can be a silver that others have missed due to being on edge. The Sovereign and 10" Tornado seem to have a nack for finding coins on edge. The 15x12 and 12x10 though, seem to do an even better job at it. I can only say this because I seem to be digging more on edge coins, even shallower ones, with the SEF coils than I ever did before. Up until them the 10" Tornado was the best coil on a machine I had ever used for coins on edge, but I think the SEFs take it a step further.
At one site I had gridded with all my prior machines, I walked in there and got an "easy" silver standing liberty quarter at about 7.5" running in Auto sensitivity with the 15x12. Blew my mind, and the only thing I can figure is that that coin was on edge. On another day at the same site after I got rid of my 15x12 (due to it not getting deeper than stock in my soil on coins), on my first day out with the 12x10 at this same site I got that distinct high/low/high/low or up/down/up/down signal. From one angle it was a perfect coin signal if I remember right, but regardless that unique high/low sound would have had me digging anyway. I plucked an old thin silver ring at about 5 to 7" down standing perfectly straight on edge at the very side of the hole. Ever since that day the high/low thing has really stuck with me even more. Once you've heard it a few times and made a few good finds, you may forget that sound by when you hear it again you instantly recognize it. I would stick a coin somewhat on edge and practice hearing that sound and identifying it. Work around it and see how often it will give that sound all the way around, or it might in one spot finally be a perfect 10 coin signal. Even if it doesn't give you that perfect 10 from one angle, you'll still know to dig based on the unique sound that is so different than most trashy that gives iffy high tone coin signals.
Nickles...You're going to dig a ton with this machine. They have a distinct and lower audio that pull tabs, and will have a "round" warm "bong" sound to them where as tabs tend not to. But, if you have a meter it's also even more sure of a bet, because the 180 meters on the Sovereign have super high resolution from small foil all the way up to copper pennies. I know of no other machine that will distinctly ID nickles well separately from round or square tabs. Nickles *usually* ring in at about 144, 145, or 146 (using noise band 2), but they can ring in as low as 138 or so if they are old and degraded enough (refer to the charts for info on that), but even old ones I've dug usually are around 144 or so. You'll just KNOW it's going to be a nickle by ID and tone, and the fact that the ID locks onto one or perhaps two numbers no matter which angle you wiggle over it. If it changes by 3 or more depending on the angle then chances are it's odd shaped trash. Tabs usually start at about 148 or 149 and range up to 169, so they are pretty much a non-issue when nickle hunting by that alone, not to mention the tone. And because the ID resolution is so high on the Sovereign in the low and mid range scale like this, often your foil or bits of aluminum will read below than nickles will. That's not always the case but often you can tell they are junk by the sicker or harsher or hollow or iffy audio, or by the ID ranging by 3 digits or more as you wiggle over it from different angles. Not saying a nickle can't change by 3 digits or more depending on the angle, but usually a round item like a ring or coin will stay with 1 or 2 numbers no matter what angle you swing over them.
Be prepared for the machine feeling "sloppy" at first due to it's broad and slow response. I found that coins sounded as big as pop can lids to me at first and thought I'd never get used to that. After time, you'll realize though that it's "broadness" is a asset and not a drawback. I feel it's long broad response helps to lock onto super deep targets and see and sound off to them more "robustly" then the fast machines I owned which tend to try to cut the response short and reset over deep stuff. You can't "hover" over the deep stuff on a fast machine and try to drink in that deep signal as much as possible to get a real good look at it. And, despite it's broad response, with the excellent 10" Tornado it's DD detection line is rather sharp, so you can separate left/right wise real well and right up against junk. And when the coin is in iron Iron Mask ON will help try to pull non-ferrous signals out of mixed ferrous ones. That's when both the coin and the nail are at the same depth and laying so close to each other that they can both be washed in the field at the same time. But don't expect that to mean you can first hit a nail and still see a deeper coin if both are in the field at the same time. Detection fields stop and warp around the first metal thing they hit, even off to the side but still in the field, and so will never reach down and see something deeper as well until you isolate one from the other in the field. Only when both are at the same depth and probably overlapping a bit can you hope to have Iron Mask ignore the ferrous and pull a non-ferrous signal out of it.
Many don't even use pin point mode to PP targets, but instead will do it in discriminate. Some use the center of the coil, while I like to use the tip. I advance the coil in short wiggling until I just start to hear the target and then it's right at the center tip of the coil. Some do like to switch to PP mode and see if the target moves, as that can indicate it's a false coin hit from iron. I don't like doing that myself, because it could in fact be a coin and when switched to PP you are pulled away by the iron present near it.
Ignore the video in the Sovereign model sticky that says you need to ground balance to use discriminate or PP mode. Discriminate uses Minelab's unique deadly way to ignore the ground signal, and PP mode is a form of all metal that doesn't use a ground balance. You only need to ground balance when in all metal fixed mode via first balancing in tracking all metal mode. Either sweep around for a few minutes in Tracking and then throw it to fixed, or pump the coil up and down slowly in a clean spot. When the threshold is the same as you approach and leave the ground (both ways) then it's set right and throw it into Fixed. But don't be fooled if the threshold re-adjusts a second or so after you approach or leave the ground, because many machines use a self adjusting threshold (SAT) which will smooth it out. That's why you need to notice what it does AS you approach and leave the ground and not if it smooths out a second or so later. That doesn't mean it's set right and is just the SAT working on a machine. Some will also balance it a little "hot" by throwing it into Fixed when the threshold rises just slightly as you approach the ground. This will give any machine a tad more depth that has a manual ground balance like this for their discrimination mode, but as said on the Sovereign you only need to set it if you are hunting in All Metal. Use tracking mode if the ground is changing fast and making things unstable for Fixed mode, but use Fixed whenever possible as it will give you the most depth. Some thing all metal or PP is deeper than discriminate, while others think discriminate is deeper and so never use all metal or PP to hunt it. That might depend on your soil, and some who feel it's deeper will hunt in all metal or PP and then check targets they find in discriminate to see what they sound like.
Also ignore the lousy audio in the Sovereign videos as they are using the external speaker and it doesn't do the rich, smooth, detailed audio and the numerous distinct tones justice. Best most detailed audio I've ever used. It can tell you a ton about targets. It's like the best analog detailed audio of some of the old analog machines, but with the numerous tone alerts of a Minelab. For that reason there are many guys who never even use a meter and hunt by sound alone. You want a machine where you can hunt by ear and figure out targets as being possible trash or treasure that way only? Then don't bother buying a meter because you've found that machine! For just one small example, round targets like rings, old buttons, coins, or tokens, will have a nice "round" smooth sound to them. Rings will sound round/smooth/warm/soft/etc, while trash can usually sound harsh, tinny, bangy, hollow, sick, scratchy, and so on. But I do prefer a meter, as I can split hairs on targets with it's super high resolution. Rings, like coins, being round....*should* lock onto one or two numbers no matter which way you sweep over them. Not a hard/fast rule ever time of course, but a good way to avoid oddly shaped trash when being picky.
The VDI Meters- One advantage of the Sovereign, just like it doesn't highly process and sanitize the audio, is that it doesn't highly process the VDI ID. It puts out a straight voltage based on conductivity for that, so the VDI is very "instant" on this machine and not subject to lagging behind the audio. You instantly see what you hear. On many machines they said to ignore the VDI and pay attention to the audio. That's still a good idea, but not for the same reasons. On other machines the VDI and audio are so highly processed and detached from each other that they will lag one behind each other. The audio might say one thing while the VDI says another. On the Sovereign, the hint of a high tone should still be your reason to investigate a target, but don't let the VDI talk you out of it if it can't lock on due to that high tone being only a "hint" hear and there. If you are seeking deep coins or ones in trash then better to use your ears on any machine to decide first and last.
Another advantage to the meters on the Sovereign is they have a calibration pot to set them perfectly for the coil you are using. On some machines when you change a coil the ID can read a bit "off" on some targets. By setting it on the Sovereign for each coil you get a more reliable VDI. Ignore the misprint in the manual about 170 being used to calibrate on a dime or quarter. You want to set it to 180 as that's what most meters and charts use. Just let the machine warm up for about 5 minutes or so before playing with it. Often if you didn't bump the POT the meter will read right on from the last time when warmed up a few minutes. Another trick is to force the machine to "reset" by thumping the coil on the ground. The Digisearch 180 meter will read negative (-) 506 if the meter is calibrated to go 180 on a coin. Some of the old Minelab meters are calibrated on a 550 scale but you can convert them to 180 meters. Look in the meter sticky for info on that. Most found the 550 meter scale to unstable. Also, some aftermarket meters have the POT adjustment inside the meter. Not a big deal, because once set it should stay right until you switch coils.
Also ignore the one video where the guy is doing a masking test using a nail and a coin a few feet away. Nobody swings any Minelab (FBS or BBS machines) that fast. I can isolate a coin right up against a nail with proper coil use, and if you swing slow while doing your general search recovery speed is a non-issue. What is more important IMO is how sharp the detection field is, because a machine can't see what a coil can't see separately. The stock 10" Tornado is excellent with it's sharp DD detection line, but the 12x10 is even more laser sharp. Even with the stock coil though I've unmasked stuff right up against just far better than I ever did on one of my faster machines over the years. You want to use the excellent left/right separation of a quality DD coil like the 10" Tornado to your advantage.
Settings...Disc and notch at zero, Iron Mask ON, Noise Band 2 (to match the charts), Leave the all metal switch in the PP setting in case you want to use that, and then when you switch to all metal on the switch that has Iron Mask On, Iron Mask OFF (both are discrimination modes), to the All Metal mode it will then go into whatever mode your all metal fixed, all metal track, or PP switch is set to. That's why most leave that one set to PP so it's ready when you need it. Threshold mode and threshold just high enough to hear. Most don't recommend using it but you can then flip to silent search mode once threshold is set and hunt that way, but because the threshold holds the tone of the last target most prefer hearing the threshold, and also because you'll notice deeper stuff better that way. There is a theory (not confirmed) that if you flip to silent search and then raise the threshold dial just high enough to hear again you might be boosting weak signals on deep stuff but nobody has tested that out in the field as far as I know.
Minelab recommends the volume all the way up to insure you hear the deepest of targets, and hints that this might act as a signal boost in some way maybe. For that reason most turn it all the way up and then adjust the volume on their headphones to a comfortable level so surface stuff don't blast them. Others use headphones with a noise limiter circuit so they can crank up their headphones as well but loud surface stuff will be blocked from being super loud. Many like the Sun Ray Pro Golds for that. My headphones don't have a limiter or volume controls so I keep my GT's volume all the way down, yet I seem to be able to hear the slightest of deepest signals. If my GT can see it in any way I seem to have no trouble easily hearing it. Besides, the higher I turn the volume the more "flat" or distorted these headphones I have get. With it all the way down on the GT the surface stuff isn't too loud, yet I can hear the faintest deep whisper. The audio loudness on the Sovereign will tell you how deep targets are and with practice I feel it's more accurate than a depth meter.
That should be enough for you to chew on for now, and maybe others will chime in with their own opinions or other tips for the Sovereign.
Oh, and read this thread about the proper sweep speed for a Sovereign. Very important! It also tells you how to do the "Sovereign wiggle" to pull the best ID and tone out of a target, and is even more important on super deep ones.
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?21,1758078
If sensitivity is too high the machine will null out, especially if you are sweeping too fast. How to tell then if the null is iron, too fast of a sweep, or too high of sensitivity? Re-sweep that same spot ultra slow where you got the null. Is the null always there? If it is then it's iron, but if it's not then you are either riding sensitivity too high or sweeping too fast. Always try slowing down your sweep speed to see if the threshold stops nulling out so much before you decide you need to lower your sensitivity. With mine riding a bit unstable I can easily tell if a false hit here or there is due to the machine being a bit unstable, or if in fact it's a deep target. If you aren't sure then just wiggle or short sweep a bit fast-ish over that spot and see if something is there.
With the super deep stuff, don't just assume it's trash by the initial hit or tone. You need to wiggle over it and try to pull a deep coin signal out of it. Often a deep "trash" signal is only because you are doing your long sweep while hunting or just nicked it with the coil. You need to get right over it and wiggle or short sweep at a somewhat faster(ish) speed to see what's up. Notice the tone first. Is it hinting a high tone in there? Then it could be a coin. Then look at the meter if you are using one. Are the numbers trying to climb? Then it could be a cone. Is it stopping and locking on a # well below 180? Then that's the target's ID, but if it continues to try to climb or bounce up and down then it might be a super deep coin. Notice how loud it sounds. Does it sound deep enough to be a coin giving you this kind of trouble? If it doesn't sound that deep then chances are it's odd shaped trash and the ID is just jumping around because the trash isn't shaped uniformly to lock onto one number.
Also, you'll see more of a pattern to the "climb" (if you want to call it that) that is less random with a coin, while trash will tend to bounce around without much rhyme or reason if it's odd shaped. And, sometimes deep coins won't lock until you work your way around them and wiggle from just the right spot. Whether that's due to them being on edge or masked could be the case. If you hear hints of a high tone on a target (even if it's not deep), then work your way around it while wiggling. On edge or masked they can do that and only lock on in just the right angle on them. I've even tested on super deep coins laying perfectly flat with no masking and for some odd reason they would only give a good ID from just the right angle on them, probably due to the ground matrix from different angles. For sure any deep sounding stuff you need to work all the way around and see if they will start giving a high tone or a climbing ID. Some deep coins might only sound and look like junk until you do that, but often they will hint a high tone to make you notice and work around them, but sometimes it's only going to be a low tone until you get just the right angle on them while wiggling.
Screw caps gave me fits when learning this machine. Now they are easy. They'll often give a "wobble" or "warble" sound from one angle and the ID will dip below 180 a bit here and there from that angle. They often are going to be shallow so if you hear that on a shallow "coin" chances are it's a screw cap. Deep coins can mimic this but you'll know by how deep they sound that they might be a deep coin. If it's super shallow and doing that then chances are it's a screwcap.
Coins on edge can also mimic this a bit, but they are distinctly different once you learn them. Instead of giving a "warble" sound from one angle, they'll do a kind of high/low/high/low type of see-saw up and down audio while you work around them. Usually though in one angle as you work around them they'll finally lock in as a perfect coin signal. Even if they don't lock from one angle, that up/down/up/down audio they give while working around them is very unique. It's distinctly different from pretty much any trash that can mix a coin signal in and out of it's response. Whenever I hear that unique high/low sound as I wiggle over and around a signal I get excited, because even a shallow signal like this can be a silver that others have missed due to being on edge. The Sovereign and 10" Tornado seem to have a nack for finding coins on edge. The 15x12 and 12x10 though, seem to do an even better job at it. I can only say this because I seem to be digging more on edge coins, even shallower ones, with the SEF coils than I ever did before. Up until them the 10" Tornado was the best coil on a machine I had ever used for coins on edge, but I think the SEFs take it a step further.
At one site I had gridded with all my prior machines, I walked in there and got an "easy" silver standing liberty quarter at about 7.5" running in Auto sensitivity with the 15x12. Blew my mind, and the only thing I can figure is that that coin was on edge. On another day at the same site after I got rid of my 15x12 (due to it not getting deeper than stock in my soil on coins), on my first day out with the 12x10 at this same site I got that distinct high/low/high/low or up/down/up/down signal. From one angle it was a perfect coin signal if I remember right, but regardless that unique high/low sound would have had me digging anyway. I plucked an old thin silver ring at about 5 to 7" down standing perfectly straight on edge at the very side of the hole. Ever since that day the high/low thing has really stuck with me even more. Once you've heard it a few times and made a few good finds, you may forget that sound by when you hear it again you instantly recognize it. I would stick a coin somewhat on edge and practice hearing that sound and identifying it. Work around it and see how often it will give that sound all the way around, or it might in one spot finally be a perfect 10 coin signal. Even if it doesn't give you that perfect 10 from one angle, you'll still know to dig based on the unique sound that is so different than most trashy that gives iffy high tone coin signals.
Nickles...You're going to dig a ton with this machine. They have a distinct and lower audio that pull tabs, and will have a "round" warm "bong" sound to them where as tabs tend not to. But, if you have a meter it's also even more sure of a bet, because the 180 meters on the Sovereign have super high resolution from small foil all the way up to copper pennies. I know of no other machine that will distinctly ID nickles well separately from round or square tabs. Nickles *usually* ring in at about 144, 145, or 146 (using noise band 2), but they can ring in as low as 138 or so if they are old and degraded enough (refer to the charts for info on that), but even old ones I've dug usually are around 144 or so. You'll just KNOW it's going to be a nickle by ID and tone, and the fact that the ID locks onto one or perhaps two numbers no matter which angle you wiggle over it. If it changes by 3 or more depending on the angle then chances are it's odd shaped trash. Tabs usually start at about 148 or 149 and range up to 169, so they are pretty much a non-issue when nickle hunting by that alone, not to mention the tone. And because the ID resolution is so high on the Sovereign in the low and mid range scale like this, often your foil or bits of aluminum will read below than nickles will. That's not always the case but often you can tell they are junk by the sicker or harsher or hollow or iffy audio, or by the ID ranging by 3 digits or more as you wiggle over it from different angles. Not saying a nickle can't change by 3 digits or more depending on the angle, but usually a round item like a ring or coin will stay with 1 or 2 numbers no matter what angle you swing over them.
Be prepared for the machine feeling "sloppy" at first due to it's broad and slow response. I found that coins sounded as big as pop can lids to me at first and thought I'd never get used to that. After time, you'll realize though that it's "broadness" is a asset and not a drawback. I feel it's long broad response helps to lock onto super deep targets and see and sound off to them more "robustly" then the fast machines I owned which tend to try to cut the response short and reset over deep stuff. You can't "hover" over the deep stuff on a fast machine and try to drink in that deep signal as much as possible to get a real good look at it. And, despite it's broad response, with the excellent 10" Tornado it's DD detection line is rather sharp, so you can separate left/right wise real well and right up against junk. And when the coin is in iron Iron Mask ON will help try to pull non-ferrous signals out of mixed ferrous ones. That's when both the coin and the nail are at the same depth and laying so close to each other that they can both be washed in the field at the same time. But don't expect that to mean you can first hit a nail and still see a deeper coin if both are in the field at the same time. Detection fields stop and warp around the first metal thing they hit, even off to the side but still in the field, and so will never reach down and see something deeper as well until you isolate one from the other in the field. Only when both are at the same depth and probably overlapping a bit can you hope to have Iron Mask ignore the ferrous and pull a non-ferrous signal out of it.
Many don't even use pin point mode to PP targets, but instead will do it in discriminate. Some use the center of the coil, while I like to use the tip. I advance the coil in short wiggling until I just start to hear the target and then it's right at the center tip of the coil. Some do like to switch to PP mode and see if the target moves, as that can indicate it's a false coin hit from iron. I don't like doing that myself, because it could in fact be a coin and when switched to PP you are pulled away by the iron present near it.
Ignore the video in the Sovereign model sticky that says you need to ground balance to use discriminate or PP mode. Discriminate uses Minelab's unique deadly way to ignore the ground signal, and PP mode is a form of all metal that doesn't use a ground balance. You only need to ground balance when in all metal fixed mode via first balancing in tracking all metal mode. Either sweep around for a few minutes in Tracking and then throw it to fixed, or pump the coil up and down slowly in a clean spot. When the threshold is the same as you approach and leave the ground (both ways) then it's set right and throw it into Fixed. But don't be fooled if the threshold re-adjusts a second or so after you approach or leave the ground, because many machines use a self adjusting threshold (SAT) which will smooth it out. That's why you need to notice what it does AS you approach and leave the ground and not if it smooths out a second or so later. That doesn't mean it's set right and is just the SAT working on a machine. Some will also balance it a little "hot" by throwing it into Fixed when the threshold rises just slightly as you approach the ground. This will give any machine a tad more depth that has a manual ground balance like this for their discrimination mode, but as said on the Sovereign you only need to set it if you are hunting in All Metal. Use tracking mode if the ground is changing fast and making things unstable for Fixed mode, but use Fixed whenever possible as it will give you the most depth. Some thing all metal or PP is deeper than discriminate, while others think discriminate is deeper and so never use all metal or PP to hunt it. That might depend on your soil, and some who feel it's deeper will hunt in all metal or PP and then check targets they find in discriminate to see what they sound like.
Also ignore the lousy audio in the Sovereign videos as they are using the external speaker and it doesn't do the rich, smooth, detailed audio and the numerous distinct tones justice. Best most detailed audio I've ever used. It can tell you a ton about targets. It's like the best analog detailed audio of some of the old analog machines, but with the numerous tone alerts of a Minelab. For that reason there are many guys who never even use a meter and hunt by sound alone. You want a machine where you can hunt by ear and figure out targets as being possible trash or treasure that way only? Then don't bother buying a meter because you've found that machine! For just one small example, round targets like rings, old buttons, coins, or tokens, will have a nice "round" smooth sound to them. Rings will sound round/smooth/warm/soft/etc, while trash can usually sound harsh, tinny, bangy, hollow, sick, scratchy, and so on. But I do prefer a meter, as I can split hairs on targets with it's super high resolution. Rings, like coins, being round....*should* lock onto one or two numbers no matter which way you sweep over them. Not a hard/fast rule ever time of course, but a good way to avoid oddly shaped trash when being picky.
The VDI Meters- One advantage of the Sovereign, just like it doesn't highly process and sanitize the audio, is that it doesn't highly process the VDI ID. It puts out a straight voltage based on conductivity for that, so the VDI is very "instant" on this machine and not subject to lagging behind the audio. You instantly see what you hear. On many machines they said to ignore the VDI and pay attention to the audio. That's still a good idea, but not for the same reasons. On other machines the VDI and audio are so highly processed and detached from each other that they will lag one behind each other. The audio might say one thing while the VDI says another. On the Sovereign, the hint of a high tone should still be your reason to investigate a target, but don't let the VDI talk you out of it if it can't lock on due to that high tone being only a "hint" hear and there. If you are seeking deep coins or ones in trash then better to use your ears on any machine to decide first and last.
Another advantage to the meters on the Sovereign is they have a calibration pot to set them perfectly for the coil you are using. On some machines when you change a coil the ID can read a bit "off" on some targets. By setting it on the Sovereign for each coil you get a more reliable VDI. Ignore the misprint in the manual about 170 being used to calibrate on a dime or quarter. You want to set it to 180 as that's what most meters and charts use. Just let the machine warm up for about 5 minutes or so before playing with it. Often if you didn't bump the POT the meter will read right on from the last time when warmed up a few minutes. Another trick is to force the machine to "reset" by thumping the coil on the ground. The Digisearch 180 meter will read negative (-) 506 if the meter is calibrated to go 180 on a coin. Some of the old Minelab meters are calibrated on a 550 scale but you can convert them to 180 meters. Look in the meter sticky for info on that. Most found the 550 meter scale to unstable. Also, some aftermarket meters have the POT adjustment inside the meter. Not a big deal, because once set it should stay right until you switch coils.
Also ignore the one video where the guy is doing a masking test using a nail and a coin a few feet away. Nobody swings any Minelab (FBS or BBS machines) that fast. I can isolate a coin right up against a nail with proper coil use, and if you swing slow while doing your general search recovery speed is a non-issue. What is more important IMO is how sharp the detection field is, because a machine can't see what a coil can't see separately. The stock 10" Tornado is excellent with it's sharp DD detection line, but the 12x10 is even more laser sharp. Even with the stock coil though I've unmasked stuff right up against just far better than I ever did on one of my faster machines over the years. You want to use the excellent left/right separation of a quality DD coil like the 10" Tornado to your advantage.
Settings...Disc and notch at zero, Iron Mask ON, Noise Band 2 (to match the charts), Leave the all metal switch in the PP setting in case you want to use that, and then when you switch to all metal on the switch that has Iron Mask On, Iron Mask OFF (both are discrimination modes), to the All Metal mode it will then go into whatever mode your all metal fixed, all metal track, or PP switch is set to. That's why most leave that one set to PP so it's ready when you need it. Threshold mode and threshold just high enough to hear. Most don't recommend using it but you can then flip to silent search mode once threshold is set and hunt that way, but because the threshold holds the tone of the last target most prefer hearing the threshold, and also because you'll notice deeper stuff better that way. There is a theory (not confirmed) that if you flip to silent search and then raise the threshold dial just high enough to hear again you might be boosting weak signals on deep stuff but nobody has tested that out in the field as far as I know.
Minelab recommends the volume all the way up to insure you hear the deepest of targets, and hints that this might act as a signal boost in some way maybe. For that reason most turn it all the way up and then adjust the volume on their headphones to a comfortable level so surface stuff don't blast them. Others use headphones with a noise limiter circuit so they can crank up their headphones as well but loud surface stuff will be blocked from being super loud. Many like the Sun Ray Pro Golds for that. My headphones don't have a limiter or volume controls so I keep my GT's volume all the way down, yet I seem to be able to hear the slightest of deepest signals. If my GT can see it in any way I seem to have no trouble easily hearing it. Besides, the higher I turn the volume the more "flat" or distorted these headphones I have get. With it all the way down on the GT the surface stuff isn't too loud, yet I can hear the faintest deep whisper. The audio loudness on the Sovereign will tell you how deep targets are and with practice I feel it's more accurate than a depth meter.
That should be enough for you to chew on for now, and maybe others will chime in with their own opinions or other tips for the Sovereign.
Oh, and read this thread about the proper sweep speed for a Sovereign. Very important! It also tells you how to do the "Sovereign wiggle" to pull the best ID and tone out of a target, and is even more important on super deep ones.
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?21,1758078