Sovereign AM Pinpoint mode - Factory & Custom Tune Ups -

[UtahRich]

A few months ago I picked up my first Sovereign, a used XS-2a Pro. It came with the standard BBS 1000 coil, which weighs just shy of a metric ton. At the same time I picked up a used flyweight 8" Minelab Coinsearch coil and more recently a never used SunRay S-12. I put the BBS 1000 away in the closet and planned to use the Coinsearch and S-12 as my two coils.

My purchase coincided with the onset of winter in my parts, so I've had limited time for use due to snow on the ground and rock hard soil. I have found a couple spots this last week where things aren't frozen so I've been able to burn off a little cabin fever.

So far I've hunted mostly with the Coinsearch is some of my old places I've hunted before. And I've pulled some coins out of these places that I had scoured rather thoroughly over the years with a number of other detectors and most recently with an Explorer XS. So the Sovereign is definitely doing its' thing. None of the finds were what I would consider 'DEEP', but in the 6-7" range, which is within reach of most modern detectors. While I'm hunting, I will typically flip back and forth between Disc and All Metal PP as I investigate a potential target. It seems that my AM mode is significantly weaker in signal strength that the Disc mode. It is similar with all 3 coils that I have, so I don't think it is a coil issue.

Being that it is a Pinpointing AM mode, it does reduce the signal strength as you center over the target and takes a few moments to get back to normal ofter going over something big. Knowing that, it still feels like it isn't enough. It this typical of the Sovereign and I just need to adjust to it?

My settings are:

Volume - preset
Notch - min
Disc - below foil at 8 o'clock
Sensitivity - 11:30 position
Threshold - just a smidge below preset. It keeps a nice steady humm that I can easily follow.
Toggle - Variable Tones or Single is set for Variable.

I am using a SunRay S-1 and the Minelab XS2 meter

With that in mind, every once in a while I come across a Sovereign for sale where the owner has had some 'custom' or super tuning work done on it by somebody or other. Others advertise they had returned it to the factory for a 'check up' and I would assume had the detector re-tuned to factory specifications.

Have any of you had custom work like this done? Or experience having things 're-tuned' at the factory?

Who did it?

What did they do?

Did it help?

How much did it cost?

Related to this

Has anybody done it themselves?

Are there schematics out there of the older Sovereigns and a set of factory specs for certain measurements?

Love to hear for you out there.


Rich (Utah)

 

[Rick(ND)]

Myself I have always found that in disc I get a better signal than all metal pinpoint in my area I hunt. I also find that the way it is set up at Minelab without any mod to the control box also works best for me and set so there is a slight threshold so I can hear everything as the threshold nulling tells me there is iron around and I have to sweep slower and listen closer to those good targets close to trash. If no threshold I can not hear the deep targets as it may only be a threshold tone change letting me know my Sovereign has seen something. This threshold also lets me know I have to go much slower if it is nulling a lot or will miss some great finds.

 

[jbow]

I wish I could run mine with the sens on 11:30 and keep a stable threshold. It is in/out but it still makes the finds if they are there. The only way I can get a fairly stable threshold is in auto-sens, so I deal with the dropouts.

As for the mods. The only person I know who does them is David Keith http://www.dixie-metal-detectors.com/dmd-cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=84_114&products_id=505

and David is not going to tell what he does. He may tell you what the results will be but the information is held close to the vest. You'll have to talk to him for more info. Mine has the mods but it is the only Sovereign i've ever used so I can't tell you if they help but i'm certain they do. David is also a long time Sovereign user. I'm pretty sure it is all he uses for relic and coin hunting and he can give you a LOT of info on using the machine. He has always had time to talk to me when I have called him and has been more than willing to explain the Sovereign and the different modes and what to listen for. Give him a call.

His phone number is on his homepage. http://www.dixie-metal-detectors.com/dmd-cart/


Julien

 

[goodmore]

I just had my Elite modded by Dixie. I really have not tried it since I got it back. Winter has set in big time. I also had them put on toggle boots. Whole price tag was around 100.00.

 

[jbow]

Have you read this stuff? Some good tips and such...

http://pweb.netcom.com/~jimyce/tips.html

http://www.frontiernet.net/~jvokes/setup.htm

http://www.frontiernet.net/~jvokes/reverse.htm

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=minelab+sovereign&search_type=&aq=6&oq=minelab+

J

 

[SurfPro]

I just had my Elite modded by Dixie. I really have not tried it since I got it back. Winter has set in big time. I also had them put on toggle boots. Whole price tag was around 100.00.

Hey there goodmore,

Do you know is Dixie can put a remote AM switch on the shaft for pinpointing?

Thanks,
SP

 

[UtahRich]

Have you read this stuff? Some good tips and such...

http://pweb.netcom.com/~jimyce/tips.html

http://www.frontiernet.net/~jvokes/setup.htm

http://www.frontiernet.net/~jvokes/reverse.htm

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=minelab+sovereign&search_type=&aq=6&oq=minelab+

J

I have these bookmarked and referenced them heavily before deciding to step into the world of the sovereign. Wildeherre had some excellent stuff as well.

On a couple outings I've spent 20-30 min hunting in AM just to see what I can accomplish. It is challenging in areas that are a little trashy, but holds some promise for some places I frequent. However, I have to ask myself, if I am getting significantly greater depth in my Disc mode, why would I ever want to hunt in AM? I can just lower the Disc to '0' and get the benefit of audio and visual ID.

Thanks for the input out there.

Rich (Utah)

 

[Critterhunter]

I've noticed too that a really deep target is very hard to hear in pinpoint on my GT, while I get a much louder signal in discriminate. If it's so soft in pinpoint that I can't really tell where it's at I just pinpoint in discriminate. I'm getting better at that and might not even need to switch to pinpoint in the future. That's another feature they should put into a new Sovereign- a VCO pinpoint. As you get closer to the target the volume and I think pitch (?) will go up. I love that feature on my QXT, but come to think of it I think it sounds like only the volume ramps higher and higher. Either way it works great.

I wonder if ground balancing the machine in all metal at a site would make pinpoint work better, since that appears to be an all metal mode? Probably not, as I think ground balance is disabled in all metal pinpoint. That also makes me wonder why some people say they like hunting in pinpoint and then switch to disc. to investigate the target further. I would think, from my pinpointing of deep targets that I can't hear nearly as well or not at all compared to discriminate, that it doesn't go deeper. Still, I'd like to hear more input on that. Maybe it's just certain models of the Sovereign or Excalibur that appear to go deeper in all metal or pinpoint than in discriminate. From my limited experience it appears to be the reverse.

On the subject of "tune ups", I am interested in this as well. From what others have said adjusting the tones of the machine inside won't stretch them out further, but rather moves the entire scale further up or down? If that's true, it would at least be of interest to people with high or low frequency nerve damage. I could stand the "high" tone for coins to be a little higher in pitch myself, as I'm used to it being higher on the QXT. It would also make the lower tones a little higher, and that might be easier for some people. Still, I can hear the differences well enough to leave it at the factory setting. Just is going to take time to get used to.

I'm also interested in the "Dixie Detector" performance tune up. From my searching on the net and on their website I can find no mention of what this is, yet I've seen reference to some Sovereigns having this done and getting more depth. Somebody said it was some parts they replace in the unit to make it a little deeper, and not adjusting anything inside. I would guess these parts might be of better quality, causing lower noise so the unit is more stabile at higher sensitivity settings. Thus far I'm finding I can run my GT at full sensitivity at some sites, so I don't even know if it would be useful to have done. Anybody had this mod done and find they are getting extra depth, or know exactly what it is? I'm surprised nobody has posted a "How To" on this with all the other mods floating around out there.

 

[Critterhunter]

By the way, thanks for those links. I never came across those. Printing them out to read later.

 

[jbow]

If I am not mistaken AM pinpoint is deeper than regular AM. I usually hunt in Disc though..

J

 

[Marty]

Greeting from sunny downunder
I've had a XS2a pro for the last 6 or 7 years, I mainly hunt at the beach & usually hunt in AM, I wind the sensitivity right down to get a nice clean threshold & listen carefully for those weak signals, when i get a hit, i switch to DISC, the target may not sound off in Disc but if it doesn't null, it's worth digging, I've found many deep rings using this method that i would have missed if using Disc, I know, the debates been going on for years, It's what works for the individual. It's helpful to have experience using the sovereign in all modes, it makes for more versatile hunting with more useful 'tools' at your disposal.
What a great detector! Hail the Sovereign........

On a side note,
I converted my machine to a straight shaft (like the GT) & mounted a remote AM/Disc switch on top of the handle, this switch is a real workhorse & it's just so easy having it on the handle, the cable from the switch plugs into a socket on the control box, when it's not plugged in, the AM/Disc switch on the control box functions as normal, it really is a great mod. I often wonder why Minelab has not made this a standard feature, not to mention fitting rubber boots for the switches as standard, they did it on the 1st sovereign & never again.........

I've only just got myself a s/hand GT machine & look forward to working the beach with the AM tracking mode, I believe not all sovereigns are created equal, I hope this GT is as sweet as my XS2a, It's a superb detector & will be hard to beat. I'll drop a post when i have some results.
Cheers, Marty

 

[Critterhunter]

Have you read this stuff? Some good tips and such...

http://pweb.netcom.com/~jimyce/tips.html

http://www.frontiernet.net/~jvokes/setup.htm

http://www.frontiernet.net/~jvokes/reverse.htm

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=minelab+sovereign&search_type=&aq=6&oq=minelab+

J

Once again thanks for those links. That one site with several tips for the Sovereign has some good info in it. I really like how he explains that he listens for solid signals in the "foil" range to produce gold and other goodies, while the trash tends to break up at the edges. Always knew this to be true but it helps confirm that my hunting style should work well on this machine...even better than I was able to do with others due to the higher resolution of the meter and better audio abilities. Digging the "odd" numbers that aren't common at that site in the way of trash targets is also a good way to narrow your odds down to finding a keeper versus another piece of trash. When I don't use the notch setting I finalized in the Splitting Hairs thread to dig rings I use that same method...looking for numbers to dig that aren't the common trash found at that spot.

 

[Critterhunter]

I'm bumping this thread to the top again because those links you posted have some very good information in them. I've got them printed out and have read over them several times over the last week or two. The information on digging "solid" odd target numbers is an old strategy with any machine that seems to have an edge on the Sovereign more so than other machines. BBS technology will for the most part show a target's true colors, by either making it break up or sound bad if it's junk, or giving it a solid good sounding hit if it's something worth checking out. His remarks about digging solid sounding foil signals while still avoiding most trash is good for people to remember. I prefer my notch setting for real heavy trash to cut the number of targets distracting me down, but when this isn't a problem I plan to do what he suggests- only avoiding the top two or three common trash numbers for that area and listening for the ones that sound good. The other links on hunting in iron and various other tips also are something worth reviewing once in a while. Great links.