Sovereign GT, good settings for the parks, Infinium?

[Slughunter]

I live in south Florida around Delray Beach. Plenty of parks and beach. I have never owned an MD'r. I'm searching for a good all-around one. The Minelab GT seems to fit the bill, my only worries are
some reports of returning out of the box detectors once, twice even three times until they have a properly working unit. Then all is great, but only then.

On top of that, I want something I can go into the water with. That being said, not chest deep or such just ankle deep and again the Minelab GT fits that. I do have access to a Sea Hunter Mark II pretty much whenever I need it if I feel the desire to go deeper.

My question is, what are the experiences you folks have had as far as service and support? I have heard wonderful things about Garrett, though I don't think I want the AT Pro. I was leaning toward the Infinium and can get a great price on one.

Additionally, what are your experiences in the park areas? This is where I believe the GT would out perform the Infinium.

I have read many people have problems tuning it when they get close to the bleachers, swingsets etc.

What say you??

Thank you

 

[ivanll]

If you have access to a Sea Hunter then forget the Infinium LS, period.
In a park the Sovereign GT is not my first choice.
For park use, I would choose a detector with good screen information and the ability of all metal for extra depth when required.
I personally use the the above mentioned detectors in places where I find them most suitable.


ivanll

 

[goodmore]

I never had a problem with the GT or Elite. These detectors are built like tanks. If you want to hunt salt water beaches up to your knees the GT is one of the best. The GT is a slow detector. You need to hunt slow in parks and other places in the dirt. If you are a man in a hurry the GT is not for you. It has small coil options that make hunting near equipment and fences easier, but there may be other detectors that do it better. Most of Minelab's repair problems are related to the Excalibur. So if you can swing slow and take your time the GT is one great detector. Especially in high mineral soil and salt beaches where it is nearly in a class of it's own. EMI can be a problem for multi frequency detectors. Just laying it all out there for you. If you are hunting near major electrical stuff the GT can have fits.

 

[erikk]

The LAST thing you want to do as a Newbie is get an Infinium LS & the reason You can get a good deal on a used one is the seller is probably a Newbie too

 

[keppy]

I have been useing the Sovereign in parks since 1992 and is really good for inland hunting ....I know a lot of us use the Sovereign inland if you feel the need for a meter to show numbers with the Sovereign ....You can always buy one and put on it..... If you like sound only you will not put a meter on it........... That is another nice thing about the Sovereign if you want a meter you can have one if not .......You don't need to have one..... My self i never put my meter on it i like to work by sounds..........The inifinum would drive you a little crazy PI detectors are no good for parks.water yes..... I am one of the lucky ones been useing Minelabs since 1992 and never had to send one in for repairs.......

 

[synthnut]

The GT is not one of the Minelab machines that has had problems ....They are ROCK SOLID and even the older ones work fine ....I have the original Soveriegn model and it works fine ....I can hunt the beach and in ankl e deep water without issue and I can go right from the beach to the park and hunt there wtthout issue ..... Your PI machines are not going to have discrimination so you will basically be digging EVERYTHING !!.....Not so bad on the beach , but when you get to the parks and you run into iron, you will be spending a LOT of time digging targets that you don't want when running a P.I. machine .....Jim

 

[Rick(ND)]

The Sovereign series are excellent all around detector if you spend the time to understand it. For some in one day they figure it out and others takes a few weeks and the best just by using it and digging targets to see what they are. As far as repairs these are probably the least repaired detectors i have heard of and seen only one new one with a bad sensitivity control right out of the box out of over 40 of them that went though me. As far as park hunting or in land the Sovereigns have made many worked to death parks come alive with some great finds. As far as beach hunting I have never done any myself, but are the favorite of most beach hunters that don't go into deep water or dive.
The only thing Sovereigns are not good for is finding iron as it hates it, but sure loves nickles and gold rings and deep silver.

Rick

 

[CladJunkie]

The infinium was designed for gold prospecting. Many people buy it for beach and surf work and find it unstable. It is VERY sensitive machine compared to regular beach PI's. It can be just fine in the surf if you know what your doing. With that being said and knowing your new to hobby I would stay away from it. The GT can work both in land and salt beaches but as other have pointed out you have to go slow and learn the tones but that not hard if you work at it. I have the older Sovereign (XS-2 pro) and have had it only two weeks now and already I'm starting to understand what it's telling me. You might be able to pick up a used Sovereign like I did at haft the cost just to get started and see if your going to like the hobby and or the Sovereign but let me tell you if you do and give it time you will love it.

 

[Critterhunter]

The Sovereign is king of both the beach and hunting beat to death old parks. There are only a hand full of machines that have a chance of doing as good at finding old coins at worked out spots like the Sovereign...Etrac, Explorer, T2LTD, F75LTD, maybe Omega or G2. It's the perfect water and land machine. Chest mount it and hunt waste deep. Throw a meter on it and like he said bring old parks back to life.

 

[erikk]

As I stated earlier you do not want to start with the Infinium..I have one, like it very much and have made some very nice finds in the surf. However I only use it on specific beaches that are relatively clean and it took many hours before I was able to properly GB and set it up. Once learned it is an awesome machine

 

[Slughunter]

Thank you all for your comments. I have finally found a forum where people actually give advice rather than their allegiance specific opinion.

I will be purchasing a new GT on Wednesday.

I appreciate all the help.

 

[erikk]

I like the way you think!!!

Criterhunter

Don't tell me what to eat, where to smoke, what I should feel guilty about, how I should think, or that if we just give you one more dollar big government/socialism will work this time. Also, If you're offended by me flying this then why are you here in the first place? And while we're at it, don't apologize for America. The world would be a MUCH worse place without her!

The planet has been much hotter and much colder than it is now. We've being going into and out of ice ages every few thousand years before man even existed. Only politicians could take a natural earth cycle and use it to scam money out of you and hold control over people. As the saying goes, if you want to know the reason for something follow the money.