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Sovereign GT Mods

Good info. If you get a chance throw us up a link to that meter off the web. So I take it you just drew power directly from the coil. Did you wire the meter internaly or externaly? Sounds like you didn't even have to calibrate the meter for the proper input voltage for the VDI. Just hitched the thing up directly and then used it's onboard pot to calibrate it?

I've been curious about higher scaling for the meters. I would figure it's still going to put all coins above a copper penny into one number. I do wonder though if a decimal after the three digits might provide slight differences between the "180" coins. Not sure if the Sovereign has enough resolution to show a difference, though. I've got the feeling that once a target reaches a certain level of conductivity or above it all gets stuffed into one number without any slight differences.
 
Got the wiring figured out for the proper way to rig a remote pinpoint and a pictorial/schematic almost done to make it clear and simple. It's a little more complicated than the previous way but it's the "right" way to do it. There will be no need to have the GT's switch set to All Metal to switch back and fourth between that and disc iron on. You'll be able to switch back and fourth between all metal and disc iron on or off just by hitting the remote switch. Maybe tomorrow I'll finish something up to post.

I didn't want to rig up another 3 way switch to bypass the GT's stock one. Really no need for that. How many people are switching between all 3 modes. Rather it's more important to be able to switch between either disc mode and all metal by pressing a button (or throwing a switch if you use that style). Made things a little complicated to wire properly but figured it out after a little thought and a few smokes. The stock switch will also retain all 3 functions whether the remote switch is plugged in or not, so that makes things less confusing for people as well.
 
yes it will still group all high coins into the same range.you can pull the rubber strain relief back off the coil plug and do your wiring there and then slide the boot back in place when your done.if you just stick a volt meter on it it will read in the neighborhood of 1.76 for high coins 1.73 for zincs.all that is is the return voltage that the circuitry converts a target signal to.it will still hold an id until the next target and all.no you dont have to calibrate the meter for input supply voltage.the meter that i bought had a range of from 5 to 15 volts for the supply.i will try and find the one i used on the e site and post a link to it.all that is involved in putting this meter on is hooking up power from the detectors power or your own source and hooking up 2 signal wires for your id.thats it other than mounting it and making it pretty.you can use a 20 volt scaled meter or a 2 volt or a 2000 millivolt.the first 2 will read such as 1.80 the latter will read 1800.if you do not calibrate the meter it will work fine.it will just read 1.76 on a high coin as opposed to 1.80.no big deal because its all relative.everything else will read exactly 4 numbers lower also so its no problem
 
Good info. There are several existing older threads on the web that show hot to wire a meter up by tapping the coil cable. The only problem with that is you'd have to do it to each coil in order for the meter to work with them. I'm going to install a jack on the GT and tap the voltage and VDI inputs internaly. I plan to connect the meter to the jack via some flexible spiral cord like used on CB mikes or home phones. That way I can mount the meter where I want based on box configuration. No need to unscrew and unwrap coil cables like the commercial units. Just unplug it. This setup will also allow me to use different meters. LCD for daylight, LED for night, or even an analog meter when I'm in the mood for that. It will probably be my next project after the remote pinpoint.

If you can find a link to your meter I'm sure people would like to see that.

I've got the schematic/pictorial done for the remote pinpoint complete with part numbers and will be posting it today.
 
I'd recommend checking my work to make sure I didn't overlook something on paper. I plan to bread board the setup first with some lights just to be real sure I didn't miss something before installing it in my GT. Bypassing a switch is usualy a simply matter but not when you're trying to bypass two functions of that switch and force it into a third, want to keep the stock switches 3 positions working (regardless of if the plug is in or not), and then have a jack involved which connects or disconnects certain pathways depending again on if the plug is installed or not.

With this setup you can set the GT to Disc Iron On or Disc Iron Off and the remote switch will switch back and fourth between All Metal and which ever of the two discrimination modes you have the stock switch set to. You can also throw the GT's stock switch into All Metal the usual way if you want but then the remote switch will have no effect (you'll be switching between All Metal and All Metal in a sense by hitting the remote switch). So, GT's stock switch retains all it's 3 functions regardless of the remote switch being plugged in or not, yet you can now easily switch between whichever discrimination mode you have the GT set at and All Metal just by pressing the remote switch.

Excuse the clutter in the picture as I wanted to cram various notations into it as I thought of them. I'd rather have as much information in the picture so if it ends up getting posted elsewhere on the web by it's self no information that might have been in a seperate message will be lost.

You've got several choices for the remote switch. Push button on/off is probably the most prefered. It'll allow you to lock into say all metal fixed or tracked for hunting in reverse discrimination like some like to do, with no need to constantly hold the button down. Momentary push button styles have to be held down to stay in new mode and will return to previous when released. This type would be useful if you only planned to use the remote for quick pinpointing). Toggle style like Whites use. This is the one I plan to use. It's a two position switch. Some SPDT switches also have a third position in which no pins are connected. Not particulary useful for this application. That's the style the GT's stock switch is using.

Remember to first cut the middle post in half on the GT's switch by using a dremel with a cutoff wheel, snips (toe clippers work well), etc. I'd suggest if you don't have wire handy to pick up a role of the 4 conductor solid Intercom wire Radio Shack sells (part # in picture). The 4 colors will make it easier to understand your wiring. Once I get to installing this setup I'll take pictures and provide a cross color reference chart to match the schematic to make the wiring as simple as it can be for folks. Really it's very basic and most won't need seperate color wires to keep things straight.

Once I do the project (maybe tonight) I'll take pictures as I go of each step. Trying to make this easy to follow even if you have no electrical experience. The main thing is have somebody solder it up if you don't have soldering experience. You don't want to glob any solder onto the GT by accident or overheat the switch or board where you are making connections. Shouldn't be too easy to overheat something since the post on the GT's switch is pretty big with plenty of room to work.

The 3' cord I listed should be more than enough length for connecting the remote switch to the jack you're going to install on the GT if the box is shaft mounted in the back. In fact, you'll probably want to cut the cord down so it just reaches from the box to the hand grip where the switch will be. Which reminds me, I'll need to post what color wires inside the stereo cable are what pins on the plug for those who don't have a conductivity meter to quickly check them yourself. You won't need to know this information or even have to cut the stereo cord if you plan to use a second stereo jack (see below). You could also route the wire through the inside of the GT's shaft to hide it. If you want to use the remote switch while hip mounted just pick up a stereo female/male cord extension to plug in to get it to proper length so that it can be unplugged later to shorten the cord for shaft mounting once again.

Another option would be to install a second stereo jack somewhere near or under the hand grip so that the entire cord can be removed from the shaft without having to also remove the remote switch. Still yet, installing the remote switch over the hand grip with a simple metal hose clamp or something would make the switch easy to remove along with the cord if you didn't want to install a jack at this end as well. I plan to maybe drill the hand grip out to mount the switch inside it, running the cord through the shaft to hide it.

If you're moving ahead with doing this remember that the jack installed on the GT needs to be placed where it won't obstruct the box being put back together. Somewhere near the coil cable connector is probably the best place for a clean install, allowing you to route the stereo cord straight up to the shaft. More details on this stuff when I do mine.
 
You know......Hipmounting the sovereign solves most of your problems. Weight and switches. The weight is on your side and the switches are in your non detecting hand.

Dave
 
Yes, but hipmounted also has drawbacks. Wiring gets in your way and I find that I end up spilling dirt onto the face of the GT as I reach over to switch from discrimination to all metal. It's a pain getting sand or dirt out of the speaker vent and if you don't have rubber boots on all the switches sooner or later they are going to gum up. At least a remote switch you are either going to configure sideways or pointing down on the hand grip won't be as prone to dirting getting in it, even without a rubber boot. I also find no need to hipmount the unit when using a smaller coil like the S-5. In the end for me it feels much more natual to have the box mounted where it's supposed to be on any detector.

Soon I'll be posting a How-To on cutting down the coil and meter cable lengths to clean up the looks and drop a little weight. I'm going to put plugs on the cut off sections so that I can re-attach them for various configurations if needed in the future and also to keep their re-sale value. What I'm planning on doing is shortening the length of my coils to only reach the stock meter position, and then shortening the meter's cable to only reach the control box mounted under the back of the straight shaft.

The extensions will be of various sizes. One to extend the coil to the box shaft mounted if no meter is plugged in. A longer one to extend the coil to the box hipmounted if no meter is plugged in. And another to extend the meter to a hipmounted box. One or two of these extensions are probably going to be the perfect length to serve dual purpose for two of the configurations listed above above, so I might only need to put plugs on two extensions if not three to cover various mounting configurations.

Like maybe the extension from coil to shaft mounted box will also be the right size to extend the meter to a hipmounted box. Haven't thought that through yet. I just want to baseline the length of the cables to save as much weight as possible...Coil length to only reach the meter and the meter's cable to only reach the control box under the shaft. Extensions will cover any future configurations. I plan to take before and after weights of the cables to post how much weight savings this made. If anything it's going to clean up the looks a good bit.

I'm also looking at several other ways to shave more weight. I'm getting the lower carbon fiber rod for a Whites to replace the heavy fiberglass one that comes with the GT. I also plan to replace the thick heavy upper aluminum rod with a lighter blank of the same dimensions. More than likely that will be one of those new style aluminum straight pole crutches. These things even have the arm cup and adjustable pistol grip, almost like they were made for detectors. Still looking for a cheap one of those from a Goodwill store or resale shop. Again I'll be posting weight comparisons of these replacements to the stock hardware to show weight loss.

Final weight saving measure is going to be replacing the stock batteries with a 3 cell lipo. Even a 2250ma lipo is much lighter than the stock rechargable pack as well as the weight of 8 AA batteries used in the normal holder. I was planning to install an external power port in the GT to locate the battery elsewhere but I've got a better idea that won't require any modifications. A 3 cell lipo in the 800ma range or so should be thin enough to fit into the 8 AA stock holder. I plan to just use two tiny little alligator clips to attach the pack to the two existing negative/positive battery holders inside the pack. A little velcro should hold the battery in place with no chance of coming loose and causing a short.

This will allow me to remove the pack and still use normal 8 cell AA batteries in the holder when I want to. Something in the 1000ma to 1500 range would offer more run time than the stock rechargable pack but I don't believe a 3 cell of that size is thin enough to fit. If I go that route I'll use say a two cell 1500ma pack laying next to a single cell 1500ma pack and link them in series to restore the proper voltage output. In this configuration anything up to a 2250ma pack should fit if I wanted and would still be lighter, but I plan to use something smaller in order to maximize weight loss. More than likely I'll just go to a 3 cell pack with the highest capacity (probably about 800ma or so) that is still going to be thin enough to fit inside the battery holder, rather than joining a 2 and 1 cell pack side by side.

These packs are cheap, like well south of $20, and hold their voltage through almost the entire discharge. The only drawback to these packs is they require a lipo charger and can not be drawn less than 9V (3 volts per cell). So long as you re-charge the pack every couple of outtings they should never risk getting too low. As an added bonus I think the GT requires something above 10.5 volts and will sound the low battery alarm if a pack gets below that, so that would be an added safety precaution.

I plan to post before/after weights for this battery change as well and will be putting up a tutorial on which pack to buy, how to plug it in to the alligator clips, and I'll cover a good cheap computer charger called the Accucel 6 for $35 that can be used to charge these, charge and cycle the stock rechargable pack, and just about any other battery type you can think of. It can be bought along with the battery from Hobby City and their prices are the lowest on the planet.

Any one of the above weight savings by it's self probably won't amount to much, but combining them all together has the potential to really lighten up the GT a good bit. I've noticed the box without the stock batteries to very light, more so than I expected. It's those batteries that make it heavy. By the same comparison, a blank aluminum tube of the same diameter of the stock upper shaft is much lighter and just as stiff. Many good ways to put the GT on a diet.
 
I've got another update to the above schematic/pictorial. Mainly I added a few more details and moved a few things around to make it less cluttered. I've also added what I think is a really good idea if you plan to use a second jack at the remote switch so that you can remove the cord completely from shaft when not in use, without having to also remove the switch if it's mounted on the hand grip in such a way to not make that easy. Rather than picking up a second jack like the one mounted on the GT and then trying to figure out where and how to mount it and your switch on or near the hand grip, I think I've found a way to kill two birds with one stone.

I was looking at project enclosures to house the jack and switch but they were all a good bit too big. In the battery holder drawers I thought I had a better solution with a few of those AAA enclosed boxes that hold them. These make good project boxes and are a good bit cheaper/smaller than the "official" project boxes on the shelf, yet still snap closed like them. Almost walked out with one of these but it still was too big for my liking. I happened to glance over to the wall and saw they had little black plastic stereo adaptors. These things are meant to do things like provide a 3/32" male plug at one end and two female 1/8" jacks at the other, with every other combination of sizes and male/female configurations you can imagine under the sun.

Anyway, picked up adaptor # 274-945 for $6.99. It's got a 3/32" male plug at one end and two 1/8" female jacks at the other. The plastic housing looks just big enough for what I have in mind. Pry the tiny plastic case apart and unsolder/remove the 3/32" male plug. Now drill this hole out to fit your switch and install/solder it up to the stereo jack(s). The switch I'm using in the schematic looks like it will just fit but haven't tried it yet. I'd seal the plastic back together with rubber cement and fill the unused stereo jack to better waterproof it. Then cover the unused jack with black tape to hide it better.

Zip tie this little guy to your hand grip with the switch end on the bottom so the switch toggle is hanging down like on other detectors. Plug your male/male shielded stereo cable into the jack you installed on the GT and into the jack on this and your all set. You can even route this cord through the GT's shaft, up through the hand grip (or at least under the foam hand grip cover), and plug it right into the jack on top. This thing is small enough to not clutter up your hand grip. Will probably mount above your hand to stay out of your hand's way, and should provide easy access to the trigger by your index finger. The thing is black and looks almost like it was meant for this. I'll be posting pictures/details along with the other stuff on installing the remote switch when I tackle the project. Hoping to tackle it this weekend.

By the way, while your up at Radio Shack pick up some rubber feet for your GT's control box to protect it when placed on the ground. Part #64-2342. 8 pack. Self sticking. Until I make a proper stand on the shaft I'll use these. Also hate how the GT's shaft doesn't balance well on the ground if the box is hipmounted. Making your own shaft mounted stand mounted just down the shaft from the box would solve this problem and won't be in the boxe's way if it's on the shaft.
 
Today I installed the remote pinpoint jack in the GT. Refer to earlier in the thread to see how to take the unit apart. Later I'll cover wiring up the remote switch to it's own jack and mounting it on the hand grip.

I decided the 24 gauge solid intercom wire was a bit too stiff. It'll work but I ended up using some three conductor stranded servo wire used for RC planes. If you need wire this stuff can be picked up at your local hobby shop. If you look in the model railroad section you can buy a large roll fairly cheap for future projects. Won't need much, though.

I prefer having the three conductors joined together in one wire like this for a cleaner install. I'd at least pick up some form of small gauge (around 24) stranded wire. Get it in three conductor form if you can so the wires aren't all over the place. Less stress on the solder connections as well since they are supporting each other running from the GT switch to the jack. This wire is brown, red, and black and I will be updating the schematic with matching colors as well as changing a few details and other tips/parts here and there in that picture.

First thing to do is take your jack and figure out where you want to mount it inside the GT. Take the bottom battery holder half of the GT's case and re-install it so you can eye up what might be blocked with it installed later. Mainly you want to avoid the screw posts on it and notice the fact that the case doesn't give full clearance everywhere.

I ended up deciding that the best spot would be between the coil connector and the corner as the pictures show the box sitting. There aren't any tall PC board parts blocking your way here. If you get the jack's square enclosure just to the right of a the little raised rib you'll see on the inside of the box you you'll be sure to clear the screw post from the bottom cover that mounts in the corner.

I also wanted to make sure the jack is raised a fair bit off the PC board just to insure good clearance there as well, but not too high that the jack's pins (which you should position on top to avoid shorts with the GT's circuit board) and the wire you solder to them won't be bumping into the bottom of the lower cover when it's put back on.

I held the jack in place and used a marker to do a half circle around the jack's plug hole to reference about where the hole should be drilled on the box. I then took a nail and heated it up with a propane torch to melt a hole through the case from inside the box. This allowed me to then use a drill and drill the hole to proper size from outside the case, using the melted hole as my reference. Just make sure the drill is not going to hit the circuit board by coming in at an angle or something while drilling. Not sure what size drill bit this jack needs since it doesn't say on the label, so I just drilled a few test holes with various bits into some wood and then checked to see if the jack would fit.

Install the jack just to make sure everything is going to clear and then remove it again. You should do your soldering to it outside of the GT's box to avoid the risk of gobbing solder on something.

Next step would be to gauge how long your wire needs to be to allow the GT's faceplate to remain detached from the box as previous pictures showed when taking it apart. Give yourself a bit of extra length to be sure. As you can see from the pictures with the face plate by in place the best route to run your wiring will be straight up from the switch along side of the ribbon cable, as there's plenty of open space here. Remember this when soldering...that the wire is going to be routing up from the switch and over the plastic in your way just like the ribbon cable. Positioning your wire in this direction before soldering will put less stress on the solder connections than it would if you had to bend wire to get it to route the right way.

Before soldering you'll need to cut the center post on the all metal/disc iron mask on/disc iron mask off switch as shown in the schematic. I found toe nail clippers to be perfect for the job. Once it's cut gently bend the two ends away from each other so they'll never contact again.

Take some flux and rub it on the two cut ends as well as the right post where pin #5 from the jack is going to solder to. Best to make your cut and solder connections about midway down the switch's post, providing plenty of room to work. The pictures don't show it well (sorry, camera doesn't have great close up focus) but this switches posts have lots of room around them to work, so things shouldn't get too hairy. Still, I'd place a small cloth or something on the circuit board to catch any solder dropped by accident if you are worried about it.

Cut the orange wire (or whatever wire you are using for the right to pin 5 on the jack) just a hair shorter than the other two wires. This will make the wire install cleaner as this post is closer than the middle one where the other two wires will be going. Strip and dip your three wires in some flux. Start by soldering the brown wire (which is going to pin 1 on the jack) to the lower half of the middle post (the end going to the circuit board). Next solder the red wire (this is pin 2 on the jack) to the upper half of this post that goes to the switch. Now solder the orange wire (which goes to pin 5 on the jack) to the right post about midway down it or wherever is easiest.

Now gently bend the wire as flat with the switches and other stuff as possible for good clearance and re-install the face plate to make sure everything clears. Should be fine so long as the wire is routed somewhere straight up by the ribbon cable. Once again set the face plate back down and eye all your connections, making sure nothing is loose or that any of them might contact each other.
 
On to soldering to the jack. Refer to the pin layout that should be on the package the jack came in. Look at the schematic I put together and make sure your pins and numbers match the jack I'm using. If they don't just cross reference which pins I'm using and find those on your jack's schematic, hooking the wires to the proper pins as they are oriented. For instance, pin 2 on my jack is the connection that's made to the very tip of the plug. Pin 3 will connect to it when no jack is installed and disconnect when the jack is in. Make sure you've got all these right.

The brown wire coming from the bottom half of the cut post is going to pin 1. Pin 1 is also connected to pin 3, which also connects pin 1 to pin 2 when no jack is present. Since pin 1 and 3 are always grounded together, it's a simple matter to just strip extra length off of the brown wire so that you can connect it to pin 1 and 3 without the need of cutting and soldering a second smaller wire to join them. For me the easiest method was to strip the proper length and then insert the brown wire through the hole in pin 3 and then into the hole for pin 1. After treating the wire and pins with flux solder the two pins to the wire.

Now solder up pin 2 (red wire in my case), which is coming from the top of the cut post. Lastly solder the wire coming from the right switch post (orange with my wire) to pin 5, which makes the connection to the middle contact on a jack. Pin 1, of course, is the contact at the base of the plug.

Once you've got all your wires soldered, are sure they are solid (tug on them) and won't short to each other, install the face plate back onto the GT, install the 3 (or 4 if you removed it the right way) screws for that, then mount the jack with it's supplied nut. Since I broke the bottom screw post on mine under the circuit board I just dabbed a bit of super glue to the end of the post so it will re-connect good. Now it's a simple matter of putting the machine back together.

Unwrinkle your shielding and re-attach the two halves together. It found it easier to stick a wood ruler under the shielding so I could press on it from below while I put pressure on the top to re-seal the two together. You can see remnants of the glue from the tape on the foil to judge just where they should contact each other to get things perfect. I also put a piece of scotch tape over this lip to make double sure the two halves don't separate in the future, which could lead to interference on your machine.

Also pay special attention to the foil shield where it's near the coil connector. There is tape down at this end to make sure the foil doesn't some how come in contact with the connections here. Even though the bottom of the foil shield is rubber I ended up putting more tape folding under this spot to be extra careful. If your jack looks like it's close to the shielding somewhere put some tape on the shielding there as well, though it should be pretty far away the way I mounted it. Just be sure the shield is going to stay together. Also make sure the paper clip attached to the ground wire is making good contact with the foil like it should.

Install the little white plug that comes from the battery holder observing proper polarity. It is keyed by be sure things are matching up with the +/- markings on the circuit board. Install the bottom cover and put back in the two screws that hold it in place. Plug your GT into it's coil, install the battery, and turn it on. Throw the all metal/disc switch into all three positions making sure the GT is working right just to be safe. If the unit doesn't want to switch into all metal then there is a bad connection somewhere with your soldering or you didn't wire things correctly. Remember, the GT's switch puts it in Disc Iron Mask On mode if none of the pins are connected to each other, so that's most likely the mode it will be stuck in if something is wrong.

Next time I'll cover wiring up the second jack to the remote switch. Or you can just wire the other end of your stereo cord to the switch directly if you don't want to remove the cord when not in use, or have an easy way to remove the remote switch along with the cord so you don't need a jack at this end). If wiring directly or even just cutting the length of your cord down just remember to use a test light, ohm meter, or conductivity checker to figure out which contacts on the jack go to what wires in the cord.

A few other minor details...

I measured from the jack to the bottom of the hand grip and found it was only 9" with the position I have my jack installed on the box and where my hand grip is set on the shaft. For this reason, if you plan to mount a jack somewhere at the base of the handgrip you can probably get by with a 1 foot long stereo shielded (always use shielded) male to male stereo cable. The 3 foot one is much longer than needed, but might be long enough for hip mounting I guess. I also measured from the jack along the shaft and then up to the top of the hand grip and it was 16", so in the case that you are going to mount your jack somewhere at the top of the grip a 2 foot long stereo cord should be more than long enough.

There are lots of options here. I'm not sure sure if the little stereo plug adaptor I bought is going to work to house my jack and switch. It turns out the components inside are incased in something like hot glue. I managed to get the case apart by cutting around where the two halves join together with an exacto knife. I removed the jacks/plug but they are sealed in the glue so there's no way to access them to change things.

I think the jack I used for the GT will fit in this case along with the switch I'm using but haven't tried yet. If anything I'll have to come up with another idea. I'm leaning more towards putting a jack somewhere at the base of the hand grip, then running wire up the grip under the foam grip cover to my switch mounted pointing down and attached to a hose clamp in some way, but I have to think things through on this. I'll post what I came up with when I go into the steps for wiring up the switch and second jack. Maybe by Monday.

As much tedious detail as I went into there shouldn't be any questions, but just the same feel free to ask if you have any.

A few other pictures for now, and an updated schmatic later with further info. Real sorry about the clearity of some of these pictures. My camera doesn't have auto focus and it can be picky with close ups. The picture showing the shielding back in place makes it look like it's torn up pretty bad by the picture. In real life it looks much smoother and there are no tears. Just minor wrinkles. So long as your shielding is folded back in place and secured properly you should have no interference issues. If you are going to use extra tape make sure it's something you can remove down the road if you need to get inside again, such as scotch tape.
 
A few mistakes that I can't go back and edit...

At the start of the message I said the servo wire I'm using is brown, red, and black. It's really brown, red, and orange. The rest of the thread uses the proper color descriptions. Any small gauge stranded wire in the 24 or so gauge will be the easiest to use. Flexible and small enough to fit cleanly into the holes provided on the jack pins. Not important to fit a wire into the holes. Just makes for a more sure solder connection. You mainly just want to stay with a thin gauge to soldering here and at the GT's switch is less hassle and the wire is more flexible.

Another mistake is where I said " If you get the jack's square enclosure just to the right of a the little raised rib you'll see on the inside of the box you'll be sure to clear the screw post from the bottom cover that mounts in the corner by it."

Meant to say the jack's square enclosure should be just to the LEFT of this little plastic rib inside the box. At least that's where I found it to be the easiest to mount it...here between the coil connector and the left corner of the box.

Wanted to clearify this..."also wanted to make sure the jack is raised a fair bit off the PC board just to insure good clearance there as well, but not too high that the jack's pins (which you should position on top to avoid shorts with the GT's circuit board) and the wire you solder to them won't be bumping into the bottom of the lower cover when it's put back on."

You'll notice inside the other cover where the battery pack goes the ceiling of the box is dropped a little. You don't want the switch mounted so high as to have it's pins or wire solder connections bump into this.

This is confusing..."Take some flux and rub it on the two cut ends as well as the right post where pin #5 from the jack is going to solder to. Best to make your cut and solder connections about midway down the switch's post, providing plenty of room to work."

I didn't mean to imply that you cut the right post. As the schematic shows only the center post is cut in half. The right post just has pin 5 soldered to it. Cutting the center post as well as doing your soldering on the right post is going to be easiest about halfway between the switch and the circuit board, also preventing you from overheating something real easy.

This is confusing...Now solder up pin 2 (red wire in my case), which is coming from the top of the cut post. Lastly solder the wire coming from the right switch post (orange with my wire) to pin 5, which makes the connection to the middle contact on a jack. Pin 1, of course, is the contact at the base of the plug.

Should say..."which makes the connection to the middle contact on a PLUG". To clearify all this, on the JACK pin 2 contacts the very tip contact on the PLUG when installed. Pin 5 on the JACK contacts the center contact of the plug when installed, and pin 1 on the JACK connects to the contact at the base of the plug when it's installed. If I wasn't real clear in a few areas about this, just keep in mind what pin numbers on the jack contact which areas on the plug when it's installed. You'll need to keep this sorted out when wiring up a second jack, needing to know which pins on the GT's jack are which contacts on the plug to properly wire the second jack up. I'll cover that later when I install it.

Here's a point..."Once you've got all your wires soldered, are sure they are solid (tug on them) and won't short to each other, install the face plate back onto the GT, install the 3 (or 4 if you removed it the right way) screws for that, then mount the jack with it's supplied nut. Since I broke the bottom screw post on mine under the circuit board I just dabbed a bit of super glue to the end of the post so it will re-connect good. Now it's a simple matter of putting the machine back together."

If you removed the face plate the right way by removing the coil connector and circuit board to access the fourth screw instead of breaking it's post off like I did, you'd have slightly different steps here. Put in this screw, then install the circuit board and re-bolt the coil connector to the box, and plug the ribbon cable back in if you decided to disconnect the face plate from the circuit board. Once all that junk is back in place then you'd go ahead and mount the jack in the hole you drilled. Above details about removing the face plate and all that are found earlier in this thread on taking apart a GT.

Hope that's all the corrections or clearifications I need to make. An updated schematic with matching colors+ other new details soon...
 
Man that picture of the shielding makes it look ripped up and bad. It's not, though. It has some minor wrinkles but nothing more. The lighting must be making the wrinkles look worse or like rips. Same reason people say cameras make them look fat...:biggrin:

New schematic/details/info...
 
Added some further details to the pictorial. Mainly covering some testing procedures after you install the jack on the GT. With no plug installed into GT's jack if you turn the machine on all 3 functions of GT's stock switch should work. If you have a plug installed in GT's jack but not plugged into a jack at the remote switch (or just not wired up to the remote switch) the GT should not be able to go into All Metal now because it's stuck in Disc Iron Mask On. Pin 1 has no pathway to 2 or 5. This is due to the plug being installed in GT seperating pin 3 from 2 like it should when the plug is in, and the stereo cord being an open circuit at other end since it's not connected to the remote switch.

As a sidenote to lightening the machine up, I went on an excursion yesterday looking for an aluminum tube the same diameter but lighter than the heavy upper aluminum shaft on the GT. I've heard those new style single pole aluminum crutches work for this if you can find one cheap at a Goodwill store or something. I figured I'd see if I could find some kind of tool handle that was aluminum and the same diameter. I hit Home Depot, Walmart, Big Lots, and a Harbor Tool & Freight. Most of cleaning or garden tools have either steel, plastic, or wood handles, or if they were aluminum they weren't the right size. If you're looking for something like this check out the areas for cleaning supplies, garden tools, and car wash supplies (some car brushes have aluminum handles to reach over vans and such).

I ended up figuring out that an Unger professional window cleaning pole (they sell these in various extension sizes) had the proper size aluminum tube in the pole that extends out of the fatter main pole. Same size and slides perfectly over the lower GT shaft. It's very stiff but less thick than the stock upper shaft so it's much lighter. And added bonus is that it has two snap pins on it that holds the plastic tool holder in place on top. The GT comes with one of these but it only has one pin on it. This two pin style tightens things up much more. Just cut the tube to the same length as the stock upper shaft and drill all your holes in the same spots it has in various places. The only difference is if you are going to use this two headed snap pin in place of the stock one then drill the adjustment holes for that all the way through the shaft so it can pop out both sides of the shaft.

I'm going to weight the stock shaft and this one with nothing on them and will post the weight saved. I have a lower Whites carbon shaft on order ($10) to lighten that end up. Just hope a Whites shaft is the same diameter as the lower GT shaft. Think I heard it is.

On the Lipo Install: I figured out that if you unsnap the sliding cover on the battery holder there is a small empy compartment. On the rechargable pack this little box houses the charge circuit. This is going to be perfect for a lipo install on the regular AA holder. I plan to install a small jack here inside the holder that the lipo can be plugged into when used. When I want to put regular AAs back in the holder I'll just need to unplug and remove the lipo from it. Much better idea than installing an external jack on the GT control box somehwere. The only thing modified is the AA battery holder, and this slight modification is hidden inside it. I'm tracking down the biggest capacity lipo pack that will still be thin enough to fit inside the holder. Once I get that I'll post weight saving totals compared to stock batteries.

I managed to take the stock rechargable pack apart for a look around. It's easy to do. The Sub A cells are glued to the sliding cover, so you need to force the cover apart here and there to get the glue to break free from the cover. Once that's done it slides right open like the normal holder. Those 10 Sub As are old school. No wonder the thing is heavy. At the very least they should have used higher capacity cells. 1000ma Sub As are about the cheapest you can go in those. You wouldn't pay any penalty in weight if they were higher capacity cells, and I bet you'd only need 8 instead of 10 because higher capacity ones will hold their voltage better like a regular store shelf battery. Better in fact, from my experience.
 
Haven't got around to the remote switch install at the grip yet as I'm building a lighter custom shaft for it and plan to use a different grip. Still shopping for one. In the mean time here's a little diversion into myths and legend mods that some believe will improve performance on a detector...

First off, somebody in the Sovereign forum had a really good idea for people. Run the coil cable straight up the shaft from the coil for a while to get as much of it as far away from the coil as quickly as possible. Secure it in place because a flopping cord might be picked up by the coil. Some also believe less cable being near the coil means slightly higher performance and sensitivity settings.

I ran across a tid bit of information the other day that I've never even given thought to. Some guys prefer using as long as a non-metalic lower shaft as possible to increase the distance between the coil and the metal upper part of the shaft as far as possible. They believe this increases the performance and allows you to get the machine just a little higher in sensitivity and still remain stabile because the coil is not seeing as much metal in it's detection field as it would be with a shorter lower shaft.

Some might argue that there shouldn't be a problem because the coil and shaft are never moving in relation to each other, but let's remember that isn't exactly the case. Even slight deflection in the orientation to each other could be taking place as you sweep, causing the coil to pick it up in some small way. Even if it's sort'a a myth with standard length lower rods it never hurts to rub that rabbit foot, so I think I'll follow that advice as well as I construct my custom lighter shaft.

One other legend of folk lore that I haven't heard in years is using aluminum foil to further shield the inside of a control box. I noticed the GT doesn't have any RF shielding at the back or front. Next time I have it apart I may add some. Should be safe to do so long as you glue it in place so it won't come loose and short the circuit board or something. At the back there is plenty of room on the control box. At the front there's a decent sized area inside the box as well. This plastic area is between the circuit board and the face plate.

Just wonder if aluminum foil would get the job done or if you'd need special RF material of some type. In theory the board would receive less RF noise and so you'd be able to run it at higher sensitivity without falsing. Not sure if you'd have to ground this shielding like the stock shield is in order to receive any benefits. I'd expect you wouldn't have to with the extra shielding as it's still going to block RF noise.

Then there's the debate about whether shortening your coil cables will pick up less noise and if the slightly lower wire resistance (resulting in more voltage at the coil) will amount to any kind of depth increase. Same idea behind some believing that the stock meter drawing power from the Tx coil might also result in less signal strength in the ground.

All fairly interesting ideas. I'd like to hear opinions on this and any other "improvements" people believe will allow the machine to run at higher performance. I look at it this way, so long as it isn't going to hurt something and is within reason why not do it just in case it might help. All these little things could add up to something measurable, even if it's only in some small way.
 
Here's a re-post from another thread with info I threw together for cleaning switches/pots on the Sovereign along with some other troubleshooting info if you have problems with your machine. Figured it was more well suited here...

First, I'd make sure the headphones are good and there is no short in the headphone jack. Try removing the headphones and see if the speaker sounds the same. But, my guess is that the pot for the threshold is dirty. If the machine is no longer under warranty it's always a good idea to clean all your switches and pots with some electrical cleaner first before sending it in somewhere. I bet 9 times out of 10 a problem with a Sovereign is just a dirty switch or pot. That's one of the big drawbacks to hip mounting because any dirt or sand on your hand falls down and sits right on the face plate.

While I'm at it, who has a good cheap source for those rubber boot switches? I'm guessing an electronic parts store would be much cheaper than buying them from a Sunray or Minelab dealer but I don't know what size they are off hand. Anybody have a link?

Don't use WD-40 or anything else to clean pots or switches. Pick up a good electrical contact cleaner from Radio Shack or Home Depot. You want the type that doesn't leave any lubrication or residue. Most of the time you won't even need to remove the switch. Just spray it into the toggle's opening. Pots can be tricky but some times it's possible to do it with them as well without needing to get inside to access it better. In RC a lot of servos go bad because the pot has dirt or carbon built up in it. I've salvaged a whole pile of servos by cleaning the pots on them, but I took those pots completely apart do clean them properly. Still, most of the time you can get some spray in there just by getting near the dial shaft and forcing it in.

In a pinch on something I don't care much about like the old boom box in my garage, you can use WD40 to clean switches and such. It's probably OK for switches but the reason why it's a bad idea for pots or sliding controls (such as volume/balance/etc on this boom box) is it will leave an oil residue which can do funky things to pots in the long run. Pots and sliding switches have a surface that little "feelers" move across and change the resistance or other factors in the circuit. That's how a volume control works in a basic sense.

Anyway, for years the volume control slider on that box had a dead spot. It would drive me crazy trying to get the volume right without hitting the dead spot which would kill it or cause static. Finaly wasted a few seconds out of my life to pick up a can of WD40 and spray it into that slider. Problem gone. Always amazes me how I'll avoid something and let it bother me for years when it only takes a minute or two to fix.

Almost forgot- Be careful with getting any spray on the face plate or plastic. Some contact cleaners will melt plastic, so don't fire hose a whole bunch of that stuff into the inside of the switch/pot either in case it drips into the box.

Another thing to remember. We learned in HVAC school that 90% of all problems are electrical, and probably most of the electrical problems are not due to a failed component but rather a loose or dirty connection. Most common of all would be a loose or badly crimped connector. In fact, first repair I did fresh out of school was my neighbor's compressor for the condensor wasn't coming on. Sure enough, one of the crimp connectors was very loose and you could even see the black carbon on it from too much resistance, causing heat. Always remember that when working on anything. Chances are it's a connector, loose solder connection or some other simple electrical short.

Chances are one of the pots is dirty, even if it isn't the threshold. Sensitivity or volume might be lagging out on you. To clean them properly you'd need to open the box and access the backs of the pots where you should be able to get spray inside them better. Move them around as soon as you spray it in. Don't use anything that will leave a residu and be careful cause some electrical cleaners will melt plastic if dripping on the box or something.

Really, to properly clean a pot you need to take it apart. Often they have a C clip on the back of the pot shaft that you have to remove and then it will come apart. Once in there I'd clean the pot surface with rubbing alchohol if you don't have any contact cleaner. You want to rub the pot with a Que Tip to really clean it, but then make sure you didn't leave any lint on the thing. Some people will use plain white paper as a mild form of sand paper by rubbing it dry over the pot surface, then spray and clean it with your cleaner.

If you know how to use a multimeter you can hitch it up to the pot and move the pot around and see if the change is consistent and smooth. If you start seeing large jumps or dead spots with the meter you can be sure the pot is either dirty or bad.
 
Thanks. Plan to order them this week if I can't find a local source. Radio Shack doesn't have them but I think I know of an electronics surplus store that might since they seem to have everything else under the sun.

I was putting the switch mod on hold until I gathered the parts for my own custom light weight shaft but tonight I should be finishing that up since I now have the parts. I plan to fire up the heater in the garage and kill off a six pack (or two) while I start putting this thing together which I hope will be a good bit lighter than the stock shaft. Just tracked down a nice black aluminum bike grip that is very light. Can't wait to weigh it 'cuz I think it's lighter than that stock plastic grip, and I think it's going to allow a switch and jack to mount internaly in it.

Also found a killer looking black aluminum bottle holder that is designed to snap onto a bike's shaft. It's going to be perfect I think as a stand for the GT and since it weighs nothing it won't add hardly anything in the way of weight. It's already cheaper at $9 than the commercial detector stands people are hocking for the Sovereign and from the looks of those I bet they weigh a lot more. Almost like it was meant for a detector. Pictures and part #s maybe tomorrow as I plan to build tonight.

Now it seems I might have to build yet a third one piece shaft in carbon just to prove it can be done, and for less than a commercial one built out of heavier metal construction. Quickest way to get me to do something is by saying it can't be done, or at least not cheaply. :rage:
 
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