Sovereign or Excalibur?

[thidbornau]

Which one of the two detects deeper? i was thinking about buying the Sovereign i already have the Ecalibur11 or do i not have to bother have i got a good one now.

Maureen "thirdbornau"

 

[Critterhunter]

The Excal far as I heard is based on an older Sovereign model(s). All Sovereigns get excellent depth and pretty much the same depth from what I've read, but some say the Elite was a tad deeper and the GT a tad deeper yet, so I would suspect the GT is a tad bit deeper than the Excal. Might be slightly more sensitive to tiny stuff too because if you search back this forum to around when the GT came out there were many threads remarking on it's sensitivity to tiny stuff compared to prior Sovereign models. I'm sure the differences in depth between all the Soveregins/Excal is so miniscule though (when using the same coil) that it would be hard to notice without accurate masurements on head to head tests. It mainly comes down to the coil. That Excal is beyond deep just like any older Sovereign model compared to pretty much anything on the market, so if you want more depth you need look no further than a good aftermarket coil IMO. All the Minelabs are so good in depth and separation that coil choice in my opinion is what will edge any FBS or BBS unit over another on any given day at any given site. I know, because my 12x10 isn't giving an inch to my friend's flagship machine in depth or unmasking. Doing just as well.

One thing for sure, many Excal guys rave about it's PP mode giving PI-like depth, and I've even read some say PP is deeper than a few PIs they've owned. I don't really see PP on my GT to be deeper than discriminate (yet), but I've read some say PP mode on the Excals is unique so who knows? Maybe it is...

 

[Rick(ND)]

If you are a water hunter than the Excalibur is the one you want, but if you are more beach and land hunting then the GT is what you want.. The Excalibur's are a bit heavy for land hunting and with no meter to help IDing you will probably dig more trash too over the Sovereign GT. I have a couple people in my area that like to hunt rivers where they do tubing and both use the older Sovereign XS even though one has a Excalibur that he uses when he goes to the ocean in FL in the winter where he feels the wave can knock him down, but he can wash off the salt off the Excalibur with no worry. With the Excalibur it seems like you have to maintain then more with the lube of the O rings to keep it water tight, but if you water hunt then you do need the Excalibur.

 

[dewcon4414]

Like Rick said ,its going to depend on what your intended use is. Regardless the Sov will be the deepest.... in the dirt or sand, but if its for water use you are always safe with the Excal. If dry and wet sand as a back up go with the Sov.

Dew

 

[Critterhunter]

If you only want to wade say waist deep and the waves aren't usually bad where you hunt then the GT will work as that's why it's chest mountable with extra long coil cables so you can do that. It's meant to be amphibious. But if you want to go deeper or the waves are bad then don't risk buying a GT. You have to figure out which you want to do. Buy the GT if waist deep/little waves is fine for you and you want to dry beach and land hunt a lot. If primarily you water hunt and want to go deeper then get an Excal. If you are hunting salt water with the GT though, you had better put it in a closed ziplock bag to keep the salt mist off of it, and you need to drill two holes right above the coil mount that goes up inside the lower shaft so the water will drain out. And I'd replace the two headed snap pin that adjusts the shaft height with one of plugger's stainless steal bolt systems for that. I don't know what the adjustment pin for the two shafts is made of but I bet it will rot quick in salt. Also, don't do any of this if the machine is under warranty. Even drilling the holes in the shaft might void the warranty.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

n/t

 

[thidbornau]

Thanks guys for listening,
i was detecting all week with a guy, and he had a Sovereign and was knockig me for six with finds, i wasn't getting a beep the Excalibur was ready for the bin the last time i wet out. Plus the good signals i was getting were finding me bullets on mass and it should have discriminated?????.the tones sounded like alluminium so i had to dig them.

H.H. Maureen..

 

[Critterhunter]

Excaliburs are pretty much the deepest water machine on the market unless you are talking about PI units, and even some say the Excalibur is deeper then some PIs even when using discriminate mode, while some also say in Pinpoint mode the Excalibur is deeper than other PIs. Of course that's their sand and depending on the PI, because PIs are really deep in the worst of ground (like a Minelab is) but they don't feature the ability to discriminate out anything like iron.

The only way the bullets would discriminate out is if they were steel (iron). Most bullets are lead and that will read up in the coin range. Many for me read like a penny or so.

 

[dewcon4414]

When you say bullets..... are you talking copper jackets or lead? I hunt an area with a ton of the copper ones from where they used to use the area for target practice during WWII.... they sound good. Why would you think it would disc out copper or lead? Nature of the beast and if you feel the Sov is deeper..... then you are going to dig them still... just deeper. Sounds like someone wants a new machine lol. If you are a beach hunter a Sov is a great back up that many use.... but amphibious not a good term for a non water proof machine.

Dew

 

[thidbornau]

Actually i was getting both copper and lead,i know lead is a good tone but i would have thought the copper ones would discriminate out.

Update this, the result of the problem "my excalibur is broken" my husband discovered all the wires at the connection are splitting both on the charger wire and main cable,he is going to cut it off and solder it new tomorrow.

I had this problem when my machine was quite new but that was the cable to the headphones,since he cut out the bad wire it has been good.
So now we know why i had no finds and signals all over the place.

H.H. Maureen.

 

[Critterhunter]

Copper jacketed bullets are going to read at least as high as a copper penny, so you can't discriminate those out even if you turn the discrimination dial all the way up. Anything called ferrous is steel/iron based metals and they will be ignored by the Excal or Sovereign unless you hunt in all metal or pin point mode. All non-ferrous stuff, from foil all the way up to silver, is going to sound off. You can raise your discrimination dial to kill up to probably about just below a zinc penny, but it won't go higher than that. Same deal with the notch on the Sovereign. Lacking that, you can note the tone of the target (or it's VDI if using a Sovereign) and then ignore that tone or ID, but on the beach that's never a good idea. It's so easy to scoop with a long handled scoop that it's best to just recovery everything. Some guys will avoid certain targets on the beach if they are there by the billions, like say zinc pennies or tabs, but gold can read anywhere on the scale to you risk missing some rings doing that.

 

[thidbornau]

I didn't buy the sovereign i bought the E-trac and am hoping i have made the right decision??? took it out once wasn't happy but need to give it time i guess.

H.H. Maureen..

 

[Rick(ND)]

The E-Trac is a fine detector, but quite a bit different then the Sovereigns are. I seen the E-Tracs in the right hands do well in areas that have been hit with many other detectors, like the Sovereigns it takes time and patience and will say the Sovereigns were easier to learn than the E-Trac is as I was still learning myself when I sold it and got a CTX 3030 which is even more complex. The Sovereigns are a more turn on and go detectors, but you will see the E-Trac takes a little more to get it set right for the area you are in, but once you get to understand it you will find it is easy to use.
I been using Sovereigns since 1996 and tried many other detectors, but always have a Sovereign around as I know it well and can do great in most places I go others say is worked out. The E-Trac can do well as I am seeing around me here with some nice coins that have been missed over the years in the hands of those that have spent the time to get to know it, but also seen some that didn't want to spend the time to learn either the Sovereign or the E-Trac and say all they find is trash and sold them for a beep and dig detector.

Good Luck
Rick

 

[Tin Fin]

I don't know anything about E-tracs but I love using my Sovereign GT and the Excal. To my knowledge, the only thing discriminated out by either is iron, and even then, you will find some iron; rusty bolts or galvanized items. The galvanize is a zinc-like metal and will ring in on the Excal and GT. I started with the Excal because I didn't know how long it would be before I got the GT. But I have, and use, both. I don't regret it. Good luck with the E-trac though. I'm sure we will be hearing about the Excal finds too.