Weakspot

[MonDak]

I may stir up a hornets nest with this post, but was wondering if anyone else feels the same way. I have soverign with a 550 meter and almost feel that I will have to put it in a garage sale or buy a different meter for it. I like the way the dectector works, but (excuse my language) the meter is a real piece of crap. Judging from the other posts on this forum from people with meter problems and either modifying or replacing the meter with one from a different manufacturer, is'nt the meter an albatross around minelabs neck???

 

[Art (NWOH)]

I love the 550 meter.......at least the XS2 meter. Don't much care for the Elite "Sovereign" meter but would still rather have it than a 180 meter.

HH

 

[adam in cal]

I used the 550 and was real reluctant to switch to a 180 scale meter , what problems are you experienceing with the 550 meter ?? I feel its a great meter , but it does take some getting used to , one would think it was inoperable or way to jumpy .. I learned the 550 meter and i really like it, I do find the 180 scale a bit easier on the eye and less ''jumpy'' but all in all the 550 in my opinion gives you more info than the 180 meter ...........you may not be properly calibrated, I swore my 550 was a broken pile of dung , but I did learn that you need to know when to look at it and when it is acting iradically there is often a reason ..........good luck ....

 

[Art (NWOH)]

Too bad you never tried the XS2 meter.Much more info than the Elite meter and FAST.

HH

 

[adam in cal]

I know there is more to that 550 meter than people give it credit for , I ended up buying in to the 180 theory and just ran with that, I noticed the 550 was telling a different number for each trash item, which I liked , you got to know excatally waht was unhder that coil , and the ones you didnt see before were something to dig and investigate , the 180 just kinda give a general number for foil or most junk , that 550 you knew weather it was a ketchup packet or a gum wrapper, with the 180 you just know its some kind of foil based junk .........

 

[Rick(ND)]

As you see some love the 550 meter, but me it is the 180 meter as this is what I learned the Sovereign with and when I tried the 550 on the new XS2 pro I got i found the numbers over lapped too much as they varied by 5-8 numbers on a good target. I found the Sun Ray 180 meter to only vary 1 number on a good target so I could tell the zinc pennies from the copper and screw caps from either the zinc penny or the copper ones. This goes with the nickles too as I could tell them from the beaver tails off the old round pull tabs. Now I am sure if I would have kept using the 550 meter or learned my Sovereign with the 550 it may have been different.
Anyway Minelab now makes a 180 meter for the Sovereigns as i feel they seen too many that like these meters. Even with the 180 meter you have to learn that meter with the tones, so unless you have something wrong with your meter you should be able to use it with no problem, just takes time and patience like the Sovereign does.
I have used the later model 550 meter on the Elite and it was much more stable than the older ones, so they did make a change to them when the Elite came out. There is only one meter I didn't like and many do as i felt it was too slow for my hunting, but that one cost twice as much as the others do, but for a beginner it would probably be a easy meter to use.
Rick

 

[Art (NWOH)]

You missed one of the best parts that is not there on the Elite meter because it is too slow.....

When I first got my 2a I found that both zincs and small pieces of steel siding both would read 539. There was some difference in sound, but the meter really talked about it.
On a coin or similar shaped object the meter runs right up in a fairly smooth progression until it locks in. The trash has a ragged random movement that seems to lack direction of travel, and has difficulty giving anything but a momentary lock.
Many trash items displayed a similar ratty response.....including screwcaps and shotgun shells.
The meter was giving me a visual representation of the audio pattern.

Then there are objects that are only one digit apart on the 550 meter that could all read the same number on a 180.

Here's a loose analogy to pattern watching........
The X-Terra guys look to see how stable the reading is to determine if they are looking at trash or not. Not quite the same as watching the numbers run on the Sov, but it is still a kind of ID pattern.

Really don't like this part of the Elite meter because it is too slow. Always seems to be running behind the audio rather than with it. Not fast enough to keep up and display detail, so all I can really get out of it is a final number but no conductivity pattern.

HH

 

[MonDak]

The one I have is an xs2 meter, and like Adam says if its working right a zinc penny will read 539. But its pretty rare if its working right. Most of the time when I turn the detector on 450 is as high as it will read. If I leave the dectector on for an hour or so it will eventually creep up to 650. Have a rubber washer behind the external knob so it can't be bumped and changed, and have adjusted the internal knob a couple of times to get it up to 550. Did find about 500 coins this summer, mostly from the sounds because the meter was unreliable.

 

[Art (NWOH)]

Something wrong with it....
Condensation, wore out adjustment pot, bad connection.........

Not supposed to work like that. Should only drift a couple digits over time.

HH

 

[adam in cal]

n/t