Looking to buy another detector I'm a Whites MXT user and love the unit. Didn't care much for the DFX ran it for a couple seasons but I expected a lot more out of it than it could deliver. Anyhow all I here is great things about Minelab so I think it's time to try one. I don't think I want the EX2 just not into all the the programing any more. Thought about the Quatro but then I might as well get the EX2. My question is about the Sov. Elite or the GT. Is the depth comparable on both units? Which one or do both have some sort of tone id? Is the id meter a helpful and\or necessary accessory. Also any comments favorable or otherwise would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to joining the the Minelab ranks.
Find's Treasure Forums
Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!
You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.
Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.
Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.
Click here to register!
Need Support Help?
Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you
Changed email? Forgot to update your account with new email address? Need assistance with something else?, click here to go to Find's Support Form and fill out the form.
Which One ?????
- Thread starter B.RATNY
- Start date
I too have the MXT and it is my wife's detector as it is so easy to use and so much fun too. I have used it several times and it will go faster and you will get more new coins, but by the end of the day the Minelabs will have the older and better finds.
I feel if you are new to the Minelabs the Quattro or the XS II may be a lot to learn if the DFX was too much. The Sovereigns are more of a turn on a go detector with some good depth and ID to them, but like any detector this one has to be learned a little different than what you are using now. This learning curve is easy for some and steep for others, It took me a good 2-3 weeks to get comfortable with mine, my wife was doing good in one day and a freind I sold mine too when I got a new one that was using a GTA 1000 learned his on one afternoon.
The XS, the XS2, the XS2A, the Elite and the new GT are all great Sovereigns with the GT I feel is more sensitive, so if buying a new one then I feel the GT is the way to go, but the meter is extra. The Elite you get a 550 meter most have to rescale to read the 180 numbers as many of us feel for IDing this will make a big difference. The Elite dont have rechargeable battery either where as the GT does.
Now as far as meter that is a matter of prefference and I highly recomends one myself, but if you are a beach hunter you will be digging everything anyway so you dont need one. The Sovereign is a tone ID detector so as the conductivity changes the tone does too and some of these tones are real close in pitch and this is where the meter is real nice. With the 180 meter a nickle will read 144-145 while those pesky beaver tails off the older pulltabs will read 140-141, but sound close to one another. Now some of the newer pulltabs will read 170-171, but the new zinc pennies and the IH will read 176-177 while the copper silver and clad will be 179-180, but to some these 3 will all sound the same, but the meter can see the difference.
Some of the drawback to the Sovereign series is you have to go much slower and listen closer to the signals then your MXT as the Sovereign gives you the info and lets you decide to dig or not, other detector give you a beep and tell you it is one to dig. The Sovereign give you more info, so you have to go slower to hear and understand it. The Sovereign can not tell the difference in a penny, dime, quarter or half dollar, but to me it makes no difference as it is a target I will dig and see for myself what it is.
These are great detectors and the more you use it the better you will get with it, if you use it once a month it wont be too good, but if you use it 20 hours a week or more you will do great and pick up coins in areas many have given up on as being worked out.
Rick
I feel if you are new to the Minelabs the Quattro or the XS II may be a lot to learn if the DFX was too much. The Sovereigns are more of a turn on a go detector with some good depth and ID to them, but like any detector this one has to be learned a little different than what you are using now. This learning curve is easy for some and steep for others, It took me a good 2-3 weeks to get comfortable with mine, my wife was doing good in one day and a freind I sold mine too when I got a new one that was using a GTA 1000 learned his on one afternoon.
The XS, the XS2, the XS2A, the Elite and the new GT are all great Sovereigns with the GT I feel is more sensitive, so if buying a new one then I feel the GT is the way to go, but the meter is extra. The Elite you get a 550 meter most have to rescale to read the 180 numbers as many of us feel for IDing this will make a big difference. The Elite dont have rechargeable battery either where as the GT does.
Now as far as meter that is a matter of prefference and I highly recomends one myself, but if you are a beach hunter you will be digging everything anyway so you dont need one. The Sovereign is a tone ID detector so as the conductivity changes the tone does too and some of these tones are real close in pitch and this is where the meter is real nice. With the 180 meter a nickle will read 144-145 while those pesky beaver tails off the older pulltabs will read 140-141, but sound close to one another. Now some of the newer pulltabs will read 170-171, but the new zinc pennies and the IH will read 176-177 while the copper silver and clad will be 179-180, but to some these 3 will all sound the same, but the meter can see the difference.
Some of the drawback to the Sovereign series is you have to go much slower and listen closer to the signals then your MXT as the Sovereign gives you the info and lets you decide to dig or not, other detector give you a beep and tell you it is one to dig. The Sovereign give you more info, so you have to go slower to hear and understand it. The Sovereign can not tell the difference in a penny, dime, quarter or half dollar, but to me it makes no difference as it is a target I will dig and see for myself what it is.
These are great detectors and the more you use it the better you will get with it, if you use it once a month it wont be too good, but if you use it 20 hours a week or more you will do great and pick up coins in areas many have given up on as being worked out.
Rick
Frank in NH
Active member
Takes a while to learn but it is worth it, and a meter will help.
Thanks for the reply Rick & Frank. Actually it's not that the programing of the DFX was hard at all I made a lot of great finds with it I just expected it to be a lot better, especially when it came to depth. Anything over the six inch range was an iffy signal and in the two seasons I ran that machine I never dug a 10+ inch target and I was hunting along side a buddy with a minelab xs who was doing this consistantly. I tried tweaking that thing that thing six ways from sunday and it just wouldnt hear the deep ones. So anyways I more or less like the simplicity of the dials as opposed to scrolling through menus. And I really like the idea of getting that kind of depth. Lets face it the old coins are getting harder to come by so any added edge is a must. Also I do hunt quite a bit 20+ hrs a week so I'll be looking forward to learning that GT inside and out. Thanks again for your help.
funkyoldude
New member
I agree with Rick. I would also recommend getting a good pair of headphones, And although I am a beach hunter, I am probably the only one that recommends getting the meter and modifying it for 0-180. I don't dig everything or I would spend most of my time digging trash. With my meter, I avoid digging aluminum screw caps, and pulltabs, something I would not be able to do without my meter. The beach that I hunt every day has thousands of them, and the tones fall in the same range as the good stuff, between 160 and 180. I almost never dig a target below 120 'cause 99 times out of a hundred it will turn out to be foil. Tones fall pretty close together in pitch, so I find the meter very helpful.
You can order Elite rechargeable NiMh battery packs. I keep one on the charger and one in the Elite. Works for me.
Good Luck and Good Hunting.
fod
You can order Elite rechargeable NiMh battery packs. I keep one on the charger and one in the Elite. Works for me.
Good Luck and Good Hunting.
fod
Art (NWOH)
New member
Who DIDN'T reccomend modifying to 180. 
By the way, noticed a bit of meter response difference with the Elite meter on the GT. Have to investigate a bit more.
HH
By the way, noticed a bit of meter response difference with the Elite meter on the GT. Have to investigate a bit more.
HH
funkyoldude
New member
I was responding to Rick's comment that beach hunters dig everything and don't need to use a meter. I have read this in a number of publications, and on the Beach and Water detecting forum, but I think that what works on one beach may not necessarily work on another. For example, in the winter when I hunt Santa Cruz beach in California, I use a 14" WOT and dig almost every target because the beach is large and the pickins are slim. It is heavily hunted, and folks don't lose their stuff, except maybe in the summer.
On this beach I use my meter and a 10" Tornado coil. There are beach parties every night lasting until sunrise. and there is a full moon party every month which draws up to 10,000 young people, kind of like spring break at Daytona and Fort Lauderdale, except the party here is held on the beach. The whole idea is to get wasted and party all night, and as a result folks lose an incredible amount of stuff.
Once in a while a couple of guys will show up with detectors but most of the time Jane and I have the beach to ourselves. The biggest problem is not finding stuff, but separating trash from treasure and I would spend too much time digging trash without my meter.The first six months after I bought my Elite, I hunted without a meter because it didn't have one, and we dug about 180lbs of bottle caps and pull tabs, but since i got my meter my trash to treasure ratio is much better.
Sorry if what I said was confusing, but I think the 180 mod is great, and I wouldn't think of hunting without my meter. I highly recommend it to all Sov users, because imho, when it comes to IDing targets we can use all the help we can get.
Good Luck all.
fod
On this beach I use my meter and a 10" Tornado coil. There are beach parties every night lasting until sunrise. and there is a full moon party every month which draws up to 10,000 young people, kind of like spring break at Daytona and Fort Lauderdale, except the party here is held on the beach. The whole idea is to get wasted and party all night, and as a result folks lose an incredible amount of stuff.
Once in a while a couple of guys will show up with detectors but most of the time Jane and I have the beach to ourselves. The biggest problem is not finding stuff, but separating trash from treasure and I would spend too much time digging trash without my meter.The first six months after I bought my Elite, I hunted without a meter because it didn't have one, and we dug about 180lbs of bottle caps and pull tabs, but since i got my meter my trash to treasure ratio is much better.
Sorry if what I said was confusing, but I think the 180 mod is great, and I wouldn't think of hunting without my meter. I highly recommend it to all Sov users, because imho, when it comes to IDing targets we can use all the help we can get.
Good Luck all.
fod
Art (NWOH)
New member
Sounds like them "party till you puke" parties must be good spots.
Must have mis-understood you.
Don't remember what kind of beer it was........
Might have been Coors.... Had push down buttons on the top of the can. No tabs to tear out or break off. Too bad everybody didn't go the same way.
Used to see guys rip out ring tabs or break off square tabs, then drop them in the can. Wonder how many ended up in the ER. Would at least have been rough on the 'roids.
Would be cool if this "deposit" thing were modified bit.
Instead of a 10 cent deposit on bottles, how about a 5 cent deposit on the bottle and another 5 cent deposit on the cap ???? If they throw them away, they would at least be worth something.
HH you ornery old critter.
Art
Must have mis-understood you.
Don't remember what kind of beer it was........
Might have been Coors.... Had push down buttons on the top of the can. No tabs to tear out or break off. Too bad everybody didn't go the same way.
Used to see guys rip out ring tabs or break off square tabs, then drop them in the can. Wonder how many ended up in the ER. Would at least have been rough on the 'roids.
Would be cool if this "deposit" thing were modified bit.
Instead of a 10 cent deposit on bottles, how about a 5 cent deposit on the bottle and another 5 cent deposit on the cap ???? If they throw them away, they would at least be worth something.
HH you ornery old critter.
Art
Art (NWOH)
New member
The GT meter only works on the GT. The other meters work on them all.
funkyoldude
New member
n/t
Art (NWOH)
New member
n/t