Who says Sovereigns don't air test well?

[crazyman]

Because of a discussion on another forum about Minelabs not air testing well I decided to put this dog to rest. I really don't air test stuff because I don't hunt in the air but I had to prove a point so I ran out to the back yard and did a quick test using a silver dime and a tiny 14 kt. wire gold ring. I could only run sensitivity at 12:00 because of electrical interference but the GT was hitting the dime at almost 12 inches and the ring at 10 inches. That's better than 95% of the detectors out there even at 50% sensitivity.


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[crazyman]

Let me try this again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMAP-uR34JI

 

[hershey1]

Great Test. Gotta love those Minelabs. Thanks. HH

 

[Nauti]

Hi Crazy,i had this discussion on this forum a while ago now about these machines not air testing well.My argument was they did test well while most people said they did not.Even after posting up air test results that showed positive results,some people still said that they were no good in air tests.I also heard that the way to test the detector was to bring the target towards the coil rarther than starting at the coil and taking the target further away.The reasoning behind this was that if you start with the target close to the coil it locks on and will keep locked on as the target gets further away.I tried this test and still found the same results......you can come into the coil from a distance and the machine will still pick up the target at the same distance.The FACT is that the sov does do well in air tests.....if people are getting bad results,there is something wrong with the machine.I'm glad somebody with your knowledge has posted this,it may put the argument to rest.Now,the next test will be the maximum depth you can pick up that silver dime in clean non mineralised ground at 50% sensitivity.I'll put money on it that it will never be more than 12".

 

[Critterhunter]

Nice testing. The Minelabs will air test poorly for two reasons- RF noise (causing lower sensitivity) and not having a ground load like it's designed to use in comparison to the target present. That being said, yep- the GT will still air test better than most machines on the market. I'd say 7 or 8" is about max depth for probably 90% of the machines out there, air testing or not. I'm not going to be the one to argue that the GT won't air test well (so long as the sensitivity can be cranked high enough without problems), I'm just saying that you can expect much more depth on targets in the ground. Mainly due to the BBS technology having the ground to use as it's reference to a target being present. I've heard that BBS/FBS machines constantly take a "picture" of the ground without a target present and compare that to the ground with a target present.

Either way, regardless of how it does it it's still very different than normal VLF machines which filter the ground signal (via ground balancing) and then require a target present to "bust through" that filter or buffer to show themselves. Supposedly that why Minelabs aren't bothered by ground minerals and also why a target in heavy minerals and at extreme depths will still ID properly, where as on other machines the iron or mineral content of the soil can degrade target ID. I'd still like to see a more in depth technical explanation of all this because I've only been able to dig up general information like above, so take it for what it's worth.

 

[GunnarMN]

And i bet in ground . just as well

 

[crazyman]

I probably should have taken my time and performed a better test but I was in a hurry to prove a point. I didn't play with the sensitivity or sweep speed to see just how much further it would hit the targets. It was a sloppy test so I'm sure it would do a little bit better in a controlled test. I don't plan on doing any more air tests but I have this quick one ready the next time I hear someone say the Minelabs are hyped because they don't even air test well. By the way the dime hit a good 3 inches further than the brand they were trying to compare it with.

 

[kered]

I was gona say, look at the speed of the pass on the video, hope you dont hunt at that speed if you did a normal pass you would probably get more

 

[crazyman]

Kered, yes it was pretty sloppy. You'll notice I didn't really play with the getting more distance. Once I was satisfied with the distance I just stopped instead of seeing just how much further I could go if I played with it. If you look at the video closely you'll see that my sensitivity was closer to 1:00 and if you watch the last swing on the dime I was past 12 inches and with the ring I was actually closer to 10 1/2 inches when I stopped. Anyway, it proved the point to the other person and satisfied my own curiosity at the same time.

 

[kered]

 

[Neil]

just make sure its in dinosaur inches like the first time

 

[crazyman]

OK smarty pants. It was either the dinosaur ruler or the Hello Kitty ruler and that ones pink! I think I picked right for this crowd.

 

[GunnarMN]

All i can say to the sceptics is try one and you will no longer be a sceptic , you will have your head out of the septic

 

[Rick(ND)]

n/t

 

[Critterhunter]

Yep, an FBS/BBS machine will go a lot deeper in the ground than it will in the air. I've played with air testing by coming closer to the target until I can just pick it up rather than moving away from the target (which I think gives the machine an easier time since it's already locked into the VDI# and audio). What I'm finding impressive is that as soon as the target is close enough to even slightly sound off the VDI is locking right into the proper # and the audio is the proper tone (though very soft). I'm talking at the very fringes here where the thing just finally is being picked up by the detector. I've never seen a machine that didn't require another few inches or so less distance from where it can just start picking up the target and when it would finally give a proper ID and audio. That "gap" between the two on the GT is very close to the point of almost being non-existent.