Sovereign GT air testing

Steve

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Have been playing around with a new Sovereign GT. In discriminate mode I can only manage around 6".... But in all metal mode I'm getting close to 2ft. This thing is air testing as good or better than my Dual Field. Is the 6" in discriminate mode normal? Or can it fluctuate from unit to unit? 6" will never find gold on the beaches I hunt.
 
What's the sensitivity set at? Depending on the target and the sensitivity level (and the mineral content of the sand) the GT should definitely get more than 6" in real conditions. Air tests are kind of fun but don't always translate into real world results...you'll probably get a better idea of how it's gonna work by taking a few targets down to the beach and burying them at different depths. Either way, the GT is an awesome beach machine! :yes:
 
Do you have the sensitivity turned just off the click of the auto setting? It works backwards from say the volume knob... Also discrim and notch turned all the way to the left, at about 7 o'clock?
 
I do not believe in air testing for any machine.. What your actual depth is will be greater in the ground...


These are my settings I rarely change them and if I do change them its just the

10 when I am working stable wet sand, 12 when I take it in the water that is it.
 

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I do not believe in air testing for any machine.. What your actual depth is will be greater in the ground...


These are my settings I rarely change them and if I do change them its just the

10 when I am working stable wet sand, 12 when I take it in the water that is it.

Yes but who doesn't do a quick air test with a new machine? If I was only getting 6" I would also be concerned with my machine or the settings and would get it figured out before wasting time and gas going to the beach!
 
Yes but who doesn't do a quick air test with a new machine? If I was only getting 6" I would also be concerned with my machine or the settings and would get it figured out before wasting time and gas going to the beach!

I don't :lol:
 
Air testing seems to be pretty accurate with my BH's but I don't think the gold digger or the lonestar pick up on the halo effect real well. You will get more depth from halo effect, so if a GT picks up the halo real well maybe an actual coin that has been buried for awhile can be picked up closer to 10"? Just a thought. Here's a good read for ya. ;) http://www.njminerals.org/metaldetecting-haloeffect.html
GL HH
 
The extent of my air testing is throwing a coin on the ground to check where the coil pinpoints.

You will know how deep it is after you start digging targets.............
 
These are my settings I rarely change them and if I do change them its just the 10 when I am working stable wet sand, 12 when I take it in the water that is it.

Just FYI... Craig's talking about the sensitivity setting here.

I just got the Sov also and I haven't air tested yet; but I will so I can learn the tones. My air tests for the CZ were pretty true. Tell us what settings you're using for all knobs.
 
I air test my machines all the time. While it doesn't give you accurate in ground depths, if does allow you to find the deepest settings.

Whether the machine can run at those max depth settings while swinging over salty wet sand is another story. :D
 
Just FYI... Craig's talking about the sensitivity setting here.

I just got the Sov also and I haven't air tested yet; but I will so I can learn the tones. My air tests for the CZ were pretty true. Tell us what settings you're using for all knobs.


The tones you get air testing are irrelevant from the tones in the ground... in the ground you will have a halo affect except with high carat gold... there could be a piece of iron or some other worthless metal next to the gold and its going to sound strange or different... if it beeps dig it unless its a bottlecap :lol: I leave them for dirt guys who like to play in the sand :laughing:
 
Have been playing around with a new Sovereign GT. In discriminate mode I can only manage around 6".... But in all metal mode I'm getting close to 2ft. This thing is air testing as good or better than my Dual Field. Is the 6" in discriminate mode normal? Or can it fluctuate from unit to unit? 6" will never find gold on the beaches I hunt.
ML BBS machines do not air test well. The coil needs to balance the computer for it to work. The only way I have found to air test is swing the coil across the beach and leave it on the sand. Pass your target ABOVE the coil. You can't air test those machines since they will not be tuned to the sand. The stock coil will hit gold at a foot or more in good sand. Bury a ring on a string and see.
 
Although air testing is not a stander to go by for depth it is something that helps give you a idea if something is wrong, needs attention or a compare of like machines.



Something I will pass along that I did not know until recently, when you turn the machine on, there is a field around the coil, this field stays the same no matter what you adjust. SO when you adjust at the Pod or Box, that's where it is adjusted. Nothing changes at the coil. I'll be doing some testing soon on how the field changes with voltage. I'm ready to blow up something...going LiPo. Should be here in a week.
 

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Although air testing is not a stander to go by for depth it is something that helps give you a idea if something is wrong, needs attention or a compare of like machines.



Something I will pass along that I did not know until recently, when you turn the machine on, there is a field around the coil, this field stays the same no matter what you adjust. SO when you adjust at the Pod or Box, that's where it is adjusted. Nothing changes at the coil. I'll be doing some testing soon on how the field changes with voltage. I'm ready to blow up something...going LiPo. Should be here in a week.

Are you going to try running a GT at a higher battery voltage.
 
Although air testing is not a stander to go by for depth it is something that helps give you a idea if something is wrong, needs attention or a compare of like machines.



Something I will pass along that I did not know until recently, when you turn the machine on, there is a field around the coil, this field stays the same no matter what you adjust. SO when you adjust at the Pod or Box, that's where it is adjusted. Nothing changes at the coil. I'll be doing some testing soon on how the field changes with voltage. I'm ready to blow up something...going LiPo. Should be here in a week.

I ended up modding my Sovereign with a Turnigy 11.1v 3 cell 1450mah lipo (Pic below), it went pretty smoothly. I changed the battery pack connector to a female XT60 plug, then soldered the 2 wires for the male XT60 plug directly to the spring connectors on the Sovereign. I charge the Lipos with an Accucel 6 charger. These lipos charge to 12.6 volts.

I had bought some Rhino lipos first, but they were too thick to fit inside the battery compartment... with a little bubble wrap the Turnigy is a perfect fit, this is with an XS2.
 

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Compare tranmit fields with different batteries

Very Cool Crumbles, I like!!



Excalibur first with 14.8 Volts 1300 mA 4c LiPo
Then the 1600mA NIMH BATTERY Onlybatterypack 12 V (Green)
Then the stock Minelab Battery 11.5 V
Then with Shauns AfterBurner coil AMP

Each I will measure at full and then 9.5

 
I ended up modding my Sovereign with a Turnigy 11.1v 3 cell 1450mah lipo (Pic below), it went pretty smoothly. I changed the battery pack connector to a female XT60 plug, then soldered the 2 wires for the male XT60 plug directly to the spring connectors on the Sovereign. I charge the Lipos with an Accucel 6 charger. These lipos charge to 12.6 volts.

I had bought some Rhino lipos first, but they were too thick to fit inside the battery compartment... with a little bubble wrap the Turnigy is a perfect fit, this is with an XS2.

thats a nice setup, what kind of run time do you get with those batteries?
 
I'm looking at switching over to lipos as well and was wondering what kind of run times you guys normally get? Is it that much better than running AA's or the nimh pack?
 
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