Minelab Sovereign GT - Which is more sensitive? All Metal Mode or Disc Mode?

stephenbeetleman

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Hi Guys,
I have read several field tests and reviews on the Sovereign GT online but still dont have an answer to my question, which is more sensitive ... all metal mode or discriminate mode? The reason i ask is that i know that trackable and fixed ground adjust are not active in disc mode as the machine uses digital filtering instead. Although the manual states that if you leave ground adjust to fixed after scanning the area it generally gives better depth.

Some guys who use the Excalibur, the waterproof version of the GT swear by using them in all metal mode to get the best depth then switch back to disc mode to hear the tone id of the item once they find a target.

However i have been talking to some sovereign users which say to use disc mode for best depth...what do you guys think? The main place im going to be detecting will be the wet sand.

Thanks for the Help

Stephen
 
To get the best answers is to get out in the sand, bury some objects at different depths and see how your machine responds. Machines act differently in different sand locations. East coast is different from the west coast due to high mineralization. You have to get out there and learn your machine, getting answers is not the easy way out because they may not be correct for your location. Sov. GT is an excellent machine but it does not work well on some West Coast beaches, but on the east coast it works very well.
 
Hi Guys,
I have read several field tests and reviews on the Sovereign GT online but still dont have an answer to my question, which is more sensitive ... all metal mode or discriminate mode? The reason i ask is that i know that trackable and fixed ground adjust are not active in disc mode as the machine uses digital filtering instead. Although the manual states that if you leave ground adjust to fixed after scanning the area it generally gives better depth.

Some guys who use the Excalibur, the waterproof version of the GT swear by using them in all metal mode to get the best depth then switch back to disc mode to hear the tone id of the item once they find a target.

However i have been talking to some sovereign users which say to use disc mode for best depth...what do you guys think? The main place im going to be detecting will be the wet sand.

Thanks for the Help

Stephen

I have used the Excal and the GT in all metal mode and it did not impress me... up her on the CT beaches in the discrimination mode the detectors were deeper...
 
Hey Bobbie,
Thanks for the reply. To further complicate things im from neither the east or west coast... im from Ireland! I definitely will get out soon to do a few tests but its -17 here at the minute so i think i'll have to wait til the beaches thaw out first! :) If any of the sovereign experts on here can help me in the meantime it would be much appreciated:)
 
True AM does not go thru a processor ... much like a pin pointer it knows something metal is there, but not what and generates a single tone. The Sov should go deeper in AM just because it recovers faster with a tone than a null... where it seems to pull a signal or hang. Both AM and disc is a processed signal... so id say there wont be much difference in depth just because it will depend on how much disc you have and how close it is to the target you IDed. You may MISS more targets in disc than AM but the depth shouldnt be that much difference.

Dew
 
With the two Sovereigns I have Discrimination mode is deeper on both. I have never hunted in all metal mode and never intend to. The Sovereigns go silent on iron and I love the feature. I don't want to hear it or dig it. If I want to go insane listening to iron I will get a different brand. One in particular is very annoying to listen to.

Some say the Excal is deeper in All metal. I have hunted in all metal with it. But I am in the wet and trash and iron are less. But if I start getting too much junk I switch it over to discrimination.
 
I always hunt my Sovereign in AM

I think what's more important than any depth difference is the good targets missed by the slow recovery from iron nulls in disc mode. My set up has a remote AM switch on the handle, so I can switch between AM and Disc with my thumb. I find many more good targets that are buried close to iron that way because I'll catch a double signal in AM; that is, one from each target, rather than a null from the iron and nothing from the good target. I found this machine with the mod already done on EBAY last year and had to have it. It's very well executed, just a jack placed in the rear of the control box and the switch mounted on a plate next to the handle. I don't have to move my hand to switch back and forth. When/if the switch wears out, I can replace it without having to tear into the control box. Minelab would do well to produce a Sovereign set up like this.
 
Hey Bobbie,
Thanks for the reply. To further complicate things im from neither the east or west coast... im from Ireland! I definitely will get out soon to do a few tests but its -17 here at the minute so i think i'll have to wait til the beaches thaw out first! :) If any of the sovereign experts on here can help me in the meantime it would be much appreciated:)

Your wet sand at low tide is your best hunting grounds with the GT and that does not freeze.......unless the ocean is frozen. On a nice day you can get out there and swing and practice.
 
How about a picture of that Dave.... I used whites for many years and loved the pinpoint switch. You just wonder how long these buttons will last. Humm wonder if i could replace the pin point button on the SE and just put a switch in there? That would be a cool mod.

Dew
 
I think what's more important than any depth difference is the good targets missed by the slow recovery from iron nulls in disc mode. My set up has a remote AM switch on the handle, so I can switch between AM and Disc with my thumb. I find many more good targets that are buried close to iron that way because I'll catch a double signal in AM; that is, one from each target, rather than a null from the iron and nothing from the good target. I found this machine with the mod already done on EBAY last year and had to have it. It's very well executed, just a jack placed in the rear of the control box and the switch mounted on a plate next to the handle. I don't have to move my hand to switch back and forth. When/if the switch wears out, I can replace it without having to tear into the control box. Minelab would do well to produce a Sovereign set up like this.

A picture would be awesome.. if you can. thanks
 
Mod Pics

How about a picture of that Dave.... I used whites for many years and loved the pinpoint switch. You just wonder how long these buttons will last. Humm wonder if i could replace the pin point button on the SE and just put a switch in there? That would be a cool mod.

Dew

Here ya go. 1st pic is the jack and plug for the switch. 2nd is the switch mounted to a fabricated plate on the handle. The machine's set up for dirt right now, so the pinpointer and control box are there to confuse things.
 

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What goes deeper has to do where you hunt, the matrix of the sand

Minerals, salt, magnetite, etc... composition of sand varies from place to place depending on the sources and conditions of the local rocks. Which all can affect the performance of the detector. So best to find a deep target in either mode and see if the other mode can find it on your beach. I have excaliburs that Most places PP/Am is deeper, but I have encountered places like west coast of florida...each are very close to the same depth, inland discriminate is deeper then PP/AM on the excal where I live. Since I hunt AM/PP 95% of the time I have both the excals apart right now putting remote PP to discriminate IP67 toggle switchs on them, shooting pic's of this mode so I can share this with the other pirates out there. I also have the wiring diagram done by critterhunter of his remote switch of the mode to the sovereign if anyone wants it. Back to the which is more senstive question, What works on one beach, may not work on the next 20 miles away. Good Luck, let us know your results....joe
 
Oldie but goodie

Dave thanks for pic ,what model sov. do you have? Doesn't look like a
GT?

It's a Sovereign XS2a Pro. Maybe 2 generations removed from the current one? Same basic circuitry, though, and the tones are identical to the GT.
 
With my GT on Southern California Beaches, AM/Pinpoint is the only way I hunt in the water and on the wet sand.

Here's my set up:
While in the AM mode, ground balance in track (pump the coil a couple of inches parallel to the sand, not over iron), switch to Fix, sweep back and forth a couple of times, then switch to Pinpoint. That's it your ready to go. I'll occasionally switch to Disc to check the target. It's not unusual for it to not be recognized by the machine in disc, back to PP and there it is. Listen to those subtle bumps in the threshold, then dig. In AM/PP you can run the Sensitivity full out, I mean just above the Auto setting with no falsing. Threshold set to a slight hum. In Disc, you're lucky if you can run the Sensitivity higher than 11:00 without it falsing.

I see no reason why this technique will not work with any GT on any beach.
I have 2 GT's, one purchased new, the other used. They both respond the same way when using my set up.

JMHO
 
The sovereign pinpoint mod is actually very easy to do. I put such a switch on my Sovereign Elite several years back and I'm no kind of electronics whiz thats for sure!

Just do a google search for Sovereign Mods, you'll find diagrams on how to wire it up. Easily done. I used a 3" length of black pvc tubing from a toy mounted on top of the pole above the handle with a simple push button mounted in a washer on the end which put the switch nicely just above the handle where my thumb could hit it and kept the switch relatively protected from rain or spray.
 
Hey Guys,
Thanks to you all for your replies! Much Appreciated! I did get out on the beach with the GT and found that so far on all of my tests with the machine Disc mode seems to be that bit deeper. however, i think what is important is what a few other posters on here have said ...to keep checking which one suits as depending on the ground conditions what suits in one place might completely not suit another.
Thanks Again
Stephen
 
I bought a Sov GT last month and am on the learning curve as well. To me, it seems not to make sense buy a machine with a top notch discrimination mode and not use it. I spent a lot of money for that technology, I'm using it.

That said, there may be some situations where Reverse Disc, as it's called in these parts will help. Still, as a rookie so i'm no help on that count.

On the post about the iron null/slow recovery speed causing missed targets- not an issue on almost all beaches. The targets are really spread out on the beach. Really unlikley an iron null will cost you a target.

To speed up my 101 course on beach hunting with the Sov GT i've done almost all my hunting on the beach all the experts said don't go near. They said that because the beach is strewn with not only iron but steel from an old pier, brass bullet shells, and just good ol' plain boardwalk trash. They said it would be too frustrating for a rookie. Well, it's been frustrating and rewarding. i've dug some craters to pull out all sorts of weird ex-steel pier parts. But, I'm learning and the craters are becoming fewer and farther between. And, i'm finding some good stuff. School is in session on that beach.
 
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