Big Boys Hobbies

First time out with the GT

FoiledAgain

FoiledAgain

Elite Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2009
Messages
1,463
Location
In the water
Well, I succumbed to all the hype :grin: and pulled the trigger on a Sov GT – ‘the last one’ :lol: Finally had an opportunity to get out last weekend and give it a try. It certainly takes some learning, especially with regard to tones (pitch, variability, breakup, etc.), but I read Des Dunne’s article and have followed the discussions on the forum so didn’t go into it totally blind. I mostly used Craig’s settings and spent a couple of hours going over a small section of beach that hasn’t changed much since I scoured it with the BH300. Thought it would be interesting to see what the GT would pick up in this ‘clean’ section. I was intrigued to see that the machine is very sensitive to tiny bits of aluminum (whispers). Most targets were at 2-6” with a couple at 8” or a bit deeper. I’m looking forward to learning this machine and trying it out in some more target-rich areas! I’d appreciate some feedback from the GT gurus about the following:

I’ve seen it said that one has to sweep slowly with this machine. What is slow? I was taking about 2 seconds per sweep.

In disc in some areas, I was getting prolonged nulls, presumably because of the ground conditions because there’s little iron there. Would I have missed good targets during these nulls? Is there a way to shorten these nulls, for example by lowering the sensitivity?

Any other advice for a GT newbie would be appreciated!

Thanks and happy hunting.

Foiled
 

Attachments

  • 1st GT Hunt.jpg
    1st GT Hunt.jpg
    76.3 KB · Views: 449
The processor on the GT is slow Brian so when the GT nulls you have to stop your swing or possibly lose a good target during the null... when using the GT make sure the Iron Mask is on because if there is a good target next to the iron the good target will come through first.


I'm used to swinging a PI fast so going to the GT was an adjustment for me.. if you swing the GT too fast it can null on a good target... what I do with every null is do the GT wiggle a fast swing over the null and listen for any hint of a non-ferrous target..

Your first time out wasn't bad looking :) If I were you I would head over to the Sandwich side of the cape and see what that storm did over there :)
 
I too am new to the GT but man its a great detector.Its so much more sensitive then my Xcal
is.The best advise i can give you is when you think your moving slow enough...Slow down even more.I dubbed it the "GT crawl"I love my GT this weekend its supposed to rain so i guess im gonna have to bust out the Xcall and hit the water.GL HH
 
The Sov is a great machine. As has been said, a slow sweep is good in trashy areas, maybe 3 seconds each way, but I used to go fairly fast with mine in areas with very few targets. People often say that you can miss targets in the null but I have hit many good targets during a null...not sure if this has to do with set up or what? You often hear that the Sov won't detect when it's nulling but I didn't find that to be the case. Good luck out there, it's a great machine! :yes:
 
Judging by your finds I would say you are well on your way... great results for 1st time out.. like others have mentioned the slow swing is better in trashy in or target tight areas. On the beach I dont slow down too much until I get into alot of targets.. I rescan nulls, sometimes they will repeat if you swing in other direction or vary your swing speed.. enjoy..
 
L.I.Digga said:
I too am new to the GT but man its a great detector.Its so much more sensitive then my Xcal
is.The best advise i can give you is when you think your moving slow enough...Slow down even more.I dubbed it the "GT crawl"I love my GT this weekend its supposed to rain so i guess im gonna have to bust out the Xcall and hit the water.GL HH
Click to expand...

Yet another "new to the GT" user here! :D You got that right about slowing down!! I always thought I was a careful, slow & go detector swinger, but I realized how much more slowly you have to swing with this baby!

I was told by one user out here that in the Nulls is sometimes GOLD. I don't mean a faint break in the threshold, but it nulls, you slow way down, and it keeps nulling, no snap, crackle, pop at all. I thought that indicated iron, but he said it could be deep gold. What do you all think?

And Craig, I'd pay good money to see you do the "GT Wiggle"! ;):laughing::laughing:
 
The Gt and Excal are very much alike. You can swing faster until you find targets or thin sand. Then SLOW down. Your 2 second swing one way is OK, maybe a bit faster but you will soon get a feel of it. Don't run your sensitivity the way others do. Your beach will be different. Swing a few feet with it set at 8 or so then lower it slowly until the false signals pretty much stop. A little false signal is OK but only just a bit. The tones will tell the target and after a few hours you start to remember what a penny, a quarter, a bottle cap and a nickel sound like. Then you will dig up a huge 18K gold ring and forget what the tone was. :laughing: Bring paper towels to dry off the pants. :lol:
 
stewart73 said:
The Sov is a great machine. As has been said, a slow sweep is good in trashy areas, maybe 3 seconds each way, but I used to go fairly fast with mine in areas with very few targets. People often say that you can miss targets in the null but I have hit many good targets during a null...not sure if this has to do with set up or what? You often hear that the Sov won't detect when it's nulling but I didn't find that to be the case. Good luck out there, it's a great machine! :yes:
Click to expand...

Thanks Stewart. When you hit a target during a null, is it a brief signal within a continuing null, or is it a signal immediately followed by the tone of the signal?
 
imalookin2 said:
The Gt and Excal are very much alike. You can swing faster until you find targets or thin sand. Then SLOW down. Your 2 second swing one way is OK, maybe a bit faster but you will soon get a feel of it. Don't run your sensitivity the way others do. Your beach will be different. Swing a few feet with it set at 8 or so then lower it slowly until the false signals pretty much stop. A little false signal is OK but only just a bit. The tones will tell the target and after a few hours you start to remember what a penny, a quarter, a bottle cap and a nickel sound like. Then you will dig up a huge 18K gold ring and forget what the tone was. :laughing: Bring paper towels to dry off the pants. :lol:
Click to expand...

Thanks IL2. This may seem like a dumb question, but when you say 'false signal' are you referring to nulls as well a beeps?
 
Thanks to all for the great information! I'll be trying out a SLOW pace and go from there to see what works best. No doubt that the GT is going to produce some good results!

HH,
Foiled
 
For Ron and David here locally.


Here is how I run my GT & WOT.
Sensitivity = auto, Threshold search on, Disc=on, Iron mask=on,
disc and notch=off or lowest, ground balance=track

Sensitivity on auto seems to be different then what most use here. But this is what I've found with the way I favor. I can swing normal speed, don't need pin point, instead just the nose of the WOT and the wiggle. No pinpoint used at all, slows me way down. Will chirp and null on certain iron, like nails swinging fast but null on slower second swing. If signal repeats, chirp then null you dig it. This is where I've gotten chains and a lot of bent nails. This seems to only work good in auto.
You can get targets right next to a null in auto, chirp/null pattern. On auto, little to no falsifying so I can cover ground. Covering ground is paramount, pockets, patterns. I've found 95% of targets are within the auto range if you know what you are doing. Your coil ground clearance on swings for example, I'm right on the sand, dragging in some cases. Auto will allow me to do this.

What I lose, maybe 2 inches on a ring sized object. Example; I might miss a ring 16" down, but catch it at 14". But I've never found a ring deeper then 6" on a good slope. Only on low tides at bottom of slopes or flats are rings deep
But once I find a deep pattern or pocket or bottom of scallop I switch out of auto and pound the area.

So hit the whole beach, pound select area's or a slow checking every falsifying signal and cover a few hundred yards in the same time frame.
I chose covering ground, same reason I run the WOT, each swing covers about 50% more the standard coil.
I do OK with this, thought I'd share.
 
merchunter said:
For Ron and David here locally.


Here is how I run my GT & WOT.
Sensitivity = auto, Threshold search on, Disc=on, Iron mask=on,
disc and notch=off or lowest, ground balance=track

Sensitivity on auto seems to be different then what most use here. But this is what I've found with the way I favor. I can swing normal speed, don't need pin point, instead just the nose of the WOT and the wiggle. No pinpoint used at all, slows me way down. Will chirp and null on certain iron, like nails swinging fast but null on slower second swing. If signal repeats, chirp then null you dig it. This is where I've gotten chains and a lot of bent nails. This seems to only work good in auto.
You can get targets right next to a null in auto, chirp/null pattern. On auto, little to no falsifying so I can cover ground. Covering ground is paramount, pockets, patterns. I've found 95% of targets are within the auto range if you know what you are doing. Your coil ground clearance on swings for example, I'm right on the sand, dragging in some cases. Auto will allow me to do this.

What I lose, maybe 2 inches on a ring sized object. Example; I might miss a ring 16" down, but catch it at 14". But I've never found a ring deeper then 6" on a good slope. Only on low tides at bottom of slopes or flats are rings deep
But once I find a deep pattern or pocket or bottom of scallop I switch out of auto and pound the area.

So hit the whole beach, pound select area's or a slow checking every falsifying signal and cover a few hundred yards in the same time frame.
I chose covering ground, same reason I run the WOT, each swing covers about 50% more the standard coil.
I do OK with this, thought I'd share.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this Dale! Hope it will help others new to this great machine!
Sorry for the thread hijack Foiled!:roll:
 
Not to bring back a 2014 thread, but I’m just seeing this now.

Good ol’ Merc! I miss seeing him on the beach.

R5
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

LongJohnSilver1
FEATURED I found Ralph
Replies
12
Views
120
Beachhunt1
B
Scubacat
FEATURED Strange Pendant
Replies
13
Views
275
GroundSweeper
GroundSweeper
W
I found a turtle today
Replies
7
Views
292
KOB
KOB
romyrome
Gold 1st Target, Silver & A New Friend
Replies
14
Views
367
Kansashunter
Kansashunter
FelixtheCat
My 3rd Class Ring! 14k - And Last 2 Apple Filled Hunts
Replies
15
Views
404
FelixtheCat
FelixtheCat
Back
Top Bottom