Minelab Sovereign GT

Treasure Talk

New Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2007
Messages
5
Location
Live in a small town called Queenstown which is in
Will somebody please explain to me how to set this machine on the correct places for when I am using it?

Top left knob = Disc

Middle left knob = Notch

Left bottom I know is the volume on / off knob.

Middle switch top = all metal - on -off- Iron Mask

Middle middle switch up = Threshold / down silent search

Middle bottom knob Sensitivity.

Right top switch up = Track Middle = fix down = P/Point

Right bottom switch up = Band 1 / down = Band 2 / Noise cancel

Far right knob Threshold

I use earphones with this machine, but my main problems are of setting the machine in, yes I have found a few items so far with it, I also have a digital display with it.

Thus if anybody has a machine like this or can give me some extra advice, then please do, this machine at the beginning of the day cost me R11 000. but I did order a few extra items, like spare re-chargable battery packs to go with it as well as all the plastic nuts and fasterners.
:?:
Thankyou

in advance.
 
Hi TT, I'm glad to see that there's another SOV GT user here. It's a gem of a machine, really uncomplicated, but, as you're likely finding out, one that requires a bit of understanding on the proper settings to use for a given location.

I'm not going to present myself as an expert on the use of the machine, but I can certainly share with you my own experience with it and the general settings to use in most situations.

At first glance, the GT may seem a bit daunting to someone new to it.

SP_sovgt_092207.jpg


Disc:
With very few exceptions, I leave this at the lowest possible setting, the very first notch. A new user, however, may benefit by making some adjustments, at least until he is fairly acquainted with the GT's tonal range on various targets. If working your typical park, moving the dial to about the 11:00 notch will help in rejecting the pesky pieces of foil littering many parks, while still picking up most gold rings. I don't recommend increasing the discrimination past this setting, unless the user is cherry picking a site, and isn't concerned about missing low conductive targets, such as gold. Keep in mind too that increasing the discrimination tends to have a negative impact on depth.

Notch:
While this one can be useful in some situations, I personally never use it. The setting is intended to cancel out pesky targets falling within a specific range. For example, when working a sports field littered with similarly sized pulltabs, a user can set the machine to reject that specific target range, while still picking up targets of a lower or higher tonal range. I personally prefer to use the tones as a means of discrimination, but that's just a personal preference. Experiment with this setting. You may find it to be quite useful at your sites.

Volume:
I set this one to just about the 3:00 position. I have found that a higher setting tends to produce an echo on shallower targets, which I find annoying. It differs with each user though, so experiment with it.

Middle switch top = all metal - on -off- Iron Mask:
Leave it on Iron Mask ON. All metal is just that - it picks up all targets, even iron. You can switch to All Metal when pinpointing a target in PinPoint Mode or when working the beach.

Threshold/Silent:
I have used the silent setting on some occasions, and it is helpful, but I prefer the reassuring slight hum of a well-set threshold. I would leave it at the threshold setting until you become comfortable with the machine. If you do decide to use the silent mode, first make sure you have a low and consistently smooth threshold before switching over to silent. If your threshold is barely audible or erratic when setting the machine to silent, it can have a negative impact on the machine's ability to pick up deep targets.

Sensitivity:
A properly set sensitivity and discrimination is what makes the GT a great coinshooting and relic machine. This setting is one you will need to pay close attention to, since it is the one you will be using the most. In general, setting it at the 12:00 position will work well at most sites. Note that the more clockwise setting actually lowers the sensitivity, so a 2:00 position would produce a lower sensitivity than the 12:00 position.

One meadow I have been working lately has very low mineralized soil, so I'm able to set the sensitivity at 10:00 without any falsing or erratic threshold. In fact, the threshold is rather smooth, and I'm able to pick up very small or deep targets with relative ease. However, if I where to walk into the surrounding woods, I would have to adjust the sensitivity to about 1:00, as I would otherwise get too much falsing.

To set the threshold and properly ground balance using this setting, start with the 12:00 position. Make sure that there are no metal objects in the ground. Repeatedly lower and raise the coil from the ground, making sure it isn't at an angle. The threshold may initial change, but then it should hold steady. If it doesn't, decrease the sensitivity, moving it to about the 1:00 position. Once it holds, sweep the coil on the ground several times. This will allow the machine to read the ground's mineral content and adjust itself for it. You're now set to go! You can now increase the sensitivity, though be mindful of any falsing.

Right top switch up = Track Middle = fix down = P/Point:
Leave this setting on Track. Track and Fix are only active during All Metal mode, and will have no effect while in discrimination mode. Pin Point mode is used in combination with all metal to pinpoint a target.

Noise Cancel:
This can be useful in certain circumstances, as when there's another detectorist nearby and his machine is interfering with yours, but you will likely hardly have a need to use it.

I don't use a display with my machine, as I prefer to use the tones. However, many others have found a display to be very useful.

I hope this information helps. Enjoy the machine!

Angel
 
TreasureTalk,

I got the 10 inch coil with mine, I was having lots of trouble with trashy sites. I bought the 5" coil, it works much better in the trashy areas.

I don't know how mineralized your soil is down there, but you may have to play with the sensitivity settings like angellionel says.
 
The settings are user preference and with experience you will find whats right for you and the area you are hunting.

Good thing is the tones with the sovereign can be vary reliable for target ID once you get your ears trained. I am sure you have heard people say "learn your machine". IMO the sovereign is a machine where learning the machine will actually equate to better finds and better junk to good target ratios.

I would suggest a lot of bench testing with a wide assortment of items. If possible have someone run the items past the coil with your back turned to them and guess what tone relates to the given item. I think you will be surprised at just how tone specific items can be with the sovereign. For air testing turn sensitivity all the way down and iron mask off to stabilize threhold, especially indoors. The sov does not air test well but you can still air test to learn your tones.

Here are a few other tips.

The sov can be pretty hot on crown bottle caps. Many will give a tone for a left to right sweep. However they rarely give a tone when run front to back of coil while all other metals will. So in the field when you suspect a crown cap give it a front to back sweep. Like pushing a vacuum cleaner away from you and pulling it back toward you. If it does not produce a tone when doing this you most likely are over a crown cap. If the item still gives that wonderful low tone front to back of the coil dig it up. There is a good chance your standing over gold.

Foil and small gold items can sound vary much alike. Especially in the 14k thin men's wedding band for example. Another great thing about the sov is after it is run over an item the threshold pitch will return to correspond to that item. In most cases the returning threshold pitch after running over foil will be slightly lower than after it is run over a small gold item. If you have a small gold item give it a air test compared to a balled up peice of foil. I think you will see what I mean. These threhold changes are often something people initially dislike about the sov but after gotten use to they become something most guys dont ever want to do without again.

These threshold changes will also work when notch discing a spacific item. Say you have notched out pull tabs. The machine will null out over a pull tab and then return to a pull tab threshold. Now we all know when you notch out pull tabs you can miss some gold. Now if your machine nulls over a pull tab but the threhold pitch returns different than your typical pitch after nulling on a tab...Thats right dig it. You may have gone over a disced out peice of gold.

IMO the sov is capable of telling you everything you need to know. You just need to learn its language. You will probably get so good at this that when you see someone swing around with a fancy LCD detector you will quietly chuckle to yourself confident in the fact that they are pretty much unnecessary and don't do a lot when compared to your sov other than to drive up the cost of the detector and provide one more point of confusion and possible machanical problems. Who ever coined the phrase "keep it simple stupid" was most likely a sov gt user.

If you do any wet sand hunting it may even get more amusing as you watch the guys with the signal or dual frequency detectors do the ring around the rosey double checking all there ghost signals. With the sov you wont have this problem. The only time I have ever had it false on me at the beach is when sand gets caught between the coil cover so make sure things are nice and clean in this regard.
 
Hello to All
i have had my Sovereign GT for a few months Now and i have notice that you can not turn OFF Iorn Mask unless you go into All Metal has anyone Experienced this. when reading the manual it say you can turn Iron Mask on or off ? in off mode it still nulls when going over metal ? can anyone help?
 
Hello to All
i have had my Sovereign GT for a few months Now and i have notice that you can not turn OFF Iorn Mask unless you go into All Metal has anyone Experienced this. when reading the manual it say you can turn Iron Mask on or off ? in off mode it still nulls when going over metal ? can anyone help?

In All metal mode the iron mask is always off, in Disc mode you can select on or off, maybe you got some gunge or sand in the switch and its not working correctly
 
What more can one say? Angelionel has explained things even better than Minelab, only thing i do different is turn the volume up full and use my phones to adjust the volume
 
Sovereign GT

I would like to see the sales brochure & all web pages explaining the features in a little more honest detail for example: The lockable ground trac feature will only work in all metal, which is very mis leading, searching in discrimination has fixed auto trac like other Sovereign models. Reading the brochures & manual I was led to believe the Iron mask could be switched OFF, so the operator could have full control over the discrimination, with Iron mask ON or OFF the Sovereign GT will still reject most Iron automatically even set at zero discrimination? I the operator can not lower or reject very small nails or decide how much Iron to ignore? it looks like the Sovereign GT does this automatically? the only way you can turm off iron mask is to switch to all metal mode which gives you no control over the discrimination,The only difference is that with Iron Mask on, you have a greater possibility of detecting a good target i.e. coin in close proximity to iron trash.The ground balance in All-metal is designed for magnetic goldfield types, or black sand beaches. The All-metal mode is designed to work more like a gold detector for greater sensitivity.the Sovereign was designed to work this way so you have the best of both worlds the GT Sovereign in Disc mode is an excellent
coin shooting machine even on the beach & in all metal mode turns the machine into a good gold hunter i give it the thums up but it takes time to understand these features and how they work,the manual could explain this in greater detail so first time users like me would understand.
 
I just got my Sovereign GT yesterday and went out tonight with it on it's maiden voyage. I must say it's a huge upgrade from my Ace 250. I'm going to practice and practice until I learn her. I'm really pleased and I know it's a great machine once you get down the tones. No visual, only tones and I really dig that. I think I can pin point OK and trying to figure out the " Sovereign Wiggle ".. I set all my settings to Angel's above post, (thank-you very much I must add) and away I go. I think I'm in love..

Bruce
 
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