Sovereign GT

Since I run a Sov GT I thought I would add this great vid by Des, explaining some of the controls of the Sov and how to ground balance properly.

Hi GoldStalker

Thanks for the video post

I just bought a SOVGT and am a complete newbie so need all the help I can get.

If you have any tips for a newbie I would be more than happy to hear them.

cheers

G'day round2it, I have been out with mine thismorning for a few hours and scored $32.07

You will love the sov once you get the hang of it, very easy to use, I ws only thinking while out I should put together a quick video on it as one of Stoppsy's mates is wondering how to use it aswell.

Here is how I use it......

Vol. at about 10 o'clock
notch. off
Sensitivity. depending on where I am using it.... for parks etc for modern coins I have it set at about 12 or 1 o'clock
Threshold. to a slight audible hum
pinpoint. set to pinpoint always
Iron mask. On
Disc. Set to about the third notch (I will explain this shortly)


This is how it was explained to me.
See on the panel there is a blue area and a grey area.... pinpoint is in the grey area, therefore you are only using pinpoint when the Iron mask switch is switched all the way up to All Metal, this is the only switch you will have to change when wanting to change from detecting mode to pinpoint mode.

The disc knob is very handy tool, if you place a few coins out in a row on the lawn starting at a 5c piece and up you will note with the disc off you will hear all coins, as you turn it up the 5 will disapear (at the third notch roughly) once the 5c can't be heard you are knocking out the 5 but hear all of the others, as you turn the disc up some more until you can't hear the 10c you will hear the others but not the 5c or 10c...get the picture.

The only time I use notch is when I am cherry picking a site and I turn the disc up full and the notch up full to just hear the $1 & $2 coins, pre decimals will still register when used like this BUT....
Womens gold rings and such will be missed, a womans gold ring is about the same s a 10c piece, so if your are nocking out 10c piece's you will miss those gold rings, which is why I set mine to knock out 5c pieces only.

You will still get some of the older type pulls off cans, and there is nothing you can do at all about the old screwed bottle top.

I hope that makes sense...don't hesitate to ask any questions, the best way to learn your machine now is get out in the back yard and trial it.....pinpointing is very very good on these machines and you will get the hang of it after a bit, trial it with coins on the ground you can see to understand how it works, then tuck some coins under the grass wher you can't see them and you will soon master the art.

Cheers

Hi goldstalker

Thanks for the tips.

I went out this morning for the maiden voyage. The areas were quite trashy and probably chosen better sites first of, I was get a little confused with the settings and frustrated at first. But I found myself doing what you suggested with the coins on the ground.

I will go out again later and try your tips. They really do make a lot of sense to me now.

I found a couple more tips and tricks on the net. Will try and post on here. hope it works.

Sovereign gt tips and tricks

Hey, its good to see some members also run the Sovereign GT. I've had mine for about 2 years now, it was a toss up between the X-terra 705 or the Sovereign, I settled on the Sovereign after asking around.
Todate Ive only used it on the beach and still learning what it can do, so far this year Ive found $171.51 (best morning $27.15, worse $0.11) plus the odd piece of jewellery and a couple of ladies watches(which were returned to their ownerswho were present at the time). Will need to practice my pin pointing skills before I hit any local parks as I don't think the shire would appreciate my beach size holes in their parks.

Goldstalker - You say "pinpoint" always, do you hunt in "pinpoint" mode or do you switch to pinpoint once you locate a target? One of the benefits of hunting on a beach is its not so important being able to pinpoint as it doesn't matter how big a holed you dig its relatively easy to fill it in and no one will get upset.

My beach settings are
.Disc- 8 O'clock, notch- 7 o'clock, volume-5 o'clock,Disc switch-on, Threshold - on,sensitivity 1o'clock (may need to play with this near wet sand),Tracking, band 1 or 2 (which ever is quieter),threshold- dialed to low hum.
I used to hunt in all metal mode however I got sick of digging up hairpins and bottle tops, now I'm only digging up the odd bottle top and I don't think I'm missing much doing this.

Good Luck out there.

Thanks for the tips on the settings GoldStalker.

I went out on Sunday arvo and tried your settings. and picked up my first batch of coins only $3.20 but I am really starting to recognise the differences in the tones and what the SovGT is telling me.

Thanks for the settings Woteva I will try these out on the beach soon and see how I go.

Thanks again for the tips, hopefully I can post some tips up in the future.

cheers

Woteva wrote:
Goldstalker - You say "pinpoint" always, do you hunt in "pinpoint" mode or do you switch to pinpoint once you locate a target? One of the benefits of hunting on a beach is its not so important being able to pinpoint as it doesn't matter how big a holed you dig its relatively easy to fill it in and no one will get upset.

Woteva, I don't detect in pinpoint, I leave that switch in pinpoint and have the 'iron mask' switch set to 'on' then I am detecting in discrimmination mode, when I want to pinpoint I switch the iron mask switch to 'all metal' (all the way up) then the pinpoint is activated.

By swtiching this switch and leaving it in pinpoint I only have to flick one switch from detecting mode and pinpointing mode.
Quick operation and quick accurate target recovery = more coins in this game.

To recover targets on the beach or in the goldfields the size of the hole is not important, BUT
in a park or in nice lawn it is a concern.

Here is how I do it..... because I carry a pinpoint probe also it makes life easy too.
I detect a target, I pinpoint that target with the detector then I know where it is. I get out my trusty garrett propointer and see if I can hear the target with it, if I can then I know it is within about 3 inches from the surface.
I then get out my long shanked screw driver and press it into the ground to feel the target.

Once I have located the target with the screwdriver, I then find the edge of the coin and give it a push or flick turning it on it's edge as much as I can, then with long nose pliers I can insert them down into the ground and grab the coin and pull it out with no hole made...bit like key hole surgery....done, no hole to fill in and off in an instant to get the next one.

If the propointer can't hear the target then I know that it is deeper, decisions need to be made then....
Do I leave it in the ground and maybe miss that nice target or pre-decimal...or deep crap
Or do I cut a plug and retrieve it, done properly with practise a plug can be cut and re-sodded and no evidence of any excavation can be seen.

When hunting an area first I make a call, on how much time I have to detect an area, that tells me if I'm going to cherry pick and get the shallow easy goldies, or do I have all day and plug cut the deep ones.
A place I got $30+ on the weekend I left behind plenty of deep targets, but I will be back for those at a later date.

Remember that the pinpointing on the sov is so accurate I have on many ocassions pinpointed with the sov a target the propointer can't see and stick the screwdriver in and feel a deep 1 or 2 cent piece.

Wotever, by using your notch, do you know what targets you are notching out?

Cheers

Thanks for them settings, sound great.
Finally, some one who knows and understands his machine.

Congrats mate.Full credit to you.

madmax800

Thanks for the explanation Goldstalkergpx, I now see where you are coming from in regards to leaving your machine in "Pinpointing" and switching between Disc and all metal- I will try it next time I go out.
No, I don't know what I'm discriminating out by using the notch, don't believe I said that, I read somewhere that it helps take out or breaks up the signal from bottle tops so that you can identify bottle tops, its something else I will check out/prove to my self this weekend.
In regards to a pinpointer, its an item I have been considering and can see the benefits of having one but have put the purchase on the backburner, I have been told that Minelab are bringing out their own "Pinpointer" very soon, performance wise it will be similar to what is on the market now but with the advantage of not interfering with your PI machine, so we will wait and see.

Good luck out there

I like the idea of using the screwdriver and the long nose pliers.

I don't want be leaving any signs off damage to the lawn areas in parks as I used to maintain parks and a sports ground for quite a while. Fancy that all that time and never once did it occur to me go out grab myself a detector jeez what a missed opportunity.

If you are going to take out a sod of turf and place it back so it doesn't look like any one has been there then this is what I used to do for retic repairs on sports fields.

place a small piece of tarp on the ground nxt to where you want to dig for the sand to be placed(doesn't have to be a tarp really anything flat big enough for the sand to sit on.)
I had a spade with a strong blade with the bottom edge sharpened up in the vice from a file( be very carefull if you do this they can get as sharp as a knife).
I would dig a square as wide as the spade by standing on the spade and slicing down the whole length of the spade blade.( A cheap thin spade will bend in compacted ground) Doing this would usually keep the sods in tact. you can stack them side by side in order so they would go back in the ground neater. This isn't all ways the case I know tree roots, rocks and rubble can always be a pain in the ass.
After placing the sods back with sand from the tarp it should look pretty neat with no sand spread around the edges. Sometimes a whack with the back of the spade or a little Indian dance on the sods help lock it all in.

For smaller holes I haven't tried this but a steak knife, thin wood chisel or a garden trowel with edges sharpened might work?

cheers

I thought madmax might give us a lesson that is who tought me how to use mine correctly. Lucky we got on the juice on news years ay

Wotever, I said what I did because you stated you used the notch, I believe that the notch is used to block out a particular target within a range of targets.....ie, lets say you are set up to find a particular item and you are finding a certain target that is not wanted you can dial the notch until the unwanted target is unheard and the others are.
My machine does not hear bottle tops other than the old screw top kind, which is the same as the $1 & $2 coins, I can't seperate the three. Let me know how you get on and what you find.

Pinched these ideas off madmax too on the end of my screwdriver to prevent a red raw palm from pushing into the ground all day, I drilled out a golfball and glued that onto the handle...ergonomic screwdriver now

For a plug cutter I use a piece of 1 1/2" stainless tube sliced in half for a bit to cut the plug and then it goes back to full tube for the handle.
You're right about having to lay down some tarp or mat to put your soil on, if you don't you loose soil into the turf and it will never resod properly.

I like the idea of the homemade ergo screwdriver might give that a go.

I found a park that has had a fair amount of carnivals and events on it over the years so I thought i would have a go.

Ther was plenty of trash but i notched out most of it and started finding $2 and 1$ coins straight away. There was more than afew spots I'm sure had a coin there but couldnt find it just by using the screwdriver.
Will be heading back tonight for another crack at it.

Has anybody used the SovGT in the Goldfields :?: if so how has your experience using the Sov, can you realisticallly expect in perfermance and depth from the SovGT.

Any setting tips or things to look out for that can cause interference or false readings in the Goldfields.

Cheers

I will post a photo of my tools soonish, I have tried the sov on the goldfields....no luck with gold but a good try.
When ground gets mineralised you need to run these machines in 'all metal' mode, so might as well swing the proven gold finder.....although I often wonder when I dig shallow signals with the 45 as to how the sov would've went......a bloke should trial this I suppose but I can't really justify watsin my time.....haha would be interesting though!!

I read a story of a bloke at Wedderburn here in Vic who discovered a decent sized nugget (can't remember wieght) with his sovgt a few years back

I took a bloke out form melbourne on a trip local here and all he had was his sov. none of us found gold that day but if it is the only machine you have then I would not hesitate to use it on the goldfields....ya just never know

Thanks for the reply Goldstalker.

True if the sov is the only detector i have then I have nothing to lose.

I went back to the park again tonight spent an hour 1/2, but this time I used markers and worked an area about 1/2the width of a 50m pool and pulled out roughly $11.00 in mostly $2 and $1 coins.
Yesterday I wandered all over the park but missed heaps of areas and pulled $18.00
Pretty happy so far and don't think I missed anything this time.
Its a huge Park area and I have only just covered a tiny part. Over time I might do well out of it.
I will try and make a couple of beach scoops over the weekend and start working some beaches as well.

Thanks again for the tips
Cheers

Sounds like a good spot and you should do well there.
I should post my sov finds on here maybe, i have only been posting them on the coin detector forum.
It would be good to see what guys are finding other than just the gold.
I hit some spots earlier in the week and found some old stuff from early school sites like and old toy car and coins etc etc...not worth anything but a piece of our history and i have now preserved it rather than let it rust away!!


Remember, if you are only hunting goldies, turn the notch and disc both up full.