any word on a new version of the Sovereign?

[synthnut]

Crtter,
You have some great idea's that are VERY practical .....I'm not sure where your $$ figures fit into the equation when it comes to making changes to a product , but as Kered says , Minelab is not gonna cut thier own throat making something so practical and killing the sale of the Excal ....... Good Business means selling as many different machines as you can to as many people as you can .......The KING COMPANY at this is Tesoro .... They make a BUNCH of different machines that are very inexpensive, they ALWAYS leave something out that the machine needs or doesn't have so that they can give you that feature in ANOTHER machine that is also inexpensive , and ALSO has a lifetime warranty .... Take a look and see how many Tesoro owners only own ONE Tesoro !!..... I'd venture to say that Tesoro has one of the largest folllowings of Metal Detectors in the business ..... Talk about good business sense, I'd like to see YOU put your idea's to work , and sell some aftermarket items for the Sovereign .... If the manufacturing of product is that inexpensive , you could make a GREAT living doing what you love to do !!..... Just my opionion ...and we all know what they say about opinions !!......Sincerely, Jim

 

[jbow]

I would like to see Minelab improve the Sovereign in these ways...

Put it in a lightweight design, something along the lines of an Omega-8000, u-Max, or F75/T2.

Make use of either dual processors or a faster ARM processor.... but using software... keep it running exactly the way the Gt runs...

BUT... add a switch to change to "fast mode" lowering the recovery delay to the range of the F75/T2 machines.

Add a version of the Pro coil and maybe a 6x10 ellptical.

Add a built in meter that can be turned on/off but at all costs retain the integrity of the Sovereign tones.

Maybe considering the balance problems they might consider offering an 8" Pro coil, something along the lines of of the 11" elliptical FTP uses, or better yet do a joint venture with SEF to design a coil specially for the Sovereign Pro.

Bottome line: Keep the old, but in a lightweight package with buit in switchable and simple meter... don't need to add a bunch of extra info... KISS,,, just a simple VDI meter like the digimeter. Any new Soversign should remain simple, it should have the capacity to run EXACTLY like the current SovereignGT with the addition of a built in digimeter that can be turned off, no backlight necessary. Adda switch to give it a fast recovery time... have SEF build a specialty coil just for the new Sovereign (that of course can be put on any older Sovereign... SEF would sell a LOT of coils).

I think the most important thing with changing the Sovereign would be to not change it fundamentally... only in weight and with the addition of a few things that could be switched on/off. The Sovereign has reached a certain perfection and that should be precisely maintianed and carefully built upon... otherwise it would flop because Sovereign users would give it bad reviews and would say... "it isn't a Sovereign".

An option for a waterproofed model and a lighted meter in the waterproofed model would kick too!!

Maybe adding some sort of "booster" or amplifier switch would be welcomed too.

Maybe they could build it into an Exterra frame? I think going to an Explorer/E-TRAC frame would be a mistake because, even though the SovereignGT is a heavy machine, it is well balanced... either make it lighter or keep the balance. Making parts of the current package lighter might messup the balance and actually make the detector feel heavier than it is.

It is all probably a matter of priorities that determines what Minelab does or does not do with any machine. They have to meet demand for their top end gold machines when gold is found somewhere and I imagine they make a lot of money off those GPX machines.. then they have military stuff they work on and I have heard that they have been comissioned by the Australian government to produce a true imaging machine.. so they may not have the resources to put into improving the Sovereign line. It would certainly be a roll of the dice if they went down this road... but if they were to do it right it could be a real winner IMO, it would be a flop if they change it instead of add to it.

J

 

[jbow]

You're right about the Excal and E-TRAC. The ET is the first machine they have made that may be slightly better than the Sovereign, if it is set right.

J

 

[Tony in FL]

I really hope there is a next version of the Sovereign however I get the impression based on Minelab's advertising that it is unlikely. I think if there is a next version of the Sovereign that it should be brought into the fully digital age i.e.LCD display for VDI and settings. I can't think of any other unit on the market that one has to pay extra for a VDI. I could understand many years ago when a VDI might have been considered expensive cutting edge technology that it could make sense to sell it as a extra but not in this day and age. The same LCD could make setting the volume, sensitivity, and threshold much more precise while at the same time elimianting the plethora of switches and nobs currently found on the Soveerign GT. Since such moving parts cost money and are prone to failure getting rid of many of them could actually help with the cost and durablity. Finally such an LCD could allow for much finer tuning of discrimination and notch, perhaps even adding the ability to set multiple variable ranges of notch (how cool would that be?).

As far as I am concerned all mid to high end metal detectors should be highly water resistant or minimally water proofed. If you think about it just about all coils are now waterproof, so it is clear most metal detectors are made to handle some light water duty. If you are using an expensive machine in or even near the water then it makes good sense to have it water resistant to the point that an accidental drop, splash, or rogue wave does not kill the electronics. And even if you never get near the water having such protection is still a benefit because one never knows when a rainstorm could sneak up on you while out in the field. Finally at the end of the day it is nice to rise off your coil and shaft to remove dirt, sand, etc. It would be really nice to be able to rinse of the entire machine without worrying you may accidentally fry the electronics. Garrett seems to be leading the charge on a minimally water proofed unit with their new AT model. Hopefully this will become a trend and other manufacturers will follow suit.

 

[Critterhunter]

The problem with making the meter an intregal part of the Sovereign in order to operate it is that now it can't be removed for water hunting, or for those who prefer not to use a meter on land. It needs to be exactly as it is now, with the ability to use or remove it based on circumstance. The only change I'd like to see for the current meter would be an adaptor that snaps on the shaft in it's present location to raise it above the hand grip, as well as an adaptor to snap it on top of the hand grip for those who prefer that. A back light would also be a good idea and wouldn't really add to the cost of the meter. It's a tiny little LED light that costs almost nothing and only requires being soldered to the right pins on the LCD display. That would be a good how to mod I might write up an article on, and you could even include a tiny little switch to turn it on or off. Not really needed though, because the current draw of a little LED like this wouldn't really affect run time of the machine.

I would like to see a 4th digit to the display (if that pans out in my tests) for more precise target identification when it comes to being real picky on coins or other targets, but there are other ways to achieve that based on ID response and audio as it currently stands. It is possible to split hairs on coins if you know what to look and listen for, as it is on other machines like the QXT Pro that also don't offer finer coin resolution. At least a more precision type of calibration POT would be in order (less resistance). As it stands now the stock POT has way too much resistance and range ability as a result, making it harder to tweak the calibration to exactly where I want it. That would also be a real easy How To mod, and I may do that and post an article on that as well.

The big issue I think is that the meter should come with the GT, or at least only cost about $40 or so if you have to buy it separetly. I'd also like to see the coil cables shortend down on both the coils and the meter. Provide an extension for the extra length in the box for those who want to hip or chest mount on land or water hunt. A cheap waterproof connector could also come with it, though I suspect the coil connector would be well out of the water anyway even without that. This helps clean up both the looks of the machine as well as drop a little more weight. If they don't want to supply it in the box then just sell it as an add on. The coil's cable should only be long enough to reach the box, with only maybe two or three wraps around the shaft. In that case it would still be longer than needed when using a meter, since now the cable only has to reach the meter and not the box. The meter's cable is also way too long going to the box. Again, you'd have the extension for hip or chest mounting. It should only be long enough to read from it's current location to the control box on the back of the shaft.

As I said before, much of the increased production cost could be made up for in the lessor amount of aluminum content used in a lighter arm cup and upper shalf. 8.8oz (over half a pound) for the current arm cup is quite a bit of excess unneeded cost in aluminum material. Same deal with the upper shaft. Way heavier gauge than it needs to be.

Little things like this make all the difference to people. Remote PP ability right out of the box. Less weight of the stock unit. A meter mount to rest above the hand grip in it's current location, or at least be able to snap it on top of the hand grip. All of these things are minor changes that wouldn't really push up costs or need major re-tooling in production.

 

[synthnut]

Critter,
The Sun Ray DTI III does have a back lit display .....It's powered by a seperate 9V batter and has a mini push button On/Off switch on the bottom of the unit ...Not sure if they still make it ...I don't think they do ..Jim