Minelab Sovereign GT Newbie

[Pegster47]

Help.....I am the new owner of a Sov GT and I don't know how to use it. Do I need to purchase the Digital ID meter that is an accessory. Any advice for a newbie would be very helpful.

The Pegster

 

[kered]

Have a Read through the older topics, all questions are answered somewhere(and sum) the digital meter is not compulsary, works fine without it, personally i think you would be best learning the sounds without a meter then add it later as they are only a guide and not 100% failsafe. Give the GT time, swing slow and low and you will be rewarded

 

[Pegster47]

Thank you so much. I didn't want to shell out another $200 but.............. I think I will take your advice!

 

[Rick(ND)]

Try it without a meter and if you have a problem learning the tones than get one. I find the meter is a must for our coin hunting myself and much easier to learn the Sovereign than without a meter. We can see a number on the meter to see what certain targets sounds like as many close tone numbers sound like and saves a lot of time digging trash. If you are a beach hunter you want to dig everything that is not iron to get the gold, but for park hunting it would be tough to dig all of the signals, so you want all the info on the target you can so you can decide to dig or not. Myself I use a 180 meter on my GT and find it is the most accurate ID of any detectors I have used, but you have to use the tones and common sense too as many alum beer cans will read like a coin, but a much bigger area and when you lift the coil a bit the signals still sounds the same, so you know it is a bigger target then a coin..

 

[kered]

It allways seems we disagree, but i think two different opinions is more helpfull than one, gives one more to think about . What about a pulltab and a gold ring, they can have the same number on the meter but the sound is different, using a meter can give a false ID. After say 20 or 30 pulltabs one tends to get complacent and leave them, if the same number comes up again, one of them may be a gold ring. had you learnt by sound from the beggining you would know they are obviously different so the pulltab would be related to one sound and the ring to another. Just the other day i dug a ring that read 244, Foil?, i would have left it from the meter, but for the sound.
I set my meter with a 1

 

[Pegster47]

Thank you for your input. I think I will play with my GT for awhile and see if I really need to shell out another $200 for something I don't need!

 

[kered]

In the mean time keep an eye on ebay and the forums, you could pick one up cheap, as a mater of fact there is one there at the moment at $99.99, i put a person onto one that he won for $78 less than a month ago

 

[Pegster47]

good idea, thanks

 

[AgileMJOLNIR]

I would use the Sovereign without a meter first in my opinion. It's better to drop the visual and concentrate on the audi to fine tune your ears. Meters are an added option but can be very unreliable if you lean on them too much. Audio however is another story.

Think of the meter as a second opinion if you are ever uncertain.

 

[Pegster47]

thank you

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Pegster,For coin hunting on land the 180 meter with the tones are the best way to learn the Sovereign.You won't work as hard and have better finds.The 550 meters will sell on Ebay cheap so if you want one of these they are inexpensive.On the other hand the 180 meters will sell for premium prices.Another suggestion is add a Sunray probe this will save work and time,which is just as important as the meter.The Sovereign once learned is the ultimate turn and go metal detector.

 

[Pegster47]

Thank you very much for your input. I am going to give the GT a few tries and then see if I should buy the meter.

 

[kered]

i have both the 180 and 550, meters, personally i prefer the 550, if you get a 550 they can be converted for a couple of bucks

 

[Rick(ND)]

One of the things with the 550 meter if you get a used one is to see if you can find a Elite 550 meter as they are more stable the the first ones that came out and you will be much happier.