My First Night Out With A Sovereign........

[Fisherfinder]

Well I had a lot of fun last night.

It took me 2 months of finding stuff and listing it on the bay of death
to save up the money to buy a used Sovereign XS. In fact I had the
money once and bills took it.

I met a great guy on Findmall that had a plastic tub full of Sovereign stuff,
he gave me all the time I needed to pull the money together.

When I pulled the money together he dug out the box and went through it.
There was a pretty good XS box, and harsh looking XS box with duct tape residue all
over it and a broke off threshold knob, a well used "S" type pole assembly, a dirty,
bit rough looking, Sun Ray DTI II meter, a Sun Ray 12" coil that someone
repaired a broke off ear on, and a Sun Ray 5" coil with the same broke off ear repair.

I know you guys are thinking that all this stuff sounds kinda rough, and all of it is,
but I had to look for bargains on clapped out stuff because I didn't have any money
to spare to by a nice machine.
This guy Jerry in Virginia made it so I could get a working unit that I could use and
learn on, for a price that I could cover by listing stuff out of my storage, shop, & garage
on feebay.

He sold me the machine, with a battery pack & factory wall charger,
with the pole assembly for $275 and the Sun ray meter for $80.
I didn't buy any of the coils even though they were only $30 each because
they were the old style solid coils. Fine for on land, and they both work great,
but I have to go into the water and I was not comfortable with those coils for that.

Another great guy, Tommy, answered my want ad on Treasure Depot and offered me a
BBS 800 coil for $65, I bought that and a nice Minelab backpack off of him.

Over the past almost a year I was listing an item here and there and when I had
some extra money I bought little things I would need. A battery adapter, a rain cover,
a lower, etc.

I have spent the last year and a half studying, reading, and asking questions about
Sovereigns, but last night was the very first time I have ever used one, it was fun.


Here is a picture of my set up.

http://www.deffe.com/control/img/2013/04/05/488827-10cc/medium/1365162029_dsc01879.jpg
http://www.deffe.com/control/img/2013/04/05/488827-10cc/medium/1365162049_dsc01880.jpg


The only mod I have done so far is that red knob you see under the armrest.

I took this set up apart and put it in that backpack.

In the next post I'll show what I found and tell a story about the night.

 

[Fisherfinder]

Here is what I found

A few coins, a hot wheels car, a piece from a silver earring, a button with
the capital letter "R" , a cloth covered button, a goofy looking alien charm,
the broke off torch from a statue of liberty, three little blue jeans rivets,
two shoelace eyelets, a square leather stud, three and 1/4 stainless steel
washers, a cutoff stainless steel allen bolt head, a super rusty nail,
two pieces of foil, and a pull tab.

The first thing I found once I got the settings sorted out was the "R" button.

Big signal, I thought I found a super bowl ring,....lol.


Now the story............................

I left here at about 10:45pm and got to the park about 11:10pm, no coyote.

I assembled the machine and set it up for average conditions, threw down
a quarter and calibrated the meter.
My first impression was the language from this machine was really something.....

Well I started searching, there was all kinds of noise and signals all over the place.
After digging a couple of "Huge" deep holes and finding nothing but a very rusty
nail I realized two things.......

This machine was even worse than my Laser B1 at picking up on my shoelace eyelets.
Much worse. So I extended the lower out more and turned the sensitivity down to "zero".
Even turned down to zero this machine is too hot for park sandboxes. I could see it
in how far away the coil was from the steel poles before it signaled off of them.

I could not do a good search, this machine sees too much.



Look at this picture........

Those two quarters have been in the ground awhile especially the bottom one.
The nickel too, but about that bottom quarter.......

I found it on my way out. I always search everywhere and on the way out I walk
straight down a certain path in the sand checking it carefully all the way to the
sidewalk at the end of the sand.

Always the same.

That quarter was very deep down and also was not giving accurate
readings on the meter.

What that means is my Silver Sabre II went over that same path about
15 times or more and missed it. It also means that my Laser missed it three times
and so did my 1235X.

And yes, it's right there in the path, nothing tricky.

The other quarter and the nickel,.... it could be that I just didn't in the past get a coil
over that exact spot. That's possible, where that nickel was,.... I don't know, but there
is a chance that I skirted it somehow.



Here is my evaluation:

This machine is heavy.

This machine is lousy for sandboxes, even with the sensitivity at zero it sees way too much.

The controls are nice.

This pole assembly has four "V" clips on it, one on the armrest, one almost back there,
one on top of the mid pole, and one under the mid pole.

This is very good because it allows me to try different positions for the box and meter
so I can find what feels comfortable for me.

This machine is too hot on shoelace eyelets, the two I found in the sand sounded off like
I found a pistol or a padlock.

This machine belongs out in the open, away from metal structures, or at the beach.
Somewhere you can open it up and really do some searching.

Using it in a park sandbox was like trying to light someones cigarette with a flamethrower.

To it's credit it bested three very good machines, one of which is so hot you can almost weld with it.



I also used my Garrett propointer.

It worked perfectly, and yes it saved me "a lot of time".



You look at those little rivets, those eyelets, the little torch,
then you tell me how much time the pinpointer saved me.



The End

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Fisherfinder, the Sovereign will require a few more times out to be fully appreciated.I never did like the feel of the S rod even with the box mounted under the arm rest.A straight rod IMHO changes the handling from a dump truck to a sports car.The wiggle with the 180 meter will give you more depth.The BBS 800 coil will help your learning process.The extra V clips will always be needed, drill the pop rivets off and keep one or two around, they usually sell for around 10 dollars.By the way I'll always keep a 1235X or 1236-X2 in my arsenal one of the best turn and go detectors ever made.The 1235X I was told by the comp hunt experts is more stable and works better than the 1236-X2.Anyway keep using the Sovereign and you will see your finds improve.Good Luck HH Ron

 

[deepdiger60]

Fish sounds like your machine is working prefect , good finds, wear leather sandles lol . HH Jim

 

[Fisherfinder]

Thanks Ron,

My 1235x is the first machine I ever bought, I bought it new.

I have 25 years experience with it, and yes, it was designed for competition hunting.
Truth is, there are more than a few competition hunters that still use them.

Their cycle time, the time to transmit, receive, process a signal and be ready to process the next,
is among the fastest of any machine ever made.
Which is why you can swing the coil as fast as you want to and the machine will miss nothing.

Also, the pinpoint is laser accurate.

If I was invited to a competition, even an international competition with everything on the line......

It would be the machine I would reach for, and I have several very hot machines.

 

[Fisherfinder]

Thanks dd60,...LOL

I was thinking about barefoot but I like the sandal idea!

LOL

 

[Critterhunter]

Great job and quest to find, part together, and put yourself a Sovereign in working order. The fact that you did that will give you even extra satisfaction. A lot of the weight to a Sovereign is the shaft. Minelab over engineers the hardware for their machines like it was meant to club bears to death with. By using a Whites tall man carbon rod for a lower shaft to replace the heavy fiberglass one, by using a shorter and lighter guage of aluminum to replace the upper shaft, and by replacing that pig of an arm cup on my GT that weighed well over half a pound...

I dropped very near 1.5 pounds off the weight of my GT, and that's with the Digisearch or Ron's meter included on the shaft along with the 12x10 coil (minus the coil cover and using a few coats of spray on bed liner). While most of that weight savings can be achieved via an easy shaft re-build, I also use a small and light 750ma 3 cell Rhino lipo battery in the alkaline holder, by just soldering a tiny little plug in there, where I can still move it out of the way and run 8AAs if I ever wanted to again (but why?).

I've used the GT in tot lots and sand pits without issues. Depends on the coil being used to some extent.

You're off to a great start and should be proud of that rig you set up, and the fact that you found coins at spots you had pounded to death prior is no surprise. I have done so myself with my GT even using the excellent stock 10" Tornado, and have read of many others who were shocked at the same thing at places they beat the snot out of with prior machines.

Not all of these coins are deep either, but shallow ones either on edge, masked by iron or other trash, or perhaps even were invisible to a prior machine due to the ground matrix and it's mineral content at those shallow depths. I remember several old posts where guys couldn't wipe the shock off their face of what they found at little spots they beat to death for years before getting a Sovereign.

She's a unique beast. Give her a fair shot and be prepared to hate her for a long spell of time, but as with what happens, sometimes those kind of women, so to speak, turn out to be the love of your life in the long run. The Sovereign has some very unique qualities, among which are it's long detailed analog-like audio, yet with the numerous tones of a Minelab.

At first you might think it's too drawn out to unmask stuff or discern other aspects of target traits, but after a while you'll find it's a huge strength of this machine and not a negative. It's detailed audio will give you target traits to chew on, and it's robust audio will make coins at extreme depth or masked by iron or other junk more of a chance to be noticed as you work your way around a site.

Some other perks to the Sovereign is the super high conductivity resolution from foil up to copper penny to split hairs on junk versus keepers like rings, relics, or odd old coins that read lower on the scale. Yea, all coins above copper penny are 180, but I find that a distinct advantage for me when old coin hunting and not a minus. A bigger net catches more fish when they don't act like you thought they should, so to speak.

Then there is the extreme depth penetration of these BBS units even in the worst of grounds, along with smooth as warm butter stability.

So once again great job and you should be proud of that rig, and the fact that you pieced it together is going to give you extra satisfaction when you make some great finds down the road. You brought a "dead" Sovereign lost to the world back to life, and for that alone is reason for great satisfaction. No such legendary machine with unique traits to sniff stuff out of "dead" sites should fade off into the sunset. It should be out there and being used, as it will hold it's own with the best of machines these days, provided you use the proper coil for the proper situation...

 

[xwyokid]

Looks great! Looks the American spirit of, "grinding it out" is still alive!!

 

[Fisherfinder]

Thank you so much for that great post Critterhunter.

And you are right, it was a lot of fun, but some work, to collect up the parts,
bits, and pieces, to assemble that machine.

I love it, and finally I get to experience first hand what I read, studied,
and asked questions about for so long.

"But", the one thing that means the very most to me is all the members here
that have helped me from the very start in my quest to get rolling with one of
these wonderful machines.

My biggest thanks to all who have helped me with guidance, advice, and deals
I could afford on the things I needed to get going.



Critterhunter,...... on a personal note.

I am so sorry about your Husky "Sky", passing to the other side.

Please believe me when I say I know that pain, I feel it every day.

Here is a couple of pictures of me and my best friend and body guard back in 1978,
over the years we were together he saved my life twice.

When he passed I lost a big piece of my heart.............

And no matter how hard I search, and no matter how good I am at it,
or what machine I use, that is something I can never find.

The only solace I have is that in the end, when I climb those steps to the
pearly gates he will be there waiting for me.

I am sure that Sky will be waiting for you there as well.


Fisherfinder

 

[Fisherfinder]

Looks great! Looks the American spirit of, "grinding it out" is still alive!!

Wow xwyokid, you kind of said it there.....

That is what I do for a living, and what I have done for 38 years.

Precision grinding.

Here are some pictures of my work.

http://www.deffe.com/control/img/2013/04/06/488827-10cc/medium/1365200470_robotic_spool_2.jpg


xwyokid, when it comes to "grinding it out", I'm your guy,........LOL

Thanks for the good words

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Fisherfinder,excellent precision work and dog.Thanks for Sharing.Ron

 

[Fisherfinder]

Thanks Ron,

Now you know that when I posted in the past about that V clip and the
mount on that one sun ray meter not fitting correctly, and that I had to shim it.......

Well , I wasn't whistling Dixie.

When it comes to what fits correctly and what doesn't, it's not my first
time to the rodeo......LOL

I have since picked up a couple of V clips, one is brand new with the factory rivets.
That one fits the mount perfectly.

That first V clip is somehow sprung open a bit, Lord knows how that happened.


And thanks for the kind words about my dog, I miss him more than words can tell.

 

[Critterhunter]

Critterhunter,...... on a personal note.

I am so sorry about your Husky "Sky", passing to the other side.

Please believe me when I say I know that pain, I feel it every day.

Here is a couple of pictures of me and my best friend and body guard back in 1978,
over the years we were together he saved my life twice.

When he passed I lost a big piece of my heart.............

And no matter how hard I search, and no matter how good I am at it,
or what machine I use, that is something I can never find.

The only solace I have is that in the end, when I climb those steps to the
pearly gates he will be there waiting for me.

I am sure that Sky will be waiting for you there as well.

Fisherfinder

Not ashamed to admit it, having more than a few beers in me at the moment, but those remarks about your dog and best friend along with those pics brought a tear to my eye. I heard in those words, and saw in those pictures, what I also felt with my girl Sky. Ron just had to put a few of his horses down, so I'm sure he knows your pain as well.

I'll tell ya, I've hunted for and harvested plenty of animals in the last 20 years or so, but man after losing that dog I just don't know if I can do it anymore. No, not one who feels meat is off limits, just saying that in my personal case I have a "bone of contention" in what I feel I'm capable of now, which is going to take some working out and thought before I can go on with it.

God did put them here for a reason of providing substance, I know that. But I saw the "spark" and soul behind those eyes of Sky. I could see her thinking things out and the very mood of her at certain moments. I *KNOW* there was more there than just mindless programming from mother nature behind those beautiful blue eyes.

These days, despite my youth upbringing in a more "traditional" religious sense, I really do move more and more to where that higher power of this universe is more than we give him credit for. After all, there is a pretty big universe out there to just hang one small rock among it for us to diddle around and detect on, so to speak.

I remember, from my younger days of somewhat "enforced" attendance at church, that one of the things Jesus taught was to remember when judging others that you've got plenty of judgements of yourself in store for you one day, and that if you do judge then be quick to forgive as quickly as you can. Well, I'm not there yet, but try a little harder as time rolls on...

But my point is this- That if those are two key qualities of what God wants around him in heaven, then how could we not expect dogs up there as well...Because their very nature and makeup is to never judge, and yet when they do, usually by our own fault in actions, they are so quick to forgive.

I'll add one more thought on this topic...That I think if I remember right Jesus said he wanted us to be like children, content, innocent, and alive in the moment to enjoy life. Well, if that isn't the description of a dog to a "T" then I don't know what is.

I'll leave with this thought, that I also seem to remember that it's said that we can't possibly conceive of his vastness and immanence....Well, to me, that means that man has a very narrow view of just what a higher power and an afterlife up there is all about.

In other words, I'm sure your dog is waiting for you, just as I'm sure mine is waiting for me, and just like I'm sure Ron will ride his horses up there one day, so long as we can play our cards right and pass the standards to get through those doors that I'm sure these animals easily qualified for.

I don't blame others for thinking of that as crazy talk, as only a few short years ago believe me I had my doubts about such things, but those views have changed in the last 5 years or so for me, and it's given me a great deal of contentment in some respects I never thought I was capable of...

 

[Fisherfinder]

Critterhunter............

Thank you for your kind words, anyone can see that they are sincere, ....and I thank you for them.

No one knows me here, or anything about me. Of course sometime down the line it's possible that someone
will see that picture and say, "I know who that is".

I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, North Hollywood to be exact.
For decades the Valley has been known as "Gang Central".

Back in the day growing up in the Valley meant two things, if you didn't train hard, you hung out with those that did,
and you had to be a good fighter if you wanted to go out at night.
Even if you were good, very good in fact, you didn't really want to be out at night alone.

I spent 25 years of my life training. Much of it fighting full contact in the days long before vinyl dipped foam safety
equipment was even thought of. The surface was often smooth concrete, like in a gas station.

Still, you didn't want to be out at night alone in the Valley.

I like to go out at night, and I was never alone, I had a body guard, one that out weighed me by 20 lbs.


I know, God help me I know what you were referring to in your post, I went through that same cycle.
A piece of me died when my dog passed, it left me feeling hollow.

I don't have any brothers or sisters, that dog was all I had that I could depend on.

I wound up alone, in the Valley, at night.

It took me ten years to resolve my loss, and learn to not have a short fuse, but I did at one point become calm.
The reason being,...... if I don't climb those stairs, I will never see my dog again.


Let me say this,............it is something that everyone should know, but few people do.

" Of every living thing on this planet, only "one", loves it's owner more than it loves it's self,...... a dog "

The quote you may have been thinking of is from the Bible, the old school version.

"And Jesus said, "Bring the animals and children to me", that means they are shielded, they are under his direct care.

As for your thoughts on a greater power, I know God exists because I shouldn't even be here.
Like I said,......I grew up in the Valley,......and I like going out at night.



And as for you crying when you read my post,........... I was crying when I wrote it.

Note: To the admin & mods, I apologise for sliding off topic, I started it, and it's my responsibility.
If someone is going to get burned for it, burn me.

Fisherfinder

 

[Critterhunter]

Beautiful dog, and beautiful post. And I don't think you need to worry about the moderators, as Ron is the one who runs this forum and a good man who also I can tell cares very much for the animals in his life.

I look forward to reading your posts of future finds with that Sovereign, as well as your opinions on it's performance in the field.

Got about 45 minutes to wake up here to head for breakfast with a friend and then off to meet up with some fellow hunters for a long day's hunt. I didn't get enough hours of sleep here after last night's little beer fest. Coffee...I need lots of coffee...

 

[Fisherfinder]

Thank you Critter,

And again thank you for your kind words.

He was one of a kind,..... and those were the best years of my life.

Without any hesitation, I would forfeit the rest of my life for just one weekend of those days.



I didn't know that Ron ran the forum, I just thought he was smart.
I'm new here.

I too am looking forward to learning all I can about this machine and........

Hey I have a question,..... I heard that a Seasearch coil has the same windings as a Coinsearch coil.
Difference being the Seasearch coil is waterproof.

Any truth in that?

I only heard that said once.


Good luck in the field today Critter, don't dig any wooden nickels.

LOL

 

[deepdiger60]

Fish the sea search and the 8" coin search are the same i use the 8" in wet sand i water proofed it very simple to do very deep coil i pulled silver dimes out at 10" and lite as a feather . i picked up a few for less then 100.00 each brand new still in the unopen box not bad for a priceless coil made in the late 90,s i like making my own shaft set up,s for each coil i have just unplug one and plug in the other from the box . HH Jim

 

[Fisherfinder]

Thanks DD60,

I think I have to look for a coinsearch coil, I have heard only very good reports about it.

A very advanced user, a build your own detector guy, told me this morning, that
the seasearch and coinsearch are the same inside, but the seasearch will wear
you out in an hour.

The seasearch is a true water coil, it's "weighted", on land at one point it's not fun any more.

Thanks for the reply


I like the set up you put together there, and it's the right color.

 

[Critterhunter]

That Search Search coil that came on early Excaliburs I've seen some love so much that they put a plug on it to use on land with their Sovereign. I think I remember somebody saying they'd cut the fins off of it to try to drop some of it's weight. It's said to be a very stable coil.

On dogs- You ever get another after yours passed? In another month or so I think it makes it a year since Sky passed. I'm thinking of getting another Husky from a local Husky shelter that would bring 20+ dogs down to a dog park in the morning, where I'd take Sky once in a while and let her run free and play with them. She had a great time. I think it would be fitting to get a dog from that shelter for that reason.

I would like to get this same breed of Husky that was smaller and looked almost like they (long hairs or wollys) have border collie in them. But that's not as important to me as getting another Husky that loves to talk and tell stories as much as Sky did. She never, or rarely I should say, would howl full out like a wolf. Instead, she did semi-howls with lots of other words thrown in when she greeted people or wanted a bit of what I was eating. That is what I miss most about her- The stories she would tell. Wish I had filmed those conversations with her.

I used to take her to a local gas station in the morning to get my coffee. The owner let me and another guy let our dogs run free in the store while we got the things we wanted. Sky would greet customers and also run up to the clerks and talk to them, and the clerks always had treats waiting for her.

When she passed, I couldn't bring myself to walk into that store for a long time. First time I showed up one clerk who particuarlly loved talking with Sky said "Where's Sky today?" I couldn't bear it and had to leave. I get my coffee at another store these days, but one day when I get another dog I plan to bring my new *other* friend like Sky to that old gas station to say Hi to them for my coffee again. Yea, I've gone in once or twice since then, when the emotions were less raw about things on good days in that respect, but it just didn't feel right without a dog to make the rounds with.

 

[Fisherfinder]

Hey Critter,

That is what I want to do.
Add a plug so I can try that coil on my XS.

I contacted a member here "Joe" to double check with him about the wire colors and pin out,
but I never heard back from him, I might have to bite the bullet and send it to the repair center
and ask them to put a plug on.


No, I never owned another dog after that one.

I wanted another one just the same and they don't make them anymore.