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SOV Disc Settings ?
- Thread starter Donny nj
- Start date
pinebarrenskoko
New member
I DON USE DISC ON THE BEACH AND IN THE WOODS I LEAVE IT AT FOIL RANGE
hi donny, i'm interested too. with my explorer when im at the beach i use no discrimation at all because i want to pretty much hear everything and if relic hunting and im at a place where im expecting relic's i think i'd do the same. yea i think i'd want to hear everything also but we'll see what others have to say on your question.
stan pa.
stan pa.
Mike (Virginia Beach)
New member
Yes, that's pretty much a no-brainer if you ask me...no disc on the beach. There isn't a machine in the world that can tell a gold ring from aluminum trash with any degree of certainty. If you want the gold, you have to listen to it ALL and dig MOST of it. To the trained ear though, you CAN (usually) tell a bottlecap, foil, and pennies most of the time. The most successful beach hunters dig everything. It depends on your beaches. Ours here are pretty much free of trash, so I usually dig everything but what I am 95% sure is a bottlecap or a penny, though with zinc pennies and some of the deeper ones I get they are often crusted and start to sound more like gold rings than pennies. When pennies get "salty" that changes everything. And I never used a meter on the beach when I had my Sovereign Elite.
Now on the relics, I also used the meter but still wanted to hear everything. I found that buttons came in anywhere from maybe 140 to 180, musketballs at around 170 (give or take) and minnieballs at around 174, give or take. I obviously was using a 180 meter. I never got into the 550...I re-calibrated mine and I also had a DTI-II later. I no longer have the Sovereign, but do use an Excal on the beach and Explorer II and CZ-70 on land.
Now on the relics, I also used the meter but still wanted to hear everything. I found that buttons came in anywhere from maybe 140 to 180, musketballs at around 170 (give or take) and minnieballs at around 174, give or take. I obviously was using a 180 meter. I never got into the 550...I re-calibrated mine and I also had a DTI-II later. I no longer have the Sovereign, but do use an Excal on the beach and Explorer II and CZ-70 on land.
Mike (Virginia Beach)
New member
The tones were what made me love it so much on the beach. I got mine at the start of the summer hunting season a few years ago and didn't even put the meter on it for a month. I hunted strictly by the tones and got to know the machine faster that way, I think. I liked it so much for beach hunting that I got rid of it and got the Excalibur, mostly so I could relax in the wet sand and the shallow water. I had a few close calls night hunting the low tide with it. Because if it goes in the water, it's all over but the 
NamVetLesTreasureSeeker
New member
Hey Mike, YOU THE MAN!! First, you set me up on Ground Balancing my FISHER CZ-70PRO, and now you're coming to the rescue on the Meter Chart Info for my Sov-GT. MANY THANKS Bro, HH.
Mike (Virginia Beach)
New member
You're quite welcome! My problem is I'm a sucker for a great detector and I've had a few and loved them all and did well with all. The CZ is still here. I no longer have my DFX, but remember it well. The Sovereign Elite is gone but I still have a few Sovereign tricks up my sleeve and use an Excal on the beach now. And I was a Quattro guy for a while but now use an Explorer II as my primary land machine. I guess I like a challenge and also am always looking for the perfect machine. Though right now I believe it would be tough to beat the Explorer II for the land, the Excal for the beach, and the CZ-70 for anything and everything. I think they're all keepers. But I HAVE been thinking how I might like to try a Sovereign GT or better yet an X-Terra. Who knows? So many machines, so little time!
Who knows? So many machines, so little time!Mike (Virginia Beach)
New member
Come on down...only problem now is finding a place around here that either me or any of the many hard core detectorists around here hasn't hunted to death yet. I find myslef hitting the road more and more. Where are the metal detecting "frontiers" that are left yet? I know the answer...it's getting permission to hunt private property...knocking on those farmhouse doors. Happy hunting!
adam in cal
New member
I use niether one .......I will in certian instances rachet up the disc and notch both close to the nickle range only in cherry pickin situations where targets remain close to the surface .....i think to much disc and you lose depth and its no seceret that to high and you start to notch out gold rings and the like .......I perfeer to hear all the targets then make a descision as to dig or not ......with the disc to high you can also potentiall ''mask a coin'' if its in a close proximity to a junk target that has been notched out ......thats not to say I hunt in all metal {that drives me crazy}just remember with each item you notch out there is a gold item similar that you are also notching out ....gold and tabs fall so close thats its nearly impossible to get one and not the other...the tones can be a key as well.........but its hard to tell even then sometimes ....sometimes i just listen to what the threshold sounds like when it returns.....if the item is gold it kinda comes back with a low deep growl where a tab it kinda pops back in....its taken almost 2 years to hear some of the subtle nuances of this machine but let me tell ya ....time well spent....and i am a firm believer that with a sovereign you need to really give it time....you will see new doors come open after giving it a honest try.....this machine is such a trip....once you get intune with your sovereign you will see its so simple ...and man the thing just hangs on ,,,,,it goes deep real deep ....I just didnt understand ...even after having some sucess with it i now relize I was still not getting the full comperhension of its capabilities....now I just take it for a spin and know what to listen for in order to pull deeper coins .....its a funny machine ....I find targets a six inches all the time and am still amazed because they sound as loud as the targets i first heard at two inches ......once you ''tune into it'' you will probally start to giggle and dance ........I know I still do....there are stll many firsts for me out there and every trip I feel my machine is capable of finding them........stick with it ....I will attest to the fact that it can be frustrating working with a sov... but the rewards are well worth the time spent....this is one machine that can acctually hold its own with an Explorer and thats quite a compliment ..........anyhow good luck my friend ....and whatever setting work best for you is what you need to be using .....there is lots of good info here but like anything else some bad also ...and to much info can overload the brain...just get cozy go play a bit ....the auto mode is a good place to start also ....it kinda gets the thing going in the right direction and from there you can venture clockwise a bit .....good luck...............................Adam
Joe Patrick
New member
1) I ALWAYS use zero disc setting for beach hunting. I dig it all.
2) Zero to foil for relics - this will vary depending on the site I am searching. If the likelyhood of desireable iron relics is minimal, I will disc-out iron to eliminate nails. However, for Civil War sites, I usually use zero disc and dig all good-sounding signals.
3) For beach hunting 'run' the sensitivity off of the 'auto' setting for improved detection depth in the discrimination mode. Try a setting in the range of 10:00 to 12:00. This will often gain you additional inches of detection depth.
Joe
2) Zero to foil for relics - this will vary depending on the site I am searching. If the likelyhood of desireable iron relics is minimal, I will disc-out iron to eliminate nails. However, for Civil War sites, I usually use zero disc and dig all good-sounding signals.
3) For beach hunting 'run' the sensitivity off of the 'auto' setting for improved detection depth in the discrimination mode. Try a setting in the range of 10:00 to 12:00. This will often gain you additional inches of detection depth.
Joe
Donny,
I am more of a coin hunter, but I run my disc to 0 or if a lot of small alum foil I may raise to maybe the 10 o'clock position. I don't think i have used notch for a couple of years now as I just go by tones only, then check the meter for the close ones. Remember notch will only work for items that are not disc out so if you set the disc to reject alum foil the notch has to be set higher than alum foil is or it will not work. Both the disc and the notch will not knock out screw caps or zinc pennies. Where I find notch worked good was when i hit some area where it is wall to wall pull tabs as I can crank up the notch to reject the most common ones as it will not notch them all out.
The secret to the Sovereign is it tones and once you know them you can do well and get more good than bad, but I find anything that is questionable is wise to dig like a pull tab that sound too smooth sounding or numbers reads like a pull tab, but tone are not that of a pull tab as it possibly a gold ring or a piece of jewelry.
Rick
I am more of a coin hunter, but I run my disc to 0 or if a lot of small alum foil I may raise to maybe the 10 o'clock position. I don't think i have used notch for a couple of years now as I just go by tones only, then check the meter for the close ones. Remember notch will only work for items that are not disc out so if you set the disc to reject alum foil the notch has to be set higher than alum foil is or it will not work. Both the disc and the notch will not knock out screw caps or zinc pennies. Where I find notch worked good was when i hit some area where it is wall to wall pull tabs as I can crank up the notch to reject the most common ones as it will not notch them all out.
The secret to the Sovereign is it tones and once you know them you can do well and get more good than bad, but I find anything that is questionable is wise to dig like a pull tab that sound too smooth sounding or numbers reads like a pull tab, but tone are not that of a pull tab as it possibly a gold ring or a piece of jewelry.
Rick
Thanx for your reply......I am not new to the Sov having owned a few in the last years & now after trying most have decided to return and glad I did ....its all you stated here and MUCH MORE.....GREAT UNIT ....learn its language and enjoy hunting with it .....it will do ya right!!!
HH
HH
Rick,
as always I appreciate your input, but I am curious.I realize that you are always going to be digging some pulltabs, but how often do you or any of the other guys that wish to comment, end up digging pulltabs, that are really experiened w/the GT? I am still using my old backup 65X till my GT comes back from Minelab. I only used it for a week till it went out, so obviously I dont have very much experience on it yet. But I did dig a couple hundred p.tabs when I was on the beach in Mexico with it. Aaron
as always I appreciate your input, but I am curious.I realize that you are always going to be digging some pulltabs, but how often do you or any of the other guys that wish to comment, end up digging pulltabs, that are really experiened w/the GT? I am still using my old backup 65X till my GT comes back from Minelab. I only used it for a week till it went out, so obviously I dont have very much experience on it yet. But I did dig a couple hundred p.tabs when I was on the beach in Mexico with it. Aaron
Aaron,
If you want to find all the gold rings and misc items you will be digging the pull tabs. I feel you can cut down the odds by knowing which numbers are mostly pull tabs and dig the rest. Being mostly a coin hunter I dig very few pull tabs as i know which tones and meter numbers are the coins, but any signal that sounds deeper that a trash item would normally be I will dig too. I also dig any pull tab signals that sounds smoother than normal too if I am looking for other items other than coins.
To me i find the Sovereigns with a digital 180 meter to be more accurate ID than any other detector I have used, but will not tell you if it is a dime, quarter or copper penny like the Explorer will.If it is a coin i will be digging it so it don't make any difference for me, just don't want to dig all those pull tabs many detector will say is a coin.
Rick
If you want to find all the gold rings and misc items you will be digging the pull tabs. I feel you can cut down the odds by knowing which numbers are mostly pull tabs and dig the rest. Being mostly a coin hunter I dig very few pull tabs as i know which tones and meter numbers are the coins, but any signal that sounds deeper that a trash item would normally be I will dig too. I also dig any pull tab signals that sounds smoother than normal too if I am looking for other items other than coins.
To me i find the Sovereigns with a digital 180 meter to be more accurate ID than any other detector I have used, but will not tell you if it is a dime, quarter or copper penny like the Explorer will.If it is a coin i will be digging it so it don't make any difference for me, just don't want to dig all those pull tabs many detector will say is a coin.
Rick