[size=medium]First a little background. My name is Bob and have been an avid detectorist since the early 90's. I have owned many different types and brands of detectors. I have used PI's, CZ's, Explorer's and finally settling on my all time favorite, the Minelab Sovereign. I started with an original and moved up through the years as each new design was released. I now currently use a GT and my old reliable XS.
Like all of us there was always the desire to improve performance in my detectors. First by trying different coils to the point I finally learned how to build my own. Started with homemade PI coils and then through trial and error moved on to building Sovereign coils. Doing this enabled me to gain more depth and sensitivity but still I wanted more.
Going back to October of 2007 I spotted a post on the Sovereign forum that caught my interest. This fellow out in California was asking if anyone would be interested in a Sovereign amp. Needless to say this caught my attention. I contacted Shaun and we both agreed that I would conduct some field reports for him. As I tested, Shaun would make changes trying to perfect his design. This went back and forth for a year and a half. I would now like to say that he has accomplished that goal.
I was very impressed when I received my test Amp, as it was a very high quality unit. It arrived with the amp itself, a separate battery pack which clips on to your belt and it's own Li-ion recharger. High quality connectors and external wiring was used throughout. I heard about other so called boosters so I was a bit skeptical about this one as well. Not wanting to ruin my GT, I strapped it on to my older XS and had a hard time believing what I saw. In house testing was showing a measured increase in depth along with increased sensitivity. WOW I thought, this thing really works! But in house testing is just that, a beach test would really tell the tale for me.
The following morning I hit my favorite beach. The tide was going out so I was hunting the wet sand. I cranked up the XS and set it like I normally would. Then powered up the amp. Everything sounded nice and stable so off I went. I was working in both Disc and A/M. When I located a target I would switch modes while turning the amp on and off. First thing I noticed was that deeper targets were louder. Actually all targets are a bit louder. I was going along picking up coins like I usually would but listening for that very faint target. Sure enough working in A/M I get a nice light hit. Switch to Disc target disappears. Turn the amp off and scan the area again...no target, switch back to A/M still no target. Turn the amp back on and the targets returns. Something was happening here for certain.
I'm not gonna quote any measurements here but just suffice to say it was the deepest quarter I can ever remember digging. I continued testing targets in this fashion and dug quite a few coins that I did not hear without the amp. I finally get a very slight whisper and sure enough no signal with amp off. Well I dug the deepest 14K Gold ring I ever dug! Surely would have missed it without the amp. I ended up the day with quite a few coins, the gold ring and also a thin gold bracelet. I was very pleased to say the least!
On another beach I hunt, there is an area that has many deep Silver coins. I have dug hundreds over the years. It's getting pretty depleted but like the old saying goes...It's never hunted out. I thought this another good spot for a test. I had been there for previous hunts without any silver coins to show for my effort. Turning the amp on and backing down the sensitivity a tad was all I had to do to keep her stable. I worked slowly and using my previous test method was able to locate 9 silver coins which I had missed plus a dozen or so wheaties.
I then hooked up the amp to my Sovereign GT with similar results. Shaun's amp will work equally well on all Sovereigns
Now not everything is perfect including Shaun's amp. It does not work well in a highly mineralized environment namely hot ground or salt water. The problem I had was that the amp just was too over powering for continuous salt water submersion. That created far too much falsing no matter what the settings. I would not recommend it for that type of use, but for wet or dry sand it will put a smile on your face! Now I heard that Florida beaches are not as mineralized, it may do well down that way but I have no way of knowing.
Shaun has improved the design and reliability of his amp since my first test unit and he backs what he sells. There is no doubt that he will take care of you.
Happy hunting to all my fellow hunters,
Bob[/size]
Like all of us there was always the desire to improve performance in my detectors. First by trying different coils to the point I finally learned how to build my own. Started with homemade PI coils and then through trial and error moved on to building Sovereign coils. Doing this enabled me to gain more depth and sensitivity but still I wanted more.
Going back to October of 2007 I spotted a post on the Sovereign forum that caught my interest. This fellow out in California was asking if anyone would be interested in a Sovereign amp. Needless to say this caught my attention. I contacted Shaun and we both agreed that I would conduct some field reports for him. As I tested, Shaun would make changes trying to perfect his design. This went back and forth for a year and a half. I would now like to say that he has accomplished that goal.
I was very impressed when I received my test Amp, as it was a very high quality unit. It arrived with the amp itself, a separate battery pack which clips on to your belt and it's own Li-ion recharger. High quality connectors and external wiring was used throughout. I heard about other so called boosters so I was a bit skeptical about this one as well. Not wanting to ruin my GT, I strapped it on to my older XS and had a hard time believing what I saw. In house testing was showing a measured increase in depth along with increased sensitivity. WOW I thought, this thing really works! But in house testing is just that, a beach test would really tell the tale for me.
The following morning I hit my favorite beach. The tide was going out so I was hunting the wet sand. I cranked up the XS and set it like I normally would. Then powered up the amp. Everything sounded nice and stable so off I went. I was working in both Disc and A/M. When I located a target I would switch modes while turning the amp on and off. First thing I noticed was that deeper targets were louder. Actually all targets are a bit louder. I was going along picking up coins like I usually would but listening for that very faint target. Sure enough working in A/M I get a nice light hit. Switch to Disc target disappears. Turn the amp off and scan the area again...no target, switch back to A/M still no target. Turn the amp back on and the targets returns. Something was happening here for certain.
I'm not gonna quote any measurements here but just suffice to say it was the deepest quarter I can ever remember digging. I continued testing targets in this fashion and dug quite a few coins that I did not hear without the amp. I finally get a very slight whisper and sure enough no signal with amp off. Well I dug the deepest 14K Gold ring I ever dug! Surely would have missed it without the amp. I ended up the day with quite a few coins, the gold ring and also a thin gold bracelet. I was very pleased to say the least!
On another beach I hunt, there is an area that has many deep Silver coins. I have dug hundreds over the years. It's getting pretty depleted but like the old saying goes...It's never hunted out. I thought this another good spot for a test. I had been there for previous hunts without any silver coins to show for my effort. Turning the amp on and backing down the sensitivity a tad was all I had to do to keep her stable. I worked slowly and using my previous test method was able to locate 9 silver coins which I had missed plus a dozen or so wheaties.
I then hooked up the amp to my Sovereign GT with similar results. Shaun's amp will work equally well on all Sovereigns
Now not everything is perfect including Shaun's amp. It does not work well in a highly mineralized environment namely hot ground or salt water. The problem I had was that the amp just was too over powering for continuous salt water submersion. That created far too much falsing no matter what the settings. I would not recommend it for that type of use, but for wet or dry sand it will put a smile on your face! Now I heard that Florida beaches are not as mineralized, it may do well down that way but I have no way of knowing.
Shaun has improved the design and reliability of his amp since my first test unit and he backs what he sells. There is no doubt that he will take care of you.
Happy hunting to all my fellow hunters,
Bob[/size]
