Jump to content

Vanquish 340 Preliminary Review


Recommended Posts

I am a high school golf coach and my players gave me a $100 gift certificate for Dicks Sporting Goods which is one of the best all-round sporting goods stores in the Denver area. I don't shop there very often so I thought "I'm interested in the Vanquish but only in the 340 since I already have a Nox 600 and 800". I hate taking either of my Noxes or my XPs to tot lots and bark play grounds and I often am helping newbies learn how to detect so for $99, I ordered one on Wednesday Dec. 18th. I received it today, Sunday Dec. 22nd.

I gotta say, I was very surprised at the build quality, light weight and operation of the Vanquish 340. Coming from a Deus/Orx owner and a former owner of several Nokta Makro detectors, that is saying a lot. It is easy to adjust for comfortable custom fit and lightweight enough for a child , I don't mind the RED after all, I really like the way the buttons feel, simple operation that anyone can use, very much like the Equinox tones, response, target IDs, intuitiveness and one or two quick horseshoe "all metals" button presses and I can check for iron identification or just stay in no targets discriminated. Again, it really does detect like an Equinox and detects and feels nothing like a Go-Find or even an X-Terra. In coin mode it did high tone false on iron depending on depth so I did dig some rusty nails at 6" to 8" that gave numbers in the high 30s. I was hunting in a silver coin area and would have dug them anyway......in coin mode iron and small foil are supposed to be discriminated. I still dug pull tabs and larger can slaw. Crown caps really do have broken nulling audio and so did those nails so I will have to remember that audio nuance. I really did not miss the lack of an onboard pinpointer. For shallower coins (surface to 4") it gave a clear double beep right over the coin. Dug some nice pre-1982 copper pennies and 2 wheats at 8"...........not bad for a 10"X7" coil in moderate to high mineralization and I was not running it on max sensitivity.

In my backyard test bed I have a buried 6" nickel and 6" quarter that every detector I have tried can respond with some kind of audio and totally incorrect numerical target ID. The only detector that I own or have owned that could correctly identify both of these targets was the Equinox. Well, the entry level Vanquish 340 correctly identified both 6" targets AND gave the correct depth. That is saying a lot especially on the 6" nickel which every other detector I have every swung over it (the list is long and includes every manufacturer's detectors, XP, FTP, Garret, Whites, Nokta Makro, Tesoro and including Minelab=X-Terra 705 ) have totally failed to identify this 6" nickel in 4 to 5 bar dirt (F75 and F19 Fe3O4 meters) So, the Multi IQ system in the Vanquish is for real. I really would like to know what the multi frequency range is for the Vanquish too. Mine hit a 2/10 gram small nugget at 3" in the ground and I did not have the sensitivity at max!!!!!

I still haven't had the courage to try the Vanquish coil on the Equinox just to make sure (I know Minelab said it will not work.....)

Jeff

minelab-vanquish-340-metal-detector.jpg

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


Of course, I don't expect performance like Equinox ... but the multifrequency and sensitivity and impact on small targets, and the accuracy of the ID at Vanquish, I think, will be good enough for the price.
I also like the 7x10" coil size .. because there's something between the 6 "coil ... and the 11" coil at Equinox .. so the Vanquish 340 will be a great addition to my Equinox 800 ..

I ordered it...

Still some ... from some tests on YT .. I have the impression that Vanquish gives a low conductive coin a higher ID than Equinox ..

Can anyone confirm it? .....
 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

I still haven't had the courage to try the Vanquish coil on the Equinox just to make sure (I know Minelab said it will not work.....)

You can't hurt anything trying different VLF coils on VLF detectors. Not something I would do with a high power pulse induction, but there is no risk with a VLF. I am sure it will not work, but a picture of that coil on an Equinox would be a great tease! :smile:

Pretty hard to beat the Vanquish 340 at only $199. The 340 is the ultimate budget saltwater beach detector. I admit to being tempted but so far I have been successful at resisting urges to get new VLF detectors since getting my Equinox.

minelab-vanquish-340-target-id-tones.jpg
Minelab Vanquish 340 - target range -9 to 40, three tones and five notch settings

C70C8AD5-1052-4AE5-A7D1-919CC295E785.gif

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi

El Nino77 I have not noticed a lower or higher number on USA lower conductive coins. So far, all coin numerical target IDs are virtually identical to Equinox numbers.

Steve, thank you for the encouragement to try the Vanquish V10 coil on the Equinox. Unfortunately, it really won't work, not because of coil incompatibility (which I cannot test) but due to actual plug incompatibility. See photo....

I'm still really enjoying the Vanquish 340. It is like having a 3 toned, multi frequency, Tesoro Silver Micro Max or Cibola with a  big display screen and a DD coil. The 340 is great in tot lots and bark playgrounds. I hit two today and I was able to detect coins easily within 5" of large metal play structure supports. Even at half sensitivity it will detect right down to the moisture barrier 8" to 12" below the wood chip surface and sound off on the staples and any coins or trash that has reached that level. Crown bottle caps will definitely high and medium tone simultaneously with jumpy numbers. Both tones are broken and unsteady which seems to be an audio key for the 340. If I get the coil over a US coin within 6" or the surface I get solid repeatable tones all around the target. If I don't get solid tones and numbers, so far it is either a much deeper coin or a trash aluminum or iron target.

The 340 does seem to like a little slower sweep speed than the Equinox which echoes Abenson's findings. I would not choose the 340 to work a really trashy area. In tot lots, soccer/football fields, volleyball courts, and open fields and beaches it would be just fine. What a great addition to the entry level metal detector line......

Jeff

 

thumbnail-1.jpeg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, EL NINO77 said:

Of course, I don't expect performance like Equinox ... but the multifrequency and sensitivity and impact on small targets, and the accuracy of the ID at Vanquish, I think, will be good enough for the price.
I also like the 7x10" coil size .. because there's something between the 6 "coil ... and the 11" coil at Equinox .. so the Vanquish 340 will be a great addition to my Equinox 800 ..

I ordered it...

Still some ... from some tests on YT .. I have the impression that Vanquish gives a low conductive coin a higher ID than Equinox ..

Can anyone confirm it? .....
 

The TID's are VERY close to the Nox. There might be a shift of 1 or 2 numbers on some items. Coins have been the same for me so far.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for your direct answers ....


Steve Herschbach ...
  I also thought I could resist buying Vanquish 340 but for the price / 238 euros / with free shipping I just clicked on it ..

It is unbelievably to what price level the multifrequency got .. with advantages which offer ..

Jeff McClendon ...
Yes Vanquish also reminds me of Tesoro Mojave Multifrequency with numeric ID Displays. Simple, ... easy, yet efficiently in a variety of terrain .

...practically the detection range of 0.2 grams of gold per 3 "in the ground is considered to be excellent sensitivity

Coils..now I know the coils are not interchangeable with equinox ,,, but from the Minelab marketing point of view.... I understand ...

67GTA ....
Thank you for the answer ... I had the impression that some small silver coin was ID a little higher, but on other items enough to agree with Equinox ..

The..detector Vanquish 340  seems to me sometime in the middle of January ... so I also compare with Equinox and write something about it ..
 


 
 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will say this about the Vanquish series. It's meant to compete with the Ace Series, low end Whites, like the Treasure Master and Pro, as well as others. I've owned a number of Ace's over the past 10 years and a Treasure Pro for my kids to use. I would take the Vanquish over any of them hands down, it's a much better performer both in depth and separation. I agree with Jeff, it's a great park detector and I feel it will do real well on the beaches too. Only place I see it struggling is relic hunting. I took it out this last weekend and compared signals with the Equinox, 70% of the signals were no problem with the Vanquish 540. I had a few that were in too much iron for the Vanquish to separate out and another couple that were too deep.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

1 hour ago, EL NINO77 said:

Thank you for your direct answers ....

Yes Vanquish also reminds me of Tesoro Mojave Multifrequency with numeric ID Displays. Simple, ... easy, yet efficiently in a variety of terrain .

...practically the detection range of 0.2 grams of gold per 3 "in the ground is considered to be excellent sensitivity

Hi El Nino77,

I owned a Tesoro Mojave for awhile. I chose the Tesoro detectors that I am comparing the Vanquish 340 to very carefully and the Mojave was not one of them. I found it to be very hard to use in high mineralization/EMI and it definitely could not detect a 2/10 gram gold nugget at a depth of 3".......

Part of the time today, I was detecting with the Vanquish 340 directly under some massive power lines in highly mineralized soil. With no targets rejected (what Minelab likes to call All Metal which definitely is misleading) the 340 became a bit chatty. I just turned it off, turned it back on and let it Auto Noise cancel again. Problem solved with auto ground balance, auto noise cancel and Mutli IQ technology. The Mojave could not do that even with sensitivity turned way down and using the low/high difficult soil switch.

Jeff

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mojave with concentric coil practically does not work well in heavily mineralized soil.
but with 6X8"SEF DD coil works very well with reasonable range ,,, even on Low setting  GB....

But of course it does not detract from the quality of detection Minelab Vanquish 340 ,,, and I consider the auto "noise cancel" another big plus ..
        Thank you for the information... 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello i have a question.  Is it possible to turn iron bias off? If iron bias is on high by default and you can't turn it off than it's a real shame. I want a cheap detector for hunting ww2 relics,  weapons and grenate shells. With only iron bias on high this detector is not the right one i think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...