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Vanquish 440 As Backup


Luis

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I have the equinox 600 and I was wondering if it is worth buying the Vanquish 440 as a backup.  The use I would give would be exclusively for the beach.  If anyone has it, I would appreciate it if they told me how it goes on the beach.  Thank you

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You guys need to read the Minelab forum more carefully. This has already been answered:

Minelab Vanquish 3 Days On The Beach In So. California

Abenson reviewed the 540, but aside from 5 tones, a 12" and 8" coil, wireless audio,  slightly more discrimination segments and sensitivity adjustments, the 440 and 540 are the same detector. It should perform just the same.

Jeff

 

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1 hour ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Abenson reviewed the 540, but aside from 5 tones, a 12" and 8" coil, wireless audio,  slightly more discrimination segments and sensitivity adjustments, the 440 and 540 are the same detector. It should perform just the same.

Also, 540 has the ability to switch to a lower level of iron bias vs. the 440 and the 540 has built-in BT audio while the 440 does not.  As Jeff said, basically, the same performance between the two, but having the extra control over iron bias does make a difference for me based on the tests I conducted in my test garden today, not sure it would make a big difference at the beach though.  I really have trouble going back to wired headphones though, so built-in wireless is really something I have trouble giving up at this point.

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18 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

Also, 540 has the ability to switch to a lower level of iron bias vs. the 440 and the 540 has built-in BT audio while the 440 does not.  As Jeff said, basically, the same performance between the two, but having the extra control over iron bias does make a difference for me based on the tests I conducted in my test garden today, not sure it would make a big difference at the beach though.  I really have trouble going back to wired headphones though, so built-in wireless is really something I have trouble giving up at this point.

I totally forgot about the iron bias high/low adjustment, but in a saltwater beach/black sand situation I would probably leave the 540 iron bias on high. 

I totally agree about the wireless audio EXCEPT on a windy beach near wave noise, digging in shifting sand where from experience I prefer noise cancelling high quality wired headphones with no lag. So, unless Minelab have improved the lag on their stock wireless headphone connection, I may prefer wired headphones altogether. I am using Quest on the ear wireless headphones with my 440 and they work very well away from winds and waves......definitely not noise cancelling however.

How did the 540 do in your testing especially with the internal ground balance and iron bias?

Jeff

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Agree with you, as I said in my post, that the iron bias low setting option of the 540 doesn't really matter at the beach.

Regarding, BT headphones, I don't use the ML stock BT headphones except as a backup because the audio seems sub par compared to a few of the 3rd party phones (including a pair I have that has active noise cancellation).  Regarding lag, have not had an issue with any true BT APTX LL headphones I've used (including the ML's), and I can definitely tell the difference in lag even with a pair of APTX (non LL) which have greater latency but still about half of anything else BT. BT wireless that is not APTX LL is basically unusable for detecting.

The user interface makes more sense to me than the Simplex, probably because I am coming from Equinox, but I also like the separate dedicated toggle buttons for Volume, Sensitivity, and navigating the discrimination segments. Very intuitive.  

Couple of quibbles, pinpoint doesn't latch.  Not a biggy but different than what I am used to.  I don't like how the horseshoe button dis-engages if I switch modes.

Regarding performance, I only had limited time, but I like the tones and response of the 540.  It hit everything in my test garden (high conductors,  a dime masked by iron, small mid-conductive button and buclke relics, a minie ball, a nickel masked by iron), but everything is at medium depth around 6 to 8 inches.   It had the most trouble with the nickel with nearby iron.  IB adjust didn't make too much difference, but it did help some to lower IB to widen the angle were I could get a repeatable, clear target response.  I need to do a true A - B comparison with Equinox and Simplex but haven't had the chance. 

Getting back to the OP, either the 440 or 540 should get it done at the beach as a backup no problem.  Don't drop it in the surf though.  The 540 personally gives me more bang for the buck with wireless and slight additional adjustability plus for beach hunting, the larger coil vs. the 440,  provides a definite swing coverage advantage.  Would love to have this V12 coil on my Equinox.  Thanks for considering that option ML ("not!").

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Thanks for the answers.  One of the reasons I asked why it seems that the Vanquish beach mode is also the equinox beach 1 mode.  That way it doesn't work well on the beaches which I usually go to.  I can't use the beach 1 mode in the wet sand and much less put the dish in the water, however with the beach 2 mode there is no problem.  that's why the question.

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I don't know you might get away with using the Vanquish on that Beach. I tried my Vanquish at the Great Salt Lake which is very salty and has areas of high mineralisation. The Vanquish with the coil in the water ran very quiet but I had to have the sensitivity down to about 6. My Equinox in Beach 2 is very noisy in this water. Even running the Equinox sensitivity down to 15 I still get constant chatter

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Abenson ... do you see any noticeable difference in the work of the Vanquish detector programs ...on the Great Salt Lake detecting? ...

...And which program do you prefer in such conditions?...

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