Minelab Software Update Expectations

[strick]

Personally I'm not that interested in it's small gold capabilities, most VLF's are fairly useless for small gold up where we hunt due to the hot soil....we are all using PI's up in the high country.  As it stands right now I could see it working good in tailing piles for some larger specimens. I dug some non ferrous out of some tailing piles on my little trip weekend before last in the foot hills.  Someone here has posted finding some gold chains already with the M-Core which is all that I am interested in anyways...it's coin and jewelry and relic capabilities. But yea it would be a bonus if they could improve on its small gold capabilities  as well. Then there would be no stopping it. 

strick 

[okara gold]

So far from what I have read, seen and time used, I think the Manticore is a very good all-around machine. Everyone's expectations are different. Some people don't care about its salt beach finding capabilities, some don't care about its small gold abilities. I am not too concerned how well it works in a carpet of nails (at this time) or how it handles hot ground. And some are looking for it to excel in all areas of detection.  I hunt saltwater beaches 90% of the time. For me it seems to be better on depth and tiny targets than the Nox. This I would expect after years of R & D off the Equinox platform. So, if it doesn't have any new updates for a while, I'm ok with that. It is serving my purposes just fine. (I just had a 3-gold morning with it that I will post separately). I think it is way too early for anyone to think it needs an update. Time to learn the machine and let the engineers figure it out through our input. 

[Cal_Cobra]

On 2/22/2023 at 10:15 AM, abenson said:

Yes mineralization can change everything and I don't have a place I hunt that's not at least moderate mineralization. But I'm not overly concerned about it either as most of my gold hunting these days is done with the GPX 6000.

The more I use the Manticore the less I'm picking up the 900 and I already sold the 800. So I may eventually just end up with the Manticore out of the 2 at some point.

Let me know if you decide to dump your 900 🙂 

[Mikenowellsmith]

On 2/22/2023 at 2:38 AM, scott162 said:

First, thanks to all the contributors here that provide so much knowledge for this great hobby.

I am curious about how much performance improvement can be achieved by software updates to the dectector.
For example, if I have understood some of the posts here, the Manticore may not perform as well as hoped in hot ground, iron-rich environments, and perhaps not as sensitive to small gold as one might have expected coming from an Equinox platform.

Does anyone have an idea of how much improvement to any of those concerns could be addressed just by updating the software?

Or is it just the nature of the hardware and software might give a marginal-but-not-spectacular benefit?

Thanks everyone!

-Scott

I'm using the manticore myself and have found gold 3 timed the last piece was only 12 on the VDI it all depends on the ct and size of the gold object, also I've had Roman Celtic and hammered, one Edward 1st farthing a tiny coin was 10.5" deep, dig every signal until you know what the machine is telling you, when they say the manticore is 50% more powerful what it means in my experience is it will find smaller objects deeper than other machines, I've also got the deus 2 and on small targets the manticore is definitely deeper, the only complaint if you can call it that is the headphones are not even shower resistant. This is a tiny minim on a small toilet roll square that's on the paper design 6" down yesterday 

[steveg]

On 2/22/2023 at 9:40 AM, strick said:

The displeasing reports are mostly coming from not enough time on the machine. Once they get some time then the light bulb goes off. The machine may get some kinda software up date that can make it only better than it already is. The manticore will go down as one of Minelabs best vlf detectors. 

strick 

strick --

I think this is true.  It shouldn't be surprising, but just to confirm this...my buddy in Pennsylvania struggled a bit with his at first, but is really settling in with it now; not sure how many hours, but I would guess he's well up over 50 now.  He's been fairly impressed with the unit, as of late.

Meanwhile, I finished my 5th hunt today, which puts me at around 25 hours.  The site I hit today has milder soil, and I ran it in ATHC.  I feel like I just started to get a feel for it today.  NOT a "lightbulb" moment, but some real progress in terms of understanding it; I turned a bit of a corner through the last half of the hunt.  I am looking forward to continuing the progress.  

One thing I will note, is that I want to reiterate this...the "falsy" tendencies I've noted with the machine are -- I believe -- related to DIRT conditions.  But the "falsing" from nails is NOT, in my opinion, a problem.  I don't have much issue figuring out what is a falsing nail, and what is a deep high-toning non-ferrous, in most cases.  It's no harder, NOR any more frequent, than on the Equinox, AT ALL, in my opinion.  And that's after only 25 or so hours.  I think, in time, it is going to be even EASIER to figure out what's a nail false, and what's a "legitimate" high tone, on the Manticore, as compared to the EQX, as the language is SO much more "rich" and "full."  It's ONLY the "falsiness" in the hot dirt, that is somewhat problematic with the MC, and I didn't have much of that at all today.

Here are my old coin finds, from the past 3 hunts (about 12 to 14 hours of hunt time)...

 

[unknwn]

I wish I had an inkling as where to start.

From my introduction post of April 15, I am an utter novice with a nearly 200 years of homestead directly outside my front door.

The whole of the area is -wide open- for fairly unencumbered searching.

My landscape area around the dwelling and adjacent storage/garage areas is in transition, so digging/hoe-ing and pawing around is only governed by my personal abilities to work methodically, and restore the grade and landscaping to an acceptable circumstance post-detecting.

I am not corralled by spouse or home-owner association, just by the infirmities that forced a retirement on me and dispensed with -nearly- all of my previous involvements and enjoyments (no more motor-or- winter sports anymore).

The new Manticore is scheduled to arrive in a day or so.

The learning curve involved will ALL be happening within the 1/4 mile area surrounding the farmhouse, barns, pastures, and homestead directly outside the dwelling.

Should I be overly concerned with the possibility of a software update at this early juncture? I will report on software iteration as soon as I'm able to turn it on and discern where I'm at once the i.d. & configuration is determined.

 

[Ringtail]

1 hour ago, unknwn said:

 

I wish I had an inkling as where to start.

From my introduction post of April 15, I am an utter novice with a nearly 200 years of homestead directly outside my front door.

 

Unknwn,

Congratulations on your new Manticore and also on having lots of time and a great place to use it! Of course there will be a learning curve, but if you use the out of the box setting and follow the advice you will find here on the forum or in several good youtube videos you should be making good finds soon. Just take your time and enjoy the learning process. 

The Manticore is a the best detector I have ever used. In my opinion, the iron falsing is a minor issue and you shouldn’t worry about it. I have found many relics and old coins in my first three months with it, and I don’t dig much iron. It finds new targets in areas that I had pounded for years and finds the good stuff mixed in with the iron.

I recommend starting out in factory settings like All Terrain or All Terrain High Trash, with All Metal off, Sensitivity as low as needed to keep the machine quiet, and use long press noise cancel. Focus on keeping the machine quiet with lower sensitivity so that you will easily hear good targets, your sensitivity should be below 23. Once you get the hang of finding targets you will be able to gradually increase your sensitivity over time.

Good luck!

Ringtail

 

 

[GB_Amateur]

5 hours ago, unknwn said:

Should I be overly concerned with the possibility of a software update at this early juncture?

IMO, that's a big 'NO' for many reasons.  First, will there really be an update?  AFAIK Minelab hasn't said there will be one.  Second, that update may not have anything to do with what *some* people are wanting/hoping for.

There's so much to learn with this detector even for those with experience in previous ML models (e.g. Equinox, E-Trac, CTX3030).  Delaying that is a waste of valuable time.

In my experience with the Equinox, where there were around 3 software updates, I sometimes saw performance improvements for my style and methods of detecting and in other cases I didn't.  Regardless, I never felt like I was handcuffed having to unlearn or break habits.  It was either "I don't notice anything" or "nice but I won't use it" or best of all "oh, I like that better!"

Get out there and have fun finding and learning!

[Chase Goldman]

On 2/22/2023 at 1:15 PM, abenson said:

So I may eventually just end up with the Manticore out of the 2 at some point.

The only thing holding me back at this point is nothing equivalent to the Nox 10x5 coil available for Manticore, yet.

[phrunt]

2 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

The only thing holding me back at this point is nothing equivalent to the Nox 10x5 coil available for Manticore, yet.

The 8 x 5.5" can't be too far off now one would hope,  It's quite a nice size too, I have it with my Vanquish.

If Coiltek produces a 10x5" I likely won't buy it as I'll already have the smaller Minelab coil by then so I'm hoping Coiltek makes a vastly different size.  I've got the impression they are making coils for it, it's just a matter of time, and I guess Minelab would never allow it before they've sold their own for a significant amount of time to  make a bulk of the money they hope to make off them.

Any firmware update is a bonus, if they never make one it won't overly change my life, it's pretty damn good right out of the box.  I'd like them to improve the Target ID stability seeing they advertised it as having more stable ID's than the Nox and if possible a bit of tweaking to gold mode on small gold, other than that it's all fine for me.