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Fisher Impulse AQ (formerly Aqua Manta) Pulse Induction Metal Detector


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The Aqua Manta has finally arrived in the form of the new Fisher Impulse AQ. The Manta has been officially named the Fisher Impulse AQ, a development that happened later in this very thread. It has also been revealed a gold prospecting model is under development. Go to the link above for the latest information and photos. Or quick jump to the Fisher Impulse AQ Specifications & Data & Fisher Impulse AU Specifications & Data pages. The information below remains for historical purposes.

aqua-manta-metal-detector.jpg.bda008b395

The challenge I have for Fisher or anyone else is to make a dry land ground balancing PI that weighs under 4 lbs yet is more powerful than a TDI SL. The alternative is waterproof but under 5 lbs. The price must be under US$2000.00 Waterproof Pulse Induction Metal Detectors Compared

The Fisher Aqua Manta (edit 3/2019 now known as Impulse AQ) has been rumored for some time, and confirmed by First Texas as a project nearing completion. Prior threads:

January 2015 New Fisher Pulse Induction

January 2018 New First Texas PI Under Development

June 2018 Aqua Manta Pulse Induction Beach Detector

The long story short is this is a project by Alexandre Tartar. The Manta is most likely an offshoot and improvement on the orginal Eric Foster Goldscan circuit. Alexandre has built at least three major prototype devices before the rights were acquired by First Texas. The following photos and information is derived from this thread where the V3 prototype is sold.

Here are the basic specs as described in advertisement (the seller is French and translating):

"I sell a "prototype" Manta v3

There are only three copies of this detector and it is the best of three ....
(See mantametaldetectors website)

Pulse induction, works exclusively with mono coils to the beach, possibly for the land, but no ground control

Calibrated for low conductors, gold and platinum, among other. Delay 7us of 17 volts more sensitive, deeper and faster than Deepstar

Equipped with a coil, Manta, latest generation
she has one month, the quietest and most efficient on the market, all brands included. (it will operate on TDI and Deepstar)

Connector Type TDI, it accepts all coils (mono) of TDI / GPX

Weight: 1.5 kg without battery that is worn at the belt
headphone jack and on / off switch on the battery pack (lipo) supplied charger
more than six hours of detection at full power.

Carbon Rod Anderson + extra cane down
braided nylon belt military style

All the possible settings and need a good PI
SAT speed, TX frequency, noise threshold, delay, volume, sensitivity....

The delay was 7us , lets see gold ends
very thin rings, earrings, jewelry hollow that other detectors can not see
and of course, the wholesale jewelry it goes deeper

Ferrous recognition by a double beep well marked"

What I find interesting is this note "Pulse induction, works exclusively with mono coils to the beach, possibly for the land, but no ground control"

Yet here is the picture that accompanies the advertisement. Now remember this is from March 2016, almost three years ago. The prototype clearly has labels for ground controls...

fisher-aqua-manta-prototype-pulse-induction-metal-detector.jpg
Alexandre Tartar Manta V3.0 prototype

The control markings as seen above:

  1. Volume
  2. Threshold
  3. Sensitivity
  4. Sat Speed. Motion. (recovery speed)
  5. Tx Frequency (transmit frequency, usually to offset for EMI mitigation)
  6. Pulse Delay. GB Type (the shorter the pulse delay, the more sensitive to tiny metal and salt water)
  7. Ground Balance (usually a ground balance control, but ad says this is lacking?)

Statements by First Texas suggest version 1 of the new machine is aimed at beach use and may not be suitable for land use (gold prospecting). That in turn makes me think work on the ground balance system is lagging and may be key to the future of the machine. Will it be beach only, or have a future for gold prospecting?

I have to assume the unit will be competitive when it comes to the horsepower, or why bother? Until now the Eric Foster Deepstar is generally acknowledged as one of the deepest beach PI detector’s ever made. And the ad says “more sensitive, deeper and faster than Deepstar”. That being the case what really has my interest is the weight and compactness being displayed. The following photo collage from the advertisement shows the size of the control box and belt mounted battery:

fisher-aquamanta-prototype-pulse-induction-metal-detector.jpg
Alexandre Tartar Manta V3.0 prototype

Granted the battery is belt mounted, but that is one tiny control box. I have to think that First Texas can slim down the circuit board and use a top notch integrated rechargeable battery and get this machine into a very compact package - hopefully waterproof and with wireless headphone capability built in.

Well, that's about all I know about this one. This thread will collect any new information as it is available. This is one of a couple detectors I am watching so fingers crossed for a 2019 release. It is encouraging that Alexandre's original website at http://www.mantametaldetectors.com/ has been taken over by First Texas and is displaying this banner:

Fisher Research Labs - New Pulse Induction metal detector COMING SOON!
fisher-labs-manta-metal-detector.jpg

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Sounds like a great machine.  Good for gold prospecting, maybe.  Beach hunting, yes.  But I don't get to beach hunt but once a year.  Waterproof, great.

But I'm still waiting for the day when a PI will be developed that can discriminate out nails and still see the deep silver.  Not trying to manipulate the ground balance settings achieve such a feat. 

 

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The poster who goes by “LE.JAG” is the chief field and development tester for the Manta project.  His name is Denis - don’t know his last name.  As as far as I can determine, Alexandre Tartar has only posted on the Geotech forum and then under the “handles” of “Poseidon”and “Asgard.”

It was a post of his on Geotech which got Carl Moreland interested in his work and after some back and forth resulted in First Texas doing an “aquihire” of the Manta project and the team.

The salt water beach detector market is a niche within a niche - water detecting - salt not fresh - beach and wading vs. diving. Fresh water, lots of waterproof detectors will do fine - even not so waterproof ones if you are careful.  Salt water is another problem.  Diving is yet another problem, pressure resistance greater and in the case of a PI detector, rules out the use of very short minimum pulse delays due to the huge volume of water.

Gold at the salt beach - that’s the manta’s meat. Their belief is that it will be the best detector for that that has ever been fielded.  It has to appear however before any of us can see if they are right!

As far as land use, it does have ground balance control.  It is labeled in the prototype “accept” and “reject”.  I expect this indicates that the iron IB/Silence feature is at least partly controlled by changes in the GB settings. 

The fact that they have announced the development of a land version probably means that the GB function for the beach machine “AquaManta” is utilized in a way that makes it not optimum for cancelling highly mineralized inland ground.

 

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Leave it to Carl, to see an opportunity and jump on it.

 

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If they build or are building a land version of this for nugget detecting I surely hope they have auto ground balance rather than the manual gb seen here on the beach machine. I would be interested in a nugget version of this machine for sure, look how light weight it is!!!

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Sounds like a good one. Forgive my ignorance,   I was under the assumption  that pulse detectors ignored the ground.  Does anyone know why this unit is not suited for mineralized ground, but only salt water  beaches? TIA

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Pulse induction detectors do not ignore the ground. They are less affected, yes, but not immune to mineralization. That is exactly why ground balancing pulse induction metal detectors exist versus machines like the Tesoro Sand Shark, Garrett Sea Hunter, and White’s Surf PI, which do not ground balance. Those units are for beach use because they can’t handle hot rocks and severe mineralization. All Minelab PI detector’s ground balance, as do the White’s TDI and Garrett ATX.

Long story short a beach model does not need a ground balance circuit that works as well as that needed for gold prospecting, for example. A ground balance circuit is not needed in mild ground and can rob depth if used where not needed. That is why the White’s TDI lets you shut off the ground balance. Here is my attempt at explaining the subject.

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My GP Extreme is sensitive to the wet beach sand. Is this due to a sample timing too short, ground balance, or the type of coil I was running (platypus)? Is it typical of the GPX series as well or do they have settings to normalize there?

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