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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/28/2023 in Posts

  1. OK went back to the previous version on the Manticore and it's a night and day difference in performance. Got too much going on tonight to try and upload the latest version again and see how it really works. But now at least I know I can get back to a previous version.
    7 points
  2. Just wanted to remind everyone at least in the US to take bug precautions when detecting. Iโ€™m in PA, in my mid 40โ€™s, and woke up to a tick stuck to my ribs about 9 days ago. last week I was having trouble thinking straight, that progressed quickly into a high fever, extremity numbness, and blurry vision. After a few days of antibiotics, Iโ€™m feeling mush better but still have some numbness and blurry vision. Lyme disease is no joke and can last a lifetime. And there are numerous other diseases that can come from ticks, chiggers, mosquitoes, bugsโ€ฆ. Take precautions and be vigilant.
    6 points
  3. Went for a 2 hour hunt this morning at the beach. I got to a low patch in the wet. Never dug so much lead in such a short time (1 hour), but I knew it had to pay off. Right before I called it quits because I was exhausted from digging deep holes and fighting waves, I popped a ring. 14K, real ruby and diamonds and 13 grams! Deus 2 rules on the beach!
    6 points
  4. I kind of doubt that will be the actual US pricing. If it is though I'll officially not be getting a Manticore. A Deus coil is actually a metal detector. A Manticore coil? No reason it should cost much more than an Equinox coil except for Minelabs "if the detector costs more, charge more for the coil" history. Equinox 6" round coil $179 - no way I'm going to get bent over for $340 for a 5x8 coil for the Manticore. But I am really hoping it is priced more appropriately in the U.S. like $199 - $249 tops. But $340 and I will learn to love the Deus 2 and keep my Equinox 800.
    6 points
  5. See the link below for a post I put together for another forum member who was considering the AT Pro. Whether you are considering the AT Pro or AT Max, the advice is the same. As mentioned above, the AT Pro and AT Max platforms were game changers back in the day but while they still get it done, they are long in the tooth and are missing some features, such as recovery speed adjustments, that will enable you to better access targets in areas where a lot of junk targets are clustered together (basically the the last frontier where old targets had been previously inaccessible due to limitations in detector processing speed). All the detectors we are talking about have about the same depth capability, but speed and target ID accuracy can help improve your treasure to trash ratio. Check out the post below for additional information on a number of the latest crop of detectors and look for the best bang for your buck and a detector that is versatile enough to tackle different detecting objectives (coin shooting, jewelry, relics, or gold on land, in farm fields, or in fresh or salt water). Many recently released detectors such as the Legend, Equinox, Deus 2, and Manticore have the versatility to tackle all these challenges. But the price range is huge and the older, less versatile detectors such as the AT Max are not really discounted enough to make them necessarily good bargains when you have something like the Legend which was released just last year and has seen several updates released within the pass year to eliminate bugs and add features and at around $500 to $700 depending on the package you choose giving something like the $1600 Manticore a run for its money. Good Luck.
    5 points
  6. Wonder if our buddy @strick can x-ray some Manticore coils to see what's going on in there ๐Ÿ˜‰ I don't think they should cost that, they proved with the Vanquish they can make Nox coils a lot cheaper than they do, then the X-terra comes out and further reassures us we are being taken for a ride. I'm sure even if Manticore coils are slightly more complex the cost to make them wouldn't be all that much more. If XP were aiming at doing cheaper prices with their gear the Manticore would be a lot cheaper than it is, XP kept the pricing high thereby opening up Minelab to do another high priced detector, if it was just Nokta vs Minelab you would watch the Minelab prices fall off a cliff.
    5 points
  7. Based on some posted consternation based on the anticipated price point for the Minelab Manticore accessory coils, I thought I would put out some price points for popular Simultaneious Multi-Frequency (SMF) metal detector accessory coils, and coil prices for other popular single frequency, selectable single frequency, SMF and PI detectors, for reference. These are approximate retail prices for new coils (in US $) scraped off the internet and donโ€™t reflect dealer discounts, package deals, or sale specials. Legend LG 28 - 11" Stock - ~$135 LG15 6" Round - ~$120 LG24 9.5x6" - ~$135 LG30 12X9" - ~$150 LG35 14" - ~$170 Nox 6" Round - ~$180 10x5" Elliptical (Coiltek) - ~$235 11" Stock - ~$229 14X9" (Coiltek) - ~$260 15x12" - ~$240 15" Round (Coiltek) - ~$290 Manticore Stock 11" - ~$?? M8 - ~$341 (Pre-release estimate based on currency conversion) M15 - ~$417 (Pre-release estimate based on currency conversion) Deus 2 9" Round - ~$399 11" Round - ~$399 13X11" - ~$399 Other Coils: Fisher "Triangulated Biaxial 12" Coil" for F75 - ~$199 Detech Ultimate 7" (Teknetics and Fisher F75) - ~$130 Detech Ultimate 13" (Teknetics Greek and F75) - ~$180 Detech Arrow (Simplex, Fisher, Teknetics Greek and G2+) - ~$150 - $165 Nel Snake - ~$120 - $130 Minelab XTerra Pro - ~$?? Minelab Vanquish (Multi IQ) - ~$100-$140 (size dependent) Minelab CTX3030 11"/17"(FBS 2) - ~$350/$400 Garrett AT Series Coils - ~$130 - $160 (size size dependent) Garrett Ace Apex Coils - ~$135 - $190 (size dependent) Nokta Simplex+ - ~$110 - $170 (size dependent) Nokta Impact - ~$110 - $230 (size dependent) Nokta Anfibio/Kruzer - ~$110 - $220 (size dependent) Pulse Induction: Garrett Axiom Coils - ~$280 - $320 (size dependent) Minelab Commander 10x5" DD (GPX) - ~$225 Minelab Commander 11" Mono/DD (GPX) - ~$270/250 Minelab Commander 15X12" DD (GPX) - ~$375 Minelab Commander 18" Mono - ~$441 Coiltek GoldenHawk 10x5" Mono (GPX) - ~$420 Coiltek 14" Anti-Interference DD (GPX) - ~$410 Detech 12.5" DD (GPX) - ~$300 Detech 15" Spiral Wound DD (GPX) - ~$425 Detech 15" Ultra Sensing Mono (GPX) - ~$425 Commentary - Legend accessory coils are a great value overall consistent with the detector itself, even compared with single frequency detector accessory coils. The unofficial Manticore accessory coil prices (if they hold) are somewhat consistent with Deus 2, perhaps its most direct competitor, although the Deus 2 coils pricing is complicated by the fact that they are wireless, smart, and, therefore, are self-powered which is not the case with the Manticore coils other than perhaps limited pre-filtering and ID chips. The Coiltek NOX coils demand a slight premium vs. the Minelab OEM Nox coils. The higher end Deus 2 and Manticore accessory coils are priced similar to GPX pulse induction coils.
    4 points
  8. I assume you mean Garrett AT Max. The AT Max is built on an aging single frequency platform with no update ability. The Manticore is Multi IQ, giving you the option to run on different combinations of weighted multifrequency or any one of several single frequencies. The Manticore is going to be much more versatile. That versatility also comes at a high cost over the AT Max. I think a better matchup would be the Nokta Legend vs the Minelab Manticore. The Legend is less expensive than either of those and offers a great bang for your buck, coming much closer to what the Manticore is than the AT Max.
    4 points
  9. I bet you had the red numbers turned off, on the update, before rolling back? I had them turned on and didn't think about turning them off before rolling back. What I'm guessing, is the red numbers feature was already there before the update, just toggled off and not visible. The update toggled the feature on. Turning the red numbers on, gets stored in a config file or user xml or settings table or something like that. The setting was either "off" before the update or not written. Using the feature on the update wrote the setting and now the machine is still reading the setting and showing the feature, but without the menu item to turn it off. An abundance of paranoia, might lead one to make sure and turn the Stabilizer off on all the search modes before rolling back. - Dave
    4 points
  10. I think youโ€™re right based on some high initial price estimates we were calculating for Xterra Pro based on conversion rates, so all the caveats apply. But more concerning than price is that many accessories unique to Xterra, Nox 700/900 and Manticore, that have no third party source like wireless headphones, lower rods, and coils that should be available on or shortly after release are simply unobtanium right now (except for the legacy Nox coils). And as a capper, ML has apparently decided to regress from the direction the took with BT wireless audio on Nox, Vanquish, and the GPX 6000 and lock down their wireless audio accessories as proprietary instead of embracing an industry standard protocol going forward - making 3rd party wireless audio accessories like earbuds incompatible unless you want to hang a BT transmitter off your headphone jack. And so far, no word of anything like a standalone wireless receiver to adapt favorite wired phones or buds. Itโ€™s all pretty poor form by ML.
    4 points
  11. Received the new battery from Amazon. I reversed the black & red wires with the JST clips. Btw that didn't scare me at all @phrunt.๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ The whole replacement took less than 10 minutes.
    4 points
  12. Theres only one right now and I took a picture of it the day I got it...will get the small coil up there when I get on in my hands... I have no idea whats going on inside those coils but I do get satisfaction from the comments and analysis from all the "coil doctors" I'll end up getting the small coil if it ever become available..and I'll bring my own lube if I have to.. no one wants to spend a lot of money on this stuff..so what I've been doing is to sell something that I'm not really using (anything) to help offset the cost of the new toy...makes me feel better about it. If I can help myself I wont be jumping on new Minelab detectors for a while...I just don't like how they are doing business...they should have made the manticore coils available a long time ago...and the 6000 coils I've got three now that I prefer not to use just sitting because I'm using after market coils that work better... strick
    3 points
  13. I've had Lyme Disease three times over the last 20 years. Pretty sure I beat it each time with antibiotics. The best protection I have found is Insect Shield shirts or similar brand products. I wear high boots over my pant legs to keep them from crawling up my ankles. That combined with the shirts provides 100% protection. I shower and change clothes when I get home. I started wearing Insect Shield eight or so years ago and have not had a tick bite since.
    3 points
  14. The 12x7 continues to shine. This was a few days ago. Today I found a few more, one was .027 and I hit a 1/4 gramer at over 10" deep in rock layers that sounded alot bigger than it was. Last year I commented how I was only finding bigger nuggets with the stock coil and thought I was missing the crumbs in our claims. The 12x7 is proving that was the case. This coil impresses me everyday I use it.
    3 points
  15. OK, I'm now officially spooked about updating... I do NOT have enough hours on my Manticore to feel comfortable with it, and its performance. And my concern is that until I DO, I may not notice, as abenson did, a degradation of performance. I'm still at the stage where I don't get the performance from the Manticore that I did from my Equinox (which I know is largely if not entirely due to knowing my Equinox so well), and so I'm thinking it would not be wise to update to the new version, until I'm fully comfortable with the ORIGINAL version... I will be following this thread closely, to see abenson's continued reports, and to see if anyone else has issues with the update... Steve
    3 points
  16. I noticed that running audio response lower: 2, 1, 0, will really quiet the detector down if you have emi and a noise cancel isnโ€™t doing much. The down side? You really have to listen for those whisper quiet deep signals.
    3 points
  17. OK, retraction #1 by me if this can be confirmed. (Update: Appears Simon has confirmed.) Once I'm confident I can get back to where I started, I'll upload and do some testing. My baseline is the Equinox 800 which I know rather well in my soils. I can at least say if the Manticore's performance with the update, relative to the 800, has changed (and of course if so, in which direction) in my moderately mineralized test bed. I await hearing more about the update itself and if Andrew's experience is due (simply) to some kind of (rare) anomaly as opposed to a blanket effect of the update. People sometimes get chastised for not updating to the latest software but it's these kind of inexcusable oversights (again, if that's what we are actually seeing) that makes some of us wary. Squeeky wheel tends to get the grease and we've seen a fair amount of squeeking regarding iron handling and VDI stability when running the original software. I had the Manticore out yesterday for a short 2 hour search in a well-hunted (by me) park. Maybe partly influenced by the horror story I read here, but I was rather pleased how it was performing with the origninal software. It's the typical incremental comfort that I experienced with the Equinox 800 five years ago. The more hands-on hours I gain, the more subtlties (and I do mean 'subltle') that I seem to pick up. Long way to go yet, just like with the 800. However, with the 800 the updates did help me and I hope that will be the case with the Manticore. Never take away; just add, PLEASE!
    3 points
  18. I donโ€™t think anything new would interest me other than a small elliptical coil. When can we expect to find out what the big hubbub is all about?
    3 points
  19. RIP Jimmy "Doc" ๐Ÿ˜” Your storytelling was a pleasure I will always remember.
    3 points
  20. Have you just considered doing a factory reset to see if it changes it back?
    2 points
  21. Hey all, Was detecting on a river bank in West Virginia a couple of weeks ago and found this interesting find. It is an aluminum lid off a 1920s-1930s condom container. The container held three of them and they were marketed as "reusable." Anyways, you never know what you'll find near riverbanks. The 3 Merry Widows are Agnes, Mabel and Beckie. Thought you might get a kick out it. Happy hunting, John
    2 points
  22. Yes, Chrome and your Chromebook should work. XP set up their own server to do the V1.0 & V1.1 updates, so you'll have to go to the XP website. This link will show you everything you need to know about the new features and how to up date. Note: you will need to create a new log-in ID on their site and then do the update. https://www.xpmetaldetectors.com/en/ba/the-blog/deus-ii-v1-0-update-instructions.php
    2 points
  23. I was afraid to go to a certain spot , because i was told all who ventured into that spot where met by an angry hag, who kicked them out . but it was raining , and I figured I would try it , and I said if that is true , its going to be loaded, so I turned on the detector. And on my 1st swing a quarter , then another and then a dime , just in a small spot , and this went on thru the hole spot , then the grounds keepers showed up , and they Ignored me , No hag, I was waiting for the hag to show up ,and order me to leave, but somthing kept her away , maybe the rain maybe she was not working that day , so I kept nervously swinging, and the coins kept showing up . for me it was an all time record for one day 19 quarters, and some dimes and nickles all in 6.60$ very good hunt glad i went , cuzz the hag never showed up
    2 points
  24. So charge more, I never argued otherwise. Around twice as much.... no. Like there was no R&D costs on Equinox coils? And do Equinox coils really need to be more than Vanquish coils? The costs you mention are trivial at manufacturer cost level and seeing a large multiple at retail. No, the more expensive the detector, the more Minelab feels the buyer is willing to pay for the accessories. That's just sales and marketing, how I made my living, so I know what the score is here. A 5x8 for the Vanquish is $99 and will be $340 on the Manticore? But as long as people are will to put up with it and even defend it, then I guess we get what we deserve.
    2 points
  25. There is such a thing as too much, and tripping over unneeded features. Manufacturers rely on the mindset of people "needing" certain features to get people to spend more money. So the "needed" feature is withheld from the less expensive model and included in the more expensive. Plus some people are what I call "detector snobs" playing the "my detector is better than your detector" game, more controls equating to better in their minds. But no, a 600 will do just as well as an 800 and a 700 will do just as well as a 900 for a very large number of people. I kind of feel a pull to more concise control sets and simplicity myself. It's pissing in the wind though, as the fact is the 800 sold so well many dealers did not even need to stock the 600. At the time the features the offered were seen as such an incredible value compared to more expensive detectors that it still came across as the bargain machine.
    2 points
  26. Always sad to hear of one of us passing. We'll all have to detect a little more to take up the extra finds.... RIP Doc.
    2 points
  27. You make some sense there, however volume of sales eats up development costs, by charging so much they're limiting the volume of sales. It's long been a struggle of the business owner, to come in at cheaper prices and get massive volume of sales or try give the impression of high end and charge more knowing less sales. Either method can work, I think the Equinox hit the sweet spot of affordably vs performance then Nokta came in and has largely taken that away from them with cheaper prices due to their manufacturing costs and whatever other reasons, clearly they're still making a great profit growing to be one of the big players in a small amount of time and this hasn't been unnoticed by Minelab and their lawyers. Many of the US manufacturers can't compete in a global market because of the costs of producing product at home, Minelab if made in Australia would encounter the same problem with some of the highest wages in the world which is why they moved to a much cheaper country for manufacturing using Malaysia's cheap labour among other things, truck drivers in Australia can earn more than doctors in many countries. So while manufacturing costs may seem like they could be much more, in the right countries they're really not all that much different. I know a guy that invented some odd contraption to use a chainsaw for wood carving, to manufacturer locally it wasn't going to be viable, people won't pay over a thousand for it, so he took a gamble and outsourced as a small business manufacturing to Asia, it ended up costing him a very small amount per unit just over $100 even with shipping included and it has turned into quite a good business. Imagine how good this process works for bigger manufacturers.
    2 points
  28. I'm not totally in agreement, Simon. I think the issue you're overlooking is this: To take something average, and make it a bit better, doesn't increase the manufacturing costs much. To take something high-end, and make it a bit better, means it will cost much more. Example: To make a 250 Dollar mountain bike 500g / 1 lb lighter, you just need to change some plain steel bits for plain aluminium, and it would then be a 275 Dollar bike. To make a 2500 Dollar bike 500g lighter, you need to start swapping high-grade aluminium with carbon fibre, and swapping cromoly steel with titanium, and you have a 3000 dollar bike. The Manticore coil may only be modestly higher in performance than the Eqx, but that could come at a price. Quote:"Minelab proved with the Vanquish they can make Nox coils a lot cheaper than they do" Yes, it's true that they are very similar. The electronic pre-amplifier in the V is not made to such a high spec as that in the Eqx ( not such a low-noise design ), which may make a dollar or two difference. But .. the design work, and manufacturing know-how that went into the Eqx coils, has carried over to the V coils 'for free'. Sales of the Eqx have more than paid for the R & D etc costs, so producing a slightly toned-down version is easy. " .... and then the X-Terra[Pro] comes out and further reassures us we are being taken for a ride" X-TerraPro coils are not made to the same standards as Eqx/V coils. They only have to work at 5kHz to 15kHz, so they don't need fancy expensive 'pseudo-Litz' multi-strand wire, probably just a single solid enamelled wire, or maybe bifilar/trifilar winding of thinner wire. That would save a few dollars. The pre-amp is probably cheaper ( maybe not such a low-noise design, and it won't have the bandwidth needed to amplify 40 kHz signals ), plus it wouldn't surprise me if it doesn't have any security chip in it at all. And it's probably not nulled to to the same standards as Eqx/V coils, which saves manufacturing time.
    2 points
  29. Ted Williams was on a lot of our outdoor gear, Dad loved sears. I thought Ted was some kind of great white hunter Dead ringer for a coinmaster and looks like new, cool.
    2 points
  30. 1920's eh? Probably made with toxic rubber, had a lead base, glowed with radium, and sprinkled with cocaine. Not only would a man not get a women pregnant using one of those, but they would both become sterile...with a nice glow ๐Ÿ˜
    2 points
  31. I wonder why you were only finding big nuggets with the stock coil? For me it's been very sensitive and easily finding 0.03 of a gram nuggets and similar more often than any others. Maybe your stock coil is one of the many duds.
    2 points
  32. When I think of the education I got from working to understand what a detector without target ID was telling me, all I can say is that it is kind of a shame that most people will not get that education. Kind of like not learning to drive a manual transmission or write and read cursive.
    2 points
  33. I looked up his nicknames and see one was "the Thumper". Maybe that's what happens if you drop this on your toe.... Pretty interesting that putting the name of a person who has (AFAIK) zero to do with the product was expected to sell it, but then I'm the first to admit typical marketing makes little sense to me. The condition of that detector appears that it was hardly ever used, if at all. Maybe that turned out to be the case with those who 'fell' for the name on the box. With the White's name (something that does make sense) this may well have been state-of-the-art in 1979.
    2 points
  34. What program/settings were you using on the D2 for that folding item you got? ๐Ÿ˜‚ if you are going to bring your gold ring. Can you do your testing down here. Joe D and myself love finding gold rings. ๐Ÿ˜† Congrats on all the finds โ€” itโ€™s better than doing the 9 to 5.
    2 points
  35. I have slim fingers and see fine as long as Iโ€™m wearing my 3.0 diopter reading glasses so I like using my ws6 as master ( with my 9โ€ coil ) for my 11 โ€œ I just got a remote holder that attached into the shaft end and the remote sits in it with a screwed on top with thumbscrews which canโ€™t fall off. So I can use my remote worn on my arm or use it shaft mounted - same with WS6 I can use it on the stem or worn like a watch. I have only used the deus2 in the water once so not much experience to tell.
    2 points
  36. Keep us updated when you've flashed back if your detector comes right, very interested in this as it's such a weird thing. I guess Minelab USA being just middle men didn't know, that's why it's best to speak to service@minelab.com.au for stuff, they know what they're talking about. I don't know how we all missed the dots ๐Ÿ™‚ The ML105 have the same dots for it.
    2 points
  37. The place I'm thinking of is a lake beach swimming area that had a Diving Platform. I'd like to dredge where the platform was. I remember it from when I was a teenager. There might be too much "Treasure" to just detect it. I suppose I'll have to "test" it first. Walt
    2 points
  38. Thanks Cap'n, the biggest problem with AR was that at 5 aluminum was too "clean" in High Square full tones. When I backed off to 3, the brassy sound was more noticeable. ๐Ÿ™‚
    2 points
  39. my condolences to family and friends
    2 points
  40. At least VLF's have plenty of competition, if it was anything like the lack of competition for PI type gold detectors the Manticore would be on offer for $8000.
    1 point
  41. So after about ten hours of hunting on the update, I just rolled mine back, for a couple of reasons. Just now went out and tried the dime target that was giving me trouble and it - to me - is clearly hitting it better than with the update. But, another observation, is that this is NOT the previous version, either. Because, ferrous numbers are now red, as with the update, but there isn't a setting to turn that off anymore either. So, can used the updater to revert to an older version, but it's not necessarily the same version you had before the update. It certainly seems not to be on mine. - Dave
    1 point
  42. I have Velcroed an ATP-X LL transmitter on the back of the pod and use it on the Manticore and X-T Pro. So far it works good, I have several ear buds that work well with it, and some head phones if its less than 60. Between the headphones and the coils, Minelab has ticked off a lot of detectorists. They have provided a road map for the competition, I bet a year or so from now Minelab will wish it had made different decisions. I think the X-Pro would have had runaway sales if the headphones were regular ATP-x LL. (almost anyone with an equinox and coils would have bought one.)
    1 point
  43. That explains why the T2 and MXT are two of my favorite machines. I wonder if Dave learned from the MXT that most people preferred it with the 6x10 DD or 10x12 DD coils and designed the T2 to be stock with a DD coil. I never had the MX5 or MX7. I did have the MX Sport and did like it. Always wanted to try the MX7 but never got around to it.
    1 point
  44. Prayers for the family as this is always hard on those who loved them.
    1 point
  45. Spoke with Doc not long ago he told me Congestive Heart Failure was getting the best of him. ๐Ÿ˜”
    1 point
  46. Maybe try a factory reset, not sure if a lingering setting maybe the problem, I certainly don't have depth issues after the update.
    1 point
  47. It really isn't a bad beach machine. I never had a problem with it as a beach unit. On land there are better options IMO.
    1 point
  48. That was what was confusing me with the Legend Thresholds for a while, I did not realize that in Park,Field and Beach a reference threshold was being utilized and in the Gold field mode the Legend utilized a true Threshold, it took me a bit of investigating to finally figure it out and what the differences in the two actually was, a lot of researching and reading, one of the best reads I found was posted up by someone on another site he went by Rudy, his article pretty much helped me to figure it out in the end here is that article I was referring to https://metaldetectingforum.com/index.php?threads/confused-about-threshold-vs-volume.15979/
    1 point
  49. So I'm now...I'm either labeled as a thief who stole history from the future or....I'm label a lazy a$$ liter bug. One thing is for certain, as I'm becoming of age, I realize trying to please everyone is just as crazy as trying to educate everyone.
    1 point
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