Tony

Rough and ready video......let me know if you see some obvious problems or mistakes I've made. I can also test a half Oz nugget as well.

I have made a quick video. The results were better than I would have thought but Sensitivity needs to be around 13 (for the M15 coil). The only thing I can't replicate is the finer material between the individual stones so as to make it more compact. I wonder if this skews the results one way or the other......probably not ? Hit the ring at around the 8" mark.....but comfortably. Stronger hits as the Sensitivity is increased but also more ground noise. I'll see if I can upload the video. Goldfield general...default settings mainly.

I have Culpeper in my backyard 😃..........my spare car parking spot is composed of heavy Western Australian crushed ironstone (about 6" to 8" deep). This stuff jumps onto a magnet two inches above the ground. I might run the Manticore over this stuff....yikes ! My GP3500 handles this stuff easily. Anyone care to recommend best settings for the Manticore. I'm guessing the M11 coil, fast recovery, GB as best as I can, Goldfield mode, Sensitivity low.......wish for the best.

Did a "just for fun" air test between the Manticore and GP3500. We all know air tests are not particularly useful but it certainly highlights the Manticore's "power" as well as the fact that an air test for a PI isn't an indication of anything. Using my 18K wedding band. Average size at 7 grams. GP3500 settings; 14" Coiltek DD coil Fixed GB in DD mode Soil "Normal" Boost "Deep" Manticore settings; M15 coil Beach Low conductors / Beach Deep GB at 00 Sensitivity at 22 (too chatty above this setting at home) Recovery at 3 "Prospecting" audio Ferrous Limits 4 (top) and 0 (Bottom) GP3500: Slight break in threshold at 16". EMI was minimal with the DD coil even at home. Manticore: Clean break in threshold at 20". What more can I say except "wow". As mentioned before, my beaches are predominantly white sand beaches so I am very keen to see how this translates into real world conditions. Hope to do the beach test soon. Tony Round 1 : Manticore (easily)

Yep.....I took them (and nylon bolt) off the spare coil and into a zip-lock plastic bag. I can only imagine what Minelab would charge for a nylon bolt and washers 🤑

Not officially tested yet.....but hope to soon. I also wanted to mention that some "black sands" aren't attracted to a magnet so don't present a problem to a VLF. I had one beach just like that and the Excalibur could be run at high sensitivity with no nulling. I took some of the black sand home and dried it out....spread it out and not a single grain was attracted to a small magnet....so no Magnetite in that sample.

....or deeper 👍

I'm very confident in saying the Manticore is as deep as my GP3500 in white beach sands. I'll put this to the test soon. The Manticore with 15"x12" DD v GP3500 with 14" DD coil is going to be very interesting indeed. The test will be my 18K wedding band buried in a length of PVC water pipe....probably in damp beach sand.

Nice hunt and a "25" for the sensitivity is most impressive, especially on any type of black sand beach. My sensitivity is good to around 22 and that's on white sand beaches. I've still yet to do my beach depth tests between the Manticore and GP3500.....too darn hot at the moment.

I'm about to break my New Year resolution already which was to not discuss the Fisher AQ anymore....but.....can't Fisher simply make a statement regarding the AQ platform and what its future is (or isn't). I mean how many years have passed now since it was launched with all the fanfare and "ground breaking technology". I find the "radio silence" kind of insulting to the many people who have bought Fisher products and supported the company over several decades. Anyhow that's just my 2c worth $2000 worth.

537 Oz.......I'm going to need a bigger pill bottle.

Sorry, I shouldn't hijack your post......Anyhow, If you can find the small nuggets then the big ones will take care of themselves. Maybe my post will help melt away some of your snow.

Simon, you're getting soft. I heard some good gold was found recently up in Marble Bar, Western Australia. Probably found by these two old gals. 51C (124F) is getting a tad warm for detecting I guess, but when the gold melts out of the host rock into big blobs it makes for easy detecting. It's usually cooler around breakfast time....you can save energy by cooking outdoors.

Simon, I've been meaning to ask what's the heaviest nugget you have ever found in New Zealand?

Well at the end of the day, the OP bought not one but two Sea Hunters so not a bad outcome to this thread really 👍

Absolutely....but the coins were a roadmap to the gold.

Pinky's Beach.....

I can remember my coin tumbler running for days at a time if I got lazy and neglected the coins after a few seasons. I would then make several trips to the banks coin counter and offload the many kilograms of coins. I even had a big pile of damaged $1 and $2 coins that I was able to claim at the bank for full face value !

I just want the green crusty coins back......gold was never far away and I knew I was successfully hunting "erosion".

I fully understand but at least your clad coins can offer up clues as to what else might be around. Several years ago, there was talk that the Australian mint was going to produce a $5 coin......that's probably unlikely now 👎 Back around 2003, there was a monster winter storm that hit our area. At the time, I was offshore on a local touristy island (Rottnest Island). One of the exposed beaches coughed up over $250 in $1 and $2 coins.....a dozen or so silver coins and four big gold rings. I was down there at a 1am low tide with just a headlight....no detector needed for the first three hours !! The whole beach lost 6 feet of sand.....all that was left was exposed limestone bedrock. I didn't even bother with the "other coins". What a night that was and not another soul around....they were all in bed whilst I braved 70 mph winds, torrential rain and hail. I could hear the heavy 8 metre swell thundering over the outer reef....in the pitch black it was quite scary.....easily the best beach combing / detecting experience I ever had. I wish I'd taken pictures at the time as it was quite a haul.

And during the "quiet season" as well......yikes.

I sure do miss coins.....I can remember when they were everywhere. Here in Australia, we have $1 and $2 coins and these were lost in vast numbers. I can recall finding $50 worth most hunts. Nowadays, maybe $10. But to me, these lost coins and the condition they were in held greater value. Were they shiny, blackened, green or crusty green?....that information was priceless. Everyone swipes the plastic or their phone....no need for cash at the beach anymore. It's a shame the pull tabs and can slaw haven't suffered the same fate.......and then there's the proliferation of stainless steel and Tungsten Carbide rings. Whinge over........😟

Plated, stainless, etc gets hurled way out to sea into deeper water where it belongs 🤣

Solder the middle pin first and then the outer ones......I'm unsure how critical the outer pins are if you get them wrong. Just align with the original encoder. Use very small amounts of solder otherwise the pins can short and the small rubber insulation sleeves wont slide over the connection. You might want to replace the insulation sleeves from the detector side....they are very small. Keep them well back when you make the solder connection otherwise they will react to the heat and stick where you don't want them to stick. The pins on the encoder are somewhat flexible if you need to adjust them slightly. Bit tricky but definitely worth the effort.

You will need to solder a new one. This is what you need. They are a Bourn's Encoder with the three little legs that need to be soldered onto the 3 matching pins from the detector side....it's a bit fiddly but quite doable. This is the best match but all the Bourn encoders have their own spec sheet. Just Google 3315C-102-016L and it should hit on Mouser or Digikey if you're in the USA. https://www.bourns.com/products/encoders/contacting-encoders/product/3315 The only problem is the blue plastic shaft doesn't fit the original knob. You can probably fashion a work around for the original knob but I simply rotate the blue shaft by hand. You may have to drill out the original plastic shaft if it has snapped off inside the knob. Also, there are no retaining grub screws on any of the knobs. PITA really. Hope this helps Tony