Jeff McClendon

I am just about well enough to coin and jewelry hunt on flat fields. Being almost winter here in Denver, luckily the blizzard missed us and the ground is too dry to totally freeze so as soon as Gerry gets his shipment I will take the 900 out to see what it can do. The transition should be really easy. The three things that separate the Legend from the Nox 900 for me right now are: -the 900’s 119 target ID scale opposed to 60 on the Legend, -Minelab claim to have improved target separation/recovery speed. Legend is pretty quick too in some of its modes. -For me personally and subjectively, I like the simpler user interface of the Nox over the Legend. Otherwise between Nox 800 and the Legend…….definitely I would pick the Legend since it has basically almost all of the features added to the Nox 900 besides the target ID scale. Between the Nox 900 and the Legend Pro Pack right now…….$400 difference in price. $400 difference in performance in my opinion……absolutely no way.

My saying they are about to be shipped worldwide since Scott can post that video doesn't mean you will have yours next week as that letter proves BUT your getting your hands on one someday soon is now a done deal with no last second surprises due to some kind of production issue.

Minelab allowing Scott to release an actual hunt video must mean your Manti coin/jewelry/relic detectors are about to be shipped in larger numbers worldwide.

Mental Metal is very careful to let the viewer know that he is not an expert on the Manticore for obvious reasons and that all of his vids are for getting aquainted first and foremost and not for proof of anything. Like Scott mentioned, that was a fun video to make and for sure a fun video for me to watch. You USA Manticoin dreamers should definitely watch this video.

I don’t know about the thickness of the grip being different or not. Minelab definitely changed the angle of the grip in relation to the shaft. The easily adjustable arm cuff and carbon fiber shaft may help with wrist pain too.

If the clubs or shoes actually fit and one has some talent, maybe…………. I’m a golf lefty and I played basketball like it was really American football and I don’t have size 14+ feet, so bad analogies in my case. Like some continue to allude to on this forum …….. if you can’t be successful with an Equinox, Deus 2, Legend or the upcoming Manticore you might need to brush up on those metal detecting skills/ knowledge and learn those detectors patiently.

I never particularly liked my CTX3030. It was not the 3030’s fault really, just the wrong detector for where I hunt. Melding Multi IQ with Target Trace and with outstanding ergonomics (compared to the CTX) in one detector would have me pretty excited too if I was a longtime user of both, so I hope you don’t have to wait much longer. Fortunately for me, the Nox 900/700 came out of nowhere with no build up or lead time and it seems to be more readily available so my anticipation level is basically zero even though I have one ordered. Like Chase, I am very satisfied with Deus 2, Legend and Nox 800 for VLFs. However, if Minelab had done the rollout of the Nox 900 like their “can’t pronounce it” detector I would be going nuts.

I have never owned or used the Gold Finder 2000. All Nokta had to do is take their Gold Kruzer, use just the Gen All Metal Mode and give it just a ferrous/gold probability meter. It runs at 61 kHz not 48 kHz like the GM1000. So Nokta did not need to clone the Gold Monster 1000 to do that. Even saying this might be a factor in the law suit is ridiculous. The Legend has many different features from the Equinox 800. It is certainly not a direct clone. The fact that it detects better in many ways than the Equinox 800 from my experience, has better features and has proven to be a very waterproof detector in my opinion makes it well over 10% better and different than the Equinox. If Minelab think, believe, or hope that they can prove Nokta stole their IP somehow......fine. They better sue XP too.

Quest also makes a transmitter/receiver combo that works really well. I have both the Garrett and Quest. Serious Detecting has both on their website Hopefully, someone will start making Low Latency, affordable wireless earbuds for Bluetooth LE that are Manticore/Nox 900/700 friendly soon. I used Bluetooth headphones with my Nox 600 when I got it before the 800s were available to mere mortals. The lack of low latency made pinpointing targets with the already slightly wonky onboard pinpoint function totally frustrating. Pinpointed targets were 2 to 3" away from where they were actually buried. Digging with a shovel.....not a big deal. Digging with a screwdriver or Lesche type mini handheld due to digging restrictions.......I might as well of been using a backhoe.

I bought a Legend to replace an out of warranty, likely to leak Nox 800. After realizing how good the Legend was……. no point in continuing with an 800 pod replacement if it did happen to leak. Legend has nearly all the features that were missing or needed improving on the 800. I bought a Deus 2 Lite because I like the Deus/ORX platform and it has for the most part been very impressive. I simply am not interested in the Mandibular Then Minelab totally surprised me with the Nox 900 release which has almost all of the feature improvements I have been wanting on the Equinox……..got to have one immediately, thanks Gerry’s Detectors.

I agree. To be more specific, the latest tech, simultaneous multi frequency detectors from Minelab, XP and Nokta are so close on overall depth using similar coils that declaring one the winner or even discussing it is kind of pointless since ground/beach/EMI conditions can slightly change the order of finish from one day to the next even when these detectors are optimized for conditions. Target separation, recovery speed and definitely target ID accuracy are where the differences show up fairly quickly again, depending on the type of targets desired and the type and amount of trash in the area. Minelab marketing along with Nokta, Garrett and XP marketing are all engaged in a type of work that I want no part of. But that is just me and my own personal stuff. You guys will have to tell me if the Manticore truly is deeper...........I will be satisfied with whatever the Nox 900 can do depth wise and will keep enjoying my Deus 2 Lite, Nox 800 and my Legend. I still like to hunt fairly fast, spend very little time over a target and recover it. Giving me a Target Trace screen at this point in my life would cramp my style of hunting plus, I did just fine for years without any type of display at all. Not ready for Target Trace yet.......😋

Minelab also deliberately created the X-Terra series with coil changes for changing the operating frequencies before manufacturing was based in Malaysia. Some of mine were made in Ireland. That seemed like a cool idea on the surface until a third party coil maker made waterproof coils that could operate on all three frequencies. So was Minelab’s approach to the X-Terra coil choices based on a lack of Aussie tech savvy or a shrewd way to get me to buy more Minelab manufactured coils for an excellent detector? Minelab in their own indirect way do listen. The Equinox 700 and 900 and the GPX 6000 are proof of that. They have also addressed the main customer complaint about the GPX 6000 with a free board level upgrade.

Manticore and Equinox 900 did well on all of Iffy’s separation tests in those two videos.

It’s not hard to set these detectors up with settings and frequency weighting that are really close. Swinging the coils with flat swings is also very easy so, not sure what you are getting at………… What can’t be setup the same is the “starting point” engineered into these detectors for their built in recovery speed and target separation. Deus 2’s are obviously different from the Legend and Equinox.

The premise behind Iffy’s recent low conductor/iron separation videos featuring Manticore/Deus 2 and Nox 900/Deus 2, was to show how these three detectors perform on the same scenario. Using Deus 2 was not done to show it’s well known and thoroughly documented target ID issue in that scenario. It was used because it is the standard by which other detectors are measured by anyone that has owned and learned how to use a Deus 1 or Deus 2. They really are currently considered to be the best detectors for audibly picking out non-ferrous in co-mingled iron trash. Obviously Deus 2 has some room for improvement as far as its VDIs as illustrated in those videos using the 14K ring on edge and the very thin ingot, whereas the Manticore and Nox 900 did extremely well both in tone IDs and numerical IDs. Deus 2 did extremely well with the ring laying flat. I have done this kind of testing recently using a scenario very much like Iffy’s with two nails, a similar VDI 14K ring and an 1853 USA one dollar gold coin using Deus 2, Equinox 800 and the Legend. For numerical ID and tone ID using 2 tones, on the 14K ring laying flat, Deus 2 was the clear winner, followed by the Legend and Nox 800. Using the 1853 one dollar gold coin, Deus 2 was the clear winner as far as tone ID. It's numerical IDs were just like Iffy’s video results. The Legend again was a distant second as far as tone ID and its numerical IDs mirrored Deus 2. The Equinox 800 came in third again. All three let me know there was probably a non-ferrous target surrounded by iron. Deus 2 let me know the best in both scenarios I used. The target trace feature on the Manticore worked very well in that video. I will have a Nox 900 very soon and will redo those tests using the same targets.

Moving on.........

What search mode and preset discrimination setting were you using when you had problems with the iron tone? Had you already adjusted some settings or were you just using it in its default settings?

The Manticore did very well........so did the Nox 900 on exactly the same test done a couple of hours later and recently posted by Iffy. Both had similar results and similar VDIs. Whether other detectors like the Nox 600, Nox 800 and Legend would have similar results.....you guys that are assuming that are making an assumption with no proof. Deus 2 was doing well on the ring and not on the 2 gram flat ingot or on the gold ring on edge.....which is very interesting and may once again point towards problems that have been reported with sensitivity to small or heavily masked low conductors using Deus 2's FMF tech modes. As Iffy said several times in these videos, XP is working on a solution or at least an improvement for this tendency on low to mid conductors being masked by iron and on high conductors being masked by low to mid conductors........with the consequential lowering of VDIs. What Iffy did not do in these videos is bash or criticize Deus 2's performance or even pass any kind of judgement on Deus 2 vs Manticore vs Nox 900 which shows his basically unbiased approach and especially his integrity when a manufacturer like XP (or previously Nokta)was or is trying to improve or tweak a performance issue in an upcoming software update.

Hopefully the Bluetooth tech in the Nox 700/900 and Manticore is not proprietary and third party earbuds will become available. If not, maybe some third party wireless transmitters and earbuds will work plugged into the 3.5 mm jack.

For those that want a “discrimination” mode as an alternative for gold prospecting, Nox 700/900 Park2 or Field 2 using DP tones (Pitch) may offer some real advantages over one or two tone Nox 600 or 800 Park 2 and Field 2. If a tone break for a ferrous tone is included using DP tones……….that would be even better. Otherwise I see most of the 700/900 improvements as being more water/beach oriented aside from the expanded target ID range. My Nox 800 with WM08 for almost instantaneous latency with my choice of wired headphones or earbuds for gold prospecting isn’t getting replaced by the 900 or the Manticore anytime soon.

The DP tone option sounds like a form of Pitch tones with a VCO type audio for more modulated audio quality, better target separation and maybe just a bit more overall depth on edge of detection targets. This could make a lot of difference for picking non-ferrous out of ferrous, for deeper silver cherry picking and maybe give the 700 using Park or Field a VCO type audio for gold prospecting or meteorite hunting which would be a big improvement over the 600 and for using an alternative to 1 tone in Park or Field on the 800.

Those that have looked closely, do you think a new 700 or 900 control pod will fit on the original or aftermarket 600 or 800 shafts?

Nokta Detectors is no longer Nokta Makro. I guess Minelab didn’t get that message.

If a person just has the remote or the WS4 separately, updating and using the ORX type WSA would make an easy and inexpensive way to have paired wireless audio than buying a WS4 for the remote or the audio adapter and a different wireless system for the Deus Lite system. The WSAs were stock with the ORX which also can’t use the LF coils. This Deus 1 update looks like another way to obsolete the original LF coils. Just from my own experience, the X35 coils were a lot more versatile than the original LF coils.

Long Range Locator for gold. I just use my dowsing rods…………. then it’s my fault when I get skunked. Neither method are taught on this forum.