Jeff McClendon

I can only echo what CPT said. If you are posting about the Vanquish 540....there is no target ID 41. Also, from my experience a 40 on any Vanquish model is usually big iron or deeper iron, large or small that is falsing in the very highest target ID numbers....39/40. Try moving around the target and see how the target ID numbers react. Also, don't use any discrimination so that the iron numbers and tones will be seen and heard. Any kind of shovel or sturdy scoop will work. Just shovel the dirt into a plastic bucket (5 gallon size in the USA) that is partially filled with water and has large rock in the bottom to keep it still in the stream. Once that target is in the bucket it should be easy to find if you can pour the contents on the bank of the stream.

I didn't post the video to bash Minelab. Neither did Gigmaster. Sure, I wish Minelab would talk to their loyal and potential customers about things like this........they don't and I can accept that. I do hope, like Gigmaster mentioned repeatedly, that the Manticore won't crack and leak in the same area.

one of my favorite quotes about the most recent SMFs=Equinox, Deus 2, Legend..... "Long story short nobody needs to defend or hype any one of these machines. They are all very capable detectors. Anyone that can’t do well with one of these models needs to go back to detecting school, rather than blame the detector. We are fortunate to have not one, but three great options to choose from, all delivering good top tier performance." I don't particularly like the detecting performance of the ACE Apex so I would not include it among those three listed.

I am not a submerged saltwater beach hunter so I have no reason to really want a Manticore. However, compared to the Equinox 800 in its stock configuration, if the Manticore absolutely does not leak, has a shaft/coil attachment system that works well submerged and in surf (doesn't need all sorts of expensive modifications) and actually out performs the Equinox in saltwater conditions, it might sell very well for serious beach/water hunters that don't want to spend $300 on Equinox water hunting mods (and it still might leak) or don't want to spend an equal amount on Deus 2 water hunting mods.

Steve (Gigmaster) does a lot of jewelry recovery in neck high saltwater surf and snorkeling for people that have lost their jewelry. So, his Equinoxes have been in some rough saltwater conditions in moderate surf and tidal pressure. Who knows, maybe that has had something to do with the cracking around the charging ports of his Noxes especially if there is a weakness or thin area in the housing around that port.

According to Gigmaster, all FIVE of the Equinoxes he has owned developed cracks around the charging port and leaked so not just one unit.

Thanks Steve for stating the obvious in your first paragraph. As far as the second paragraph.....I sure am glad that Minelab and Nokta did not follow that type of business strategy with their releases of the Equinox 800 and the Legend even though they also still have outstanding single frequency gold prospecting detectors in their current lineups.

It is not the first time that I heard of this cracking around the charging port. I have been keeping an eye on my two Noxes for awhile..... Maybe this clearly done, matter of fact video will finally at least get Minelab to say something. I would be happy with them just saying "we know about it and have fixed the issue on Manticore".

Thanks, but I often post some whining and some wrong information too. But, thanks for reading. Just for a different viewpoint. I have two Equinox 800s that are out of warranty that were manufactured in mid to late 2018. Both have been submerged in freshwater. Neither have been submerged in saltwater. They have not leaked. They do not exhibit any cracking around the charging port area of any kind under 10X magnification...........

As usual, no BS from Gigmaster. Excellent problem/diagnosis video showing where Gig's Equinox detectors all leaked and making a correlation between the similar charging port on the Manticore.........

That was a great explanation and I have no doubt that you know what your are talking about. I can totally accept those User Profile limitations and work around it. At least there are plenty of Deus Fast based programs to work with in Deus 2’s FMF program lineup. I will just need to plan better when I want to go back and forth between programs. Hopefully it really is true that there is no loss in overall performance between the two platforms .

This little statement from XP's WS6 Master Function/Settings list......."More settings coming with the following updates"..........and a similar one in the WS6 Master manual gives me a bit of hope that XP may be willing to change a few things if enough users request it instead of just accepting whatever configuration XP thinks is best.......... XP have already proven that they are willing (either for competitive reasons or from user suggestions or more likely both) to make on the fly adjustments through updates along with long term product changes like FMF, waterproofing and audio enhancements. Confirmation has already been directly received that XP will add Notch OFF in the next 0.8 update for the WS6.....see, they listen. I can live with no further Notch expert options......one notch is kind of ridiculous and petty in my opinion but, no big deal. I have already accepted the weirdness that XP will never give its Deus users full target ID scale single digit notching with no limits like its competitors have provided. It's just bizarre........It's like building a luxury car, charging a luxury price but the only option provided for opening the windows is with a manual hand crank...... The big one for me and you also are the (arbitrary???) limits placed on the 12 User Profile custom programs. Deus 1 WS4/5 had a limit on how many could be created.......fine, not a big deal. WS4/5 did not have a limit on how many could be created from one program and in what order a user would arrange them. Are they picking up on my forgetfulness and are making it easier for me to remember which program my Custom Program is based on since I can't name it using the WS6? Those two restrictions on WS6 custom programming just seem to me to be another step in the extremely wrong direction and like the inadequacies of FMF Goldfield........a real head scratcher and forehead smacker🤪

The diving bag shown in the photos works great. There is definitely a market for used Deus 2 remote controls if you price it right and include the pressure plugs, charging cable and waterproof kit as an option. Some people want a land remote and a diving remote. Mine sold in less than 6 hours on Ebay. Sell the remote and buy a set of WSA lls or use a different wireless audio system with the audio adapter. The wristband is humongous by the way.......

You are missing the inexpensive horseshoe shaped audio adapter. Put it on the back of the WS6, put the WS6 in the neoprene stem mount and you can use your own wired headphones or use an aftermarket wireless transmitter and headphones like a Garrett Z-Lynk. You can also not mount in on the staff and just put the WS6 in your pocket with wired headphones plugged into the audio adapter. Or you can pay $150 (something like that) and by the XP WSA ll wireless audio only headphones and pair them to the WS6 and put the WS6 wherever you want. As long as you don't turn on the main RC, the WS6 will automatically be the Master. It has exactly the same display and features used that way as the WS6 standalone being advertised here.

It even says Gold Prospecting in the brochure..........go figure. I have this setup and man it is super lightweight. No major complaints. The three things I want changed (besides poor gold prospecting performance)......Notch can only go to 00-00. I definitely do not want notch set at 00-00 when I am gold prospecting or micro gold jewelry hunting since so many of the targets I hunt tend to read 00...... XP has said that they will include Notch OFF in the next update..........Notch only applies to one notch being available unlike the three that are available on the full Deus 2 remote. 12 programs and 12 user profiles is a bit misleading. 12 programs and 1 user profile for each program is what it really means. I could create 12 user profiles based on just one program using the full Deus 2 remote. I can only set one user profile per program on the WS6 currently. Otherwise, detectors don't get any lighter than this or more fun to swing. The display is easy to see for the most part and very easy to navigate....easier than the full remote in my opinion so far.

Here is a link to XP's full manual in English for their WS6 controller. Great information that covers the WS6 as a standalone controller, its settings and what it can do very well. https://www.xpmetaldetectors.com/uploads/files/document/gb-ws6-deusii-userguide.pdf

I agree Alain. Mineralization is definitely a factor. I can do the same with all of the targets in the video and with targets similar to yours and Deus 2 Goldfield will detect them even on highly iron mineralized ground. Bury them even 5cm and they are very hard to detect. Those same targets in the video were fairly easy to detect with Deus 1/ORX Goldfield at 5cm even using XP's conservative settings and frequencies around 31 kHz at the site in the video during testing in the past. However, even in air testing (which I do not put much faith in by the way especially with SMF detectors) there is a really quick drop off in sensitivity to small sub gram low conductor targets using the higher frequency weighted FMF modes and especially Goldfield which should hit small sub gram targets very well, in theory. While I still had my Deus 1, I compared air tests between Deus 1 and Deus 2 Goldfield modes in a low EMI environment on the exact same targets used in the video above. Deus 1 in Goldfield at 31 kHz using the HF Elliptical coil was hitting those targets easily a full 3cm farther than Deus 2 in Goldfield using the exact same settings except for single frequency versus SMF and different coils and with much stronger audio responses.

Thanks Carolina. I saw your JMHO. It is totally fine to comment if you question something. I tried to give you some very exact answers to your questions. Just because you raise fair questions and I gave your fair answers does not mean that I will agree with your assumptions and suggestions. My disagreement with them is based on experience not conjecture. I can't tell you how many times I have done similar testing with Deus 2 and just scratched my head in frustration. I have tried all of your settings and other suggestions and those by others here who have suggested them using Deus 2 since I got it and have also experimented with them previously using Deus 1 and the ORX while prospecting. All I can say is for very small gold prospecting and for micro gold jewelry hunting, XP got the default settings very close to optimal for moderate to high iron mineralization using their Goldfield modes. Right now, from memory and my testing write-up notes, the ORX and Deus 1 using a 9" X35 coil in Goldfield set at 27kHz would have similar results that approach what the Legend shows in the video. Put on an HF coil running at 31 kHz and the results at least for sensitivity and target response would be nearly the same as the Legend. Raise the frequency on Deus 1 and the ORX and it will out perform the Legend and Equinox IF those XP detectors can be ground balanced. I have tested all of my gold prospecting VLF and PI detectors at the exact spot shown in the video numerous times. GB Amateur and I tested our QEDs at that exact spot two years ago. I chose that spot several years ago because there are overhead and underground power lines about 50 feet away, lots of auto traffic on a nearby interstate highway and the ground has enough iron mineralization to challenge a detector. So, keep questioning. It is totally okay. I do it all the time too as you probably know.

The Legend was ground balanced near those targets too and it did like I expected which is similar to the Equinox. When I got Deus 2 I had hoped it would have at least as good performance as Deus 1 and maybe as good as Equinox/Legend. If they don’t tweak it that would be a shame since it’s predecessors were very good prospecting detectors. A smaller coil would be great.

This is why I don’t like to post videos…….. and why I sympathize with anyone that posts a lot of videos whether I like the videos or not. I have a messed up ankle. I can’t get up into the mountains right now which are the nearest gold prospecting areas close to me. I have found quite a bit of gold with Deus 1 and the ORX at those sites. I had one chance with Deus 2 at one of those sites and I was shocked and very disappointed by its performance. Abenson had already warned me that might happen but I had the 9” coil so I had hoped for better results. Every other test I have done with Deus 2 on small gold nugget and micro gold jewelry targets using Goldfield has been exactly the same…..poor depth and poor sensitivity compared to Deus 1 and the ORX whether I ground balanced a foot away or a mile away. Deus 2 could barely hit those targets in Goldfield in moderate mineralization. Maybe you can get an idea about how it does in 10 of 10 iron mineralization……… I tried to pick a site close by that had enough mineralization to challenge Deus 2. I must have succeeded since it couldn’t handle it very well. Believe what you want. I could just keep my mouth shut and be unhappy………or just give up on Deus 2. I am trying to help make Deus 2 better for everybody that wants to hunt small gold nuggets and micro gold jewelry using it.

Running Audio response of 6 in the real world runs the risk of over amplifying hot rocks of all sizes and ground mineralization. XP’s default Goldfield settings have always been 3 or 4 for good reasons

Can’t run reactivity of 1 in any goldfield I know of due to iron mineralization. Running a higher Silencer setting in Deus Mono may also “silence” targets near the ferrous/non ferrous break along with non ferrous signals being pulled down into the ferrous range like two of these targets were in the video. No Silencer adjustment in FMF Goldfield. The targets were not ground balanced out with either detector. If I didn’t ground balance on camera people would tell me about it too

This is not a versus video. It does show a problem that needs to be fixed..... This short 4 minute 40 second video uses the Legend as an example of what I am used to for a simultaneous multi frequency detector in its gold prospecting mode compared to Deus 2 in its Mono and Goldfield modes on in the ground targets. This has implications for small gold prospecting and micro gold jewelry hunting. My hope is that XP will see this video and come up with a solution in the upcoming 0.8 software update. Three targets: a 0.1 gram 14K gold earring back buried at 1.5", a 0.15 gram gold nugget buried at 2.5" and a 0.25 gram gold nugget buried at 3.5". I used the Legend to measure iron mineralization which was 5 of 10 bars so moderate mineralization. There is plenty of EMI so the Legend is at 24 of 30 sensitivity. Deus 2 is at 95 of 100. Legend Goldfield other settings: VCO audio, frequency M, ground discrimination pattern A for all targets accepted, recovery speed 5, iron filter 1, iron stability 1, threshold 12. Deus 2 Mono other settings: Pitch Square tone Audio, frequency 40.4 kHz, disc at -6.4, reactivity 2.5, iron volume 3, audio response 4, silencer 0, threshold 8 Deus 2 Goldfield other settings: VCO Square tone audio, frequency FMF, disc IAR 0, reactivity 2.5, iron volume 3, audio response 4, threshold 8, notch 00-00. Both detectors have volume on maximum. Legend is using its external speaker. Deus 2 WS6 audio is coming from headphones placed ear cup down on my iPhone 13. The target responses are hard to hear..........not because there is something wrong with the volume.......just listen to the end of the video where I scroll through the Deus 2 Goldfield settings and listen to the very easy to hear audio. Nope, those targets are at or near the edge of detection.....that's why their audio responses are hard to hear. XP really need to fix this insensitivity to small low conductors at least for Deus 2 FMF Goldfield............

Thanks Chiil for reposting that information. Makes me feel a little better……….😶

I seem to remember somebody with a whole lot more knowledge of the TdI SL than I will ever have....(Carl or Reg) once mentioning that part of the audio circuitry was only rated for roughly 12 volts......maybe I misunderstood.