Nuke em

Because of the price uncertainty I have traded in 3 of my 6 machines and bought the Manticore. 

Even that wasn't enough!

I now have the Manticore. E.Trac. X.Terra Pro  and 2 Deus 11.

I sold an E.Trac,  my Legend and my Nox 900.

I am on the way to a beach with a Deus 11 today.

Until I get round ti learning the Manticore I won't use it . I don't like Minelab factory programs and don't know what to set up the machine to for beaches.

It must match my settings on my ET. 

I still have the ET and have no intentions in replacing them with the Manticore. 

I feel the new Minelabs are less well made. And less likely to last. Both my ET's are likely to last for years.

I could not expect a Manticore or the 900 to last. And after warranty repairs are minimal at best on the new machines.

I see that Minelab is going to hike the prices up and I heard 25%. That will please the competition. 

I have the Deus 11 and that is really good though I prefer my ET still. 

I have always wanted a repairable water resistant ET but Minelab then brought out the CTX. XP loved that and sales of the Deus 1 went through the roof in the UK and Europe. 

I like Minelabs but they are getting throwaway machines and pricey. 

My next machine was going to be the Manticore even with my reservations but I cannot ignore the possibility that it will be and XP at some point.

My E.Trax's stay though.

I have rigged up a MR250 wireless module and August EP650 B headphones. Also use the RNB 3400 battery. 

The module needs a cover as it not waterproof.

Even now the ET is a versatile and capable machine.

5 hours ago, phrunt said:

Yes, the Nox and Manticore pods are replacements if they get anything wrong with them internally.  They can't be repaired.  They do sell replacement pods for a reasonable price if they die outside of warranty, but they won't sell them unless they take your old pod away and give you the new pod, this is to stop people buying pods without having their Nox fail to make up a second unit for cheap.

The CTX can be repaired internally such as a new screen or whatever.  

It's the waterproofing that's caused the pods to not be repairable, although the CTX was waterproof also but done differently, I guess the Nox method wasn't all that great being a frequent drowning machine, the Manticore so far appears better, unless everyone's just been too scared to use it in the water 🙂

Minelab have quite a long support period on their detectors after they're discontinued so parts will be available for some years after detectors like the CTX are discontinued, although if desperate the Chinese have heaps of fake CTX parts for sale these days like screens and control pod housings.

A friends GPZ buttons stopped working, Minelab wanted a stupid amount of money to fix it and they wouldn't sell the part for him to do it himself so he had to ship it by post to them, wait a couple of weeks and hope it doesn't have problems in transit or go missing so he just bought a fake button PCB from China and it's worked well for him for a fraction of the price.

Still a lot more than a repair to a properly repairable machine.

Minelabs are getting to expensive in the UK. I thought we had a trade deal!

Yeah right.

1 hour ago, Tony said:

Just wondering if that information is backed up officially by Minelab ?

The Nox and any machine of that sort are after warranty not much better than paperweights. They are ceiled units.

The ET and CTX are repairable provided if still made you can get support from somewhere. Others might not be now? 

Talk about throw away society !

I have heard this from one high end source in the past and others. No wonder they wont increase the warranty to match XP. 

Look at all the trouble they had with the 800 flooding etc.

I have been told that if a unit goes wrong in warranty and is proven then they just replace. Says a lot about after warranty repairs!

Another thing. As Minelabs are pretty poorly made now and mostly non repairable after 3 years it will be worthless secondhand.

I for one could not do what I used to do in the past and buy new replacements just to have a warranty.

Looks like I will stay with my 2 x ET and until it conks the 900. Though that will go before its warranty expires.

I will be buying another Deus 11 later next year.

Pity about Minelab but that's what you get when your a shareholder company.

Saw on Facebook that Dilek has announced a price hike on Noktas. But that's around $€50 , that £2 trillion for us Brits lol

If Minelab is thinking 25% then they are in for a bad time.

Other than newbies to the hobby who know no better.

45 minutes ago, Medina said:

My .02
Only time a manufacture "alerts" the public they're going to increase price is to stimulate current lagging sales. Otherwise, why threaten increased profits, or decreased costs to make the baseline costs after the new price is set? 

I'm guessing its more likely the threat of an increase aligns with the new higher price of whatever model they plan on replacing the CTX3030 with... then, the jacked up price makes the new one reasonable. 

 

Not to me it doesn't. My business goes elsewhere. XP is better value these days. And a longer warranty.

UK prices are a con.

On 11/30/2023 at 1:41 AM, TripleT said:

Just watched a Minelab Australia video saying across the board price increase of approximately %25 for all metal detectors.  Manticore is listed in Aussie dollars, same as Canuck dollars as $2199.  New price January 1st. $2699...

Then Minelab will price themselves out of some markets.

At some point I wanted a Manticore but wanted to wait till I could get it cheaper.

If Minelab are going to hike yhe price then they stick it where yhe Sun don't shine.

As it is they only have 3 year warranty and I don't think they are all that good in build quality. 

Even now my 900 is having green corrosion on the outside of the connector where the coil lead goes into the control box.

I might well buy another Deus 11 . High quality. Much lower price and works like a Minelab on the beach. Even if there is a fiddly wire to fit for under water use.

54 minutes ago, George1971 said:

Does anybody know the frequencies in multi-mode that score uses?

You won't get that info from Nokta.

What about tones

Interesting. Are these machines watered down Legend's?

I wonder how there raw power would be?

53 minutes ago, mcjtom said:

Just wonder: if you filter out all the 'extras' like the form factor, water resistance, vibrations, flashlights, etc., and do not go to deeply into SF vs. MF peculiarities - just focus on how practically helpful the low-cost machine is in finding nice things on the beach (and perhaps elsewhere too) - would you choose X Terra over say the Vanquish?

On the beach I would choose the Terra. Though I would have the and got the 900 too.

Terra is waterproof. The Vanquish sounds off on seaweed too.

Fewer numbers and you can't do much on settings.

Have the Nox 900 and Terra.

Those 2 are the wedding band and eternity rings. There is 1 missing. Back there on Tuesday night.

Not recent losses as in hard tops.

These two hunts aren't the first i have used the 900 but are the for July.

On Friday 7th i went to the beach alone and searched between the tides and i the water. I started at around 5.45am and stayed till after 10am.

My finds for that hunt were £5.47p , a Silver chain , a Silver ring and 2 junk rings. 

On Saturday 8th i went with a mate and started a lot further alone the beach we started at 9pm and after a while my mate gave up due to the finds rate being pretty poor. Thats due to cashless. 

As i had to carry on to get to the bus stop for home i started to search between the tide marks again and this time i came up trumps. I had a number 56 i think it was and around 4 inches down i found a 5.6g 9k Gold ring . I phoned my mate and i think he may have regretted leaving early. After that i carried on a few feet and about 12 feet from the last target i got a number 32 on the screen and again after digging down about 4 or 5 inches i found another Gold ring which is 2.6g of 9k.

Other finds for the evening were £9.20p and a foreign coin and a junk chain. 

I find the 900 quite a good machine. Far better than the 800 . My next hunt will be next weekend , not sure which machine , maybe the Legend or maybe the E.Trac. My Terra Pro is in its box for now. Thats done alright so far after finding a 22k Gold ring last Month. Might be the E.Trac's turn if the weather stays dry.

I am going out tomorrow morning for the low tide but I will use my 900 to make sure I get the best in water capability. 

The Terra next time.

I have 2 small bubbles on my Terra screen. All the time its working i will leave be.

12 hours ago, StarVatrex said:

Congratulations!

That is a great find, not usual 22k. And less 4,4 gr. !!!

I'm sure that this year you're going to double the number of pieces compared to last year, you'll see.

Nothing like finding gold, when yellow looks you in the eye; you're lost.

😎

 

Had 6 last year. 12 would be rare on my beaches for 1 person. Then again I would need to get many more hours in than I do at present.

25 minutes ago, glacialgold said:

Oof, jealous! Nice finds there, and curious to read about your Legend results.

Last year i had 3 high grade Gold rings and over 20 Silver rings with the Legend. Have used it once this year so far but the beach was quite. Had £15 though. Works well.

I had Gold with my Terra tonight on the beach.

20 hours ago, StarVatrex said:

True, and there are fewer coins and more garbage. But I don't think it's a problem only in Spain.

 Let's use our detectors and their depth to go back a couple of decades...

Last night I decided to go to a small cove with difficult access. It is visited by local people and tourism that accesses by private boat. Gold had already come out there and these last winds have moved the entire seabed. I put on the neoprene and into the water!

Very few objectives, not a single euro coin. Some old iron and aluminum and when passing some rocks, in a patch of no more than two square meters, old peseta coins began to come out...

That tool that I think is from a ship and Bang! Another old Gold ring. 5,74 gr. and I have to review that stone more carefully.

It sounded bad and little, but it sounded...

At first there was no ID, but it sounded weak in the background, one more Scoop...jumpy ID 8-12 and grunts of iron. I have already taken some more with stones and edges and the sound is peculiar, they do not sound "round" like wedding bands. 

I had been in the water for over an hour with hardly anything coming out. Returned home at 01:36 a.m.

 

Open Mind...

 

Well done on the ring. I think that was there a while. The join has corroded away. I wonder if its a diamond? Anymore than 10k it should be.

15 hours ago, Airtemisa said:

@StarVatrex ,do you own an Equinox? If yes, how do you compare Xterra vs Equinox? 

Thanks for sharing your configs!

The Terra Pro is like a single freq version of the 900.

Only downside is the lack of crown cap rejection. 

At the price, manageable though.

13 hours ago, bigtim1973 said:

The difference though between the eq900 and manticore compared to the xterra pro is the fact you will definitely pay for it before the others with the finds you are retrieving...that makes it that much more fun!!

As with most machines with a broader spectrum vdi readout, the numbers do vary a bit even using multi iq  and get averaged down a bit with good targets next to iron. 

But a good signal will only vary slightly and stay withing 3 to 5 digits using multi iq and the 99 segment scale.

People have not taken into consideration that common items such as coins are not always flat in the soil matrix either. Some are at angles and some are on edge...etc.

 

Anyways, I think that was a great hunt with your xterra pro!!

 

Hunt 4 on Wednesday night will be with the Terra . 11.30pm till 4am Thursday. Mostly on the tops amongst the crown caps ! but hopefully plenty of decent finds to be had.

On 4/30/2023 at 5:39 PM, bigtim1973 said:

Did not know where to put this so I placed it here in the eq forum. 

 

 

Who is enjoying their new xterra pro??

 

I have one and it is a well made unit but I am finding it to be more of a tone ID unit since the VDI numbers fly around a bit.

 

Now with that said....it still picks goodies out of the trash...and it does ID a coin in clean ground.....but do not expect any miracles on accurate ID at average  depths much less deeper targets. 

 

But if you put a stock 11 inch equinox coil on it it does calm the numbers down a bit with more accurate ID in my soil. 

 

My ground conditions are mild. I am afraid that you fellows who live in high ground mineralization will be disappointed if the area you live in have those conditions. 

 

Anyways.....what are some of your thoughts on it?

 

 

 

I like my Terra Pro. It does well on the beach .

The numbers are bit jumpy but then again i have seen that on my 900 and seen it on the Manticore on youtube video's. 

The only thing i would like to see is a way to knock out those damned jagged edged crown caps which come in at a high number even though they are made of Iron.

Looks like the tides are shorts so no sand.

Last night after work I went to the beach with my Terra Pro to search the dry beach. 

My beaches are fairly trashy and full of all types of metals and targets. The machine worked well and I don't have anything to report on water use. It found me as much as I think any other machine would have found me if i used another machine. 

I found its first Silver ring and a junk ring, 1 small foreign coin and £9.33p in spendable coins.

If there is anything at all that i can criticize it would be the inability to knock out crown caps. (The one in the picture) They constantly come in at a high number and as the Terra and the 900 and the Manticore by the looks of it aren't the most stable on numbers , it would be an absolute dream come true if Minelab would just do something about that one thing. Then the new Terra will turn into a proper Terra'ist of beach detecting.

My next hunt will be in the week if i can but not so sure which machine to use. 800 , Legend or the Terra again ? I think without looking the tides are a bit longer then. Could do with the sand showing.