steveg

We are getting close, F350! Steve

Production of parts for the first batch of Deus shafts is nearing completion. Some parts shipments have now arrived, and the rest are shipping over the course of the next week. I expect all parts to arrive by roughly Dec. 10, and then will be initiating the first production run of 32 shafts immediately thereafter. At this point, all 32 shafts have been reserved by customers. As soon as the parts arrive, and have been inspected, I'll be ordering the next batch of parts, for the next production run. Expect the second batch of shafts to be ready to ship by roughly late January. Thank you all for your patience. This has been a long/complex project, but I think the wait will be worth it, as I am very pleased with how everything has come together. This should prove to be a top-notch shaft that will improve upon the stock shaft immensely. I will be contacting each customer as soon as parts arrive, for final confirmation of interest, and invoicing. Thanks to all of you who have offered suggestions/advice along the way, to my excellent field testers, and to all of my customers. The end to the long wait is now in sight... 🙂 Thanks! Steve

PSPR -- this is NOT going to happen. Sorry to be a bearer of bad news. Bottom line, any gold, that gives the same VDI as a pull tab or ring tab, CANNOT be "detected" while the aluminum is discriminated out. If you notch out a VDI number, you will notch out ANYTHING that registers that VDI number, whether it is gold, or aluminum. Steve

Good luck, Dancer. I know that dewcon hunts exclusively with his MDT, on Florida beaches. If you run into any issues, he may offer a wise word or two... Steve

WalkInH2o, THANKS for the very kind words! I appreciate that, and glad that I've been able to help a bit in giving some degree of better understanding of a 2D "smart screen," to those who have no CTX experience. And THANK YOU for being a customer -- I appreciate you! Steve

As for the announcement, could it be a GPX 6000+ maybe? I know NOTHING about the 6000, but have heard some say the 6000 has some "issues," of some sort. Just wondering if "second time around" means a "new/improved" version of something already released, like the 6000? Or possibly an Equinox 1000, that uses the "Manticore-design" for the lower rod, that is waterproof to 6 meters like the Manticore, and has a carbon-fiber shaft and arm cuff system like the Manticore? In other words, it addresses all of the "complaints" people have, about the 600/800 (water intrusion failures, coil ear breakage, and wobbly shaft)? Maybe priced at something like $1099 US? YES, that idea, of a "new/improved" version of something, would also seem to sort of fit the Equinox >> Manticore as well, but personally, it seems to me that message is maybe a bit too "secretive" to be about the Manticore. Since they already have announced the Manticore, sent Mark Lawrie around on that "world tour" to show off the "Beast," etc., and told us to expect the Manticore late 2022, this new announcement seems to me to be too "cryptic" to be referring to the Manticore... Who knows. Bottom line? It's had its intended effect; it has us talking about it. Which is precisely what marketing departments want, with such teases... 🙂 Steve

😄 Phrunt -- you made me laugh. Which is good; I haven't been laughing enough lately! 😜

Sinclair, I do not doubt that, with experimentation, you would be able to find a "grip angle" that works best for you, specifically. In other words, while you are not explicitly resolving the imbalance/nose-heaviness, you ARE finding an angle, for your wrist, where exerting the force to lift the coil causes you the least amount of distress. SO, I get it, and I applaud you for working to find a solution to your issues. I was not saying that there's no improvement to be found in changing grip angle, I was only saying that the ULTIMATE source of the issue, is the imbalance of the machine. But, if you have tried counterweighting and don't like it, then this might be the best solution in your case. Steve

Zincoln, some fantastic hunting in the iron, and it's nice to see you were rewarded with some fantastic results! Steve

mcjtom -- The ferrous numbers on a CTX run from 0 to 35, along the "y-axis," with "0" at the top, and increasing to "35" at the bottom. HOWEVER, unlike what might seem "logical," a non-ferrous target does NOT register near zero, for its ferrous number, on the CTX, but instead, will read roughly "12." For whatever reason, Minelab chose to "normalize" the FE number of most non-ferrous targets to read "12." So, a "good" target on a CTX will generally plot about 1/3 of the way down the screen, at 12 FE -- along what folks call the "12 line" (the horizontal line running left and right across the screen, at the "12" location on the y-axis). SO, "good" targets will generally NOT be at the "top" of the screen, as you thought. Instead, since the FE number of "good" targets is "normalized" to "12" on the CTX, these targets (as noted above) will appear about 1/3 of the way down the screen, on or near the "12" line. Meanwhile, typically, targets which appear well above the "12" line, near the top of the screen (i.e. ferrous numbers in the single digits), will generally be iron targets. Silmiliarly, targets well below the "12" line (i.e. ferrous numbers in the upper teens, 20s, and 30s), will also generally be iron targets. THEREFORE, things will not be entirely different on the Manticore. Like on the CTX, targets registering near the top of the screen will generally be iron, and targets registering low on the screen will also generally be iron (dependent of course on the accuracy of the discrimination algorithms). The "middle" of the screen, similar to the "12" line on the CTX, will be where "good" (non-ferrous) targets will usually register (again, depending upon the accuracy of the discrimination algorithms). Now, on BOTH the CTX AND the Manticore, conductive numbers increase from left to right along the x-axis (as you noted). This will be easier for most users to interpret. Low CO numbers (and those with "non-ferrous" indication, thus plotting roughly "centered," from a top to bottom sense, AND near the left-hand side of the screen due to low CO number) will likely be foil-type targets, as one would expect, and high CO numbers (and those with "non-ferrous" indication, thus plotting roughly "centered," from a top to bottom sense, AND near the right-hand side of the screen due to high CO number), will be targets like big silver coins, etc. -- again, as would be expected. Make sense? Steve

I will add one more thought here. I am of the belief that while there may be a "sweet spot" in terms of grip/handle angle, that differs for each individual, I do think there's an "elephant in the room," here, that is a MUCH bigger issue, and that is, BALANCE. It is my firm belief that the REAL issue causing folks wrist fatigue/discomfort, is the nose-heaviness of the Equinox (and most other modern detectors). And here's why I say that. If you take your wrist, and "cock it," back and forth, like you are loading, and then casting, a fishing pole, it becomes obvious that our wrist is "designed" such that it is "comfortable" at any number of positions. At rest, with no "load" or "tension" on the wrist, it can sit comfortably at any number of different "angles." The DISCOMFORT comes, largely, when the wrist is put under LOAD, or STRAIN, especially if that load or strain is sustained for a long period of time. It is my contention, that the discomfort we feel in our wrists when detecting is PRIMARILY due to the imbalance -- and more specifically -- the "nose-heaviness" of the unit (and the resulting strain on our wrists). When swinging a detector, where a large percentage of the weight of the unit sits out at the end of a long "lever" (from a physics perspective), that coil is using "leverage" AGAINST us. And with no compensating weight at the butt end of the shaft, to lift the coil FOR us, WE are having to do ALL of the work, to lift that coil. And that work is being done, first and foremost, by our WRISTS. But, simply LIFTING the coil, is not the issue. We are ALL strong enough to lift the coil. The issue is, KEEPING the coil lifted, and floating just above the ground, for hours at a time. Doing so, places substantial stress, from a "repetitive motion" perspective, on our wrist. The small muscles of the wrist are not intended to do such repetitive motion, under constant strain/tension. AND SO, feeling fatigue or pain in the wrist is an absolutely normal, and I would say, expected, result, of swinging a nose-heavy machine -- where we are forced to exert enough CONSTANT force, for long periods of time, to keep the coil floating above the ground. THAT, I believe strongly, is where the fatigue and discomfort come from. That is NOT to say that, for any one individual, whose wrist is placed under such constant strain, that there may not be an "angle" that feels better, while other "angles" feel worse. I am simply saying that I think grip/handle angle is a second-order issue, and a DISTANT second, at that. I very strongly contend that the FIRST-order issue, is the strain put on our wrists by having to swing a nose-heavy machine, keeping the coil floating, for hours at a time. And I further contend that with a perfectly balanced machine, in other words, requiring essentially ZERO exertion of the wrist (i.e. the wrist basically "at rest"), the fatigue and discomfort is eliminated. And thus, I contend, if we were all swinging BALANCED detectors, all the talk about "grip angle" (which has been a topic of discussion for many years -- at LEAST back to when the Minelab Explorer handle angle was, apparently, slightly adjusted on the E-Trac, according to many users) would largely fade away. So, I will say in conclusion that if you (Sinclair) are a "monk" on ergonomics, I would expect that this logic would make sense to you. The Equinox (and most other modern machines) are ergonomically, shall I say, "far from ideal," to put it gently. You simply can't design a machine that puts such a large percentage of the unit's weight out at the end of a long "lever," with no compensating weight at the other end of the machine, and not end up with an ergonomic mess... Steve

Yep, spot on... Yep, basically... As I understand it, stuff like rusted nails, etc. will be up top (I think), and big iron, like horseshoes, axe heads, etc., will be down low (I think). Steve

phrunt -- I'm guessing that's EXACTLY what Minelab did...i.e. tease the Manticore release so that some folks "on the fence" might hold onto their 1.5K for a little while... As for the headphones/Bluetooth LE, am I reading this correctly that the headphones aren't proprietary AFTER ALL, and that as more headphones that are Bluetooth LE-capable hit the market, we'll likely have other, compatible options if the ML-105 won't do it for us? In any case, it certainly looks like, from the info you posted, that we SHOULD be able to get less expensive, non-branded versions off of AliExpress, as you noted... Steve

This is really, really odd, Cal. He's a tough nut to crack (and hard to understand...can't believe he bought a D2, after his disdain for the EQX (and now presumably, the Manticore?) Steve

Couldn't agree more. Steve

Chase, Thanks for the info. So, it's not as simple as x,y coordinate pairs being plotted on an x,y coordinate system, with x and y representing two specific characteristics of the target. It's quite a bit different, actually. Hmm... I don't like that idea, as -- for instance -- it's more like having to simply "memorize" that a "spiral shape" means "difficult to reject" items, and a "lower left to upper right" oval shape means "coin," without a more clear, direct, logical relationship between what is being plotted, and what it says about the target. It seems "abstract," and harder to understand "linearly" or "logically," as compared to plotting an FE,CO coordinate pair... In any case, thanks for the info! Steve

rled (or anyone else) -- NOT to veer this thread off in the weeds, but I'm curious. I know how the Manticore's x,y coordinate system/2-d screen will work (i.e. what the "x" and "y" values represent). BUT -- I have no idea what is being displayed on the Deus 2's x,y graph. Can you describe it for me, to satisfy my curiousity, if you know? What do the x and y represent? One reason I ask, is, I just learned last night that apparently the old White's signagraph was a plot of signal strength, and target ID (if I read the information correctly), which I found somewhat interesting. Point being, clearly you could plot any number of things just by assigning different things as your x and y variables. What is it, on a Deus, that is being represented? Thanks! Steve

PSPR -- don't take too much offense, LOL! I am pretty sure there's no offense intended. Alot of people don't like the "Manticore" name that Minelab came up with, so there was some "creativity," here on the forum, early on, kind of poking fun at what some see as a poor job of naming the machine. Thus, bringing some levity to the situation, folks have come up with some equally poor names for the unit. And these attempts at humor come both from those who ARE interested in the machine, and those who may not be. That "trend" has sort of caught on, here, as a sort of "unique" thing on this specific forum. Dreaming up a new, funny name is just an attempt at humor. No offense intended; it's not even a poke at the machine itself, just a poke at what some perceive to be a poor choice, by Minelab's marketing department, for a name. Steve

Chase -- Yep, agreed. I highly, highly doubt there will be any way to differentiate a LARGE item with tight VDI, from a small item with an equally tight VDI, using the 2-D screen. Because, as you said, all the trace is showing you, in reality, is a measure of VDI "spread" or "deviation." So yes, we'll still have to use whatever methods we currently do (lifting the coil, as you mention, which I also do all the time), or using pinpoint (which I also do all the time) to determine the size of the target's footprint. Very true. We agree! 🙂 Steve

Chase -- We largely agree. I say "indirectly," because, one thing of course that we all "listen for," when coin or ring hunting, and trying to discern "good targets" from "bad," is a "round" sound -- i.e. little variation in VDI, and thus tone. And that same "round sound," which is related to little variation in VDI, translates to a "round" target trace. So, there IS, I think, and "indirect" relationship, from the same perspective as when we are listening to a target and we say "it sounds round." If it "sounds round," it will also "plot round" on the 2D screen. That's all I am saying. But -- yes -- otherwise, we totally agree. It is an "indirect" relationship, at best. Steve

phrunt -- if you wrote this part in response to Chesroy's post, I agree with you, and was wanting to say some of the same things. Chesroy, don't write it off, before you give it a chance. First off, I'm not sure why having it there, even if you NEVER look at it, is a negative; you'll still have your "legacy" VDI number to look at, same as on your Equinox. BUT, with that said, there is information available in target trace that -- while arguably "there," in the tones -- is easier sometimes to comprehend/interpret when you see it on a screen. Give it a chance; I think you may be surprised. This is true, to a large degree, but I want to add a nuance. Phrunt, you already know this, as a CTX user, but many who have never used FBS do not. For years, the Minelab Explorer (FBS) was my detector of choice. Like other FBS machines, every target detected by an Explorer would be assigned two numbers (mathematically, an x,y coordinate pair) -- an FE and a CO number. So, along those lines, each target would likewise be assigned a place on the 2-D screen (mathematically, an x,y coordinate system). IN GENERAL, on an Explorer, a U.S. milled coin hunter would be looking for targets with a LOW FE number, and a HIGH CO number. There are some exceptions, but let's just go with that for illustration. SO, in general, low FE number and high CO number was indicative of a coin-type target, while HIGH FE number and high CO number would be an iron target, like a nail. SO -- for instance -- a dime would read roughly 03-29 on an Explorer, while a nail might ready 25-29. The reason I am explaining all of this, is as follows. On an FBS machine, one could set up their tones to "cue off of," or "align with," EITHER the FE numbers, or the CO numbers. Think about that for a minute. We are ALL used to our tones "cuing off of" the "conductive" number, because that's essentially what we have, to some degree, on most machines. Low tones (low conductive numbers) and high tones (high conductive numbers). So, likewise, on an Explorer, one could use a tone profile called "conductive tones," and this was much like a "regular" machine -- the higher the CO number, the higher the conductor. Meanwhile, though, one could alternatively use a tone profile called "ferrous tones." Using THIS profile, a low ferrous number was assigned a high tone, while a higher ferrous number was assigned a lower tone. SO -- if you were a coin hunter, running in "ferrous tones," you would still want to listen, generally, for "high tones" (which, using "ferrous tones," would mean that those high tones would be associated with a low FE number). So, with either tonal profile -- conductive tones or ferrous tones -- a coin hunter would prefer to hear high tones, but with the nuance being that you'd either be deciphering CONDUCTIVE information, or FERROUS information. There were some advantages to using ferrous tones, over conductive tones, but I won't get into that now. What is important is to just wrap your mind around this, for the sake of what I'm working to illustrate. So, if that makes sense, then one thing that is important to see, is this. If you were running conductive tones, ALL of the "direct" information you would get from the tones (how high or how low the tone might be) was related ENTIRELY to the "conductivity" of the target. In other words, you'd get NO "direct" information about the ferrous side of things, through your tones. Now, I say "direct," because of course there would still be "nuance" in the tones, that might hint at something non-round, or even "irony," but that's more "indirect." Directly, though, when running conductive tones, what you are hearing, tonally, is CONDUCTIVE information. WHICH MEANS, then, that in order to get FERROUS information, you HAD TO LOOK AT THE SCREEN. In doing so, you would THEN be given the FE information also -- either as a numerical readout, OR, on your 2-D screen. And this is IMPORTANT to understand. Because on the Explorer, simply LISTENING to the tones, was not giving you the "full picture," directly. BUT -- visually, seeing the FE number, OR, alternatively, the POSITION of the target on the 2D screen (which thus includes the ferrous ID information), would give you much more information about the target. And my point here in all of this wordiness IS -- I expect this to be very similar on the Manticore. I am nearly sure there is no way on the Manticore to set the VDI to show both an FE and a CO number. BUT -- this FE information WILL be there, on the 2D screen. SO -- if you have the machine set such that the tones are tied to the conductive number (which I expect will be the default on the Manticore), there WILL be additional information -- i.e. FERROUS information -- that can be gleaned DIRECTLY, from a VISUAL perspective -- i.e. by looking at the location of the plot of the target on the 2D screen. OF COURSE those of us who have used the Equinox have learned to "glean" information from the tones, and the tonal behavior, that indicate that even a high-toning target may likely be a nail, BUT, with the 2D screen, you will be able to see some of this visually, and more "directly." Again, this is due to the fact that each target's FE characteristics can be seen clearly on the screen, based on where the target plot is located in 2-D space. And with a big focus on the Manticore apparently being its IRON resolution, and presumably, iron ID accuracy, this should really prove to be beneficial -- as we'll have a grapical representation of whatever iron information the machine is able to convey. YES, our ears will be hearing the usual hints and indications that a high-toning target, such as a "falsing nail," may be iron, but visually, seeing the machine's read of a target's FE characteristics DIRECTLY PLOTTED, on the 2D screen, should assist in determining more accurately whether the target is a "good" high tone, or is more likely to be a nail masquerading as a coin... Steve

Yes, you are EXACTLY correct! It's a LINEAR CROSSOVER from the sound differences. And don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing the Manticore in any way. I can't wait to get one, and I'm on a pre-order list as well. And I agree with you that hearing something audibly, AND seeing it visually, is helpful, no doubt. ESPECIALY for people who are "visual learners." So, this is in no way "bashing." I'm just trying to set expectations; some people seem to be thinking...encouraged by marketing hype...that there's some "magic" in the Manticore that can plot the outline of the shape of the target for you. AND THERE IS NOT. Steve

The paragraph above, that I put in bolded, italicized, enlarged, red text, is -- in my opinion, marketing mumbo-jumbo. While most of it is largely "true," you really have to read it carefully, as the truth is "in there," but "obfuscated." The one thing that I believe is NOT true -- and it's why I say it's marketing nonsense, is the part that said, essentially, "while the CTX could plot targets, the Manticore 'takes it to the next level,' by giving the target SHAPE." The implication there is that the Manticore is doing something that the CTX could not, and this is simply not true. The bottom line, as I've said a million times, is that the target shape is only INDIRECTLY related to the target. And I strongly believe that whatever the Manticore can do, in terms of "shape," is the same thing the CTX would do. A good, round, consistently ID-ing target would show up as a small round blob, on the CTX 2-D screen, just as it will on the Manticore 2-D screen. Likewise, an irony, elongated, bouncy ID-ing target would show up non-round, more like an elongated smear in many cases, ON EITHER UNIT. So, THIS IS NOTHING NEW! That's not to say that the Manticore screen may not be higher-resolution, thus possibly allowing "tighter" circles to be drawn. And also, of course, the more accurate the ID algorithms are on a unit, the more "small" and "round" a coin or ring will show up. So, if the Manticore has a more "precise" ID algorithm than the CTX, then the shapes may be "prettier" on a round object (again, those "round" shapes being reflective of the very consistent, non-varying ID...such that plotting multiple snapshots of the x,y ID numbers on an x,y coordinate system would result in a very small/round "dot"). But, my point here is -- DO NOT BE FOOLED into thinking the Manticore is taking any sort of "reading" that would allow a "direct" plot of the outline of the shape of any given target. The shape of the plot is DIRECTLY related only to the "bounce" or "change" in VDI (or lack thereof) at each sampling interval, and only INDIRECTLY related the shape of the object... Steve

Wow. Couldn't have said it better. Every word. I too am very musically inclined, and I do have the beginnings of some hearing loss at certain frequencies. But I would say EXACTLY what you said, Jeff -- very bottom-heavy, and the mid and high tones had no "brilliance" at all. Perfectly put. And, it is GREAT news to me, that you say the ML 100s that come with the 6000 are much more balanced, and you have no complaints. Since we clearly hear things "similarly," and since it seems reasonable to conclude that these phones will be more similar to the ML 100s, my mind is eased a bit... Thanks Jeff! Steve

JCR -- you are right; it SHOULD not matter. But I know there were others who had this experience, and so I wasn't surprised when I did... I wish I had known this; I would have done things differently. Steve