Erik Oostra

It's been hard going in the ring recovery business for a while.. It hasn't helped that our local council has dumped about a metre of sand on top of the island's most productive beaches to counter erosion.. Despite the school holidays and a major surf lifesaving carnival last week, I'm only finding a few freshly dropped coins.. All this changed this morning when a gentleman contacted me on my ring recovery Facebook page with a very accurate description of where he lost his wedding ring.. Although I had to go for a scuba dive to recover it, the ring was exactly where he said he dropped it.. Using my trusty PulseDive it took about half a minute to find it.. He was a very happy fella and gave me a $50 reward.. Not too bad for less than a minute's work..

My Gold Bug used to be a backup to the Equinox 600.. Then the 600 became a backup to the 800.. Now the Deus II is in the mix but it plays along nicely with the others as my scuba detector, with a PulseDive as its backup.. The PulseDive is slowly making a comeback as my main scuba detector simply because it's bombproof and simple to use.. Although it's got a tiny coil (just 8"), if you take your time it can be just as deadly as the Deus II.. At the moment I'm having trouble seeing the Mongrel as part of my arsenal..

The Mongrel's search mode settings look pretty straightforward..

The Mongrel's search mode settings seem simple enough..

These are some offers at Miners Den in Australia: Mongrel - $2,499 or CTX 3030 -$2,695 or Equinox 800 - $1,249.. Which would you go for if you had the bucks?

I was trying really hard not to make the comparison.. 🙂 That's also what I paid for my Deus II.. I was hoping for something a bit cheaper as well, that price would have to justify a hell of a performance gain..

A Mongrel will cost you $2,499 in Australia.. More than twice the price of an Equinox 800.. It better be good!

Funny stuff Chuck, I really like the idea of not even turning it on.. 😆I don't think I'll jump in there like I did with the Deus II.. It didn't increase the amount of finds nor does it punch any deeper than the Equinox.. I'm not a great fan of the whole wireless nonsense, as a scuba detector it still needs a whole tangle of wires to make it work.. But if the Mongrel preforms well in field test (especially on the beach) and punches even a little bit deeper than the Equinox (I'll be happy with an inch) then the Deus II is out the door.. I don't really need any more detectors but I'll hang onto both my Equinoxes only because of the range of coils I've bought for them.. The 600 will be dedicated for scuba with the PulseDive for deeper waters, I've had just as much luck with it as the Deus II.. That's still far too many detectors than I really need, but like you say sometimes it's a pleasure owning something that you don't need.. Especially on old favourite workhorse like the Equinox, to sell them would be like sending them off to the knackers..

Don't worry.. I'm starting to think of it as the 'Mongrel', seeing it's a cross between the Equinox and CTX..

It's the 14x9'' Coiltek..

I'm not by nature a superstitious dude but this morning's find has to be an omen.. It's the metal detecting Gods telling me to buy an Manticore.. 😬

Maybe this 1605 woodcarving of the Manticore will make you unsee Beast.. Mongrel might be a better name..

Spot on!

Here the chief engineer (Mark Lawrie) explains the 'power' aspect of The Beast a bit better:

He makes the comment whilst the punters are comparing it to the Equinox.. He also says that power wise it's comparable to the CTX 3030.. It might be seen as marketing hype but I think that's because people assume that 50% more power to coil means it's 50% more powerful than other detectors..

The Minelab engineer in the videos mentions a couple of times that the Manticore has "50% more power, electric, going to the coil".. Will this, together with more advanced signal processing, make a difference in how deep the beast will punch? Is it really as simple as: more power = a stronger electromagnetic field = greater depth.. And if this really does make such a difference, then why haven't other manufactures cottoned on to this?

The more I hear, the more I'm liking The Beast.. It seems it punches deeper than the Equinox and CTX because more power is provided to the coil.. If its battery performance is the same as the Equinox (or even if it's worse it will still be a lot better than the Deus II), then it's a real contender.. This together with the fact that Minelab has build this thing from the ground up makes me hopeful that they're on to something that'll surpass what came before and live up to the marketing hype.. Which is something XP and Nokta failed to do, they just copied.. If The Beast does meet expectations in the field, I'll sell my Deus II to get my hands on one.. I just hope that Minelab will forgive my temporary desertion to the XP camp and welcome me back to the flock.. 😬

I really like the sales pitch on the video, especially because it says all the things I was hoping to hear.. From what I can make out, the Beast's multi-frequency is build from the ground up with larger spectrums and higher frequencies than the Equinox.. It also has a great range of coils to start off with and it's lighter than the Equinox.. It's also waterproof down to 5 metres and its handle vibrates.. Even if its raw beast power doesn't punch any deeper than the Equinox, these factors already make it a winner in my book..

If this latest offering really is an improvement on the Equinox then Minelab will be on another winner.. But if the closeness in performance of the Equinox, Deus II and Legend is a pinnacle of what is possible to squeeze out of vlf technology, than it'll probably be just another ring-in.. (and it won't catch on because of its crappy name).. 😁 The large coil looks great, as a beach hunter I hope this is the smallest coil in the Manticore's range.. 😁

Another great article, covering the whole world instead of just the treasures found during the European drought.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-08-27/drought-dried-riverbeds-hidden-treasures-climate-change/101370438

Are any European relic hunters on this forum making the most of the low rivers and lakes? Some are completely dry exposing all sorts of ancient things.. Or haven't we heard anything because you're all out there and don't have time to post about your huge hauls.. Or maybe it's just too hot to go outside? It's a bit like gold prospecting in areas which have been burned down.. Another great example of the advantages of climate change.. 😬 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62619397

The island's only bank won't even let me run my coins through their machine.. they took one look at the bags of dodgy looking coins and told me I had to join the bank before they'd think about it.. also at the pub and some shops they'll only accept corroded coins when they can see the Queen's head.. ☹️

I forgot to mention that within this zone there once stood a massive shark barrier.. In the picture above, you can just see a stretch of dark patches where it was.. Today this line is a shallow underwater gully with iron beams scattered along it.. This is what Alma Bay looked like in the 1930s..

I've been making the most of some very low tides to hunt at the back of my local bays.. Amongst a load of crap, this is yesterday's haul from Alma Bay.. $32 and some cheap jewellery.. This haul really opened my eyes to the differences in success between scuba and beach detecting.. These coins and jewellery were found along a swimming/snorkelling zone where I usually dive (3 to 5 metres deep).. To my great and eternal shame, I missed them.. Although some are newly dropped, others have been there a long while.. Covering this zone on scuba takes a long time.. Visibility is not always what you'd expect for a tropical island.. Constant channel dredging for a nearby port and mangrove swamps along the coast keep our waters pretty murky.. Also, the smaller coils on the Deus II and PulseDive make it harder to cover large areas.. This compares to covering the same zone whilst beach detecting with larger coils: strolling along the beach, cherry-picking juicy targets and digging as deep as you like without the hole washing away.. You can see what you're doing and the target stays where it's supposed to be, all this makes the job much faster.. Although not necessarily more enjoyable as the challenge is gone.. On scuba the biggest haul along this zone in one morning was $6.50 and an silver earing.. In bays which have shark nets the scuba vs beach hunting ratio is usually the other way around, as people are herded together in one small space.. I'm lucky that on the island coins are still in everyday use, even in a mostly cashless society the island's busses still only accept cash.. As do all small businesses like the tourist stalls at markets along the beach, the 'tropical fruit juice lady' and the seafood van which sells straight from the island's trawlers.. This means there's a regular supply of coins dropped at our three main bays, all within 5 minutes from my house.. Yes, I know.. I'm a lucky son of a.. very nice lady!