Skull diver

After the second week, I'm still a newbie with this machine, but apparently, applying the basic good principles the results are yet on another level.

There's a place where I hate to dive, due to terrible shaped rocks that can destroy elbows and knees if a minimum wave push me against it when I'm in between and searching.

The fact is that those traps helps to keep the stuff really good.

This stretch of a private beach it is made of solid rocks more than moving boulders and with some erosion affecting the spot, it means really few brave people able to swim and as a direct consequence, nothing to search after the summer...

But, I tried again today after being there months ago with every detector I have in my shed and surprise surprise 🫢...

I named trust building this post cause the two gold pieces I pulled up downthere are a clear evidence of a better time management during the session.

This morning I tuned the Manticore to be scary quiet and just stopped the few times a pure "non iron" signal it was requiring attention.

The number of people that searched in this spot since always, left so few targets to listen that most of Us never even talk about or try to go again...It just don't worth the effort...

Well, the picture proves different🫢.

I'm not overjoying and I recognize the small M8 advantage between tight crevices, but after the 6" and the Ctx... Here's the moment when I can say goodbye to my old trusted sniper rifle....

I never tought this could happen one day...

16 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Well, just the 11" coil but if that's all I had I'd be seriously irritated. As it is the reason I got the detector was the 5x8 coil finally being available, so I got both at the same time. The 11" coil worked for two seconds, then gave a Coil Disconnected Shutting Down error. Disconnected and reconnected several times same result. 5x8 coil works fine. Did the software update with the 5x8 coil and did a reset. 11" coil still acting like it is not connected, 5x8 coil working fine. Probably a bad chip in the coil. Luckily I had the spare coil or I'd not know if it was the coil or the detector. I just sent an email to Minelab Service 3:30pm today so I will update with how the process goes with getting the coil replaced.

You'll solve the 11" bug hopefully soon, meanwhile try to put the M8 in an hard pounded place and wait for a surprise 🫢...

This happened to me again today... I'm speechless 

As for me, payed the full price with a slight discount on the M8 cause I've personally taken both at the dealer's new shop.

I don't mind the highway and gas price against a subtle bargain but I mind that in Europe it seems we'll not benefit of this price discount.

I tell You, I'm maybe one of the few that will buy another Manti tomorrow for the right price...🫢

I've seen this behaviour when air testing for the first time some targets.

Bad weather outside, being inside home, forced to keep no more than 7 as sensitivity level, in beach LC and prospecting audio mode...

No matter the items, an amazing faint treshold wisper was giving a clear chance to listen for a target by a third more of distance before an ID and a proper trace showed up.

It happened with a silver 0.37g ring so thin to be hard to believe.

With the 8x5" coil this means like almost 12" without ID but clear treshold variation.

I repeat, 7 sensitivity on M8 coil and prospecting audio mode.

Soon realised that wasn't the ideal setup for me in saltwater...But on the wet and dry sand, keep an ear on those "pre signals"....

Replying with a little delay cause still testing days ago the basic settings to suit my usual job...

As lot of Us can confirm, an higher sensitivity with both the M11 or M8 can lead to an erratic reading after 20 points.

I wrote about this fact when noticed in the very first air test a big footprint around all the coil's sides.

To have a clear idea of how much the field expands around the coil, just move a coin or a pulltab near, under and above.

So nothing wrong with the use of a third of total sensitivity in some cases, just stop at the first acceptable falsing noise and return a couple of points down to obtain the right level.

That's it, the beast its doing it's job really good for me.

As for separation, the preset of 4 it is a good balance at least for me cause otherwise lower to 3 or 2 the saltwater starts to sound as a background chirp.

25 minutes ago, TampaBayBrad said:

Your area seems to be quite gold-rich. 18k is always welcome!

It was once 🫢.

In 2007 Me and my dive buddy were searching for gold and it was appearing almost everywhere.

Today We don't even search together the same area as a form of respect, due to the lower concentration of finds.

What I post here is like 10% of what I've seen in 2 decades💀

11 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Stay at 10 feet or less.

I've been tempted to follow some uncovered clay/rocks patches further from shore, but as for now, I think there's a lot to check again in the shallows.

The program I used I'd say "accidentally" it has some real potential to pull out remaining thin stuff with my big satisfaction...The M8 puts steroids on this machine.

1 hour ago, rvpopeye said:

....................... not sure how to post a moment of silence but sure know why Skull posted that^.  And I don't care what people say behind my back , I'm counting those golden pull rings as gold rings found ! well , at least until I find a real one !

Nooo my friend 😂...

Absolutely nothing personal for those words, but just telling the hard truth that hit Us all together when looking for gold....

The amount of trash is always higher than cherries and We can do nothing against...

To me, it happens continuously to dig pulltabs, just taking a deep breath and mentally saying myself "wrong line, move on"....

6 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

 I literally don't even try to use ATHC since I can only run it at about 14 sensitivity before it goes nuts.

I can run ATGeneral between 20 and 24 sensitivity with no major issues even on badly mineralized ground and still get great depth and fairly solid target IDs.

Prospecting mode I can run between sensitivity 18 and 20.

I have never used my Manticore at a saltwater beach or in saltwater so I have no clue how any of this applies to Skull diver.

The air test I've done this morning was with Beach LC and prospecting audio adding some threshold cause it reminds me a lot the Tdi behaviour.

Anyway considered the really aggressive reaction to the thinnest of small silver ring (0.37g), will be a challege to obtain the same miracle submerged...

Depth audio will do for sure better against moving saltwater.... Honestly, as for now I'm pleasantly surprised even cause I managed to lower separation up to 2...The air however is nothing...

As a brand new user, I recently searched and learned the most before to have in my hands the "beast".

So this subject on the Manticore caught my attention reading somewhere on the web that using way less sensitivity than the possible amount can give better results.

With the premise that I own a Ctx too, in my mind I had a rough idea of what to expect in terms of "reaction" by the machine.

Really happy to put the M8 under test for an hour, I've immediately understood the meaning of "less is more".

Apparently, I'd say, I perceive the Manti's behaviour like the Ctx, but with a third of sensitivity level🤔.

I'm not complaining about anything but I noticed an extreme side sensitivity to targets with both the M8 and M11.

A real large footprint sorrounds the coil even at a modest levels of 12 or 16 points and this can be useful like detrimental at the same time by the way...It all depends by the environment you're searching in.

Not yet used the machine on the bottom but can't wait for the monday's session to try what the M8 can provide between rocks...

18 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

That's what mine shows (installed with the latest software update), except for the last line (UVC) which is in the 8000's.  I wonder what 'UVC' means.  🤔

I casually discovered with the MUI that the latest software was installed (by the dealer for sure) but not the same thing with the ML105.

I've updated them and as for now all works fine🙏

Can someone confirm this is the correct screen for the latest version?

Thank You all

A minute of silence for every breathtaking shine further revealed Ss,Gp,Gf...Not to mention golden coloured pulltabs 🤣

If it wasn't underwater, I would have to think to be victim of a candid camera 🤣

25 minutes ago, Bill (S. CA) said:

Just curious how many of you use pinpointers on the beach.

I've been a beach hunter for over 40 years and have never used one on the beach.  But nowadays I see a lot of hunters using them to pinpoint coins which I think is pretty silly.  I can find any coin with my sand scoop no problem.

I get it if you are hunting for micro gold on the dry but otherwise to me it's unnecessary. 

What do you folks think?

Bill

I recently bought another one (this time cheaper) to use it on the wetsand cause years ago it flooded underwater.

You're right about coins but really thin pieces of foil and crappy bits drive me crazy meanwhile trying to locate them out of the hole.

I think it helps a lot to don't burn useful time.

No matter how small the coil, there are things too small to be seen.

I was actually wrong saying the camera turned off too soon the last time I had it on my head...

So cleaning the card for a new attempt tomorrow, I suddenly found this raw footage.

No editing, pure bubbles and fuc#%#g sh## visibility.

So this is what I'm usually fighting against.

Enjoy the challenge between me and the murky waters.

On 3/20/2024 at 11:16 PM, Rivers rat said:

got Manti

Countdown started 🏴‍☠️

7 hours ago, TampaBayBrad said:

That's why I hate that one of my busy beaches is just loaded with can slaw IDing below 10. I pretty much disregard below 10 there because there is a piece of aluminum every 3rd swing or so. Sometimes one will really sound good in Prospecting Audio so I dig it and it's always ROUND %$!# ALUMINUM! 

Pulltabs and can slaw will always be the nightmare of gold hunters at the wrong time...

Try to set another point of view...When You approach a cleaner area with higher ids, that is the time for your revenge🏴‍☠️

Then will be the moment to find the cherry on the cake...

3 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

Nice finds once again and glad that you were able to save them.

I ran out of likes and hope you understand.

Good luck on your next outing and stay safe out there.

No worries my friend, you too downthere 🫧

8 hours ago, matt said:

You are doing well out of the water! Have you checked the diamond to see if it's real?

Done...Real and stored for a future creation...Gold is gone💲😂

Being far from the seabed for over a week and forced to appreciate the wetsand work, I honestly loved the things I found in these days and kept a good pre-view of the lower eroded slope meanwhile hunting the upper side.

After one small ring and a necklace last monday and another ring with a diamond yesterday, it was clear that a precise point remained unhunted or at least not so well explored by others.

Doing the maths I checked a time window of three hours this morning to go underwater exactly in the same point and facing the hotpoint where I pulled up the good stuff on the shore.

As soon as I was facing the bottom, I realized the suspected conditions I had when water was too murky to see it for good among waves.

I've seen this s##t too many times in two decades so thinking about heavy scattered iron, slippery clay and boulders with almost no sand at all to cover the surface, I opened totally the screen and started listening everything to remove the masking stuff...

Due to the deep flat slope, the only places where to keep the eyes and ears open were the holes filled with moved rocks...

Ten minutes and the first wedding band it was in my hands.

Already happy but conscious that nothing more than luck caused so soon the first hit, other two hours passed until the second hit with a terrible silence in between...

So the second wedding band, this time white gold with a little ice it's been recovered and warmed the heart and the wetsuit.

As usual my camera it was left home and all that remains is this picture😂

1 hour ago, okara gold said:

Looking forward to your pictures and stories of finding gold!

In a few hours the next chapter of the yellow stripe😉

5 hours ago, okara gold said:

One of them had an ID of a solid 3

That's exactly what I talked about when struggling with the D2.

I mean, broken stuff, thin open chains and light gold rings must be low on the IDs.

Going up with thickness and grams, and I talk about old monsters over 15 g. ,maybe around the 60 should be however acceptable.

What's the point to have 99 numbers if almost 30 of them are for iron, ground and some foil, to fall really soon on the coin zone mixed with lead and who knows what more between 70 and 99.

Can't wait to set the Manti for some cherry vacuum sessions🏴‍☠️