phrunt

As all you care about is gold nuggets there is very little in it 11" vs 11" at the moment, the 6" of the Nox is likely to be a bit better than the slightly larger Manticore 8x5.5" coil. The Manticore offers more features. You're a prime candidate for is the price difference worth it really and in your case it probably isn't as the Nox will do all you want it to do and maybe slightly better on small gold although that's unknown at the moment to me in my conditions until I get my mitts on the M8 coil for my Manticore. The Nox 800 I'm very happy when it comes to small gold so if my Manticore lets me down in that regard I'll keep using my Nox.

The Manticore does appear slightly deeper than the Nox and when in spots you can crank up the extra sensitivity of the Manticore it shows the depth increase a bit more, as for iron identification I'm not sure as we just don't have a lot of iron junk to deal with here. I think we reached peak VLF depth some time ago so the depth increase is small, so don't expect anything dramatic. I'm in really mild soils though so a $200 detector gets me great depth so perhaps I don't notice the depth increases as someone in bad soil where the better ground handling of one model detector may make it far deeper than a different detector that handles the ground worse. The hard part being the price difference and if it's worth the upgrade. I find it's a better detector, but not significantly better and I'm not quite sure I can justify the price difference. As an overall package its much better than the Nox, nicer to swing, better quality and the 2D screen is pretty valuable once you learn how to use it although I like the CTX target ID system better. The new update has improved Target ID stability for me, it was poor now it's pretty good. Not solid like the Nox but it has a bigger range of numbers so you have to expect that. The big question is really if it's worth the price difference, for me the money didn't overly matter too much so yes it was worth it, if the money is a big issue then some maybe disappointed as the difference isn't as great as they may be hoping for the extra cost depending on the cost in your country of course, here the Manticore is basically the CTX 3030 price and the Nox is pretty cheap so a big price difference between the two.

My Dad had a triple bypass a few years ago, we were warned at the time mini strokes are common and sometimes big strokes happen during the surgery, fortunately he had no major stroke but had a number of mini strokes so his memory now isn't quite what it used to be but other than that he's had a full recovery as is in good shape, probably better than he was before the operation. Fingers crossed for Jim waking up soon and having a full recovery.

yes, for prospecting the sensitivity to small gold is the important bit for me, however for coins in parks where you are not able to use digging tools and want to use a probe or screw driver to pop coins out the depth is vital.

I think the only ones on the market that do are the XP Mi-4 and 6 and the Pro Find's.

Incredible, you've shown what can be done with hard work ,skill and determination. Thanks for the motivational post and wonderful gold. I've enjoyed following your journey, hopefully your health problems improve. The place picked the perfect guy to tinker around on their land , so nice of them to do so but a testament to the guy that you are that they let you. Awesome photos.

The only discriminating pinpointer I have is the Minelab Pro-Find 35, and it hinders depth quite a bit when you enable discrimination, a bit like some detectors in all metal vs disc mode I guess. It's not really a desirable feature to use given it's performance loss and the discrimination capability isn't overly impressive. The Pulse Dive isn't a discriminating pinpointer, although it is pretty good as a water pinpointer, especially with the coils on it, I've not heard anything about the Quest, the local dealer sells them but I don't know of anyone who's ever bought one, it doesn't discriminate either from memory. .

They're gaining no friends over charging for these coils. Deus 2 I can understand, Manticore should not cost much more than Equinox, yes they'll charge more as they give the illusion the detector is far superior therefore they can charge more for it and its accessories but I'm onto them, superior probably yes, far superior, well.... 🙂

I just hope this chips thing comes back to bite them when the competition heats up, Garrett going chip free on the Axiom, Nokta hinting at comjng to market with a PI and Fisher and their slow Impulse Gold release we will have to wait and see. I think it's rather obvious X-coils forced their hand on the 6000 by showijng their coils running on it not very long at all after its release. When have they let the aftermarket make coils for a chipped detector so soon after release? I think they forced their hand with the GPZ too finally allowing NF to make coils for it although heavily delayed.

The wireless is complicated, it looks like they've used Bluetooth LE and customized its connection protocol so only their products talk to it, this was possible with the codec but I didn't think they would go as low as doing so, it turns out they possibly have. They likely configured their headphones for a low bitrate to enhance latency and it won't accept anything else, some Manticore owners have been pushing for a WM08 type box for it, and if it came out one day it would likely work on the X-terra too. If they're sticking to this Bluetooth LE for some years and future models it would make sense for them to offer a WM(LE) module just to allow people to use their own audio options. The most likely way you'd get the coils bundled like that is at the dealer as a package deal price more so than Minelab doing it unfortunately.

As I've had two 35's and been disappointed with both I rightly have my concerns about the 40. I'm also a bit of a pinpointer addict and like to try them all seeing they're pretty cheap in pursuit of my perfect pinpointer, I'm almost there with the Carrot AT and MI-4 but just not quite. Will the 40 be it? I'll wait for others to help decide for me rather than rush out and get one as I fear I'll be disappointed again.

Now that's why you should post more often, there would have been some great stories behind those gold finds.

A pinpointer out of China was released with a screen showing your settings etc a while ago, I don't really like the idea as pinpointers do tend to have a rough life. I wonder if this is the sort of screen the Nokta will have? It's only about 20 USD too

The Pro-Find 35 and I would guess 40 actually have pretty good depth, but the two 35's I've tried at least don't like running in higher sensitivity levels without falsing and generally being unstable and annoying to use. Wind that sensitivity back and the depth suffers though so they air test well but not so much in the field. They claim the stability issues are resolved on the 40 which would make it quite a good pinpointer and what the 35 should have been. I'm pretty shocked they're not discontinuing the 35 and replacing it with the 40 though. It's probably the least excited I've been about a Minelab release since I started detecting though. The on edge video she did actually did both pinpointers a disservice, it will put people off them quite severely. To those that don't understand about being on edge it will look like they're terrible pinpointers even compared to their generic no brand special. The PRO-FIND 40 has: · 10% more depth than the PRO-FIND 35 · A Rapid Re-tune function, making it quick and easy to compensate for ground conditions · Improved stability for more accurate pinpointing · Adjustable Sensitivity with 5 levels of adjustment · A lost alarm that sounds after a period of inactivity and combined with a bright red body makes the PRO-FIND 40 easy to locate · A ferrous tone ID that helps to sort trash from treasure What is happening with the existing PRO-FIND pinpointers? · PRO-FIND 15 and 35 will remain unchanged · PRO-FIND 20 will no longer be available beyond current stock When will the PRO-FIND 40 be available? We have PRO FIND 40s in our warehouses ready to ship.

The ruler looks clear plastic to me. I had a small discussion with the Detect-spurt on Youtube and she's assured me the stability problems of the 35 are resolved on the 40, and if this is the case then the 40's probably a pretty good pinpointer.

Now I know I've only just done my morning exercise with my one sit up as I got out of bed and I'm half asleep but did this detect-spurt just turn the Pro-Find 35 on with the thing damn near touching the belt buckle de-tuning the crap out of it that she's trying to show the 40 detects a greater distance on? She does the same with the 40 but appears to hold it slightly further away from the buckle and then gets a tiny depth of about an inch the large metal object. I've started the video at the location so you don't have to put yourself through the misery of watching it all. I gave up watching the video at that point, it appeared to be just a marketing video with no real information, I'll wait for end users videos not promoters. She even said the package came from Australia when clearly on the DHL label it said country of origin Malaysia 😛

I'm about as excited about that as well, nothing really... A red paint job, slightly larger speaker holes to let more noise out and make it easier to clean but still smack where your hand holds the pinpointer blocking the noise, the guy in the video even does it and says whoops, covering the speaker there. 🙂 They've added the desperately needed rapid re-tune that other Pinpointers have had forever onto it so you don't have to keep turning it off and on again when it goes crazy, sort of a bandaid to the Pro Find 35's instability in higher sensitivity settings where the only option is turning it off and on again over and over again or running in a low sensitivity and losing a lot of performance.. 10% deeper they say, I recall hearing something like that with the GPZ 19" coil. I'd like to put that to the test. All in all they are not selling me one of these. My 35 experience was so bad they'd need to do a redesign and give it to me for free before I'd want it, not just a few small modifications. Hopefully they've fixed up the Pro-Find 35's instability and then it would be a reasonable pinpointer for someone that only wants to use Minelab.

NZ is Minelab territory, I would say mainly because Minelab come out at reasonable prices. Nokta never had their Legend price advantage here with it being the same price as an Equinox. We had a First Texas dealer when I started detecting here a couple of years ago, but the detectors were insanely priced, a F75 or Gold Bug Pro costing more than a Nox 800, it's no wonder they didn't survive. Garrett are another example of extremely overpriced in our market with the Garrett AT Gold for example being about a hundred more expensive than an Equinox 800 and the AT Max being the price of the Equinox 900. The original XP Deus has had a massive price slash lately to be Nox pricing, the Deus 2 is Manticore pricing. No other brand is putting any effort into pricing to even be competitive to Minelab for largely lessor products, the problem gets even worse at entry level pricing where Minelab shows them who's boss. It's lucky Minelab exist here or detecting would be a very expensive hobby for not so great detectors.

I believe there are ski fields in the area too, get that Nox up under the lifts and around where people park up their skis, taking gloves off can be a risky process with rings hooked on them and people do it on lifts to play with their phones, and obviously when they park up their skis and snowboards to go eat or something. It's been one of my best places for detecting.

or more complaints 😛

haha no, I'm not much of a water hunter so don't have an Excalibur.

It was this forum that got me started with metal detecting, I have a lot of spare time on my hands and was looking for something to do, reading about the adventures of those using detectors sounded pretty exciting, reading peoples stories about finds and adventures in Alaska which is very similar to here really appealed to me and so my metal detecting life began. I signed up, asked questions about what to buy and how to do it and everyone was very welcoming and helpful. This forum was a life changer for me, so it is appreciated. It's like the ideal world, where everyone is helpful and nice to each other. It's people that made this place what it is and your guidance and setting the ultimate example of how people should act has made it the place that it is, thanks Steve. It sounded a bit like you're quitting detecting for a while there, but it is more like you're becoming one of us, just a user that can kick back and enjoy it rather than having all the pressures on you doing the product testing and working with manufacturers. You were involved in all of my favourite metal detectors so I appreciate that, if all I had was a GPZ and Equinox I'd be content.

Yes, the Pro-Find runs stable in low sensitivity, and won't do the falsing in the air, but then it's not good enough performance to make it worth using when I can run my Carrot and XP Mi-4 maxed out on their sensitivity and get better depth/sensitivity. My Carrot NEVER falses, if it makes a beep there is metal there. I'll be sure to test it out with the GPZ as the main reason I wanted it was for prospecting, as you can see in the videos with the gold chains its more sensitive than the other pinpointers and this is meant to carry over to small gold nuggets too. I hope it's true. 🙂

Something I should add to my previous post is products like this have no value, to the manufacturer they would cost more to pay to be checked than they're worth, they're never worth shipping back to the factory in whatever country for warranty purposes, often manufacturers have agreements with companies like Minelab that they just have to declare how many faulty units they get based on trust. The value is to the customer due to the price they paid, the manufacturing cost is so small the labour charge to even pay some third party to look at them before even attempting to fix them is more than they're worth. We pay a very high price for something of very little value. I know this from experience, this isn't an assumption. For example, Minelab are not going to pay some service agent in the USA $20 to pull apart some $10 headphones to see why they failed.

I know of another guy that had the same problem where the speaker completely stopped working. He's had it repaired already in the USA a few weeks ago.