Jump to content

phrunt

Full Member
  • Posts

    5,097
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    133

 Content Type 

Forums

Detector Prospector Home

Detector Database

Downloads

Everything posted by phrunt

  1. Orient detectors also sell a VLF Gpx 6000, but never fear it has a 2 meter depth. They also have an excellent range of Long Range Gold Detectors.
  2. Well it's simple, the Nox wasn't near as good on silver coins as my CTX in my soils. This is especially true as most of my silver coins are deep having been in the ground a long time in soft soils and the CTX is certainly deeper than the Nox in this situation finding many coins I'd left behind with my Nox, without a doubt it is deeper. I found myself not using my Nox much at all anymore for coins after getting a CTX due to finding so many coins I'd missed with my Nox, I liked the CTX target trace too. The problem is the Nox was lighter, less complicated and more compact, plus I could just take one detector as I could use the Nox for gold nuggets in the morning and then hit a park in the afternoon with it. I liked it was an all rounder. The Manticore ended up being a crossover between the Nox and CTX bringing the Target trace across to what I see as essentially an upgraded Nox. They also touted it as deeper than the Nox, I'm yet to see this depth advantage although I haven't used it in the places that will take advantage of that as I was away for 6 weeks. So far I'm very happy with my Manticore, the only downside is it has significantly less stable Target ID than the Nox perhaps due to the wider target ID range but there is something more to it as the numbers are often bouncing within 10 digits out not 2-3 out, I see Nox 900 users are reporting similar. For someone that's used both the Nox and the CTX the Manticore is not such a big learning curve, more a successive model.
  3. This is off my GPX's replacement coil, it says Made in Malaysia, so I assumed it was the handy work of Plexus?
  4. That's the part I don't get, they spend all that money on R&D and miss the seemingly obvious like the GPX 6000 twisting shaft and coil ears so thin they snap crackle and pop, a decade after they first discover the problem they continue making them the same. Maybe they have employees a bit like council workers where one does all the work, the rest stand around and watch so the poor guy doing all the work makes mistakes as he's just too busy šŸ˜› Good way to keep costs high while productivity is low. An important part of the testing of the GPX 6000 was burying a can of red bull and seeing how deep the 6000 could hit it, it was a big event and everyone important came along. The product tester had to dig many holes in rock hard ground to discover the maximum can depth.
  5. I look at it from a hobby perspective where I'd have difficulty paying off a detector in finds so everything prospecting seems expensive to me, but I see people in Australia and they don't blink an eye about buying a GPZ then buying another 5 coils at almost a couple of thousand AUD each paying the price of the detector all over again in coils, plenty even buy a backup GPZ so if they have issues they have a spare handy for their trip. Then you find out they're finding $50,000 AUD of bread and butter gold each season with the potential for a lot more if they find big stuff which they sometimes do and it starts to make sense. If Minelab made a GPZ 8000 for $20,000 a big queue of people would be buying it if it was indeed better than the 7000 because these people know they would recoup that money plus a lot more in finds. Our finds dictate if we think a detector is expensive or not, VLF's are easier to justify, I paid my Equinox off with one ring find, so it's easy to justify their price, gold detectors are a bit harder for the hobbyist to justify but when put in perspective with the prospectors with good gold ground it's the same thing, some likely think the GPZ is very good value for what it finds them.
  6. I certainly wouldn't say I'm skilled in iron, put me in some of the places you guys hunt and I'd panic not knowing what to do or how to deal with it, I've been spoilt with my hunting areas that trash has never really been much of a problem, even in my worst spots all that is required is a smaller coil and I'm pretty good. Masked targets are relatively uncommon for me, big areas, few targets. I even hear people saying their gold prospecting areas are loaded with trash, here I've rarely found any modern trash in a gold area other than bullets and shotgun pellets. Some of the more rare trash items like old metal match boxes which can be a pain as they rust away and break apart into bits and the odd square nail there isn't all that much junk. I think I've found less than 10 nails prospecting my entire time. If shotgun pellets didn't exist I'd dig more gold than I would junk when prospecting, something like 10 bits of gold to 1 bit of junk wouldn't surprise me. Even in my park type areas coins are often more common than junk, the worst place for junk I've been finding is lakefronts which is such a shame as the lakes are beautiful clean clear things and clowns throw bottle caps down on the rocky beaches when they're sitting there drinking I guess, sadly this is more common on the heavily used tourist beaches more so than the more hidden spots locals only go to. I detected this beach for 4 hours with my Manticore, it was one of my first times using it once it arrived, I found ZERO targets, not one target in that 4 hours. If I didn't know better I'd not have a good impression of the Manticore after that hunt, but I was at the same beach a year ago and with the Nox and only found one target, someones car key from memory. The surprising thing is this beach is a 10 minute drive from the city center of the second biggest city in the South Island, and has suburbs go right to the beach and houses all along next to the beach, why there is no targets on the beach I have no idea, people just don't litter so all I can find is something someone has lost.... not an easy task. At this beach I would have been happy to find some junk, at least then I'd find a target to experience my Manticore finding targets! So no, I'm not a skilled detector user although I thank you for the comment, I am just lucky I live in a place with not much junk, very few detector users so more targets in the ground to find, and by the looks of it some of the more milder soils around, all this makes for some easy detecting so generally I am just a turn on and go detector user, not needing to delve deep into settings. I don't think Manticore owners are beta testers, 3 years in development based on existing technology of the Nox that's been around for 4-5 years now, it to me is an Equinox where they've put on a better screen which then allowed them to add on 2D target trace visuals which is just a modified simplified version of the CTX target trace which has been around what, a decade? If anything the original Nox users were the beta testers as it was the first detector based upon Multi-IQ, and for the most part Minelab did a fine job of the software on it, a few updates were required, they never did fix the pinpoint volume bug on it but overall it appeared a well tested machine with only build quality letting it down. They've now improved that on the Nox 700/900 and Manticore, based upon data they gathered from the original Nox, the detector that would be more likely considered a beta detector, being the first in the range. I'd be interested to hear if the pinpoint bug is fixed on the 700/900.
  7. I'm quite fortunate I live in a place with very little iron issues, I'm more likely to find a silver coin than a nail.
  8. They're doing quite well out of the war going on with the communications equipment and also anti mine stuff. Good to see a bounce in the shares however temporary so those who want to get out can get out without as much of a loss with it being down so much over the past year. Still down 40% from a year ago, and the slight gains might be temporary.
  9. True that, they never fixed the Nox pinpoint bug volume issue, they appear to have fixed it on the Manticore though as it hasn't happened to me yet. I doubt Minelab will be much different when it comes to Manticore firmware updates, we may get one if something pops up that they're forced to fix by public discontent, otherwise anything will probably just end up in the Manticore 2.
  10. I don't think so, while other brands such as First Texas have certainly used buyers as beta testers the Manticore seems a finished product to me, all modern detectors will get firmware upgrades to fix issues found once out in the public domain, look at the Legend, fix after fix for it's firmware, hardware issues too with a bad brand of speaker prone to failure used in the first released detectors. It happens.... although some might argue the Legend was rushed to market not ready for release. I'm sure many old detectors from the 90's and 2000's could have been improved a lot after release too, the facility just wasn't there with USB updating. Overall so far I'm very happy with my Manticore.
  11. yep, I have to use a US VPN to see it, worried we will flood over there and start a new gold rush I guess.
  12. I have a 13 year old GPX 4500 battery that still lasts a full day no problems and doesn't feel any worse than my new battery for life, charges to 8.1 volts when new they charge to 8.2 or 8.3 volts. They're just a battery pack with 18650's in them. I think too much concern is placed on batteries, good quality batteries seem to have a really good life. Look how many of us are still using our Nox and the battery behaves virtually like new, when did it come out? I can't even remember 2017 I think and I got one straight away, it's been drained and charged countless times. I charge it before every use. I wouldn't be concerned about the Axiom battery, I'm sure they've gone for a good quality one and when the time comes they do start to degrade I am confident Garrett will come to the party by having reasonable replacement costs involved, anything's going to be cheaper than a GPX 4500/5000 battery, they're an absolute rip off. Hopefully Garrett reply with DIY instructions for those wanting to take it on, it may even be a battery/batteries you can buy off the shelf somewhere which I think is likely.
  13. yup, crazy to install it unless you have WS audio requirements, cuts out the older coils and provides no other benefit than the WS audio support.
  14. I'd agree with that, the GM became nothing more than a pinpointer when the Nox 800 came along and proved its worth to me. I am sure the Nox 900 is at least as good as the 800 on gold, if not ever so slightly better with it's higher sensitivity setting and just all around better build quality. I still think for some reason which I can't explain the Vanquish 540/v12 coil combo with jewellery mode gives me more stable ID's on coins than the Nox 800 with 11" coil on the same targets, and the Nox 800 with 11" coil gives slightly more stable ID's on the same coins than the Manticore. Perhaps the Vanquish's secret is the V12 coil. I think the Manticore is less stable as the larger number spread makes the numbers bounce a little more but the bouncing is to all very close numbers and the 2D target trace is giving me a very tight little ball on the center line. I can make deep coins false as iron simply by lowering my sensitivity down to 18 or less. Steve made a great point with his ground rules comment above, a lot less arguments would happen if everyone understood that and were more tolerant of other peoples opinions when they could possibly be in very different ground conditions.
  15. In the areas Iā€™ve been so far the 2D target trace is doing as advertised to near the edge of detection on coin targets, itā€™s working well to very good depths, I think for me itā€™s far better than the early model Nox, Iā€™m unlikely to buy a Nox 900 now, unless itā€™s better for prospecting itā€™s a big step backwards I think. I wouldnā€™t buy a 900 based on prospecting alone as I donā€™t use VLFs much anymore for gold except for very specific circumstances and the 800 and 24k have them covered well.
  16. Iā€™m in a rather secluded area away from much EMI, Iā€™ve been able to run 35 sensitivity on the lakefront beaches with little more than a crackle occasionally but not bad enough to false ID. I canā€™t run as high at the salt water beaches though even though they should have even less EMI due to being very remote from civilisation. I seem to start to get trouble much past 25 although switching on my Nox I get similar trouble at about 19. I didnā€™t think at the time but itā€™s possibly the black sand causing it and not EMI, I didnā€™t think to raise my coil to check. Moving on tomorrow so wonā€™t get a chance to check, either way itā€™s doing better than the Nox. The beach seems to have a fair bit of black sand. The short press EMI noise cancel doesnā€™t seem all that good and doing a long press seems to settle on a number far away from the short press number. A few too many seals and sea lions around to focus too much on detecting too In the water I was able to bump up to 28 sensitivity but I got out as Dolphins kept hanging around me, I thought they were sharks at first. Iā€™m really liking the Manticore, Iā€™ll struggle to pickup my Nox again.
  17. Stubborn as a mule, you can lead a horse to waterā€¦ā€¦.. you know how the saying goes. šŸ˜€ Enough of the equine jokes, but seriously give a fixed one a try if you have an opportunity, you wonā€™t be disappointed. I really like my 6000 now and I think I made it pretty clear I wasnā€™t overly impressed prior to the fix. Iā€™m really happy they have provided the fix to anyone who wants it done, itā€™s a shame they werenā€™t more open about who needs it and why but thatā€™s business for you and Iā€™m sure the bean counters donā€™t want the facts in the public domain.
  18. Iā€™m sure there is, although it may get worse over time if itā€™s a poor quality component as they should be identical. It could also be peoples tolerance of the problem, Iā€™d suggest taking a fixed one for a spin one day and see if you notice a difference. The Coilteks are bundle wound, that natively is smoother than the semi spiral stock coil.
  19. The crazy thing is the US coastline is just under 20,000kms when New Zealand is about 15,000kms, and NZ is small. Australia is about 34000kms of coastline, thatā€™s a lot of beaches for beach hunters šŸ˜
  20. I think the only reason Minelab worded their notice about the fix the way they did was to save money, if people think they donā€™t need it done then Minelab saves the estimated $150 bucks they pay the repair agent to do it plus shipping fees. I say $150 as thatā€™s what we charged laptop manufacturers per hour for their warranty repairs, I guess something like 90 usd. The fact anyones serial number is approved for the repair should be an indicator that itā€™s every machine, and they are changing the inductors to a different type is another hint. Itā€™s not replacing faulty ones like for like, itā€™s an improved inductor being used. Crazy theories about losing sensitivity are more a lack of understanding of the inductors purpose. Two inductors are changed for the fix, nothing else is done, no sensitivity lowering firmware to make the machine more stable, simply an oversight in design. Many products get improved after release, this one wasnā€™t able to be resolved with firmware and required hardware modification. Iā€™m just happy they fixed it on the 6000 and didnā€™t hold off the improvement for the more stable 6500 release. I myself am seeing an improvement even when using Bluetooth, and itā€™s distinct, certainly not a placebo.
  21. You must have me mistaken with a counterfeit phrunt, I never used the Whites forum. I found my F-pulse in my car and tried it out, it caused no interference issues with the Manticore in any of the modes, I thought maybe in one of them it might but they all worked fine. Only problem was getting it too close to the coil which you would expect so Iā€™d say a good match for the Manticore. The F-pulse is pretty good as long as you donā€™t chase tiny targets. Itā€™s speaker isnā€™t very loud either but other than that a good pointer.
  22. If no one replies Iā€™ll test out my F-pulse in a few days when I get home.
  23. Iā€™m not sure what Garrett coil connectors you need but the AT series ones are on Aliexpress https://www.aliexpress.com/i/2255800399034492.html?gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt
  24. I doubt anyone would be disappointed by the fix, it made a world of difference to mine as Iā€™m a speaker user when I can but it also improved my experience using my Torus Bluetooth speaker, again the detector threshold remained more stable. I recently tested it in a spot I had no end of stability issues even using the Bluetooth Torus and was doing regular factory resets to try keep it stable and I didnā€™t have to even noise cancel once the entire time I was there. I think those that donā€™t want to do it because they think they may lose some sensitivity or depth have it the wrong way around, by not doing it they are the ones losing depth and sensitivity by having such an unstable detector. We all know EMI causes sensitivity loss, this is no different. Auto May just run higher when not being affected by self generated EMI too.
×
×
  • Create New...