RSmith

It may be that you have found some Henning nickels. Those counterfeit nickels could be producing a higher ID than a normal nickel.

I was reading a post about someone having troubles with Manticore on a freshly plowed field with very loose soil, and someone replied that the only way they have been able to have any luck in those conditions was to use a higher recovery speed. That got me thinking about the two old farmhouses I had so much trouble with. (See my earlier posts) One thing I completely overlooked was the soil there, was a dark black color and so loose I could dig a hole 12 inches deep easily with just my fingers. Could it be that the compaction of the soil has a huge effect on the recovery speed? Maybe as much or more than the mineralization? Is it possible the mineralization is addressed by the ground balance, and the compaction level is addressed by the recovery speed? RSmith

The reason I am wanting the mineralization meter is not for ground balance— the machine tells you when it is off. It is the recovery speed that in my experience is hugely affected by different types of ground. —BUT —- the trouble is (at least for me) there is no indication that you are not hearing the good signals as being good, but rather just a bad sounding trash type sound. HOW EVER— if you change the recovery speed up or down 2 or 3 clicks these targets scream at you as great targets. The differences in mineralization from place to place is a silent killer of signals For me this is the big hurdle I MUST learn to overcome. RSmith

Speaking of ground balance — mine is between 41 and 49 at all sites close by. The two extreme sites I referred to were both the same ground balance of 46, but no way can I hunt them both with the same setup.

To test abenson’s findings,(raise the recovery speed to around 6 and lower the sensitivity to around 18) I went back out to the dime I buried (5.5 inches — max depth, the Manticore would detect in this soil). What worked best in my soil was —- recovery speed 2-3 and sensitivity adjusted up till it start s to chatter and back down until all chat stops. (ended up to be 20 at that time). The more I raised the recovery speed the more degraded the signal became, both in sound and looks on the screen. —- With the sensitivity going up in to chatter even a little makes the numbers more erratic, while going lower only makes it weaker, both in sound and on screen. I tried different search modes all seemed to act the same, although some better than others. As expected the AT-HC was the strongest, with AT-LC and AT-G close behind. I also tried reverting back to the original version of software. This acted very much the same, BUT it was very hard to make it responsive over the dime. The new update in my soil is definitely deeper. While I was at it I also got out my Equinox 800 testing to find the best settings I concluded that in my soil the Equinox 800 is deeper than the original software, but not as deep as the new update. I have also learned (the hard way) over my 215 plus hours (these are actual hours spent on the machine. I have kept a log listing time and finds since day one with the Manticore) that you CANNOT treat the Manticore like the Equinox 800. If you do you will be in deep trouble fast. The logical thinking of the settings of the two machines are different, it would probably be easier to understand this machine if you never used an Equinox. Trying the same approach that works for abenson I cannot even get a peep on my dime, and my approach (I am guessing) abenson would not hear several targets. After reading over the different posts, and doing my own testing,I feel the trick to tame this beast is to understand the type and amount of mineralization in your soil and setting according to it. —— BUT—- it’s not only a matter of setting the recovery speed, but also how you adjust the sensitivity. Then I wonder if and how the ferrous limits play into it. If we had a meter on the Manticore, we could check the mineralization when we get to each spot we hunt and make a list of what settings work best and before long we could look at the meter and instantly know how to set the machine up to get the most out of it. It amazes me just how much different this machine acts in different areas. The 2 properties I described in an earlier post were only 5 miles apart, but using the same settings on one I was getting deep loud signals, and on the other everything sounded faint, thin and scratchy, like a false on a small nail. (and visa versa) RSmith

That’s a great point JCR brought up about the recovery speed being one of the most important settings. In my opinion THIS setting affects the Manticore more than any other setting. We need to find a way to know how to adjust this quickly at each site. A mineralization meter on the Manticore would help a lot. On one site I was at I was running I think 2 maybe 3 recovery speed. I hunted for 1-1/2 hours with no targets I went to my truck to get my Equinox 800 and immediately had 4 good targets in 5 minutes searching the same steps as I jut left. So I grabbed the Manticore to see what was going on I tried changing all my settings one at a time. Setting the recovery speed to 6 the Manticore jumped to life and started out preforming the Equinox 800. so now I think recovery speed of 6 is the magic setting so I started using it as my goto settings. A couple days later at another site the same thing happens. I am using recovery speed 6 and no good signals. Remembering my last experience I started adjusting the recovery speed and once I set it to 3, I was getting great sounding signals. Now the best idea I came up with is to set it at 4 and when I find a target (the deeper the better) I play with the recovery speed before I dig to find the number that gives the hardest and clearest tones. If anyone has a better strategy I would love to hear about it! This Manticore has been the hardest detector I have used to understand and try to learn it’s language. Like Steveg mentioned it false a lot and it sounds and looks so good on the screen. ——But at the same time it is finding me great finds in spots I have been over many many times with multiple detectors WE MUST LEARN TO TAME THIS BEAST!!! RSmith

Chesroy —- in my case you are missing the point. It’s not the feeling of peer pressure —- but a knowledge that this machine is finding many great finds in places I have hunted many times with explorers and equinox’s and others over many years. ——— this is what makes me want to study and put in the extra hours to learn to better understand what it is trying to tell me. Abenson—— my experience in my soil is opposite of yours. I find with the update (stabilizer =0 and filter off) my good targets sound louder, crisper and more detailed than before the update. I am also getting a lot more depth. Before the update my good targets (unless they were shallow like 3 inch or less)would sound weak, thin and scratchy like a piece of iron or tin foil. They were very hard to tell apart. Now it is much easier. My soil has a lot of minerals and every swing has multiple grunts like I am over several nails —-(but nothing there when I dug to test) Even using a Pinpointer is hard (tried several brands) because it sounds off on the soil in the sides and bottom of the hole. I struggle to find a spot clean enough to ground balance. It’s not the fault of the Manticore as all my detectors have done this (although with the Manticore the nails false a lot more and they usually sound really good). I suppose this is why the stabilizer really doesn’t help me and degrades the coin as bad or worse than the iron. I assume it sees all the minerals in the dirt and applies it to the target? Steveg—- you may want to do the update and just turn the stabilizer to zero and that also turns off the filter. This is how I run it now. If I remember right your soil is about like mine (I’m the one that goes to your stomping grounds for training with USPS and you were going to show me some of your spots, but you got detained at the last minute and couldn’t go)(not been there in 4 years or more)

I am having the same issue as Steven. I have 211 hours on my Manticore. I did do the update and I have Equinox 800 that I have been using for many years. Before the update in my soil the Equinox 800 would go deeper and with better sound. The Manticore would false on every iron and even just dirt at times. Since the update the Manticore will hit a little deeper than the Equinox 800. However I am not having the great experience with the stabilizer as most are. In my soil (maybe my machine is bad?) using the stabilizer, it degrades the sound of coins but does nothing on the false. to test this further I buried a dime 5.5 inches (that is as deep as I could go and still detect it). I also buried (at 5.5 inches) a rusted bolt with nut on it that tricked me earlier that day at the park. 1- with filter off—- raising the stabilizer from 0 - 12 my dime would go from a good signal and get worse - to no signal at 11 —— BUT the false on the bolt would be the same all the way from 0 thru 12, it would sound like a good target the whole time. 2- with filter on —- both the dime and false on the bolt would sodium’s good at 0, but starting at 1 they both would degrade equally getting worse as I went up until around 7 they both were gone. I was using AT-HC noise cancel- ground balance- sensitivity as high as I could without chatter- 1 region all tones-normal /simple- ferrous limits 8/3 RSmith

Yes i mainly hunt in AT-HC. I will have to try AT-LC to see if it still does it. I have also tried my wife’s TRX and hers acts exactly like mine. RSmith

That is my concern. When I noise cancel with TRX on, all appears good with no interference. But when I finish digging and have recovered my target I turn off the TRX. Now will this noise cancel channel without the effects of the pin pointer be wrong for this area and cause me to miss targets? I would think that, since noise cancel will cancel out the EMI, and EMI reduces the amount of depth you can achieve, … then …. The added effect caused by noise cancel with the TRX on would make the detection depth even less than if l only noise cancel with the TRX off. I have not yet tried manually temporarily adjusting the noise cancel or ground balance. I have tried moving the Manticore away… but it must be several feet away to not interfere. My sensitivity on the TRX is on max … It helps finding the small pieces of foil and I use it for small gold also. I do not notice the TRX falsing as others have noted. It does act that way but as this post alludes to, I have found it is only the interference of the detectors. With the detector off it all goes away. RSmith

I have tried moving the detector away …. But at times I have to move it 15 feet away to use TRX. In crowded parks, that is too far for my comfort. I usually just turn off the Manticore, but over the course of a 4 hour hunt, that’s too many times turning detector on and off. One thing that has helped, I turn on the TRX, then while it is on I noise cancel. It has helped a lot … but …. Is that going to reduce the Manticore’s ability to detect the deeper, fainter targets? RSmith

I am wondering if anybody else is having trouble with interference between the Manticore and the whites TRX pinpointer. It appears it is with the noise cancel channel, the Manticore chooses. -sometimes it will work fine, -sometimes it will work, but be very weak, -and sometimes it will have troubles turning on, and makes the manticore go crazy. I had to buy both act the same way. I am open for suggestions for a different pinpointer. I am looking at the F-pulse, mi4, and possibly profind35. ( I have had some Garrett’s but didn’t like them) Thanks, RSmith

Will we be getting an update for our 800’s to be more like the 900?