GB_Amateur

Double gold! Way cool, Andy. I don't recall you mentioning these when we crossed paths in early June, although maybe you did so without fanfare. 😁 I understand why you don't want to reveal too much -- I wouldn't either. You probably looked up those coins (as I did) and noticed that 1849 was the first year that the USA minted gold $1 pieces. Not a low mintage so no extra value over type, but regardless a fantastic pair of finds. Still, next time how about getting a mintmarked one. Once again proof they're still out there if you put in the research. Well deserved.

Good to have you back at it, and before it gets below freezing (which doesn't stop you, I realize). What is top left in the Eqx 800 trash photo, a meteorite?

Something that's been in the back of my mind is whether ML might have gone conservative in their estimate, just to avoid the bitching that will inevevitably come from people who don't charge it up and then have it run out of juice while they're in the field, or who just are too over-confident in their time estimates, etc. and have similar occur. An example of "under-promise and over-deliver"? I know on some detectors, running through the speaker drains the battery faster than through headphones. Maybe modern electronics eases that issue considerably -- IDK. Ditto the vibration mode on (some) handheld pinpointers. Backlighting? Again, maybe modern efficient methods have made that a non-issue. I won't be using any of those features, but then again it's only a few times of the year I'm out for 7 hours (let alone 9 hours) in one day, so won't likely be much of an issue in my case as long as I remember to recharge at the end of a session. We still have a few months to wring our hands, so to speak, on all these details. 😏

When I was at Monte Berry's WTHO get-together in Nevada in June, there was one extremely experienced detectorist (hunts mostly old Western trails and stops) who started with the 5"x10" and switched to the 6" later in the day. I asked him which performed better that day and he said the 6". Keep in mind that this was in an extremely trashy (with iron) site. I didn't have the 5"x10" at the time so I used the 6", to my satisfaction. My typical hunting site is an old park or school. My sole target interest is old coins. I don't care about jewelry (don't throw it back if I happen to stumble onto a piece, though 😁). Since purchase mid-summer, I've tried the 5"x10" in some of those and still prefer the 11", which is underrated in separation, IMO. (I'm not saying the smaller coils aren't better for separation, though.) So far it seems the 11" gives better dTID's for the deeper (6"+ in my moderately mineralized soil) coins. I realize you asked specifically 6" vs. 5"x10".... And in my case I'm so comfortable and experienced with the 11" that the 5"x10" has a steep hill to climb to become my favorite. As always, the answer to your question really depends upon things the rest of us can't likely answer -- your sites (and particularly the trash density and type), your goal targets, and your detecting style. If you can try both, that would be my suggestion. But if you're like me with no one around to lend equipment, you'll probably end up just getting the 5"x10" and figuring it out yourself. One thing for sure, you will get considerably more coverage for time spent with the 5"x10" than with the 6".

I keep mine in my shirt pocket which is on the same side of my body as the detector (left side in my case). Definitely the human body will block the signal, although it sounds like yours is line-of-sight positioned? Try mounting it higher than on your belt and see if that helps. (You mention that you keep it in a pouch. Don't know if that would interference or not....) One other thing, although if you're experienced with the detector you surely would have thought of this (and corrected for it): Setting discrimination bounds (i.e. any kind of notching, including the mode defaults where the iron zone is blocked) will cause what you describe. In any case, pressing the horseshoe button to open up all dTID bins should remedy any dropouts from that. For me being able to use Sunray Pro Gold over-ear headphones via the WM08, I pick up a lot more subtleties in the audio than with other sound sensing methods. Sometimes I notice quirks with that setup that I wouldn't have otherwise. How long have you had the WM08's? I have noticed with some lithium battery systems that if I don't use them for very long periods there can be loss of performance. That may have to do with the amount of charge that was stored at the time they were last used. (There has certainly been quite a bit of that -- the charge loaded before long term storage -- mentioned here on this forum.)

With respect to Dan Fogelberg: The beer was empty, and our tongues were tired; And running out of things to say... Minelab's Manticore European Tour ends tomorrow with the grand finale at England's Detectival. I think I've watched all the Youtube videos that have included Mark Lawrie. I'm impressed that they sent an engineer who had major contributions to this detector and on top of it, is a detectorist himself. (How often does either of those happen?) Some questions I've seen in this thread have actually been answered by Lawrie in at least one of the videos. Some of the complaints (even recent ones) are inconsistent with what Lawrie has said. We may get a few more tidbits from this weekend but the real meat that now remains to be devoured will likely only come from impartial (after the Deus 2 pre-release brouhaha, do I need to emphasize that word? ) field tests, but even then it's dependent upon the actual field.... We still have a few months before they become available. Good times ahead, I hope.

Have you read the GM1000 reviews here? Some simple answers are as follows: 1) The ML GM1000 is a dedicated gold detector. The other two (including ML Equinox) are all-around detectors. For the latter two you are paying for things you don't need (unless you plan on other forms of detecting -- e.g. coin, relic, jewelry). 2) The GM1000 is available now (as is the Eqx). I don't know if you are in an area that snows in, but even if not we are a few months away from Manticore release, at best. And if that turns out to be like the Equinox release, it might take even longer for availabilty if the demand is high. 3) The GM1000 has almost no learning curve involved. If you use the Equinox (and probably Manticore) in default modes, it may not be so much of a learning curve, but there will be some and there will be the added risk that you get into a mode/setting you hadn't intended. 4) The GM1000 can be made quite compact. If you are taking it underground (I think you indicated that was a possibility) you will be able to take advantage of that. The Manticore also has that feature; the Equinox doesn't. 5) The GM1000 comes with two coils which are appropriate for the type of detecting you plan on doing (I think...). The Equinox comes stock with 11" (no other out-of-the-box options) and has two smaller coils (more appropriate for your intended use?) as add-ons, with extra cost. (I think the GM1000 has a 3rd coil, optional for extra cost). 6) The GM1000 (with 2 coils) is ~$850 and you can probably get a better deal by contacting a dealer (like Gerry or Rob). I think the Eqx 800 MAP is now $1000 (maybe negotiable also) and the Manticore is rumored to be $1600 in the USA (highly doubtful negotiability), again those latter two with just stock 11" coils. 7) The performance difference between the three for your needs (and most needs for dedicated gold detecting) are likely imperceptible. One warning: I've never used a GM1000 (and obviously almost no one has yet used the Manticore). Others here may disagree with my assessment. But Lunk gave one of the GM1000 reviews (first link in first line of this post) and if my life depended upon getting gold detecting advice, I would trust his. 😁

I think to do this right you need to break Minelab revenue down into artisinal/hobby and the remainder (military, security). These latter shouldn't count, IMO. You also need to account for sales of acccessories (e.g. spare coils and pinpointers), although these may not be much of their revenue. Someone like Gerry might be able to tell you what percentage of his revenue is actual full scale detectors. Going at it from a different view (e.g. forum participation) might also help bracket the estimate better. Still going to have large uncertainties. A sanity check is to use a locale you are familiar with. You know that population and you know the population of the world. If you assume everyone in the world is equally likely to be a detectorist (not true, but hang with me) then you can estimate the number of active detectorists in your locale. Then correct for the disparity in population (e.g. by age and wealth). Finally ask if that resulting number is consistent with the number of detectorists you are aware of in your locale.

There is an Australian detectorist who has done a lot of study of coils for the TDI. He posts here under the username 'karelian'. Here is a link to a detailed study he did on performance (including depth) of various coils. I'm linking the first of two parts -- that second part is further down (next page) of the linked thread. The first part covers small coils; the second part large(r) coils: https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/threads/coiltek-6-mono-tdi-coil-first-impressions-small-coil-comparisons.21209/

I can't answer your exact question although someone here likely will. However, keep in mind that most of the larger coils (larger than the TDI's 12" stock) are going to result in your detector being toe heavy and unbalanced. You may need a bungee setup to use them for more than a short time in the field.

It's a long video and I'm only 1/4 of the way through it. At least so far the translation seems fine -- the moderator asks the question in French, repeats it in English, gets an answer from Mark (in English) and finally translates what Mark said into French. I haven't gotten to the test stand yet, but will point out that our (historic) large cent when new weighs 10.89 g and has a diameter of 27.5 mm -- apparently a bit larger in both ways compared to the test coin in the video. Also, 50 cm is equivalent to just under 20 inches. @phrunt, although I don't recall Minelab spelling it out so succinctly, pretty sure Steve H. said the only difference between Gold 1 and Gold 2 on the ML Equinox are in the default settings -- match those and it will give the same performance in both modes. I still don't think they've detailed what the Manticore user profiles will be (how many allowed, etc.) so hopefully the detectorist can customize and store at least one alternate gold mode (compared to the default Gold settings), and maybe more than one. I hope they at least release the manual soon, but until they finalize the product I don't expect to see that. If they are serious about a release before the 2022 calendar year is complete, I suspect they are putting the finishing touches on at least the hardware, and the biggest part of the software.

I think they are just cemented into place. If the adhesive fails.... Pretty nice find and unlike a ring you probably won't be able to locate the person who lost it. 😁 Do you have a scale to weigh it? And if you don't, they can be bought rather inexpensively, ~$10-$20 -- you'll hopefully need one in your future endeavors. I have several with different precision levels (smallest measurement 0.1 g, 0.01 g, 0.001 g -- the middle one is probably the most useful for native gold searching). Interesting figurine, too. Toy soldier?

Minelab Equinox 800 is the primary, with 11" coil; Fisher F75 is the backup, with Detech Ultimate 13" coil. Those are my old coin and relic hunting choices -- >95% of my detecting time. (I have lots of alternate coils for both, but reserved for special situations.) If the graphics screen on the upcoming Minelab Manticore delivers the extra discrimination info I've been hoping for, it may well slip into first place this upcoming Spring 2023....

Actually our equialent is Wheaties, which has been around for a century. Early in their existance they got the idea of putting top athletes on the box, to garner more sales. (It worked.) When you made the Wheaties bpx, you knew you had arrived at the zenith! Here are a couple from this century even those of you at the bottom of the world should recognize:

As you note, the CTX3030 misses today's coin detector market in two ways: weight (5.2 lb) and price ($2500 in the USA). That's 2 lb heavier than the Nokta/Makro Legend (and even more vs. other modern multifrequency choices) and $900 (in the USA) more than its most expensive competitor -- XP Deus 2. You've pointed out multiple times that Minelab seems to cycle new product development+delivery among dedicated gold detectors and coin/relic/jewelry detectors. Among its bread winning space, gold detectors, it has three different types to fit into the cycle. From your database, here are some relative release dates: CTX3030 (high priced coin/relic/jewelry IB): 10 years ago. GPZ7000 (top end gold ZVT): 7 years ago. Gold Monster 1000 (gold IB): 5 years ago. Equinox 800,600 (intermediate priced coin/relic/jewelry + gold IB): 4 years ago. Vanquish 540,440,340 (low cost coin/relic/jewelry IB): 2 years ago. GPX 6000 (gold PI): 1 year ago. Manticore: (intermediate coin/relic/jewelry + gold IB): late this year? A couple things seem to jump out (and again I'm not the first or second or... to point this out): A) the GPZ7000 appears to be due for an upgrade, after 7 years. The fact that it doesn't seem to have competition may explain that long time period. B) the CTX3030 is the oldest detector on this list, and furthermore, the Equinox has not only been introduced in the meantime , but so has its successor, the Manticore. Like the White's Vision (V3i, etc.), it seems that the detector world has spoken: KISS. And Minelab apparently has reacted accordingly. That is my conclusion, too.

Depending upon what someone means by "super fast", this might be 100% true or 100% false for every detector ever made. Please elaborate.

@phrunt , bet you'd like one of these shirts: Still awaiting Lawrie's 'promise' of sample coin dTID listing. There were a couple 19th Century Wilhelm copper(?) coins (pennies/cents?) that gave dTID of 76. They appear to be about the diameter of our USA half cent and 2-cent copper coins (which are 23 mm), although not sure about the thicknesses comparison.

In my limited experience in Western ghost towns it's not just the rusty cans (and worse, pieces of them), although those do play a roll. Even worse in some places are the pieces of sheet metal (iron composition but possibly originally zinc coated by the galvanizing method). Sheet metal was quite common in construction, particularly for roofs. (Sometimes copper was used, but that seems less frequent.) In some ways these are similar to old crown caps, except for the dimensionality (flat or 2-d for sheet metal and unless severely decomposed, 3-d for crown caps with that raised rim). Also it seems that rust preferentially attacks edges and maybe this is where a ferrous+non-ferrous readout can really help. Small pieces have a higher percentage of edge compared to large pieces. (Note: The following paragraph is just my impressions; not carefully studied so may be way off.) For me often the modern rusty nails are worse and I think those might be easier to distinguish. There seems to be a misconception among many that 'ferrous' and 'iron' are equivalent. From an historical (and chemical) standpoint that is understandable. But in metal detecting (as in many pursuits) the lingo that develops and becomes standard isn't particularly conforming to historical or scientific usage. I think 'ferrous' refers to the magnetic properties if ferromagetic materials. Iron (and its common alloy -- steel) also has conductive properties and those can dominate the response of a detector. Where we win is for thin, rusty materials when the ferromagnetic part of the signal can dominate the conductive part. My hope is that with rusty bits of sheet metal (as found scattered thickly in many Western ghost towns) will give a 'tell' on the new ML Manticore. As far as the Manticore being an improvement over FBS/FBS2, one possibility is that its better separation when combined with the ferrous+non-ferrous readout (which those earlier detectors perfected) will give it the edge. Again, just wishful thinking at this time AFAIC. The Equinox has better separation (from what I've been told -- never had an FBS) but lacks the ferrous discrimination properites of those earlier models.

Mine is 300 mm long by 50 mm at its widest. (That's about 12" x 2" in superior units. 😁) Top opening for the handle is 25.4 mm X 32.6 mm (minor and major axes of an ~ellipse).

If the $1599 price holds up, I'll take that any day over a whistlestop tour courtship. (And the poor Canadians who are also on our NA continent -- they appear to have been royally rejected on The Bachelorette.)

You had me for a bit there, Chase. Given that Lawrie said they were going to travel about Europe for 2 weeks until returning to Great Britain for Detectival, and the fact we've already gotten two (maybe more) videos from the continent, this sounded like a German town where I thought maybe more had been revealed by Lawrie. (And with a little Google mapping I found two towns near the Rhine region with very similar names (one East of Cologne and one in France just across the Rhine, about 30 km West of Stuttgart), except both had double-H in the middle and the one still in Germany had an umlaut over the first 'u'. This bastardizing of the detector name has got to stop before someone get's hurt! You'll shoot your eye out, kid!!

It seems many of us are trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip with our interpretation of what little has been revealed so far. Along that vein 😁, on the graphics part of the screen, it appears as though there is a histogram of signals at the bottom of the image. Or is that just the ferrous limit(s) for the lower part of the ferrous scale? And while we're on that subject, why do both the upper part and lower part say 'more ferrous'? Is the vertical scale not actually monotonic (going from low to high in one direction)?

I don't understand the language of this video, but the first few minutes appear to show that it has multitone audio (all tones? full tones??) carried over from earlier models, e.g. Equinox.

Thanks, steveg! I understood a lot on the first reading and I'll reread after checking out more screen photos of the Mambocorp. The ML Explorer (digital) readout seems more intuitive but I guess in practice the later normalized methods were more informative? (Or is it the typical "dumbing down" for the least common denominator type of detectorist?) Good stuff.

That may be the best Freudian Slip I've ever seen on this website! (Not picking on you, midalake as many of us -- including myself -- have done similar.) It's just so appropriate in this case I had to highlight it.