Search the Community

I posted My Minelab Vanquish 540 pro review on another forum last week but have added quite a bit since then. Video link is at the bottom as well with some of the tests I performed for those that are interested. Ergonomics are good compared to most detectors out there, it’s light weight and I like the layout of the menus and screen. I can tell it’s aimed at the Garrett Ace series of detectors. The 540 pro pack is a good value for the money. But if a person is on the fence between a vanquish 540 Pro or the Equinox 600, I would pay the extra $150 and get an Equinox 600. Performance wise it’s a beginner metal detector and that shouldn’t be a surprise as the price reflects that. Menus are easy to navigate and straight forward. It’s a great metal detector for someone who doesn’t want to dig junk. ID is accurate and almost identical to the Equinox ID numbers. If a person runs the Vanquish in any of the modes and uses the stock high iron bias, virtually all iron trash and bottle caps are eliminated. I’m going to make some performance comparisons between the Vanquish and the Equinox for those that want to know how it compares. Not saying that one is better than the other because it’s all going to depend on what you want to use each one for. The iron bias on the Vanquish in high is about equal to F2 level 6 on the Equinox and on low equal to F2 level 2 as far as I can tell in side by side comparisons. Modes I’m sure have different weighted frequencies and it’s anybody’s guess what they are. So other than the weighted frequencies I think recovery speed is the big factor in each. All modes are 5 tones. Relic mode I feel is about like having the recovery speed on the Equinox 800 at 1, Jewelry mode about like level 3 and Coin mode about like level 4 or maybe 5. Recovery speed is not adjustable on the Vanquish. Recovery speed on the Vanquish vs the Equinox was based on coins with no iron near it. So, this is where it gets interesting. There’s got to be more going on than just recovery speed behind the scenes on the Vanquish because I was very disappointed with it’s unmasking abilities in any of the modes even with the small 5 by 8 coil. A few simple tests were performed. First, I laid 4 rusty nails in a row long way with a penny, dime and nickel between each nail. The coins were about 1.5” between the tip and heads of the nails. The Equinox 11” coil can easily see each coin at a recovery speed of 3 and even 2 with a controlled sweep speed iron bias at FE 2. The Vanquish couldn’t see the coins even with the small coil with iron bias set at low. I had to put the Equinox at recovery 0 iron bias 9 to perform as bad as the Vanquish. Next I placed a coin below a nail 2” the nail was 6 inches away. The vanquish couldn’t see the coin in any mode at any sweep speed with the V12 coil. It could see the coin with the V8 coil. In my yard I have 3 dimes buried at 4, 5 and 6 inches. My soil is bad 4-5 bars on Fisher F75. Most detectors can’t hit the 6” dime and not call it iron. For example XP Deus with 9” HF coil, Makro Multi Kruzer, Fisher F-19, and Teknetics T2 with 7 by 11 coils all call it iron. Equinox and eTrac hit it fine and ID it as a dime. The Vanquish in relic mode is useless in my ground I can’t even hit the 4” dime. In jewelry mode calls the 6” dime iron, in coin mode it hits it one way but ID’s 26, so not bad. But this is clean ground as in no iron near. I took it to my local park to try out for a few hours and I was pleased with it’s performance. But I wondered what I was walking over based on my test with recovery. My question was kind of answered on one signal I got. It was a long weird signal in the 25-26 range. Good but too big to be a coin or so I thought. So I grabbed the Equinox and sure enough there where 2 dimes about 4 inches apart. One was about 3 inches deep the other 4. The vanquish couldn’t separate the two coins unless in pinpoint mode. Next, I took a trip to the Great Salt Lake Marina and State Park here in Utah to see if it could perform in the mega salt environment. I ran the Vanquish only in the jewelry mode as I figured it was the one best suited for the beach. I was able to push the sensitivity to 8 out of the water and 6 in the water without too much falsing. This surprised me because I can’t run the Equinox out there unless in the Beach modes and even then, it’s pretty noisy. But stability comes as a price and that price is depth. I located about 9 targets with my other detector that were anywhere from 2” to 10” deep. Of the 9 the Vanquish could only see 2 of them and they were both junk, one was a piece of can slaw at 2” the other was .22 brass at 4”. The other targets were a swim cap buckle, .22 long brass, 1 nickel, 2 dimes and 2 pennies. They were all in the 7-10” range. Now on a normal salt water beach with no black sand the Vanquish will probably perform better. I haven’t had the Vanquish out to a relic site yet but will try in the next few weeks weather permitting. Most likely will do signal comparisons between the Vanquish and Equinox. I worry how it will perform in my iron infested site, we will see. It’s going to be a good metal detector for my daughter, which was my intentions of buying it in the first place. She won’t be digging many rusty nails or other junk and can cherry pick coins easy. It should also work good on the beaches in California when we vacation. Overall good value and I think Minelab did a good job for the market it’s intended for. Comparing the Equinox to the Vanquish is kind of like comparing the Simplex to the Anfibio. The low priced models just aren’t going to perform at the same level although they have good DNA.

Back at it again today, But this time, I had a definite goal in mind! To intentionally try to squeeze out a few more old coins! And, oh yeah, to get rid of my now sore "detector legs" from Friday's somewhat short hunt! A little side note question first! Am I the only one getting sore legs; and other parts, when digging a bunch of targets at the beginning of a season, or long hunt?? Or are the rest of you just too "afraid" of what the rest of us will think, to mention it??.... No matter, I'm sore, and "Proud" of it!!🤣😂 Anyway, I went out today with a more focused purpose, and more time to put it into action! Did about 5-6 hours today! Same setup, with the Vanquish, and V8 coil! I more or less wanted to repeat the other days hunt, with a wider range of coins, and some added emphasis on finding some oldies, in some curb strips! Our oldest neighborhoods are generally from the 1920's forward! And have had many roadwork and "beautication" projects, that have destroyed prime "old coin" hunting grounds! But you work with what you got!! So knowing that some of the "tree lined" streets still had their original trees, (i grew up here), I would focus on them for the oldies!! Between those, and general hunting of this park, adjacent to some of them, I should at least, be able to get a few shallower "older" coins! My V8 park hunting produced plenty more modern coins, as expected, and was good fun! But also, self-limiting, as that coil doesn't get the depth needed for those elusive oldies that may be there! The soil under the St. Augustine Grass here, tends to be very rich, and easy to dig, with lots of earthworms, so the coins get buried pretty deep, over the decades! Not unexpected, but i was jumping back and forth, from the strips to the park, so I kept the same coil on the detector the whole time! I also have the V10, and V12, so I will go back with those at some point, and test my theory! And of course, the Nox!! So, to the Good Stuff! One each from just beneath three different "parking strip" old trees! No deeper than about 6 inches, but hidden up against large tree roots! And thankfully, not grown into them!! A 1942 Silver Merc!! 💖🎊 No nail board test from Monte this time!!🤣 Two 1919 Weaties!! 💕(Same date, two different trees; weird!!) So now, I at least know that my theory; while producing only a few oldies; is actually sound enough to follow-up with, In future hunts! I can live with that!! The rest of the hunt produced alot more pennies than I wanted to dig, thanks to two fairly large "penny dumps" in two separate curb strip locations! (Over 100!!🤯) I basically just sat there with my pinpointer, and located them till my legs got numb, and I had enough!!😂 Still more in both spots for another round! I guess there are non-detectorist that hate the pennies as much as we do!!🤣 A rough count puts it around 140 coins total! And I skipped alot of penny's, believe it or not!! So I'm "Tremendously Happy" with the 2 Silvers, and 3 older Wheats, over two days! They actually give me some hope for more now! Or maybe, those where the last two Silvers left in Florida!! So I can leave now!!🤣😂

The weather has been slightly cooler, and dryer here this week! (85 with about 75% humidity!) And my sore foot is manageable now! So yesterday morning I went on a sunrise beach hunt with the Nox, and 11" coil! Conditions were very sanded in, and I only found a few coins, a junk earring, and a lead weight; among the usual junk items! I didn't stay long, as I wanted to do a park hunt too, and not reinjure my foot! I didn't actually get to do the park hunt till about 4pm today! And decided to use the Vanquish and the V8 coil! I was really only wanting to dig some shallow recent drops of quarters and dimes, on the edges of the park's "weekend soccer field", in a small area, before dark! and avoid most of the trash that is there! It's not very groomed, and is full of short weeds and various grasses! When I drive by, I see the players and family's gather, like clockwork, every weekend! So there is generally a constant supply of easy clad to find, under the nearby trees, every few months! Today was really no different than any other day I've been there, other than the detector and coil I used this time! I really enjoy the V8 coil for obvious reasons, and in no time I had a decent amount of clad! I had a few iffy targets that I kept track of, and went back around to, after the initial run through! A few were mult-coin spills of a quarter or dime, mixed with some pennies, and maybe an additional quarter or dime! Those were found rechecking the hole, and I knew by the V8's response, that there were others nearby! One particular target gave me some aggravation, as it was under some weed block, and there was also a mat of small roots to dig thru! This was in a dug out area of one of those exercise stations! I initially got a very clipped "quarter" signal on my first pass, and came back to it later, when the quarter signals got to be fewer! So back to it a second time, and not wanting to dig a big hole, it took a while to locate some targets through the obstacles, and small hole! I knew I had some iron mixed in, when the first pinpoint was a rusty nail! These "targets" were roughly about 5 inches down, and being a "dugout" area, actually got me down about 10-12 inches below the sod area! So detect, dig, pinpoint, a few times, and finally locate the "Beautiful Sight" of my dodgy target! A Bright Smiling 1951 Silver Rosie! 😃 Very satisfying, as the only silver I've found here before, was a nice money clip, and some cheaper jewelry! The silver coins where "all" vacuumed up years ago, and any left have gotten deeper, or totally out of reach!! My main theory though, is that all the rusty nails had masked this one! And with my small V8 coil, and the added depth I was able to get, in this "low" spot! I found one of the few that were missed! When I got home and washed off my coins, and set them out to dry and examine! I got another nice little surprise, in the few pennies I picked up! A 1920 Wheatie (And yes, looks like i nailed it!! 😔) That was probably even more rare here, as it predates the park by about 30 years! So, nothing earth shattering by most of the standards of what you all find elsewhere! But for my area, and the start of detecting season here, this is about as good as it gets! Short of private permissions, which are hard to come by here!! The pictures include my previous day's beach finds in the upper right! All the crusty nails where around the immediate area of the Rosie! And the Wheatie is near the Rosie in the picture! I have no clue which hole that came from! That was just a bonus!!👍👍

Hi there The first design Armrest for Minelab Vanquish. 3D print, Material PETG

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2T-KpbHSpe/?igshid=mlzeufyjoyb5 October 2019 Edit - the Minelab Vanquish has been officially introduced. See this thread for the latest news and information.

Good morning, everyone I would like someone to explain how the iron volume exactly works on minelab Vanquish 540. I am using low iron bias and maximum iron volume and, in some coins, when I detect them, it is created a non-ferrous sound mixed with ferrous sound like when you are detecting trash. What am I doing wrong?

I’m completely new to metal detecting and the vanquish 540 is my first detector. I am hoping that someone can provide some advise on the random signals I am picking up. Whilst detecting in woodland I am frequently getting signals that range from 6 to sometimes as high as 39 in the exact same spot, when I dig it up most of the time it appears to be iron nails or other iron objects. I was expecting iron objects to show as a very low number or even minus figures. Has anyone else experienced very high numbers for iron and how do you know when something is worth digging? I have iron bias set to high so that should help but doesn’t seem to. I have found an old coin that showed a reading of 16 so it’s very confusing to know what to dig and what to leave. Thanks for any advise you can provide.

Does anyone have any official info from Minelab stating that the Vanquish defaults to zero GB like the Equinox? It is stated in the Equinox manual, but is not present in the Vanquish manual. I see a lot of people on Facebook groups telling people that the Vanquish has auto ground balance. I tried to argue that they are referencing auto noise cancel, but can't produce any official sources to back up my claim. I can tell the 540 has no GB because of the lack of a GB button, and pumping the coil gives a high or low tones depending on weather it's over or under ground balanced. I'm trying to find some dummy proof info.

In tot lots, they seem to be the same to me in terms of being able to find the coins. The 540 is more pleasant to use though, in that it's lighter (I think...feels that way, at least) and a lot less noisy or chattery. In my soil (which ground balances anywhere from the upper 70s into the low 90s), they both seem to perform about the same, although the AT Max might have a slight edge. After doing some direct comparisons b/w the two in my yard, it seems like that at least 95% of the time, whatever one machine found, the other machine would have found it too. I did the comparisons with the 540 in custom mode where only targets hitting 20 or above would come through. With the AT Max, I was usually in custom mode where only targets hitting 70 or above would come through. I was often hunting with the AT Max at 3-5 sensitivity, but could go to 8 if I needed a better VDI read on a deeper target. One thing I really like about the AT Max over the 540 is the all metal mode. Because of my highly mineralized clay layer about 2-6 inches down in my soil, I know the 540 has a tendency to increase the VDI numbers of target sometimes. And in some cases, I think my 540 has flat out falsed, saying there was a quarter 10+ inches down when all that was there was clay. This was especially evident when the soil was wet. Given the 540's tendencies, I tend to ignore its iffy signals that are 10+ inches down, assuming it's either falsing on the clay or its reading foil or iron as a higher conducting target. But with the AT Max, I have the ability to check an iffy signal and see what happens when I try to detect it in all metal mode. During one of my digs today, I got an iffy signal with the AT Max saying I had a dime or quarter target about 8-10 inches down. The Max's VDIs were all over the place, but I was getting a consistent high tone in at least 1 direction. Then in all metal mode, it was clear I was getting a signal, and while jumpy, the VDIs would sometimes hit 90. With my 540, even on max sensitivity, it was an iffy signal, hitting in the mid 20s and sometimes upper 20s...and sometimes nothing at all. In the past, I would have ignored this signal thinking it was iron or foil that was deep and my 540's inability to ground balance was making it seem like a better target than it really was. I dug it, and it ended up being 2 clad quarters located just inside the layer of clay that lies beneath the upper layer of milder brown/black soil in my yard. Anyways, this is only a half-dozen hours of comparison b/w the 540 and my AT Max, but I think the AT Max is going to stay and the 540 is going to go. Another factor in this decision is that I found out my AT Max is a much older machine than I thought and that its 2 missing LCD segments on the screen can't be fixed under warranty. Finally, there's the fact that I still have the Vanquish 340. Thanks to many of you who humored me and provided advice and feedback on my observations and questions with the AT Max over the past week or so. Oh, and I found my first IHP today too, thanks to the AT Max. It was at least 8 inches down and around the clay layer . My 540 was able to pick it up from the surface, so I probably would have found it with my 540...probably.

I notice that RNB now has a lithium battery pack for the Vanquish priced around $60. I have been using RNB battery packs in my Etrac for years and probably will buy one of these Vanquish batteries, if there are no bugs needing to be worked out. I intend to keep the Vanquish in my car trunk and will only use it sporadically. Regular rechargeables don't seem to hold a charge if they are not used for a long time. In contrast, the RNB batteries seem to hold a charge indefinitely. I want to be confident that the detector is going to work even if it has been sitting unused in the car trunk for months.

Does the pro pack come with lower rods for both coils, or just one.

I metal detected my front yard, which has been heavily pounded with my Fisher F2 and Vanquish 540. Currently, I detect with my 540 in a modified coin mode, where it's basically the stock coin mode, but I've notched out some lower numbers. Basically, if it doesn't hit 16 or so, I won't/shouldn't hear it. All day Saturday it had been raining, although most of Sunday was sunny and dry. So the ground today was nice and moist, but not wet or soggy at all. When using my 540, it seemed like my entire yard came alive with a bunch of targets hitting 17 or more. Some of these were solid and some were iffy. To put it in perspective, normally when using my 540, I rarely get any strong signal in my front yard over 17 due to heavy hunting done so far. However, when I dug the strong signals, about half the time it was a medium-size rusty nail and half the time, it was a penny. So I have the following questions: 1. What's going on here? I've heard that wet or damp soil can improve the depth of your detector. But I went from barely any 17+ signals to tons of them. I was even able to find a dime in the curb strip in front of my house. Normally, unless I'm in all metal mode with my 540, hunting that area results in ZERO signals; pure silence. Now, I get a dime and some solid iron targets? It's almost as if I had never hunted that curb strip before. 2. Whatever is going on here, will getting an Equinox 600 help me handle it? On the one hand, getting 4 pennies and 1 dime in a heavily hunted area is great. On the other hand, I was digging up more iron than normal. My first thought was that my soil had mineralization whose effects were amplified by the recent rains. So would the Equinox's ability to ground balance make a difference here and if so, how much?

Hello all, I found this yesterday on an extremely trashy beach amongst old demolition debris used as erosion control! It is amazingly intact except for the little safety chain! It's my best jewelry find ever, and first silver of the year! I'm trying to date it, but I will probably have to take it to an antique jeweler for something more definitive, and a more thorough cleaning! So far, it seems to be of Italian or German origin; 80% silver! Going by the 800 mark!👍👍 **After cleaning with silver polish!

So I’ve been considering a Vanquish model as either a backup or primary to my Equinox 600 to fill in coil size with 10x7 between my 11” and 6”. Also perhaps to achieve a little better ergonomics for most of my detecting and then use the Nox for more detailed work when needed. I like the price and simplicity of the 340 but I also like some of the extras of the 540 and mainly 5 tones which is what I most regularly run on my 600. Studying the manuals a bit for details, it is not really that simple as the tone breaks, whether 3 or 5 tones, vary between detectors and even within the modes. So it still won’t be “exactly” like my 600 even if I choose a 540 in regards to 5 tones or 3 tones. The 3 tones is even different between the 340 and 440. So I vkeep going back to simplicity and price of the 340 and I even get the coil I want. Curious on thoughts from others considering same or actual experience and why your selection? Also, I thought it was interesting that for a detector that seems to be more global, the Vanquish makes the coin modes favor the US coins? Am I wrong? Even with the 600 you might be limited on this as I believe only the first tone break is adjustable?

The minelab vanquish is a great detector

Well, i just got back from a short hunt detecting a park! Funny thing is, i only got to detect for around 20 minutes, and had just about finished up on the second of two clad and penny coin spills, when a young man (late 20's-early 30's) approached me, and asked if i had found a set of keys while out! I told him i had just started, and asked him a few questions about what, when, and where they were lost! He told me his name; (his first name was the same as my daughter's) and he took down my number to swap info! I said i would keep an eye out; he thanked me, and walked to his car! After exausting the coin spill a few minutes later, i watched as a woman (his mom) pulled up to help him! Something made me go over to offer to help search! I'm sure it was my Daughter's name the sparked that little voice in my head to offer, or just karma!?? Low and behold, the mom pulls out a metal detector that her husband just got recently! A Fisher F22! I showed her son some very quick basics on operation, but told him that we will most likely not be needing it! I said that the best tools are his memory of where he was yesterday, when he lost them playing frisbee golf! And his eyes! I offered to follow behind him in a zig-zag pattern, as he concentrated on his path! He had the Fisher swinging a few times, but i knew it would be useless for the task! And never turned my detector on! Upon his asking, i reassured him that our eyes and feet would be more productive! He had said that he though the keys would be somewhere on the last 3 or 4 holes they played, because that's where he remembers opening his bag the most! His mom took off on a different route looking herself! We walked nearly the whole course with me following the zig-zag, when he yelled out! As soon as he did, i could see the keys at his feet! He had already searched here this morning, and yesterday, but obviously missed them both times! (different lighting)! Third time was the charm! He was giddy, and high fiveing me! He had told me that the replacement key, and service fee for a locksmith to come out, would be $195.00 dollars, and it would hurt, to shell that out! He's the one who found the keys, but still thanked me several more times! He said he hoped that karma would give me a big find soon! I told him I've been there (loosing keys), and was glad i could help! When we got back to the cars, he offered some cash, but of course, i refused! His mom offered me a cuban pastry in a big box! Well, i didn't refuse that! It was guava! Yum!! After some more conversation, i found out that both her and my wife are both nurses, and were at one of the same hospitals in the past! And her ex-husband and i were both retired public safety workers! Her current husband was just getting into detecting! What a small world!! I told here that if she wanted to talk nursing with my wife, or her husband wanted some help with his detector, her son had my info! So that's my story for today! I got a better "treasure" than if i would have continued to beat the clad out of the ground! But i wouldn't mind cashing out some of that good Karma for a sparkling gold and diamond treasure at a beach sometime soon! 😂 👍👍

Anyone who spends much time comparing targets with a Equinox and a Vanquish knows that a Vanquish will hit most targets an Equinox will hit. The performance is closer than people may want to imagine for most normal metal detecting, making Vanquish a genuine value. Vanquish came out with a different set of coils than the Equinox, to the chagrin of many Equinox owners, since they are not compatible. What is interesting is that the Vanquish coils are quite a bit less expensive, even in cases where they are physically larger than the Equinox coils. Part of this may be the windings and tolerances possibly being different. Vanquish coils seem thinner and lighter, and being able to keep the price down on them is critical to keeping the price of the detector down also. However, it is a mistake to think retail price has anything more than a loose connection to manufacturing cost. The rule is charge what the market will bear. And true story for anyone that wants to bother with the research - accessory items for expensive detectors often cost a lot more than the same accessories for lower price detectors. This is because most people who spend a lot on a detector are willing to spend more on accessories. Just ask any car dealer who sells both inexpensive and expensive cars. So while I do not know the exact details, the fact is Vanquish coils sell for les because they have to. Nobody is going to buy an accessory coil if it sells for as much as the detector itself. This adds to the value proposition however. Not only does a Vanquish get very close to Equinox performance for a lot lower price, but the accessory coils can be had for quite a bit less. I kind of get now why Minelab did not make a set of these coils for Equinox. Would Equinox owners be willing to pay about $100 more for the same coils across the board (even though they would be different coils)? People will say, no, just sell me the coils for the Equinox at the same price. But Minelab can't do that - it undermines the Equinox detector and accessory price structure. If that seems unfair, let me remind people the 11" round coil for the CTX 3030 sells for $349, a good $120 more than the 11" coil for Equinox! Minelab may have decided to simply avoid that can of worms by keeping the lines completely separate and distinct as far as the coils go.

Hey everyone, so I received my shiny new Vanquish 540 at Christmas, and only had a couple chances to get out and do anything with it. But I got out a couple times, and tried some things, this post is a mix of a bit of a log of my first activities/attempts, and what I experienced, what I think I learned, etc... As well as an ask for any tips/advice/help anyone has to add for my next couple outings (things to try, things to improve, etc) First time out I went around my yard/lawn/gardens, and just got familiar with the machine, played with settings, got used to the tones, etc... I found Jewelry Mode worked well initially (tried Coin mode, couldn't discern any real difference, and relic mode didn't seem like what I'd usually be using from the manual description). I started with max sensitivity which was a little chatty... Then turning it down 2-3 notches seemed to silence the machine completely, and it had no falses, but still clearly identified targets... Seemed pretty good 🙂 even found a couple coins along my driveway from long before I lived here (though modern spendies). Anyway, then next up I got a whole bunch of household objects: Modern coins of every denomination Some jewelry (10K gold rings, 18K gold rings, 10K gold brooch, 10K gold necklace, silver necklace, silver brooch, pewter bracelet) Assorted screws, bolts, etc Some brass hardware Misc Junk, aluminium etc And proceeded to setup a test spot that there was nothing in the ground, laid a board out, and swung past the items, getting to know the IDs for each, how I detect them, differences with different orientations, etc... Also tried each of the junk items, and even tried masking (pairing up junk with good items) to see what that did... Overall this process took a couple hours of playing with the detector, and I thought I had a good handle on it... So then I went to my first beach, saltwater beach, no black sand, fairly popular beach, went when it was quiet, about mid-tide. Powered up, let it do it's noise cancelling, and immediately it started chattering (still on max sensitivity) so turned it down 2-3 like I did at home, still chattery, so turned it down to 4-5 notches below max... Seemed quiet then... So then I started walking along the waterline about 1m away from where the top of the waves lapped at the sand (so sand was still "damp" but not "wet", just on the "water side" of the totally dry sand). And went along the water line at a slow pace, doing my best (and likely failing) to get a good swing technique (more on that later lol). What I found was that it was very noisy, it was picking up little beeps and bloops (sometimes with no target id, sometimes with) and if I went back and swung around that spot to see what the beep was, it wouldn't be there, so inconsistent... Then I did find a target that was consistent, and pinpointed it, dug it up, and it was a pull-tab, ok no problem that was expected to dig a bunch of those up, and at least I was able to identify a target and recover it successfully... Still had a lot of noise though, and tricky to decide what to dig and what not to. I was also noticing almost all the targets I got an ID for (including the inconsistent ones, and consistent ones) were at the max depth readout... Dug 3-4 more targets, ended up with a few pull-tabs, some can slaw, and a great big iron bolt rusted really badly, which for some reason was coming up as a high 20s on the target ID... Had another target that was a consistent 33-35 on the target and very strong, and stable, but showing max depth... And I dug down probably 18" deep (and eventually a hole like 2 feet diameter lol). Kept re-checking still had same consistent signal... But was hitting hard-packed sand, and my digging tools weren't up to going deeper... So never recovered that one... Once I went a couple hundred meters I turned around and went the other direction, as the tide had come in a bit by then... And when I turned I switched from Jewelry to Coin mode, and tried Coin mode on the return trip... Still had that noisy behavior, like I was picking up 1-2 beeps or bloops on every swing, but mostly tiny beeps (medium to high pitch, not iron tone) usually with no ID code. I did figure out around this time that the unstable hits I was getting at 14-15 id which seemed consistent enough to warrant double-checking, but weren't stable, if I turned on all metal mode, I immediately noticed a consistent iron tone, so thought those might be junk pretending to be something else... So in total I spent about 2 hours on the beach, found some trash, cleaned the beach up a bit, and had some fun. But clearly need to do some more learning to get better with the machine. Another thing I learned is I suspect my form is off (ergonomics, swing technique, whatever). I was able to get a decent swing arc about 60-90 degree arc in front of me, and I think did an "ok" job of keeping the coil at a consistent flat height, but probably lifted it a bit at the end of the swing (did my best not to). Also beach was a bit rocky/shelly, mostly clean sand, but had "debris" and occasionally bumped some of that, or scuffed off a rock, etc... Again tried not to do that either lol... But the biggest thing that seemed to indicate I was doing something wrong is I was getting a fair bit of fatigue, which became pain, in my hand/wrist and running up my forearm. I suspected initially I was gripping the handgrip too tightly, tried to loosen off that, but while the detector seems super light and simple to swing at first, after a couple hours it quickly began to wear on me (and I'm a big guy, with a fair bit of upper body strength). After coming back and reading, I suspect my first mistake was over-reaching with the coil. I had it about 20+ inches in front of my feet when swinging, didn't realize I should have it much closer... Also as I said I was over-gripping the hand-grip. So I'll try adjusting some of that next time. But any other tips there would be appreciated. Secondly, I was troubled by how "noisy" it was, and combined with all the targets I was seeing being at "max depth" indicator, was worried, that turning down sensitivity further might mean I'm missing things... I didn't seem to notice a main difference between the coin and jewelry mode, but probably don't have enough time on the machine to tell the subtle differences yet... So, first off does anyone with experience think one mode is preferable over another for general beach hunting on the Vanquish 540? Second, how should I be tuning the detector to optimize my experience? Should I be turning the sensitivity down further? Am I missing targets? (am I mis-reading the depth indicator) etc... 🙂 I didn't really experiment much with the Iron Bias setting (low vs the default of high), and I didn't play with Iron Volume at all. Anyway, any advice or input/suggestions at all would be appreciated. I'm excited to get out and get more practice in, and learn some more, but always good to take what I've learned, and combine it with sound advice from those with the battle scars to know what they are talking about 😉 I know @phrunt has already given me a ton of good advice on the local NZ id codes to look for with commonly found coin types, etc... And those matched up perfectly with what I found in my little "test garden" experiment at home... And so Simon if you have any specific advice being as you've detected in some of the similar environments I'm in, and with the same detector, any additional "nuggets" that you're willing to share would be greatly appreciated (of the information kind I mean of course, though the other kind would be appreciated also lol) Thanks! And happy hunting!

Looking for gold tomorrow. New to everything. What is the best setting for gold if anyone knows? I will do my best to calibrate the detector tomorrow and was thinking of trying to use some gold jewelery to attempt calibration test. I was told by someone in a hiking shop the Vanquish 440 does not have the frequency to pick up small fragments of gold, is this true? Would the “all metal” and a high sensitivity setting give me the best chance if there is not too much interference in the soil? Thanks in advance guys.

Hey Everyone, New here, and new/returning to the hobby after a long time away (let's not go into how many years... lol) Anyway, have a shiny new Minelab Vanquish 540 under the tree that my wife got me for Christmas, and eagerly itching to get out and do some hunting... But in-line with my other hobbies, and my general nature as an individual, I can't leave anything alone. I'm an Electronics Engineer, Computer Engineer, and I build/diy things like crazy. I have multiple 3D Printers at my disposal, etc... So, I'm itching to come up with some ways to improve/augment/customize the vanquish, and am interested in hearing what others using these detectors would think of as valuable "quality of life improvements". Since I haven't had much time using them, and even once I do, what I find useful, may be different from what seasoned hunters would find useful, I'd love to hear suggestions. One obvious idea that springs to mind, is an external power source mod... Which I think I'll be doing for sure. Think of a 3D Printed battery cover replacement, that makes contact inside the battery compartment, takes an external USB power input, and presents a clean regulated 6V to the vanquish. Along with a printed sling for under the arm rest to allow adding the weight of the battery by the elbow for any USB power bank of your choice. would allow longer detecting sessions, and might do a good job of pulling the balance back and lightening the detector... (this is all supposition as I haven't actually handled it yet lol). That one should be an easy build, could probably be done in $20 in parts and plastic, and provide a neat benefit. I've also thought of printable replacement coil covers. These seem like a "sacrificial" part to me, and would be valuable in having an easy to make replacement for these. My printer should be able to handle the V12 coil on the 540, but maybe not others, so I might have to do this in a couple parts that snap together, but it's easily doable either way. Anyway, any other thoughts/suggestions/ideas? I'm eager to build/design some stuff, so now is your chance if there is that little thing you're itching for that minelab haven't released yet! Cheers!

Adds iron volume and some other stuff. https://www.minelab.com/usa/vanquish-software-update-1 VANQUISH 540 Iron Volume Control Detecting in heavy iron trash is enhanced with the new Iron Volume Control feature. 10-step adjustments let you decrease the volume of iron all the way down to a whisper, while leaving desirable targets (non-ferrous) loud and clear. To engage Iron Volume Control, simply hold down the All Metal button, while simultaneously using the Volume buttons to adjust to your liking. General Improvements for All VANQUISH Models The upgrade also includes improved battery handling capability for all models, as well as a new low battery alert.

Hitting a NEW PERMISSION, fields surrounding a Manor House with the Nokta Makro Simplex, Minelab Vanquish and Garrett Apex