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These guys do release some great leaks, but like I point out above they are also not shy of making stuff up. People tend to quote them as if it’s all facts, even when every new release proves much of the stuff gets made up. So this time I’d like to point it out here for future reference, so that somebody quotes these guys on the next release, I can refer here to point out how unreliable the information is.

just bought a 540 pro-pack for just over 4 bills (new), incredible value compared to an eq600,or 800! i got both coils, wireless,rechargeable batts, coil covers, and bonnet.what's not to like? also, the guy "instrumental" in bringing the vanquish forward claims its almost a "'dead nuts" match (performance wise) to the eq600,or the 800.time will tell, but could be an "outrageous" sleeper compared to either ,or both eq's.he calls it the "equinox 540" no bullshit! (h.h.!) j.t.

If the Vanquish was waterproof I would get one just to have the smaller coil.

I read with wide eyed wonder a thread on another forum where it is stated that with the high Vanquish iron bias setting, or higher Equinox iron bias settings, that a dime stacked on a nickel returns a ferrous result. This has been called a bug, and some rather strident demands are being made that Minelab do something about it “or suffer the consequences.” Iron bias is a variable filter, and the using it is a direct trade off. On an Equinox the F2 setting of 0 is as close to “off” as you can get. You will get nearly all non-ferrous and lots of ferrous will identify as non-ferrous. As you increase the control to maximum, less ferrous items will identify as non-ferrous, but more non-ferrous items will identify as ferrous. It is a direct trade, one for the other. There is no free lunch. If you run iron bias at max, you will miss good items. Period. End of story. There is no fix. It’s not a bug. It is the way the filter works. Either leave it at its lowest setting, or accept that when you run it higher you will miss many non-ferrous items. Including nickels and dimes stacked together. Or get another detector. Metal detectors do not know ferrous from non-ferrous. They know phase and eddy current decay. You can also filter on things like target consistency, etc. Iron bias is not a magic ferrous filter. It is looking at something, I’m not sure what exactly. However, ferrous items often give off multiple target id numbers in rapid succession, and this might be a consistency filter of some sort. It is not a ferrous/non-ferrous filter. Again, a detector does not see ferrous or non-ferrous. Apparently a dime stacked on a nickel triggers this filter at a higher setting. I can understand how that might happen if it is a consistency filter. What I can’t understand is why that is a major freak out event. The manual says there is a cost to running high iron bias (see below). Anyone that knows anything at all about metal detector filters should know there are no free lunches. That’s why I always run all my filters as low as possible on all detectors I use. Did I know specifically about dimes stacked on nickels? No. Could I really care less? Not really. I do not think there are thousands, hundreds, or even dozens of dimes stacked on nickels that I am missing, even if I ran iron bias at max. But I do not. I always run it at 0 unless I use a default mode where there is some cranked in and forget to set it to zero. I run 50 tones and between the tones and high 39 spikes do not get fooled by ferrous enough to think I need employ the iron bias in any situation except perhaps a field full of flat tin steel. I hunt gold nuggets a lot, and one thing that does is teach a person a lot about filters. All ferrous / non-ferrous filtering, no matter the type, with misidentify some gold as ferrous, especially in high mineral ground. I will never forget a gold nugget that I saw the Gold Bug 2 disc mode call ferrous in an air test. Or the .22 shell casing my F75 and Gold Bug Pro called ferrous sitting in plain view on top of some particular ground. Real eye openers. This also applies to any coins at depth, right at the point where they almost disappear. In most ground the signal will flip from non-ferrous to ferrous at extreme range. It’s how detectors work, and calling it all bugs just means a person does not know how a detector works. Or that all detectors have bugs, take your pick. I’ve actually written entire articles about it. Some people have a high tolerance for digging trash to get good items others miss. Others really hate digging trash, and employ high filtering i.e. discrimination and other filters. They should know, or need to know, that if they are digging no trash, they are leaving good items in the ground. Every filter comes at a cost in this regard, some more, some less, but the only thing that insures missing no good targets is to use all metal and dig everything. Even then, the ground balance filter will leave good items in the ground. Anyway, good luck to those expecting Minelab to publicly address the dime on nickel “bug” and good luck seeing it get fixed. In my opinion it is inherent in the filter and the way it works, and the way to avoid it is to run the filter at the lower settings. Or get another detector if you are a person that specifically hunts dimes stacked on nickels. Equinox Manual, page 52 (emphasis added): All ferrous targets produce a combination of a ferrous and nonferrous response. Large ferrous targets can even present a stronger non-ferrous response. Also, a ferrous target adjacent to a nonferrous target can produce a similar response. The Iron Bias Setting provides some control over the Target ID response. A lower Iron Bias setting will allow the natural response to dominate which means that the target is more likely to be classified as a non-ferrous target. A higher setting will increase the likelihood that the target is classified as iron. In environments with dense iron trash, a higher Iron Bias is recommended in order to mask them. In areas where you do not want to miss any non-ferrous targets amongst iron trash, a lower setting is recommended. This will cause more ferrous targets to be detected and identified as desirable non-ferrous targets.

Yesterday i took my XP ORX to my dealer and swapped it for the Vanquish 540 Pro . I know i have said a few things in the past about it and i said i wouldn't buy it . Well i have . When i opened the box i saw the red (still yuk) , thank %$&* for a box cover lol I unpacked it and put it together and apart from the awful colour i thought it was well made . Apart from the battery cover which i think will cause trouble . I think there will be a few breakages . I also noted the different shade of red of the cover. The control box buttons layout is fine but like other machines i have seen the coil lead goes into a tight spot in the side of the control box. Chubby fingers might not like that . Unfortunately the upper 2 shafts are painted , they should have been Carbon Fiber , i can see the paint being chipped a lot like they do on the ET / Explorer's . The stem locks look good but i dont like the coil bolt idea. Desi Dunne said that on his last video i saw before he passed away. Its a pity the middle shaft didn't collapse up above the top one like the Deus does . Could have collapsed to around 20 inches instead of 30 in. The coils look a good size and the small one will be good for Irony / trashy places . Pity the target numbers weren't 99 instead of 40 . I tested a few coins and the depth seems good at full sen's and the recovery speed seems good . I checked my new Maz headphones to see if they worked with my adapter and they do , i also paired the headphones out of the box and listened to them . They seemed ok but both sets of headphones seemed quieter than if just going without headphones. That might affect targets being heard for the hard of hearing . I will also not be using the batteries out of the box , being only 1.2 volts and not 1.5 v that many disposable batteries have i will use disposables and use rechargables as back ups. I am used to getting a lot more power from batteries and Minelab's tendency to chuck any old stuff into the box ( batteries / Headphones ) lets them down and the RNB batteries of the ET prove that Minelab could do a lot better . On the Nox there was an update that helped with knocking out crown caps , i think the Vanquish could do with that update if it can be done. Overall it looks not to bad a machine but like the Nox did it will have its place . I wont use it everywhere . As i think most that know me my ET is my main detector and Minelab will have to come up with something much better to prize my hand off that . I still think that Minelab have made a machine that looks to much like a red Garrett Ace just in time for Garrett to come up with something that might be a lot better at the same price ? I have to say the Vanquish is mega easy to set up . If Nokta/ Makro didn't think of it Minelab could have called this machine the Simplex . I will call it " Piece of q!55 " . I hope it finds my beaches a piece of q!55. If my beaches look right late next week i will use the 540 then . Before that i need to find some bicycle tyre innertube to put over the upper painted shaft to stop it scratching on the stones on the beach .

So I've been getting a lot of clad coins with both the Equinox and the Vanquish 440 in the local parks, but even in the older ones, silver coins have escaped me for a couple of months now. In between thunderstorms this afternoon, I hit the neighbor's parking strip, and in less than ten minutes, I pulled two silvers and a wheatie! My first silver quarter, AND my first Canadian silver. The quarter is pretty trashed, but I'm glad just the same! Felt good to break the slump!

There had been talk of the Vanquish USB port being for online updates. I just assumed since Minelab didn't showcase this as a Vanquish feature that it was just for flashing firmware, and it wasn't updateable like the Equinox. Aside from a couple of Russians spreading the rumor, it had died down. I just ran across this website which claims the author has personally spoken to Minelab USA. They have reportedly confirmed the online update capability. Didn't know there was a Minelab USA. As far as I can tell there is only a US service center? I still call bovine scatology on this one. As I said earlier, Minelab would have shouted that feature from the rooftops if it was a planned feature. Anybody know the author and his credentials? https://detectingquest.com/2020/03/13/minelab-vanquish-firmware-updatable-confirmed/

Good, short and realistic YouTube video on the Vanquish 340. Goes over the features and basic performance by an experienced reviewer. Jeff

Found this Crackerjack Mystery Club coin yesterday with the Vanquish. These were distributed from 1933 to 1934.

Yes I confirm the Vanquish is an excellent detector . I received my Vanquish 540 pro pack 10 days ago. For info I am an official tester for 2 shops in France and I have a very stict testing procedure, combining static tests and field tests. I have spent around 4 hours on the field with it up to now . I will give more details and pics in another post later but I already have a good idea of the machine and you will find below a comparison between the Vanquish 540 V12 coil and the Equinox 800 11inches coil. Important I on only detect inland , I am not a beachcomber , this test only applies for inland detecting . 1 ) The Vanquish plus : - Static depth test on a big copper coin 10g , 3cm diameter at 12inches depth in moderated mineralized ground: The Vanquish 540 V12 is better than the Equinox 800 11coil. The sound is definitely sharper . There is not an enormous difference, say 1inch depth difference , but there is definitely a difference. I use the Jewellery mode. - the Vanquish telescopic shaft is far better than the Nox shaft , you can adjust it very accurately on the field. It is much more compact in a rucksack. Also the S Vanquis shape is more ergonomic and it feels lighter than the Nox on the field, although the weight of the machines are similar. - The Vanquish is much easier to use than the Nox , just a few buttons thats all. I find the Nox too complex and I do not like the side buttons of the nox which tend to auto activate when the Nox is in a rucksak. On the Vanquish I simply swich on the Jewellry mode , sensiitivity to max , thats all. Also the noise cancel is automatic. On the nox you must go in the menu for noise cancel too complex …. - The Vanquish V12 elliptical coil is much easier to pinpoint than the 11equinox coil , I very rarely use a pinpointer with it. 2 ) The vanquish cons : - a fear I have with the Vanquish is that the electronic card is not protected against humidity , no IP protection , this could be a pb during wet atmospheric conditions . I will test this as soon as I can . - no lithium battery , just basic AAs batteries for power. A lithium battery would have been lighter and more reliable then the AAs. 3 ) Conclusion : An entry level machines better than their top level ones , only Minelab can do that … :-) More seriously I think that Minelab has learnt a lot with the Nox and they improved a lot of things that can now be found on the Vanquish. I understand now why Simon ( Phrunt ) is so happy with his Vanquish in NZ… :-) Again I will send an other post with pics and a more details as soon as possible Apart from this everybody is at home over here in France with the corona , so I have to stop the tests for the moment , I hope it will go better in a few weeks ...

First time on the beach so it was a new experience for me. The Vanquish ran very quiet over the dry and wet sand. I was able to run the sensitivity maxed 99% of the time. No great finds but did get some deep and some small targets. I ran in the jewelry mode with 1 notched out. Couple opals found about 15ft. apart I'm sure they came from the same piece of jewelry. A sterling earring back along with another small silver(?) piece off something and a fake coin that I at least said hmmm when I first dug it Lol . Plenty of clad coins. I almost (almost) quite digging those 10 plus inch zinc signals but it was a good experience. Thanks for looking! Tom

I was playing around with the Vanquish 440 in the parking strip yesterday afternoon, when I got a very strong consistent signal in the 4 -6 range. I haven't been digging many signals in this range, as I don't get many, and all I have dug, have been trash. This one was strong and not choppy at all, so I proceeded to dig. Glad I did! I pulled out a James M. Cox presidential campaign stud from the 1920 presidential election. His running mate was Franklin D. Roosevelt! They lost to the Harding - Coolidge ticket. This is pretty degraded, but cool to find just the same. Gonna have to go back and dig those lower signals! I've included a picture of one in good condition.

Anyone interested in a report on the 440 can find it here: https://www.kellycodetectors.com/pages/field-test-minelab-vanquish-440-metal-detector/ My hunting buddy Gary and I collaborated on the report for Kellyco and they published it on their website. We found this a very impressive machine for $279 but you can read the report and judge for yourself. Note: Gary and I are not employees of Kellyco nor do we have any financial interest in or relationship with Kellyco.

TESTING THE VANQUISH V8 COIL I went today to the prev wood were I found the very small coin with the Vanquish 540 and the V12 coil ( see above ). This time I wanted to change and try the small V8 coil. I spent around one hour at this place . Actually the V8 coil did very well , it is much quieter than the V12 because of its low iron masking level. It is very accurate and it is very easy to center a target compared to the V12 coil , no pinpointer is needed. And in addition the V8 is very light ( 310 grams instead of 440 for the V12). Finally I found an other hammered copper coin from the 15 or 14th century, not in a very good state however , but happy with this because it is very difficult to find new targets on this area as it is one on my favorite test sites... Definitely the V8 is an excellent coil for iron trashed areas , I found it even better than the Equinox 6in coil because it has a better ground coverage ( 8inches for the V8 instead of 6inches for the Nox 6 coil ) The weather was a little wet today , I had some concern about the behaviour of the 540 in wet conditions , because the Vanquish has no IP protection. But no pb today everything went well , good news ... The 2nd picture shows the Lithium AA batteries that I am using with the Vanquish since I have it . I have been using the 540 for about 13/14 hours now , and the Vanquish screen still shows full charge . So again very happy with my Vanquish 540 Pro pack . Both V12 and V8 coils are excellent , the ML80 headphones works very well , the 540 is very reliable up to now ... I really like this machine ...

After getting an equinox at the end of January and hearing good reports on the Vanquish i had to pick one up. I live in downtown Reno so i have been hitting some urban areas like alleys and city strips, the area between the street and the sidewalk. Also my own property has been quiet good to me regarding targets. I found all of these in my front and back yard, pretty sure i found where the old cloths line used to be. The V-8 really helped me find these, i had been over the same area with my nox, but emi i think caused me to miss them, and the fact the little V-8 could get in some tight spots.

Did a quick stint at the park this morning and found a Battle of Verdun coin/medallion dated 1916. As you can see from the pics I nicked it with the digging tool. 🤮 I'd like some advice on how to avoid this in the future. I know part of it is just experience, but there must be some techniques or mechanics that will help to mitigate this. I've included an image of a better conditioned coin too. Found a bunch of clad coins along with this. The Vanquish is a sweet little detector. Won't replace my Nox 800, but it is really fun to use! I think I will get the bigger coil for it...

A look at the Minelab Vanquish 540 and Garrett Ace Apex displays and controls compared. Note the target id ranges.

Went out to the horse ranch in Helena with my dear friend today, to do a little horse maintenance, and some detecting in the pastures. She was using the newly arrived Vanquish 440, and I was using the Nox 800. First time I have detected with someone else, and it was her first time detecting ever. It was super fun! We didn’t find anything truly noteworthy, but did unearth a piece of flattened irrigation pipe that had been buried for some time. And my friend found her first relic; and old padlock. Not super old, but she was excited and that made me smile! Afterwards, I hit a new parking strip in the neighborhood with the Vanquish, and found several coins in short order. Lincoln memorial pennies, and three clad dimes. I really like the ease of use of the Vanquish. Pretty much a turn on and go machine. Good times!

I have owned my 800 since March 2018 and Vanquish 2 weeks. I had heard the TID’s were the same so I got out my extensive collection of junk and some CW bullets and silver coins to do some comparative air tests. I was in the relic mode on the Vanquish 540 and the Field 2 mode on the Nox 800. Nickels came in at 13 on both. Beaver tail only came in at 9-12 on 540 and 9-11 on 800. Small flat button came in at 11-11 on both. Small square tab horizontal came in 13 on both. Small square tab vertical came in at 14 on both. Horizontal means hitting it from the broad side. Vertical means hitting it from the narrow end. Pull tab that is complete but with the beaver tail folded back over the ring came in at 16 on both. Large square tab off a big monster drink can came in at 17 on both. Zinc penny came in at 21 on both. Flattened aluminum screw cap came in at 22 on both. Wheat penny was 25 on both. 1980’s copper penny was 25 on both. Clad dime 25 on both Rosie dime 27 on both Standing Liberty Quarter 30-31 on 540 and 29-31 on 800. Silver qtr 1964 32 on 540 and 31-32 on 800. People have indicated that the Vanquish locks on to single digits better than the 800 with some targets. I believe that is because the Vanquish is not seeing as much small metal under the coil as the Equnox. But these are air tests so I don’t know what causes the difference in this case and a few other cases. Silver half dollar was 35 on the 540 and 34 on the 800. Morgan was 38 on the 540 and 37 on the 800. This is where I came in with a problem setting my Civil War relic hunting Discrim pattern on the 800: Pull tab that is complete but with the beaver tail folded back over the ring came in at 16 on both. Pull tab ring only came in at 13-16 on both. .59 cal 3 ringer was 18 on the 540 and 16-17 on the 800. .69 cal 3 ringer was 19 on the 540 and 16-17 on the 800. The .58 and .69 3 ringers caused me grief in setting up Discrim because to get rid of the nasty pull tab with folded over and pull tab ring only I would have to Discrim out 16 but that would take out the 3 ringers. Ran extensive test on the above problem and could not get a good Discrim pattern to solve that problem. But on the Vanquish 54 it worked like a champ because the 3 ringers came in at 18 and 19 so there was not pull tab ring only conflict. Funny I thought it would be just the opposite problem with the 540 have 2 tid’s per Discrim block. But the fact is in terms of a useful Discrim pattern for my Civil War relic hunting, the 540 has an edge over the 800.

Does anyone know the target ID number for a Krugerrand gold coin on a Minelab Vanquish 540 ? Any other advice on my question would be appreciated as I am a V540 newbie 🤔

I've had my 540 for a little while and I'm getting a little more comfortable with it. It seems a very capable machine for my hunting needs. Learning a new machine I tend to dig a lot a targets to see what its saying. About a million rusty nails later I'm getting a feel for it..lol. It seems to me there's a smaller gray area with the Vanquish verses the Equinox. Not everything sounds perfect and with my Equinox a lot of sounds weren't the best but there weren't enough bad sounds in them to say don't dig. I've started to find that cut off on the Equinox as to what you can get away with digging and still have a chance of finding a good target. But that area seems smaller so far with the Vanquish more cut and dry. It doesn't take much of that raspy sound (what I call it) at all for me to say don't dig it (I'm kinda getting tired of digging nails) and honestly how many do you have to dig to learn that sound is a rusty target. Just some of my thoughts so far. I've yet to take them both out at once and compare signals but I'm sure I will at some time in the future. Having fun right now just playing with the Vanquish. HH, Tom

I'll be taking this to the park in the morning! If it wasn't blowing like 30mph out there, I'd go now!

I kind of wanted to go with the 540 because of the Bluetooth capability, but really liked the price point of the 440. It's going to be a detector for friends to use and a backup for me. 👍👍

Anybody know if the Equinox 800 Bluetooth headphones will work with the Vanquish 540 Bluetooth? Wouldn't mind saving the $$ if they do. 😀

I have a Simplex+ and am thinking seriously of thinking selling the Simplex and buying the Vanquish 440.I have nothing really negative to say about the Simplex. I have the Nox 800 and think that the TID on the Vanquish will be similar to the Nox 800 for the same targets? Am I right?With the Simplex and the Nox 800 I have two sets of numbers to remember. Don't need that.Plus I like the tones on the 800 better than the Simplex. How do the tones on the V 440 compare to the 800?Plus I like the Multi-frequency aspect of the Vanquish.Thanks for any help you can give me.