Search the Community

I think Minelab may have pulled the extra early intro trick one time too often. The machine is not supposed to actually be available until sometime next year. In the meantime the Nokta/Makro Simplex+ is actually shipping, stealing the thunder. The gap between announcement and actual shipping dates on Vanquish is so large that people will have almost forgotten about it by the time it's available, or at least it will just be old news. It seems to me Minelab is squandering a certain amount of excitement that results in people making quick impulse buy type decisions. Given too much time people calm down and find reasons not to buy. I can't say I am a big fan of machines being announcement way before they are available. Hopefully the trend reverses. It may be Vanquish proves to be the time it went to far and we we go back to manufacturers keeping a better lid on things until we can actually buy them. Minelab Vanquish 340 Data & Specifications Minelab Vanquish 440 Data & Specifications Minelab Vanquish 540 Data & Specifications Minelab Vanquish 540 metal detector

OK - so the big reveal has occurred and now it is time to start discussing what we know, what we don't, what we want to know (Equinox cross compatibility), the good, the bad, the ugly (definitely ugly) of the new Vanquish series. Here is the link to the specs. From there you can deep dive into each model and get more information. Some interesting tidbits about the 540 (I will focus on the 540 because it the full up model that is most comparable to Equinox). What I like: The standard/accessory coils look great, hoping for Equinox cross compatibility (V12 12" x 9" Double-D, V10 10" x 7" Double-D, V8 8" x 5" Double-D) Not a big fan of the housing but like the stem Good basic entry level detector. If you consider that two coils and wireless phones are included on the 540 pro pack, then the $499 US seems reasonable. Like thd red backlight. What I don't like: While I understand this is entry level, I really struggle with some of what is left off the detector -specifically single frequency operation appears to be absent. Iron Bias - fine, I guess, except you can't turn it off. Would have rather seen variable recovery speed, which also appears absent. 5 Tones only (cannot be reduced to 2 or 3, or increased above 5 and tone breaks are probably not adjustable either). I can live without greater than 5 tones, but locking into 5 and not being able to reduce to 3 or 2 is a tad disappointing. Questions and other Tidbits It looks like ground balancing is automatic Multi IQ compensation (not auto tracking, but auto Multi IQ balanced - i.e., what you get when you leave GB at 0 on the Equinox). Speculating here. Don't know what "Custom" search mode means because there is not much you can adjust. Not clear what audio accessories are included with the 540/540 Pro other than non-descript wireless headphones are included with the 540 pro. Note only 25 disc segments, so individual TIDs cannot be notched out. 540 Uses Rechargeable NiMH AA batteries. Not sure if they can be charged while installed or if they have to be charged externally. 340/440 use standard alkaline cells though I suppose you could put your own NiMH cells in there. Kellyco is advertising "Early 2020" availability and the following price points V340 = $199, V440 = $279, V540 = $369, and V540 Pro Pack (includes V8 and V12 coils and BT APTX LL Phones) = $499. I think the V440 most closely aligns with Simplex but lacks the wireless audio and total submersibility of the Simplex. Simplex lacks Multi Frequency. Pick your poison. Note that the coils are waterproof to only "1 m (3 ft.)" Not sure whether this is because the entire detector cannot be submerged (the housing needs a rain cover) so there is no need to specify anything greater or if the coils truly cannot be submerged deeper than 1 m, which would limit their usefulness as underwater coils with the Equinox, if they are even compatible in the first place. The limitations, though expected, really make the Equinox 600 look like a CTX vs.even the 540. Lol. More to come when I have a chance to provide a more detailed comparison of features between the Equinox 600 and the Simplex. Click on image below for larger version... Minelab Vanquish Controls & Displays All Models Minelab Vanquish 340 Detector Database Entry Minelab Vanquish 440 Detector Database Entry Minelab Vanquish 540 Detector Database Entry

As the specs trickle out from ML's big Vanquish reveal - it is possible to at least do a spec comparison to see how Vanquish stacks up against the competition. Depending on what you stack it up against is what determines whether the Vanquish is a winner. Vanquish vs. Equinox - Um, no. Thanks for stopping by. Though ML never intended it to stack up against Equinox, it is invariably going to be compared to Equinox due to some of it's similarities. However, other than Multi IQ, wireless, and some cool coils, it not unexpectedly, falls far short of even the Equinox 600. I have noted this in other posts, but even the 540 is not submersible and needs external weather protection, missing single frequency ops, variable recovery speed, cannot switch Iron Bias off, not clear how sophisticated ground balance compensation is applied, locked-in at 5 tones (can't go higher or lower), no tone break, individual tone volume, or tone pitch adjustments, no threshold tone, cannot notch/reject individual tone IDs (limited to 25 segments out of 50), AA rechargeables vice lithium ion (not clear if "in detector" charging is offered), and limited mode customizations. At $649, the Equinox 600 seems to be a much better value than the $369 V540 when you consider the limitations, though performance under nominal conditions should be similar. I think the lack of single frequency capability and inability to turn off iron bias could be detrimental under certain circumstances. And even though the coil is waterproof, I would not like to risk UNCOVERED BY WARRANTY damage by accidentally dropping the Vanquish into the drink if out doing some casual shallow water hunting. The XP ORX has some compelling features that are superior even to the Deus (although the Deus was clearly the overall winner) and at over $500 to $750 less, I have no issues using it as a very capable backup to the Deus (in other words, if my Deus crapped out and all I had as backup was the ORX, I feel like I would not be at too much of a disadvantage continuing on with the hunt). I cannot say the same for Vanquish at only $280 difference, I feel like two arms and one leg got cut off if I had to use that as a backup to my 600. Cut off the other leg if we are talking the 800. Vanquish vs. GO FIND - Go find has some advantages over even the V340/440 The GO FIND 44 at $199 has bluetooth and a pinpoint function vs. the V340 at $199 which lacks both. Despite having Multi IQ and interchangeable coils, I might even give the GO FIND 44 the nod over the V340 at the same price point. GO FIND 66 similarly has bluetooth and a companion app and at $249, it is closer than it should be with the V440 at $279. But V440 still wins. Vanquish vs. the Nokta/Makro Simplex - Close call but nod goes to Simplex IMO The V440 vs. the Simplex lacks full submersibility and wireless capability and even though the V440 Multi IQ is $30 less than Simplex, I have to give the Simplex the nod here based on specs alone because the V440/540 should have been full up IP67 compliant, frankly. And lack of single frequency capability can mean that the Simplex may perform better under certain circumstances than the Vanquish. We will really have to see how the two compare in the real world, but that will obviously, have to happen on dry land. Vanquish vs. Ace Series (the obvious ML target demographic) - We have a Winner! I will compare the $279 V440 vs. the Ace 400 at $340 Weight is about the same at 2.8 lbs for the ACE vs. 2.9 lbs for the Vanquish (slightly larger V12 coil might account for that delta) Coils: 8.5 x 11" DD for the Ace 400 vs. 9 x 12" DD for the V440 Target ID/Notch segments: 12 for both Frequency: 10 khz for the ACE vs. Multi IQ for the V440 (though I wish the V440 had a 10 khz single frequency option) Sensitivity Levels: 8 for ACE vs. 10 for the V440 Modes: Coins, Custom, Jewelry, Notch Discrimination, Pinpoint, Relics for the ACE vs. Coin, Relic, Jewelry, All Metal with Pinpoint and Notch Discrimination features. I give the nod to the V440 because it probably excels in wet salt sand vs. the Ace due to Multi IQ in Jewelry mode and you can "quick switch" into all metal and instantly remove any disc. Ground Balance: Both provide level of automated vice fixed GB compensation Noise Cancel: You can "shift" frequency with the Ace 400 vs. Dedicated quiet 19 channel search for the V440 Power Requirements are equivalent for both: 4 AA cells. ML was obviously gunning for the ACE 400 with the V440 and they seem to have blown that competition out of the water. But compared to Simplex which was also aiming for the same target, the differences are less clear and it is hard to declare a winner until we get some real world reports. The Simplex is going to get a head start, though, with its imminent release while the Vanquish will probably not hit the streets until early 2020, but Kellyco is taking pre-orders now. Not really a detector I would consider "pre ordering", frankly. So that notion is humorous to me. UPDATE: Phrunt made some great points that made me rethink how I presented this. As I thought about it more - I tried to figure out what was really bugging me about this whole Vanquish thing and I think I have it sort of figured out. Bottom Line: The V440 pretty much succeeds at what it is trying to be and accomplish. Namely, it is a clear ACE killer and does it at the right price point and with the right features. Problem is, it also is taking on the Nokta/Makro Simplex which is vying for the same slice of detector market real estate. ML killed the ACE on paper with the V440, but I think the lack of wireless and full up waterproof construction is going to make the Simplex look more attractive to many buyers. The reason is that it is simple to wrap your head around the ruggedness that is implied by a fully waterproof detector and the convenience of wireless. Those in the know, know that Multi IQ is great compared to single frequency, but I think that is more of a nebulous "sell" feature to the masses, so Simplex may win that battle. No matter what, Garrett needs to step up and do something radical at this price level otherwise it will be eaten alive. The other conclusion I have come to is that the V340 and the V540 are somewhat irrelevant. If you are considering a V340 either look hard at the V440 or get a GO FIND. If you are considering the V540, consider saving a few bucks and go with the V440 or make the leap to the Equinox 600. IMO. So what do you folks think about the new kid [almost] on the block?

I had my first real hunt for the season today. I still have frozen ground 2” down in some of my spots. The small public boat landing in my town has a grass “infield” area. I first hunted it last season. Several quick 30 minute hunts. Very full of trash! Lots of people like to park and look across at the town. Also great view of the fireworks when the Bay festival shoots them off every year. I don’t know how I missed so many coins. I still have only concentrated on the fringe areas beside the pavement. I literally hit the same spots as last fall. Probably a dozen coins in 20 minutes. Very easy to pinpoint with the small coil. Targets were a solid lock on everything I dug. The few pieces of canslaw I dug were solid at 17. I got a 17-18 number very shallow. Of course I needed to get the trash out, so I dug it up. Very damaged zippo lighter. My second ever. It will get sent in to be repaired. I am not sure I will use my other machines this season. This thing is very fun and light. Very much worth the under 200 I spent on it. btw, I didn’t plan on my gloves matching the machine....just a happy coincidence.

Starting to see some different results from the relic mode on the 540 than I would expect according to the manual and suggested use of the mode. Maybe some other 540 users can confirm or deny what I'm seeing. First off in my soil it's not the deepest mode because of the mineralization, it's actually quite choppy on deep targets. However, what I'm starting to see, and I've tested this a few times and even confirmed it on Monte's nail board. Relic mode appears to have better separation in iron than either the coin or jewelry modes. This is contrary to what the manual says but I'm seeing this more every time I take it out. I'd say it performs about 20% better and I'm taking about surface trash not deep stuff with the V8 coil. Anybody else seeing this same thing?

coin spader - Some wind noise at the beginning of the video, sorry 😞 but was a decent hunt. Coin pics at the end of the video.

I got to wondering what a small coil for the Vanquish sold for. And found no dealers selling any Vanquish coils at all. A couple have placeholders as if they are anticipating coils, but that would just be forward thinking at work. I notice the spec sheets and manual do not mention accessory coils. Coils are not listed as an item with a part number on the Minelab Parts website. They do show on the main Minelab website but it's pretty vague as to if you can actually expect to buy one. We all know Minelab has been limiting accessory coils as part of a "compartmentalizing" strategy that keeps it's units in distinct "boxes" so that one Minelab model undermines another as little as possible. I wonder if this has been taken to the final end game of such a strategy, where the coils are part of why you buy a certain model. Each Vanquish model has a successively larger coil, which inherently adds a little depth between models that would otherwise have identical performance. And what if the only way to get a small coil for a Vanquish was to buy the Pro Pack? I am not saying this is the official strategy but if it is I can see how a marketing person might love it. So here is my scavenger hunt assignment for you all. Can anyone find a Vanquish coil for sale with a Minelab part number and price? Or any reference on Minelabs site or in their literature that says one might expect to buy accessory coils? Minelab Vanquish 540 Pro Pack

I’ve had the Vanquish 540 out on 4 ghost town hunts now and I wanted to give my thoughts on it’s performance in these challenging sites. 3 of the 4 hunts were at places where the items are on or near the surface. At those places the 5 x 8 coil was used. At the other site the items can be anywhere from surface to 12 inches deep because the town was located in a now plowed field. At that place, the 9 x 12 coil was used. In some cases other metal detectors were used to find some of the targets and compare signals with the Vanquish The Vanquish set at high iron bias does a great job at discriminating out surface bottle caps and other flat tin where single frequency metal detectors struggle. First site I went to I only used the Vanquish with the 5 x 8 coil, coin mode, high iron bias, horse off, sensitivity at 2 below max. The site is loaded with bottle caps and tin cans, I could see them on the surface in many areas. I hunted for 3 hours and only found a zinc mason jar lid, a large brass ring about the size of a pocket watch, two deep soda cans, the type with aluminum top and tin sides and a few other modern things like a pull tab and modern penny found on the surface. Made me wonder how much I walked over because everything was either on the surface or big. At the other 2 sites, even with the small coil on, the Vanquish really struggles on targets in carpet of nails. This shouldn’t be a surprise. With the other metal detectors (I had along with small coils) targets could be detected from multiple directions. The Vanquish on a good amount of the targets could only see the target in one direction and in some cases couldn’t see the target at all. I had several targets I could see on the ground surrounded by nails but couldn’t get the Vanquish to lock onto them. I fell like if you only worked an area from one direction you would probably walk over about 50% of the good targets with the Vanquish. Not saying the Vanquish is bad, it just isn’t the right choice for a trashy ghost town. However, on a positive note. I did have one signal that the other metal detectors ID'd in the coin range and I thought for sure I had a dime or quarter. The Vanquish gave a broken tone and wouldn’t lock on, I thought crap, too much iron around for the Vanquish to pick out this good signal. Surprise, it was a flat piece of tin about the size of a half dollar. No coins found at either of these sites. Found suspender clips, watch parts, buttons, scraps of brass, etc. At the site with deeper targets is where the gap between the Equinox and Vanquish become more apparent, and rightfully so. Vanquish settings-Coin mode (relic mode is worthless in my mineralized soil), horseshoe on, max sensitivity, low iron bias. Equinox settings-Park 1, sensitivity 22, iron bias 0, recovery 4, horseshoe on, 50 tones. The amount of iron junk at this site is moderate with good targets mixed in at various depths. I found 12-15 targets at this site with the Equinox and went over them with the Vanquish. All the targets that were co-located next to iron and less than 7 inches deep, both the Equinox and Vanquish saw (a least from one direction) and gave a good ID. I got several like 5 or 6 that were too deep for the Vanquish to ID and one gave absolutely no tone at all on the Vanquish, it was a small button at 7 inches. Other items found were large buttons, small buttons suspender clips, scrap brass and lead, shotgun brass, etc Without going into a bunch of detail, I’m starting to see some trends regarding the Vanquish. First, the Vanquish struggles with small low conductors that are deep or mixed with iron trash. Second, the Vanquish just seems to cut off at a certain depth. No glimpse of any numbers, very little up averaging, just straight out slashes across the screen with iron grunt or simply no sound at all. Most other metal detectors I use at least chirp and flash a number on deep targets. Now these could be related to my mineralized soil. But I feel like it’s related to iron bias, I wish it could just be turned off. In any case the Vanquish IMO is a good park and beach machine, comes up a little short as a relic and ghost town machine. Could also be used to scout areas out and cherry pick the good signals then follow up with a better detector later. Still better than most other metal detectors in it’s price range though. I’m headed to another ghost town with it and some other metal detectors tomorrow. This time I’ll try and shoot some video and show what I’m talking about.

I've heard several guys comment that the Vanquish has a more solid id on targets than the Equinox. Isn't that what you would expect from a machine running half the number of segments. I'm certainly no expert but that just seems to make sense to me. With 25 on the Vanquish and 50 on the Equinox. I suspect even less jumping on the 440 & 340. You just simply have a larger area to drop the signal into which given the opportunity might cover more segments if they were available. Just thinking out loud...🤔😁

I found an interesting YT video Vanquish 340..This makes it easy to convert S -Shaft to direct -Shaft ...For example, if you ever want to do that ..I consider this a sophisticated Shaft design at the Vanquish ...

Just got back from 3 days in Oceanside, CA it was nice to get out of the cold here in Utah. Came back to 9 inches of snow this morning. Didn't take a PI this time because I wanted to see how the Equinox 11" coil and Vanquish V12 coil compared to each other on the beach. Area I hunted was North and South of the pier. This beach can be awesome after a big storm. I've been there before when one day you can literally pick up targets off the hard pan because the sand has been totally stripped away and the next day 2 ft of sand has washed back in. Sand was pretty deep this time all 3 days, in areas at about a foot you would hit a rocky layer where the targets would settle. Tried hunting in the water with the Equinox a few times but it was just too rough and took way too long to recover good targets. So most of my time was spent between the towel line and waters edge. Nothing exciting found, a bunch of change, and ear gauge and 1 junk ring. A few people have said that the Vanquish appears to be Equal to the Equinox in Beach 1 mode and I would have to agree. I ran the Equinox in Beach 1 sensitivity at about 21 and the Vanquish in Jewelry mode, iron bias low. sensitivity 1 notch below max and both machines were very quite. Switching off between the two I didn't really notice any difference in depth both machines recovered several nickels and quarters at the 12" mark and pennies and dime around the 9" mark. Most stuff I recovered was 6" or more in depth. Target ID on the Vanquish is rock solid on good targets, even the deeper Quarters and Nickels I dug gave a solid ID. ID's that were jumpy always turned out to be a corroded piece of aluminum or zinc penny. The only area the Vanquish struggled was in places where there were multiple targets and especially targets mixed in with iron. Because this beach is replenished from time to time with sand pumped from the harbor and other areas, there tends to be places where boat parts, fishing hooks and other junk congregates. I had several instances where I had to use the Equinox because there were just too many targets to separate out the good ones. One in particular I ran into with the Vanquish but had to switch to the Equinox turned out to be a small piece of aluminum, a stainless ear gauge, and a quarter mixed with iron trash in a small 1 foot by 1 foot area. The Vanquish was unable dial in on one target although I could tell there was more than just iron there due to the mix of positive numbers. Overall I would have to say the Vanquish is the most capable beach detector I've seen in it's price range (unless you need waterproof). I felt quite confident I wasn't missing much when using the Vanquish unless I was in a junk filled area. Great detector for a beginner, child, to loan out or as a backup for your Equinox. One thing I did notice when changing between the 2, the Vanquish is a little nose heavy compared to the Equinox. If you're getting one for a small child to use I would suggest getting one with the smaller coil or switching it out to the smaller one on the 540.

The Minelab Vanquish was first reported as in development in April 2019 and is finally now shipping to dealers worldwide. I am not counting the early pre-release to one big box store, Dicks Sporting Goods. This also was not unexpected. Almost all dealers except a few told customers not to expect the detector until early 2020. In that regard the Vanquish is pretty much on target. Still, I wanted to officially note that it has been nine months passing between first mention and general widespread availability. The trend, and it’s not just Minelab, has been for ever earlier mentions of detectors on the way. The Nokta/Makro Simplex and Fisher Impulse are a couple other recent examples. It appears that waiting up to a year or more is not out of the realm of possibilities. I’m just putting this out there to generally address the inevitable “when’s it going to ship” questions that arise when new detectors are announced. The answer is, later rather than sooner, and don’t hold your breath.

My reason for asking this question is because Minelab dealer like Rob’s Detectors don’t have none to sell. If I never get one it will be a cold day in hell before I go to Dick’s Sport to buy one. I don’t know why are what’s the thinking of Minelab by limiting it to a big chain and not to the little guy at the same time. I like the personal service like Rob and others like him offer . I’ll pass on some guy that don’t know what end is up and nothing about what he’s selling. Chuck

Here's a video of the Minelab Vanquish 540, Equinox 800 and eTrac comparing some targets while relic hunting. The area is challenging because there are not many targets left and the EMI is terrible. Steve if this should be under Comparisons feel free to move the post. Thanks

I am a high school golf coach and my players gave me a $100 gift certificate for Dicks Sporting Goods which is one of the best all-round sporting goods stores in the Denver area. I don't shop there very often so I thought "I'm interested in the Vanquish but only in the 340 since I already have a Nox 600 and 800". I hate taking either of my Noxes or my XPs to tot lots and bark play grounds and I often am helping newbies learn how to detect so for $99, I ordered one on Wednesday Dec. 18th. I received it today, Sunday Dec. 22nd. I gotta say, I was very surprised at the build quality, light weight and operation of the Vanquish 340. Coming from a Deus/Orx owner and a former owner of several Nokta Makro detectors, that is saying a lot. It is easy to adjust for comfortable custom fit and lightweight enough for a child , I don't mind the RED after all, I really like the way the buttons feel, simple operation that anyone can use, very much like the Equinox tones, response, target IDs, intuitiveness and one or two quick horseshoe "all metals" button presses and I can check for iron identification or just stay in no targets discriminated. Again, it really does detect like an Equinox and detects and feels nothing like a Go-Find or even an X-Terra. In coin mode it did high tone false on iron depending on depth so I did dig some rusty nails at 6" to 8" that gave numbers in the high 30s. I was hunting in a silver coin area and would have dug them anyway......in coin mode iron and small foil are supposed to be discriminated. I still dug pull tabs and larger can slaw. Crown caps really do have broken nulling audio and so did those nails so I will have to remember that audio nuance. I really did not miss the lack of an onboard pinpointer. For shallower coins (surface to 4") it gave a clear double beep right over the coin. Dug some nice pre-1982 copper pennies and 2 wheats at 8"...........not bad for a 10"X7" coil in moderate to high mineralization and I was not running it on max sensitivity. In my backyard test bed I have a buried 6" nickel and 6" quarter that every detector I have tried can respond with some kind of audio and totally incorrect numerical target ID. The only detector that I own or have owned that could correctly identify both of these targets was the Equinox. Well, the entry level Vanquish 340 correctly identified both 6" targets AND gave the correct depth. That is saying a lot especially on the 6" nickel which every other detector I have every swung over it (the list is long and includes every manufacturer's detectors, XP, FTP, Garret, Whites, Nokta Makro, Tesoro and including Minelab=X-Terra 705 ) have totally failed to identify this 6" nickel in 4 to 5 bar dirt (F75 and F19 Fe3O4 meters) So, the Multi IQ system in the Vanquish is for real. I really would like to know what the multi frequency range is for the Vanquish too. Mine hit a 2/10 gram small nugget at 3" in the ground and I did not have the sensitivity at max!!!!! I still haven't had the courage to try the Vanquish coil on the Equinox just to make sure (I know Minelab said it will not work.....) Jeff

X-ray coil Minelab Vanquish 340 from me 🙂

I may have missed any information already posted here or elsewhere concerning the Vanquish series versus Bottlecaps. I am not referring to aluminum caps but rather steel caps with their various coatings and Aluminized Mylar type inserts. Information on orientation, inner part of cap facing up or outer facing up would be helpful along with stage of corrosion. The depth and where appropriate the Hi/Lo iron reject would also be interesting. The above inquiry came to mind as I wondered if noobies with a Vanquish will be able to move across the landscape and not become discouraged by digging Bottlecaps? For experienced users I also wondered if this series might become a go to picnic area hunter leaving just the Aluminum trash to be dealt with? In situations where I have wandered into picnic areas, having Bottlecaps go away would be well worth the sacrifice of losing some depth by not using a higher gain machine!

Iffy Signals Dec 1, 2019 - We took the Simplex and Vanquish to a 1675 permission and compared some signals throughout the day.

Beach Hunter Dec 3, 2019 - Minelab Vanquish Beach Review Finds Silver

Minelab Vanquish 440/540 User Manual Version 4901-0305-2 Minelab Vanquish 440/540 Instruction Manual Minelab Vanquish 340 Instruction Manual Minelab Vanquish Color Brochure

Posted 11/17/2019 https://fccid.io/Z4C-0041 Minelab Vanquish 440/540 User Manual