First 2 Outings With The Manticore

[UtahRich]

 

A couple trips out with the Manticore and I'm off to a good start.

A week ago, Andrew and I had done a little testing with our PI machines at one of Andrews long time spots on the GSL, link to the video is on his thread over in the jewelry forum i think. We had a great time.

Anyway, the following Thursday we both ended up with Manticore's on our porch, so after some text messaging, we decided a repeat visit on Saturday was necessary.

Andrew was able to get out Friday for a brief period and had already set up a temporary test garden of nickels in the lake bed (10", 12", 14" and 16" deep). We used the same garden to test the manticores. Both of our detectors, with 21 sensitivity, hit all of the nickels. After having run our PI's over these same coins a week earlier, with lesser results, I was impressed, as was Andrew. Side note - Andrew tried his D2 on these same targets and it also hit all 4 nickels. I don't know the settings he used on the D2 but as many of you know, he is a well versed XP user.


Settings;

Set up was Beach Deep - 11" coil
Auto Ground balance (bob the coil) which varied depending on location from the mid-teens up to mid-40's.
Recovery Speed 4
Discrimination - None
Ferrous Limits were Preset used in conjunction with the Horseshoe so I could hear everything classified ferrous or non-ferrous
Ferrous Volume 12
Target Tones - 1, All Tones
Audio Theme - Normal
Sensitivity - started at 21, went to 22 and had a bit of instability that was tolerable. Went to 23 for a while and the instability became distracting and then back to 22.
I used my backlight on Full as I don't have a screen protector yet and so the tinted factory film is still in place.

I used Auto ground balance frequently as I went from wet sand to wet sand with melting snow water/salt water mix to straight up potent GSL salt water. I also Noise Cancelled frequently as there is a large EMI source nearby. And I hunt with my cell phone powered OFF.

Andrew's first target had actually come the day before when he came out to do some prep work. Gold Ring. Nice way to begin ownership of any detector. While I didn't turn up a gold ring, I did have a pretty nice Saturday. I managed a 1918-D Merc, 1937-S Buff, 1958-? Wheatie, 1926-? Standing Liberty Quarter and a Utah Sales Tax Toxen, a number of lead bullets and a pair of keys located with my Axiom the previous weekend, but stuck below the frozen layer, so they were left behind not knowing their identity. Good day.

We came back Monday and I added a dateless Buffalo nickel, a 1935-S Peace Dollar, a Sterling silver ring, a brass ring, 2 old keys, and more lead bullets to be repurposed into dive weights. A weather front moved in and it started cooling off so i decided to wrap up. I had 4+ hours hunting time Saturday and another 4 hours or so Monday. Screen backlight was on FULL the whole time, which I wouldn't normally do. My battery indicator was on the last segment as I started winding down to leave. At home it was officially out of green segments so I put it on the charger. I would say it was close to 9 hrs of hunting with full backlight the entire time. I don't know if the Beach DEEP program demands extra power or not.

As for the GSL. Older targets in this place typically start at 10-12" deep, Tip to top of my shovel head measures 11.5" and this was the typical depth of the gray layer where most targets lay. They go down from there. The Manticore handled the deep stuff with sensitivity on 22-23. (35 max) The silver dollar was at the edge of detection. Andrew recorded it on his GoPro and I imagine he will post it on his YouTube channel at some point if you're interested in seeing how deep. I'll just say that it was "in the gray".

As for the Manticore - My thoughts. I have been swinging Minelabs for quite a few years. I acquired my Minelab Explorer XS back in 2000 after using a CZ-6a for about 5 years and other detectors for years before that. Followed The Explorer XS with an Etrac and then the EQ800. How does the Manticore stack up initially for me?

It is very comfortable and light to swing. Natural in hand. Goes deep. Improved menu. ID's well. Easy to use. I like the tones, but still have a LOT of experimenting to do with inland targets. The MC has a very nice feel to it. And it finds stuff for me. That's a really good combination. I have yet to take it to the old parks, old houses and such where I will be better suited to get a feel for inland capabilities compared to my 800 and previous detectors. The ghost towns are still some weeks away as well and i'm likely going to need the small 8x5.5 coil before venturing into the rusty tin and nails. Not sure how long Minelab is going to be getting those to Market.

Unmasking? I had one target, a buffalo nickel, that came up with a piece of rusty iron. Audio was low in the nickel range / target ID in the mid-20's. There was a target on the 12 line that smeared down into the lower ferrous area. I dug away the sand and the Targets were still in the hole down in the gray yuck approximately 10" deep. A large shovelful brought both up. I found the rusty iron piece first with the pinpointer and was surprised to see it considering the signal. Thinking there must be something else there, i re-swept the pile and discovered the nickel. I know that's not much to go on. But it gave me confidence.

The Manticore's new target ID scale is reminiscent of the White's detectors pretty much exactly, at least for coins. I can tell the difference between clad and silver coins. That gives me some familiarity.

Well, so far, so good. It's been a few years since I turned up my last silver dollar. And more that a few years since my last SLQ, so an unexpectedly nice start. I have to say thus far, I'm pleased with my purchase.

UtahRich -

[Valens Legacy]

Very nice finds and glad you are getting good results from it.

Good luck on your next outing.

[JCR]

It is really nice when you can fall right in with a new machine and it seems like an old friend.

[abenson]

Nice write up Rich! I'll just add a few things. My settings on the Manticore are about the same. I have dropped my recovery to 3 and sometimes 2. But 2 makes the targets a bit to smeared IMO for the GSL.

Rich had me go over the silver dollar before he dug it to see what I thought. I don't know if he realized it was going to be big silver or not. I was getting VDI readings all the way from 13 to 95, so it was deep. I called silver half, but was wrong. Based on going back and watching the video I would say it was 16+ inches deep.

The Manticore is a great beach detector that's for sure. I have dug a few pieces of iron with it and suspected it would be iron at the time but dug it to confirm my suspicions.

For me the Deus 2 has a little better audio on the deep targets. But both machines are right up there for the deepest VLF I've ever used at the GSL.

[GB_Amateur]

Great writeup, Rich!

11 hours ago, UtahRich said:

We came back Monday and I added a dateless Buffalo nickel, a 1935-S Peace Dollar,...

(stated rather non-chalantly)  What??!!  A silver dollar is an elusive bucket-lister for most coin hunters.  I realize they are a bit more common in the West, but still.  You two are killing me.  Andrew recovers a Walking Liberty half dollar.  Ho-hum.  You get a silver dollar.  Ho-hum.  😄

[PI-Man]

Great write up.  Glad to here Manticore ID’s being close to Whites.  Wish D2 was close to Whites.

Still waiting on our household Manticore.  At some point a couple of shipping containers have to show up in some port somewhere.

[Steve Herschbach]

20 hours ago, PI-Man said:

Glad to here Manticore ID’s being close to Whites.  Wish D2 was close to Whites.

As a White’s owner from way back and still own a DFX, this actually matters to me. 

[PI-Man]

Steve — yep I just wish that D2 ID scale was closer to my V3i VDI scale  — than I wouldn’t be worrying about missing any goodies while I learn it.  But the D2 has been a good machine so far to me in the short time that I’ve had it.   Great to hear the Manti is close to it 🤞 my wife will be happy she misses her MXT.  But it was time to go to machines that have a little less weight to save the backs.

[UtahRich]

On 1/19/2023 at 11:39 AM, GB_Amateur said:

Great writeup, Rich!

(stated rather non-chalantly)  What??!!  A silver dollar is an elusive bucket-lister for most coin hunters.  I realize they are a bit more common in the West, but still.  You two are killing me.  Andrew recovers a Walking Liberty half dollar.  Ho-hum.  You get a silver dollar.  Ho-hum.  😄

Very kind words GBA - Yes, silver dollars don't typically show up all the time. I've been fortunate to hunt locations where silver halves and dollars are more likely to turn up, so when hunting these areas, they aren't usually a surprise.  A number of detectorists i've hunted with have had lots of good fortune as well, which is nice for me because it offers opportunity to learn from their successes, how they hunt and set up their equipment, how they think themselves around a site, how they research, even how they work with land owners and administrators.

I often come away from these adventures feeling a bit schooled. This is one of those times. I've been hunting a long time and have admired Andrew's approach to things.  Lots for me to learn there from his approach and methods. 

Rich - 

[Zincoln]

Now, Rich, you need to start saving up for a backhoe to be able to get to the bottom of these cavernous holes😁 I know it's not your first silver dollar, but it certainly cannot get old when they show up!  

I know you put aside your tried and true detector(s) to give the Manticore a shot, and glad to see it has paid off for you.  Looking forward to many more 'photo shoots' in your near future!

Zincoln