Manticore Center Line Question...

[basstrackerman]

I have 150 hours or so on my manticore and over last 25 hours or so tried to keep track of all good targets I've dug that were not on or slightly touching center line.  So far I've counted zero keepers that were  not at least slightly touching the line.  I have dug trash non-ferrous on the line , and maybe a couple wrap around iron that showed as a tiny dot on center line at 99.  I've dug a lot of targets that sounded pretty good tone wise and the 2D screen showing nothing on center line and every target was either iron or some sort of trashy metal.  Rattlehead made a video and every pic he posted of his screen of the deep coins in iron showed target trace on or touching center line on every target that was good.  What is everyone's experience with this?  How many of you are digging coins or buttons or any keepers that show up no where near center line?   Just curious .  

[steveg]

Interesting post, basstrackerman, and one I'll like to see the responses to.  I have only about 10 hours on my MC, so nowhere near enough experience to comment.  I'll be interested in the other comments...

Steve

[abenson]

I've probably got close to 100 hours on the Manticore now but most of it is beach hunting, maybe 20 hours park hunting. For beach hunting I can mostly agree with good targets being on or touching the center line. Park hunting I've dug quite a few nails now that I thought for sure were gong to be either a deep penny or a dime (decent trace and ID) and a few targets with a decent trace and ID that I could never find. The parks I hut are fairly mineralized though 4 bars at one and 5 at the other. So targets down to about 6" the target trace is great, deeper than that it's a total crap shoot.

I watched a video last night done by Metal Detecting NYC and he was having trouble digging deep iron until he turned the horse shoe off (no iron audio) at that point things really changed for him. This might be the key with the Manticore, running iron audio off and maybe even setup a disc pattern like Rattlehead did in his video. I'll be going out again today and plan on experimenting with those features.

[Digalicious]

The center line is plotting the nonferrous IDs. Correct? If so, then is all the nonferrous trash like tabs, foil, and aluminum bottle caps plotting on the center line?

[GB_Amateur]

2 minutes ago, Digalicious said:

The center line is plotting the nonferrous IDs. Correct? If so, then is all the nonferrous trash like tabs, foil, and aluminum bottle caps plotting on the center line?

If the ground doesn't contain ferrous mineralization, then I think you are right.  As Andrew (abenson) pointed out, highly mineralized ground can cause exceptions.  (Intermediate mineralization -- that's one I'll be investigating like a "monkey on a cupcake" -- credit to Ray Barone for that quote.  😄)

It seems the ravest reviews for the Manticore are coming from water/beach detectorists.  Apparently it does quite well handling positive (i.e. salt) mineralization, in the absence of black sand anyway.

[abenson]

27 minutes ago, Digalicious said:

The center line is plotting the nonferrous IDs. Correct? If so, then is all the nonferrous trash like tabs, foil, and aluminum bottle caps plotting on the center line?

Yes nonferrous traces on the center line. Steel Bottle caps are usually just above the lower limits to the left or just off to the right of the lower limits block 

[bamajoe]

BASSTRACKERMAN, that is great information about the center line. I have highly mineralized soil and with about 20 hours on my manticort,  I haven't found any settings that have anywhere near good results.I cannot tell ferrous from non ferrous.I'm also very much interested in this post and will be following. I will set up discrimination and limits using this center line  theory.If I find something that works,I'll report back. Thanks for the good information.

[JCR]

1 hour ago, bamajoe said:

BASSTRACKERMAN, that is great information about the center line. I have highly mineralized soil and with about 20 hours on my manticort,  I haven't found any settings that have anywhere near good results.I cannot tell ferrous from non ferrous.I'm also very much interested in this post and will be following. I will set up discrimination and limits using this center line  theory.If I find something that works,I'll report back. Thanks for the good information.

What Sensitivity levels have you been trying to run?  What GB numbers are you getting in that soil?

[bamajoe]

GB usually mid 30's,though I have seen some 20's and low 40's. Not sure what level this relates to.I've tried hot sensitivity settings in 30's,low around 16 to 17 but run mostly at 20.With manticort, 20 sensitivity is plenty deep but have not found a way to discriminate FE from non FE with any combination of settings..Been using minlabs for years  (E-trac,CTX,NOX as well as many other brands.I know my soil is highly mineralized. CTX discrimination of FE./non FE. runs out at 6". With CTX discrimination becomes iffy at 6". With hit targets at 7" but with no idea whether ferrous or non ferrous. Never dug anything beyond 7" in my bad soil with any detector. DISCLAIMER: I only have 20 hours with manticort and with sensitivity 20, I have dug targets at 9". Plenty deep but cannot discriminate iron yet.

[basstrackerman]

44 minutes ago, bamajoe said:

GB usually mid 30's,though I have seen some 20's and low 40's. Not sure what level this relates to.I've tried hot sensitivity settings in 30's,low around 16 to 17 but run mostly at 20.With manticort, 20 sensitivity is plenty deep but have not found a way to discriminate FE from non FE with any combination of settings..Been using minlabs for years  (E-trac,CTX,NOX as well as many other brands.I know my soil is highly mineralized. CTX discrimination of FE./non FE. runs out at 6". With CTX discrimination becomes iffy at 6". With hit targets at 7" but with no idea whether ferrous or non ferrous. Never dug anything beyond 7" in my bad soil with any detector. DISCLAIMER: I only have 20 hours with manticort and with sensitivity 20, I have dug targets at 9". Plenty deep but cannot discriminate iron yet.

That's good news that you're digging deeper than you ever were in your dirt. I'm in southern Alabama just a few miles from the coast so my dirt has nowhere close to what yours would be but I'm digging much deeper than I feel I ever have done with any detector on a regular basis. I mean I'm finding 22 lead bullets at 9-10 in deep with a clear repeatable signal and a solid 71/72 on the screen with iron in the hole. Now I've dug a few deep targets with some detectors that surprised me of how deep certain targets were, but I'm digging a lot of deep targets with a manticore and only using 20 sensitivity.  But I checked today also and I did not dig any good targets unless the target trace was touching the center line. I did dig quite a few targets that sounded good had good ID on the screen but the target trace was not on the center line they ended up being iron or some other type of junk metal just like every other time. But I know somebody has to be digging good keepers with the manticore where the target trace was not touching that center line. And that's what I'm hoping people will start chiming in here and letting me know what their experiences are.