M15 First Impressions

[Ringtail]

I was finally able to take my new M15 out for a few test runs and I couldn’t be more pleased. Day one was at a site that I have pounded over the last 10 years and previously  found civil war relics, coins, and miscellaneous goodies. After years of grid searching this small patch of ground with a Whites V3i + 15” coil, Equinox 800 + 15” coil, and the Manticore with the 11” coil, using every variation of multiple and single frequencies I wasn’t expecting much. To my surprise, I found a brass thimble, a piece of jewelry made from gold plated brass, a toy Purple Heart, and a brass lantern top, and various unidentifiable brass bits. The VDI numbers were accurate and reasonably stable. The next two days were on a small horse farm were I had previously found tombac buttons and a well worn 1700’s half reale coin. I had visited this permission several times previously, but hadn’t searched it as thoroughly as the first site. The last time I was there I had an Equinox 800 with a large coil. Maura, with a 15 inch coil was a real game changer. I was hitting solid signals at 6 to 10 inches deep all over the place. There were dots right on the centerline even for the deepest bar all day sometimes they were very faint. Many of the targets were surrounded by pieces of broken square nails, or other iron. Digging conditions were perfect with the wet clay soil coming out in well shaped one piece come shaped plugs with the target usually near the point of the plug. Settings were AT Low then AT High. I found more good targets with AT High and even though there was some falsing, I could tell the good targets with the info on the 2D screen. All of the good targets were mostly or partially on the non-ferrous line. I did frequent ground balancing and long press noise noise canceling to keep the machine quiet. Sensitivity setting was 22 with recovery delay at 6. For deep signals I switched to sensitivity of 24 and RD of 5 or 4 to get more reliable 2d screen info. This worked very well and kept the machine quieter during searching. These settings are not universal, I need to vary them at every buffet place that I hunt depending on soil conditions, EMI, amount of trash, desired targets, etc. I am not far from Culpeper, VA and mineralization is high so lower recovery delays settings are too noisy. Long story short I found my 2nd civil war belt buck with the Manticore, an 1800s Pocket Pistol brass barrel, several civil war era bullets and round balls, 2 silver coins, and several pennies and several unidentified larger copper coins, a bell, 1800s flatware, a shoe heel plate, clock parts, and lots more! Most of the targets were deep and were good solid hits. I am very pleased with the M15.

 

 

I forgot to mention that all 3 days the temps were just above freezing with high winds. On the last day a cold front came in at noon with 45 mph winds and it started snowing and I was about to quit. Then I found the Sword Belt Plate above and kept going till sunset. The ground froze solid that night.

Happy hunting,

Ringtail

[abenson]

Congrats on the US Officers sword belt plate, that would make any ones day. Bunch of other nice finds in there as well. I'm liking my M15 coil too, much lighter than I thought it would be. Perfect for the beach or those open fields.

[phrunt]

I retired my 11" from general use when I purchased the 15", I only care about deep silver and it does that job well over the 11".  It's surprisingly light too.

[Ringtail]

Phrunt,

I think I will do the same. I’m getting more depth, covering more ground and still can get good target separation, pinpointing, and low EMI. I was disappointed about the lack of depth with the 11” coil, I’m quite happy with the depth of the M15.

Ringtail

[King Cnut]

Love the M15 coil my 11" is now gathering dust

[Ringtail]

Those are awesome finds! Hammered silver coins are definitely on my bucket list. What is the ring shaped object 3rd down on the left?

Ringtail

[fishersari]

6 hours ago, Ringtail said:

Sensitivity setting was 22 with recovery delay at 6.

what was the sensitivity that you can ran on the nox 800 with 15' coil on the same field? 

6 hours ago, Ringtail said:

I found more good targets with AT High and even though there was some falsing

Would love to be able to run AT HC on my relic sites.. for now I'm trying to learn on how the manti speaks regarding falsing and ground response on much higher sensitivity in AT general.. I believe the Manticore is about controlling and understanding falsing/ground responses to get the most out of it .. maybe 1 day in the near future i would be able to run AT HC with a smile .. lol 

[Ringtail]

Fishersari,

I don’t recall the sensitivity I used on the Equinox 800 but it was one of the highest numbers. It’s definitely more difficult to prevent falsing in AT HC and it seems to be very sensitive to mineralization. I think the key to quieting the Manticore in hot soil is accurate ground balance and noise canceling. I do both frequently. At my sites ground balance can change significantly in a short distance. Also, long press noise cancel is great but not perfect. Sometimes you can pick a better frequency by manually going through the numbers. I run all metal whenever possible but I turn the iron volume down to zero. When I discriminate I only notch the lowest numbers below the smallest buttons or good targets likely at that site, for example 0-20. 

Ringtail

[King Cnut]

18 hours ago, Ringtail said:

Those are awesome finds! Hammered silver coins are definitely on my bucket list. What is the ring shaped object 3rd down on the left?

Ringtail

Thanks buddy, that 3rd item is a medieval buckle 1200 -1400 century 👌

[King Cnut]

I never go above 20 sensitivity i am mostly running 18 on iron infested mineralised sites and the manticore is missing nothing