Jumping Between PI And Manticore At The Beach

[bklein]

Have any of you had some trouble alternating between a PI like the AQ or DF and the Manticore?  Man it really messes up my brain - I get good with the Manticore (not totally happy but I find stuff with it) then try the AQ and it runs so quiet when I go back to the Manticore I’m lost. Too randomly noisy… It is why guys buy one and quickly resell it. I’m keeping it as I know how powerful it is. Just have to relearn it. At some beaches though I may stick with the AQ.

 

[Joe Beechnut OBN]

Switching between the Excalibur to the AQ.. No problem since I hunt almetal with both.

But some years ago I worked on excaliburs and when I would have to test a stock excal it would drive me crazy, disliked using one in discriminate mode, to many tones and other noises.

I remember when I first started detecting using the Explorer ll and going thru a area full of targets. Did take some getting use to .. then I switched to beach hunting, so much easier. 

[Joe D.]

   I had been using White's TDI SL's almost exclusively at the beach after Equinox pod #3 died, a few years ago!😡 I got the Manticore in February, and rarely switch back now! PI is now a backup, and I recently received a D2 "lite" from a good friend!🏆

    I think for specific situations where i want most everything under the coil i can find, including "trash" targets, the PI will still be used! But I don't currently feel the need to switch back and forth, as the Manticore offers better flexibility, and really doesn't sacrifice much depth (wet and dry sand) with the M15! And so far🤞, waterproof, (using smaller coils) which the TDI SL "land yacht"😆 can't match, without a waterproof case!

  Probably didn't quite answer your question, but that's where I'm at currently, between the two!🍀👍👍

[bklein]

After using the Dual Field I would hear all sound modified by the cycling threshold the DF had - after I took off the headphones. The AQ threshold is very stable and I’d set it just high enough to verify the power is on. I get some sound with sweeps depending on the amount of black sand and wave action but in general it is really quiet until it sees a target.  Switching from this to an Equinox or MC for me is a real challenge. Eventually I can run the MC even at full sensitivity and be fairly good at realizing targets, but it is such a different experience with the AQ.  I am also left wondering if my AQ is unique because guys write about the differences in behavior with minor control changes. I don’t really see much of that.

[Tony]

Try running the Manticore like a PI.....All metal and Prospecting Audio and just enough Sensitivity so as not to generate any "on screen" falsing. You have black sands which makes things more difficult but running it like a pulse might help. Try a sensitivity of 18 and go from there 👍

[bklein]

I tried something like that but not prospecting audio.  Next time out!😀

[schoolofhardNox]

I usually switch machines when one isn't finding what I want 😂 I find if I keep them classified by beach conditions the chatter of the Manticore doesn't bother me much. Wet sand does not do very well with the GPX, but the Manticore does extremely well there. I rarely have a chance to use the AQ, but I do remember what a pleasure it is to use. They are two different worlds though. 

[Compass]

On 6/23/2025 at 10:46 AM, bklein said:

Have any of you had some trouble alternating between a PI like the AQ or DF and the Manticore?  Man it really messes up my brain - I get good with the Manticore (not totally happy but I find stuff with it) then try the AQ and it runs so quiet when I go back to the Manticore I’m lost. Too randomly noisy… It is why guys buy one and quickly resell it. I’m keeping it as I know how powerful it is. Just have to relearn it. At some beaches though I may stick with the AQ.

 

My experience seems very similar to yours. PIs have been my go-to machines at the beach for most of the last 10 years with the TDI BeachHunter being my current favorite. I think that the TDI and AQ might be similar as the BeachHunter also has a nice smooth threshold - even in the black sand if tuned properly.

I too have had some good beach hunts (wet sand) with the Manticore but it wears me out mentally with its chattiness and what I perceive to be falsing. It's very possible that I still have yet to dial in the best settings for the mineralized sand and moving salt water but I do use Prospecting audio and hunt in all metal in Beach Low Conductors. Oddly enough I prefer using the Manticore in the back bays so maybe it has something to do with the black sand concentrations at our beaches.

For now, my first option for hunting the beach near or in the water is still the TDIBH. For the back bays, dry sand, dirt, grass and fresh water I use the Manticore. 

[Skull diver]

In reading your posts, I find that I am not alone in wishing for a more stable threshold with Manticore.

I have the same listening habit as Excalibur and TDI B.h. and to get to a sound as close as possible to a P.i. all that is left is the prospecting audio theme with a more pronounced threshold volume.

It is the only profile with a true treshold and in combination with all metal can provide similar behavior.

I also find it the only way to understand when you are about to screw it up, because believe me, abusing sensitivity or poor recovery speed makes a martyrdom for the ears and I think also reduced performance.

I'm afraid I experienced the least productive June ever with a black hole lasting from the 3rd to the 28th without a shadow of noble metal.

In salt water, between 18 and 21 points, with M8, I saw an efficient Manticore again.

Needless to mention any other coil, I would use nothing else in water but M8.

Sad experience mine.