Minelab Manticore has arrived!
pcgs69
Posts: 4,331 ✭✭✭✭
Decided to take a chance on a new minelab manticore. It just arrived. I still have the equinox 800 so not sure if I’m going to keep both or end up with just one. Gotta get it set up now!
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Lovely! Please provide feedback on ur findings.
Suggest you read posts on the Dankowski forum for guidance in setting your iron bias limits, etc. I have held off on buying a Manticore, am not yet convinced the performance improvement over the Equinox is worth the price. Beach gold hunters could easily justify it though.
Looks nice... Let us know how setup goes.... and, of course, your subsequent hunts. Have not heard anything about this unit yet... but this forum is the only one I follow anymore. Cheers, RickO
Exciting to set up and tweak a new machine. I'm interested in the iron discrimination and notch out performance. Good luck. Peace Roy
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what does something like that cost.
The sticker price is $1599. I paid full price but you may be able to get for less from a dealer if you ask nicely. There's still a shortage of these but with some patience you can get one.
I watched some videos on the Manticore vs... and one was against the CTX. I actually think the CTX identified iron better but am hoping the new and faster processing power of the manticore will help it out.
Got it assembled and fully charged last night and hoping to start testing it out tonight.
Have not heard anything about this unit yet... but this forum is the only one I follow anymore. Cheers, RickO
I wrote about the Manticore in my "finds thread" back on September 3, 2022.
Minelab gives 15% off to veterans with their DD-214.
Very nice and hard to get your hands on one I'm looking to upgrade from the 800 ,can't decide to go for the 900 or the manticore 🤔
There’s a lot of debate on the forums on whether to get the 900 or manticore. Some say the price difference isn’t worth it, others say the 2d mapping is great. The Deus II forums say to get a Deus. So who knows in the end haha.
I thought a Deus for a minute but even if it is a better machine in the end I’m more familiar with minelab products so not sure the learning curve would be worth it.
All of these “vs” videos on YouTube don’t really have a clear winner.
Totally agree stick with what your familiar with, I do 90% of my detecting on pasture & they reckon the manticore is a killer on pasture but not so good on ploughed, this will probably sway it for me,mind I have no complaints at all with my 800 but there's no stopping technology moving forward got to keep up with the times.
Nice. Good luck on your finds!
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
Still haven't had a chance to get out yet. Hoping this weekend sometime.
Let us know, I have an Equinox 600 but am contemplating a new one!
I actually took the Manticore out last Monday but haven't had a chance to post. Here are my initial thoughts. These are based on my one hunt and admittedly not understanding everything about the machine and not adjusting all settings.
First off, it loads faster than the 800 and CTX and noise cancel is super fast. It seems like it's pretty easy to navigate the options. I took it to a park I've hit a few times with the 800 that's full of low/mid tones so I had to cherrypick high tones previously.
Thoughts: I must have erroneously thought the center line was for only good targets, but many bottle caps had the clear and concise circle on the center line, so I guess you need to have a combination of number reading, center line, sound, etc to fully understand what's below the ground. Also adjusting to the larger range of VDI numbers - I think the 800 goes to what, 40? And the Manticore goes to something like 99, so a 13 on the NOX may be a 28 on the Manticore.
So I didn't really know what the numbers generally meant either. I dug a variety of signals to get a feel for it. Dug a ton of bottle caps. Iron: I didn't get a sense that it was an iron sniffer like many people state. All minelab machines can false on iron and this one didn't seem like anything different. So I didn't dig an abundance of iron.
I did get a few wheat cents and an old sinker. No silver and nothing really to note. Would I have found these with the Nox? Who knows, each time I go back to the same spot any detector seems to find some stuff I missed previously. It didn't seem to me that it's leaps ahead of other detectors, but maybe learning it more will bring out some better finds. It does seem to go pretty deep so hoping to take this to silver beach soon to really test it out.
Overall I didn't get the sense it's the best detector ever, but it's a good one. I really don't have the patience to drag out the 800 and manticore to test signals together. With being able to get out once a month or so I'm not all that concerned with it.
I did an air test with a heavy gold signet ring and the center line dot looked a jagged at certain angles, so I think what it comes down to in the end is the old saying, "dig it all" if you can. I'm not a believer of these crazy discrimination patterns that block out anything below 50 or blocks out just 48, for example.
Assessment is that it's a good machine, but I'm on the fence yet about the center line and really being able to differentiate junk from good stuff over other detectors. Will report back after the next hunt!
@pcgs69 ... Thanks for the analysis... I look forward to your silver beach report - always interesting finds there. Cheers, RickO
I was afraid of that, which is why I have been hesitant to purchase a Manticore. In contrast, I was one of the very earliest owners of an Equinox 600. The Equinox was comparatively inexpensive and has an amazing ability to find masked coins. It has been a great complement for my Etrac over the last five years.
I hope you take the time to master the Manticore. If you give up on it though, I'd probably be willing to become the next owner.
How are you getting on with the manticore? I've decided to take the plunge,mine is arriving tomorrow,passing on my 800 to my son ,lucky lad he'll have fun learning it ,I've had no problems with my 800 and enjoyed every minute with it fantastic detector, hope the manticore is as good.
It's been going. Got out a few times with it and certainly need to practice some more. Going to try going back to the same spots hit with the 800/CTX/Etrac to see if there's some goodies left. Did yours arrive? Initial thoughts?
No,it was supposed to arrive on Friday, I was hoping to try it out this weekend all courier has said there's a delay 😡 it's supposed to be here Monday 🤞
Boooo!! I guess it gives you more time to watch some how-to videos on youtube. Keep us posted on your progress!
Finally arrived on Monday impressed with the build quality & easy to assemble so spent most of the week familiarising myself with the settings and menus, must say it's fairly simple, not too sure on the ferrous limit side of it think I'll leave them alone for now.
So managed to get out today for 3hrs on a field that's been done before with various detectors,must say I was surprised at how many non ferrous targets I managed to locate, the best being
One george lll fake shilling
George ll halfpenny
3 georgian buttons
1 St Christopher pendant poss victorian
and lots of the usual bits of lead & copper items & I only dug 3 bits of iron,
So all in all not too bad for the first outing , I was impressed with the depth and clarity of the signals .