3rd hunt with new Manticore

[north1]

Finally got a chance to spend some time with the Manticore this evening. Only about 1 1/2 hrs as the wind was blowing 40+ mph with higher gusts. Old homestead I went to is on a knoll and had trouble standing up. Also I found the ML105 headphones are not good in wind. Half the time it sounded like a hurricane in my earhole.
Both 1917 wheat cents were surrounded by iron. Could hear the solid tone amongst the iron grunts. TID’s were in low-mid 60’s. Pinpointing gave more consistent TID and isolated the cents between the iron. I find the pinpoint mode on the manticore to be exemplary. Really adds to the info before deciding to dig.
I also found that .22 shorts generally give the same TID as nickels(26-27). I am finding the 2D screen to be the last thing I check. Really only verifying that the target paints near the conductive line. Also seems good targets in iron will paint at the conductive line and then paint up towards the ferrous upper rather than paint from the ferrous down to conductive.
Have hunted this knoll for over 20 years. In that timeframe have only found 1 silver. A barber quarter. That is normal for my detecting. The homesteaders had little and lost little. Probably at least a 50/1 ratio of copper to silver. So although this may not seem like a big deal to most my previous 2 hunts with the Manticore and this one have been monumental. Also finding 2 and only 2 wheat cents both dated 1917 Philadelphia's is rather unique.

 

[JJ]

Good hunt and good info on the machine!

 

[laplander]

Great write up, the stock headphones are a bit breezy, tape over the holes will help some.

 

[fwcrawford]

That is pretty impressive being you have been detecting this site for 20 years.
Sounds like that Manticore is working out great for you.

 

[north1]

That is pretty impressive being you have been detecting this site for 20 years.
Sounds like that Manticore is working out great for you.

It is surprisingly so. Every single coin target I have unearthed so far has been difficult. I mean drowning in iron. That is impressive. I long to find a coin in a pristine area to hear the unadulterated tones. A crisp clear signal on a copper cent or silver and I would probably wet myself.
The manticore has also shown the etrac to be a rock solid performer. Sure it left some coins in difficult situations but I still feel it’s TID (conductive/ferrous) is more stable and informative. Tones better nuanced. Even if you adjust the manticore tones with enhanced, rich, etc. the etrac tones are unmatched.
I think the etrac still has a place as a first and second go around on a new site. Will be interesting to try this out. But it is slow. Painfully slow due to the nulling in iron. The manticore is blazingly fast in comparison. So light on its feet. My gosh I could swing the manticore all day, every day in comparison.

 

[fwcrawford]

It is surprisingly so. Every single coin target I have unearthed so far has been difficult. I mean drowning in iron. That is impressive. I long to find a coin in a pristine area to hear the unadulterated tones. A crisp clear signal on a copper cent or silver and I would probably wet myself.
The manticore has also shown the etrac to be a rock solid performer. Sure it left some coins in difficult situations but I still feel it’s TID (conductive/ferrous) is more stable and informative. Tones better nuanced. Even if you adjust the manticore tones with enhanced, rich, etc. the etrac tones are unmatched.
I think the etrac still has a place as a first and second go around on a new site. Will be interesting to try this out. But it is slow. Painfully slow due to the nulling in iron. The manticore is blazingly fast in comparison. So light on its feet. My gosh I could swing the manticore all day, every day in comparison.

I have never tried the Etrac, but my buddy used one for a while and I was impressed with how well he did with it and was thinking about getting one myself.
I did have a Sovereign GT and did well with it, but it too had to be swung slow and was getting heavy.
I bought an 800 back in 2019, and it impressed me the first time I took it out!
I have found more silver coins with it than all my other detectors put together!
It is much lighter than my Sovereign which I eventually sold and I could detect longer with it too.
The old house sites I have searched have not yielded many coins like you have experience also, but I have been searching a new to me site for a couple years on and off and it has been very productive.
I have found several IH’s, V nickels, a few wheats, and even a Spanish Reale. This past Spring I found a Seated dime fashioned into a “love token”.
To say in short, I love my 800.
Looking forward to seeing your future finds from that old house sites you are detecting at!

 

[north1]

I have never tried the Etrac, but my buddy used one for a while and I was impressed with how well he did with it and was thinking about getting one myself.
I did have a Sovereign GT and did well with it, but it too had to be swung slow and was getting heavy.
I bought an 800 back in 2019, and it impressed me the first time I took it out!
I have found more silver coins with it than all my other detectors put together!
It is much lighter than my Sovereign which I eventually sold and I could detect longer with it too.
The old house sites I have searched have not yielded many coins like you have experience also, but I have been searching a new to me site for a couple years on and off and it has been very productive.
I have found several IH’s, V nickels, a few wheats, and even a Spanish Reale. This past Spring I found a Seated dime fashioned into a “love token”.
To say in short, I love my 800.
Looking forward to seeing your future finds from that old house sites you are detecting at!

Your new site sounds like a blast!!!! You have the ability to find a wider time range of artifacts. The area I live and MD in was settled in the late 1800’s so no Spanish silver for this hombre.
The Manticore is also notability deeper than the etrac as well. I would say up 1-2” deeper with the 9” coil as compared to the 8”x6” on the etrac. Enough so that I have to get used to widening my holes. The lip on my lesche digger gets in the way at times.

 

[markinswpa]

Finally got a chance to spend some time with the Manticore this evening. Only about 1 1/2 hrs as the wind was blowing 40+ mph with higher gusts. Old homestead I went to is on a knoll and had trouble standing up. Also I found the ML105 headphones are not good in wind. Half the time it sounded like a hurricane in my earhole.
Both 1917 wheat cents were surrounded by iron. Could hear the solid tone amongst the iron grunts. TID’s were in low-mid 60’s. Pinpointing gave more consistent TID and isolated the cents between the iron. I find the pinpoint mode on the manticore to be exemplary. Really adds to the info before deciding to dig.
I also found that .22 shorts generally give the same TID as nickels(26-27). I am finding the 2D screen to be the last thing I check. Really only verifying that the target paints near the conductive line. Also seems good targets in iron will paint at the conductive line and then paint up towards the ferrous upper rather than paint from the ferrous down to conductive.
Have hunted this knoll for over 20 years. In that timeframe have only found 1 silver. A barber quarter. That is normal for my detecting. The homesteaders had little and lost little. Probably at least a 50/1 ratio of copper to silver. So although this may not seem like a big deal to most my previous 2 hunts with the Manticore and this one have been monumental. Also finding 2 and only 2 wheat cents both dated 1917 Philadelphia's is rather unique.

North1 good write up and congrats on squeaking a few more keepers from a well pounded site. I find I forget to check the 2D screen myself. However as I dig most mid-tones I find I'm using it more and more. Also, agree, realtime pinpointing is a nice feature. I also have found my plugs seem to be a bit wider with the 9 in. I hunt the old parks and finds dried up a couple years ago. With the Manticore they have come back to life. Almost 40 silvers, 75 wheats better than a dozen Buffs, a few Vs and Ihps. Most have been masked in one form or another but running a high recovery speed coupled with high sensitivity seems to sniff out the keepers. And in some cases the machine is so quick I get a short but clean coin signal. So far I am impressed with it. I will say as of late I have been getting high toning on memorial pennies which did not happen in the beginning. For the first 18 or so hunts tone and TID were spot on. Learning to deal with it as this has been going on at least the last half dozen hunts or so. Still love the machine though. Good luck.

 

[north1]

North1 good write up and congrats on squeaking a few more keepers from a well pounded site. I find I forget to check the 2D screen myself. However as I dig most mid-tones I find I'm using it more and more. Also, agree, realtime pinpointing is a nice feature. I also have found my plugs seem to be a bit wider with the 9 in. I hunt the old parks and finds dried up a couple years ago. With the Manticore they have come back to life. Almost 40 silvers, 75 wheats better than a dozen Buffs, a few Vs and Ihps. Most have been masked in one form or another but running a high recovery speed coupled with high sensitivity seems to sniff out the keepers. And in some cases the machine is so quick I get a short but clean coin signal. So far I am impressed with it. I will say as of late I have been getting high toning on memorial pennies which did not happen in the beginning. For the first 18 or so hunts tone and TID were spot on. Learning to deal with it as this has been going on at least the last half dozen hunts or so. Still love the machine though. Good luck.

Man you have sites that REALLY produce. If you don’t mind me asking what sensitivity and recovery speed are you running?
I haven’t played with them much after first setting them. Sensitivity 20:Recovery speed 3. I am still very early in the learning process and want to get a handle on things first.
I have read that as recovery speed increases it can limit depth of detection and change TID values. Coupled with increased sensitivity do you think that could be responsible for high toning memorials? Trying to soak up any info. After spending close to 15 years with the etrac I feel like a new born with the manticore. So much to learn but having a BLAST doing it. Thank you for your kind words, response and valuable experience.

 

[markinswpa]

Man you have sites that REALLY produce. If you don’t mind me asking what sensitivity and recovery speed are you running?
I haven’t played with them much after first setting them. Sensitivity 20:Recovery speed 3. I am still very early in the learning process and want to get a handle on things first.
I have read that as recovery speed increases it can limit depth of detection and change TID values. Coupled with increased sensitivity do you think that could be responsible for high toning memorials? Trying to soak up any info. After spending close to 15 years with the etrac I feel like a new born with the manticore. So much to learn but having a BLAST doing it. Thank you for your kind words, response and valuable experience.

north1 I run ATLC in 5 tone. Rec. 7 Sens. 28. I could run higher but I don't see the need. I hit dimes and small nails in the 8 to 10 in. range quite often. The average depth for the older coins is in the 5 to 7 in. range. Using a recovery speed below 4 will elongate or stretch the signal to much IMO. My go to on the 8 & 900 was always 4 but finding masking is more the case than depth in the trashy old parks I hunt, so at 7 I get a sweet, tight signal. And again depth is as good or better when I used the Equinox running on 4. So far this strategy has payed off for me. YMMV. Good luck.

 

[north1]

north1 I run ATLC in 5 tone. Rec. 7 Sens. 28. I could run higher but I don't see the need. I hit dimes and small nails in the 8 to 10 in. range quite often. The average depth for the older coins is in the 5 to 7 in. range. Using a recovery speed below 4 will elongate or stretch the signal to much IMO. My go to on the 8 & 900 was always 4 but finding masking is more the case than depth in the trashy old parks I hunt, so at 7 I get a sweet, tight signal. And again depth is as good or better when I used the Equinox running on 4. So far this strategy has payed off for me. YMMV. Good luck.

Thanks for settings and explanations. I think I might try bumping my recovery up from 3 the next hunt. I have a particular spot in front of my great grand father’s blacksmith shop that is the worst iron I have experienced anywhere. Found zilch there with other detectors even though I am sure there is something hidden in the iron. Have been running sensitivity at 20 and might try bumping that slightly as well. Haven’t wanted to get too crazy yet as I only have about 8 total hrs on the machine. But things are progressing better than I expected. Thanks again!!!

 

[mntnflyr4fun]

I have recently been running the "freestyle" program settings, I am impressed with its ability to handle high sensitivity settings in iron infested sites. I have an 1840's park I hunt that has been pounded since the days of the first metal detectors and so good targets are few and far between except I think in the iron infested areas that most other detectorists avoid. I have now only made three passes through this park with these settings and have focused on a small area with lots of old rusted nails. It is difficult to sniff out the good signals, but I have found several that appear co-located with the old nails. I am still a newbie with the manticore and my biggest struggle so far is getting TO the good signals. pinpointing with my m8 indicates there are competing signals surrounding where the high tones exist, but the degraded iron and halo means I end up digging lots of cool old square nails, the good signals are still there, but not where they first seemed to appear. I guess I just have to keep digging targets until I get enough of the iron out of the ground to give me a cleaner shot at the good signals. I hate to dig to many holes as its a public park so I only dig a couple at a time and leave the rest for another day. Making progress tho, I did pull a zinclon out of the ground so it seems to be just a matter of time and perseverence.
Any ideas on how to get on the target more quickly would be greatly appreciated.

I have the freestyle settings (which are amazingly smooth at high sens) running in ATGen. may try and use them in the ATLow mode and see if that might help me lock on tighter....
I owned a Etrac in the past, didn't really like iron infestationsbut boy did that baby lock on to silver and scream its delight......

 

[Odanscoils]

It is surprisingly so. Every single coin target I have unearthed so far has been difficult. I mean drowning in iron. That is impressive. I long to find a coin in a pristine area to hear the unadulterated tones. A crisp clear signal on a copper cent or silver and I would probably wet myself.
The manticore has also shown the etrac to be a rock solid performer. Sure it left some coins in difficult situations but I still feel it’s TID (conductive/ferrous) is more stable and informative. Tones better nuanced. Even if you adjust the manticore tones with enhanced, rich, etc. the etrac tones are unmatched.
I think the etrac still has a place as a first and second go around on a new site. Will be interesting to try this out. But it is slow. Painfully slow due to the nulling in iron. The manticore is blazingly fast in comparison. So light on its feet. My gosh I could swing the manticore all day, every day in comparison.

Nice work. Your figuring it out.

I don't understand why they can't do
an other upgrade so the Manticore shows both conductive and ferrous at the same time like other minelab detector's.
That would truly complete the Manticore.

 

[Odanscoils]

I have recently been running the "freestyle" program settings, I am impressed with its ability to handle high sensitivity settings in iron infested sites. I have an 1840's park I hunt that has been pounded since the days of the first metal detectors and so good targets are few and far between except I think in the iron infested areas that most other detectorists avoid. I have now only made three passes through this park with these settings and have focused on a small area with lots of old rusted nails. It is difficult to sniff out the good signals, but I have found several that appear co-located with the old nails. I am still a newbie with the manticore and my biggest struggle so far is getting TO the good signals. pinpointing with my m8 indicates there are competing signals surrounding where the high tones exist, but the degraded iron and halo means I end up digging lots of cool old square nails, the good signals are still there, but not where they first seemed to appear. I guess I just have to keep digging targets until I get enough of the iron out of the ground to give me a cleaner shot at the good signals. I hate to dig to many holes as its a public park so I only dig a couple at a time and leave the rest for another day. Making progress tho, I did pull a zinclon out of the ground so it seems to be just a matter of time and perseverence.
Any ideas on how to get on the target more quickly would be greatly appreciated.

I have the freestyle settings (which are amazingly smooth at high sens) running in ATGen. may try and use them in the ATLow mode and see if that might help me lock on tighter....
I owned a Etrac in the past, didn't really like iron infestationsbut boy did that baby lock on to silver and scream its delight......

I wish you guys would post what those settings are you've mentioned.

 

[mntnflyr4fun]

I wish you guys would post what those settings are you've mentioned.

Minelab Slow n low extreme det..

@slownlowdetecting His name is Neil Jones

https://www.youtube.com/@slownlowdetecting

 

[north1]

I have recently been running the "freestyle" program settings, I am impressed with its ability to handle high sensitivity settings in iron infested sites. I have an 1840's park I hunt that has been pounded since the days of the first metal detectors and so good targets are few and far between except I think in the iron infested areas that most other detectorists avoid. I have now only made three passes through this park with these settings and have focused on a small area with lots of old rusted nails. It is difficult to sniff out the good signals, but I have found several that appear co-located with the old nails. I am still a newbie with the manticore and my biggest struggle so far is getting TO the good signals. pinpointing with my m8 indicates there are competing signals surrounding where the high tones exist, but the degraded iron and halo means I end up digging lots of cool old square nails, the good signals are still there, but not where they first seemed to appear. I guess I just have to keep digging targets until I get enough of the iron out of the ground to give me a cleaner shot at the good signals. I hate to dig to many holes as its a public park so I only dig a couple at a time and leave the rest for another day. Making progress tho, I did pull a zinclon out of the ground so it seems to be just a matter of time and perseverence.
Any ideas on how to get on the target more quickly would be greatly appreciated.

I have the freestyle settings (which are amazingly smooth at high sens) running in ATGen. may try and use them in the ATLow mode and see if that might help me lock on tighter....
I owned a Etrac in the past, didn't really like iron infestationsbut boy did that baby lock on to silver and scream its delight......

I’m no expert but quite a few articles I have read and videos I have watched have stated the manticore doesn’t necessarily need to be run hot(high sensitivity) to get depth or for unmasking. In fact it can be detrimental. In effect it starts picking up the minerals in the soil. Just for the sake of it I would run your current settings and when you run across a promising target lower your sensitivity and see if it helps cut down the “noise” and eliminates some of the chatter surrounding the good target. Then see if pinpointing is more accurate. So far I have been getting great depth and separation just running at a sensitivity of 20. As I get a few more hours on the clock and experience I will bump it up some. Just a thought as I am a manticore newbie as well.

 

[mntnflyr4fun]

I have done. The only thing I noticed when doing so is that targets disappear. I think the issue is there are so many nails co-located that they are pulling the position of the good target away from where it really is.... I am not against lower sensitivity, I have been running it soft (ie 20-25) since buying it and had no better results which is why I went in search of a trashy park program and found the freestyle program to try. Like I have said, it runs quiet, finds lots of targets but where I am hunting I sometime pull three nails out of a hole.... just learning and I am in no rush, I like having a reason to be outside and enjoy the technical aspects as much as the swinging. Thank you for taking the time to consider my problem. I will post again when I figure something out that works better than what I am doing.

 

[north1]

I also notice my pinpointing isn’t always spot on with the manticore. I used the wiggle back method with the etrac/sef 8x6 coil and it was surgical precision for pinpointing. I agree that with the manticore I am finding desirable targets now buried in iron so have to enlarge my holes more than normal. Also because finding targets a little deeper.
In my limited use I am using the pinpoint feature on the manticore most often. Seems I am able to pick out the target amongst the iron a little better. Plus pinpoint feature on manticore offers other valuable info.

 

[mntnflyr4fun]

It is surprisingly so. Every single coin target I have unearthed so far has been difficult. I mean drowning in iron. That is impressive. I long to find a coin in a pristine area to hear the unadulterated tones. A crisp clear signal on a copper cent or silver and I would probably wet myself.
The manticore has also shown the etrac to be a rock solid performer. Sure it left some coins in difficult situations but I still feel it’s TID (conductive/ferrous) is more stable and informative. Tones better nuanced. Even if you adjust the manticore tones with enhanced, rich, etc. the etrac tones are unmatched.
I think the etrac still has a place as a first and second go around on a new site. Will be interesting to try this out. But it is slow. Painfully slow due to the nulling in iron. The manticore is blazingly fast in comparison. So light on its feet. My gosh I could swing the manticore all day, every day in comparison.

Have you experienced any pinpointing issues? In my old park covered with nails (I sometime pull 3 rusted nails or bits) from a hole and am having a difficult time with the accurate pinpointing of the good masked targets. I dig where it appears to be, only to find the iron, then re-sweep and the good target seems to have "moved" 6 inches, still surrounded by more iron. I am using my M8 coil and just having trouble getting zero'd in on the target. Any suggestions as to how I might improve my pinpointing results....

 

[Odanscoils]

Have you experienced any pinpointing issues? In my old park covered with nails (I sometime pull 3 rusted nails or bits) from a hole and am having a difficult time with the accurate pinpointing of the good masked targets. I dig where it appears to be, only to find the iron, then re-sweep and the good target seems to have "moved" 6 inches, still surrounded by more iron. I am using my M8 coil and just having trouble getting zero'd in on the target. Any suggestions as to how I might improve my pinpointing results....

When you have multiple targets are you getting them on the 2D screen?
My limited use in the front yard over known target's I'll get multiple markers on the screen.
Maybe trying a slower sweep over obvious multiple targets and doing a tighter 1-2" wiggle. Sorting out your good target.