MINELAB MANTICORE: DATA & PERFORMANCE

Nice video of the menu ...

[youtu.be]

I hope the Long Press noise cancel is not patented/proprietary. That would be a real benefit for all detector makers to implement.

Chris

steveg...... yes.

Jesse........ I dream of hunting places whereby.... the EQX acquired no EMI.....and you could run Sens on its max of '25'. I'm willing to bet..... you could run Sens on/around 30 or 31 on Manticore in your environment. This would express a formidable jump in performance over EQX.

More MC data to follow..... very shortly.

The manual is available on Minelab's website....[www.minelab.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2022 01:34AM by Dan(NM).

NASA TOM I live in the lowcountry near savannah ga and beaufort sc.I strictly hunt pre 1865 sites and dig everything that's not iron normally long forgotten plantation sites loaded with iron and civil war sites.Any edge in separation and depth is of extreme interest to me.Id be willing to pay a ton of money for a (REAL GAME CHANGER) Not extra fluff that I don't need or care about.I hunt with the xp pod in my pocket and go by tones alone.When in doubt dig it out!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2022 12:45AM by Jesse.

I loved the ctx but hated the equinox because I felt like it lacks audio intelligence.

More MC data-share:

It has been one of my top priorities to open up a completely unsuspecting World of the unknown. We have managed to do this. Especially in the department of wet-salt beach hunting. This may not interest all; yet, for 'interested' beach hunters...... here's some data.....(using myself as an example) =
Approx 95% of the targets that I dig on the wet-slope of the beach...... are only 0" - 1" deep. After a while...... you are left with the illusion that the MC only goes about 1" deep. The MC is detecting soooooo many tiny targets that ID in the range of 01 to 09. I want to open your eyes to a new World.... with the following data: Set up your Manticore as follows:
Beach Low Conductors Mode
Volume: 25
Recovery Speed: 4
Discrimination Pattern: All Metal
Ferrous Limits: Upper = 4, Lower = 0
Ferrous Volume: 25
Audio Theme = Prospecting
Ground Balance the unit close to the edge of the saltwater
Run Sens on 24 or 25 or 26....... depending/dictated by the salt-content of your particular beach. (Start at 24..... and see how stable the unit is. Then bump-up Sens accordingly).

Your assignment is to dig as many tiny pieces of aluminum can-slaw.....and earring backs as you can. Do this for a few days. Tell me what you think..... after a few dedicated beach hunts.

If you are a IN THE WATER hunter..... the only Mode you should use is: Beach Seawater Mode.

In a wet-salt environment....... there is a symbiotic harmonious electronic quiescence (balance) with the Operating System electronics......VS......the wet-salt........... with a Recovery Speed of '4'.
Yes.... you can gain more depth with lower/slower recovery speeds; yet, the unit (slightly) starts to become (electronically) off-balance. AND....... if you lower the Recovery Speed..... this makes the unit 'hotter'.,.,.,.,., usually resulting in the requirement of having to drop Sens accordingly!

Let's talk about Audio Theme = Prospecting. This is ..... for all intents & purposes..... a All Metal Mode. BUT. Two things are different:
1. The threshold audio will RISE for non-ferrous targets. The threshold audio will DROP for ferrous targets.
2. The ID screen still works! You will still ascertain a numeric ID of the detected target...... to include on the 2D graph.

On weak/deep targets...... the 2D screen will paint a very weak/fuzzy imprint.
On slightly stronger targets..... the 2D screen will blacken-in nicely..... where the FE & CO characteristics of the target.... correspond.

My beach(es) are (uncharacteristically) tore-up..... from hurricanes. I'm wanting to give you exacting depth data on a U.S. Nickel; yet, I still have very invalidating conditions. Manticore should be around 16" on a Nickel in the wet-salt.

--------------

Other data:
In my test-garden..... EQX will acquire (and with reasonable ID) a 14.0" dime.......on some occasions.... when EMI is exceptionally low.
Hard data: Manticore will acquire a 14.2" deep dime (and with reasonable ID) in test-garden.
Wow! "Why" even buy a Manticore if the depth performance is nearly the same as EQX?
There's only about 15% of the time I can acquire a 14.0" deep dime with EQX.
Manticore........ on the other hand........ will acquire a 14.2" deep dime....... about 70% of the time. Why? The LONG PRESS Noise Cancel feature....... will be your Godsend.
How does this equate to real-World performance? Two examples:
1. Of all the sites I hunt with EQX........ about 40% of them...I have to walk away...... due to severe EMI with EQX.
So far......... I have only hit one site with MC....that I had to walk away from..... due to EMI.
2. On a nominal-median-average basis....... I am able to run Sens 4-points higher than EQX. This (alone) attributes to formidable depth AND ID enhancements. I have yet to find a site whereby Manticore did not opened it up .... again.

Yes....... there is more going on (behind the scenes) with EMI mitigation than just simply LONG PRESS.

A unique (highly employable) attribute about Manticore:
Example:
All Terrain High Conductors Mode. A U.S. Nickel can be detected beyond 15" ......... whilst a clad dime can be detected to 14.2". Why is this unique??? Because: High Conductors Mode does NOT lose much sensitivity to lower conductors. Manticore is MUCH more 'broad' in it's freq-spectrum.,.,.,.,., even over EQX. (((Remember...... a Nickel is 5.00-Grams. A clad Dime is 2.27-Grams ---which is less than half the mass---))).
It really bothers me when a unit is 'hot' on (say) high-conductors........ and weak on low-conductors.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,., causing you to have to hunt the same area.... twice. Once in a high-conductor tune. Then again in a low-conductor tune. We engineered hard .... with Manticore..... to conquer this undesirable issue.

I'm getting one because you were involved in the development I'm hopeful it's got ctx tones with xp separation and equinox depth and I'll be happy.

NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> steveg...... yes.
>
> Jesse........ I dream of hunting places whereby...
> . the EQX acquired no EMI.....and you could run Se
> ns on its max of '25'. I'm willing to bet..... you
> could run Sens on/around 30 or 31 on Manticore in
> your environment. This would express a formidable
> jump in performance over EQX.

Tom I have a site that I can run my EQX800 "hot" at, but at a bit of a cost of digging more iron. Expected resultant, but hopefully the Manticore will make the iron more interesting if nothing else. There's no EMI at this site, the soil is fairly tame (not to mention kind to coins & relics), arid I have no doubts that any extra depth will certainly find an additional layer of targets that the current crop just isn't getting. Short of using a PI, which would probably suck at this site, if the MC can get an extra half inch or better, I suspect a few new discoveries await. My dealer sprang into action and said the Manticore's are shipping to their disty, so shouldn't be much longer until we get to try them for ourselves!

More data..... that should answer more questions:

(Mostly) in reference to Audio Theme = Prospecting audio..... on the beach. Manticores audio "CLARITY". It's audio "INTELLIGENCE"........ is an industry-superior attribute. The ability to audibly discern ground-aberrations 'chatter'..... from deep and/or faint targets.... is second-to-none. This allows you to recover very faint targets that (otherwise) would be missed.
Plus........ this ability to audibly discern ground-aberrations 'chatter' ... more clearly; therefore allows you to boost Sens 1 or 2 points higher.,.,.,.,.,., which.,.,.,.,.,.,., in turn....... gives (yet) another boost in performance.
You may not clearly understand what I am expressing; yet, ..... once you go under the headphones....... it'll become all-too-clear.

Polyphonics audio. This is best expressed in All-Tones. (((You will hear it ...in 1-Tone, 2-Tones & 5-Tones; yet, it is much more pronounced in All-Tones))).
Example: You pass the coil over a nail/coin combo/co-locate. Say..... the nail is 70% of the signal strength.....and the coin is 30% of the signal strength. In a snapshot type of audio..... the detector must pick a (one) tone...... and audibly: 'report'. Chances are.... the nail wins...and the detector will burp an iron tone/grunt. In polyphonics....... you will hear a warble/smeared audio response...... with 70% of the warble being in the iron range..... and 30% being in the non-ferrous range. Will your ears be able to sense this?

Let's "man-up"...... and compare the XP Deus-2 to Manticore in heavy nails sites. Nutshell:
XP Deus-2 wins.
The D2 will find approximately 4% more non-ferrous targets in carpets of nails.
The MC will ascertain 23% more depth...... in the same carpet of nails.
If you are limited on 'time'...... choose the MC.
If you have both detectors......AND have the time...... use BOTH. , . , . , . , . , if the site quantifies/justifies "historical significant value".

Can the MC 'close-the-gap' on this 4% delta/difference? Yes. But...... a bit of a lengthy explanation AND some experience/skillset will ascertain.

Thank you Tom that's info I've been really wanting to hear

23% more depth is substantial!!!

Tom - couple of things here. You mentioned that Minelab might make the HotKeys a software update sometime in the future. Before they do that, I hope they ask for user preferences before assigning a specific feature to a specific key. As I mentally visualize using each hotkey location, and how I would go about accessing it, I am right handed and would likely use my thumb to hit each key. Since the Noise Cancel is the most important of the three recommendations you gave for setting up the hotkeys (Noise Cancel, Ground Balance and Iron On/Off), I would think I might set that up in the lower right hotkey position because it seemingly would be the most easily accessible key and I would be doing a Noise cancel more often/repeatedly than any of the others. Time will tell once I get ahold of a Manticore and start using it, but I think lower right would be Noise cancel, upper left Ground Balance and upper right Iron On/Off. And others may have their preference of what each key should be used for, so user feedback would be useful to see where most people use each hotkey. I kinda like the idea of being able to personalize the hotkeys, rather than a preset factory update.


Since you mentioned the Deus 2 vs the Manticore in heavy nails, how about adding the Tarsacci into that mix! Where does it fall in to place among the three machines? In your Deus2 thread, you asked dewcon4414 to remind you to compare the Deus 2 to the Tarsacci. If you are able to at this point, could you please compare the Deus 2, Tarsacci and the Manticore in various aspects like depth, iron patches, separation, recovery speed and any and all pertinent data you can think of? And if you can't get into that with the Manticore just yet, I understand (but definitely look forward to it when you can!!)

Thanks,
Phil

Exciting times! I'm sure some will turn their nose up just because it's new and Minelab but I can't wait to swing one.

Phil........ you are exact/correct! We would like an 'aggregate' of what the populous prefers. BUT...... I'm not sure if you would like an edge/side-key for LONG PRESS intent. A faceplate key "should" (dexterity-wise) be easier on the fingers.

Jesse.... that 23% is making a World of "value-added" difference. , . , . , . , . , never to be underestimated. Highly employable. ((( And....... that "23%" number....seems to be fairly solid........ with fairly repeatable proof/reliability.,.,.,.,.,., with minimal percent 'span'.,.,.,.,.,.,., at different sites...with differing iron content/composition/decay-status. At least: Here in Florida dirt))).

Remember: NEVER move the coil.....whilst performing ANY type of Noise Cancel. . . . . . short-press or LONG PRESS!!! Hold that coil dead-still !!! This goes for ANY brand/flavor detector.

More "meat/data" to follow........ shortly.

Tom,


Is the recovery speed of 4 on the Manticore the "sweet spot" like 3 was on the Nox? Also, I never used iron bias on the 800, is there an advantage to not using any on the Core?

Tom I live in Ohio and hunt primarily Fresh water and 1800s sites. How does the CTX 3030 compare to the MC at these types of sites?

I also have an equinox 800 I just got back from Minelab yesterday, as it was my second one that got water inside. How does the MC compare to finding very small gold ear rings in the water? My NOX usually rang in around a 1 or 2 for those.

Thx Mike

Been swinging Minelab machines for the past 25+ years.

EQX called it: Target Recovery Response.
MC calls it: Recovery Speed.
They are both the exact same thing. Just to make sure EVERYONE is understanding/clear on this. ALSO:

EQX called it: Iron Bias
MC calls it: Ferrous Limits
Again. They are the same thing. Just better semantics/verbiage .... for better understanding.

Let's go DEEP into the workings of: Ferrous Limits. It is not intuitive.......and for unsuspecting rationale. Sooooooo........ I am going to 'try' to make it ridiculously intuitive (common sense)..... as much as possible.
Ferrous Limits Upper = Small iron debris. (ie..... nails). [[[ "Fe" on EQX]]]
Ferrous Limits Lower = This is sheet-steel. Flat steel. Tin. Any steel with a large/flat surface area. Steel bottlecaps (crown caps) qualify. [[[ "F2" on EQX]]]
For the advanced user....... USE THE HECK out of this adjustable function!!!
Many areas we hunt..... do not have much tin, sheet-steel, flat steel. (Keep Manticore on factory preset of Lower = 3).
Some areas we hunt.... have an ungodly amount of tin, flat steel, sheet steel & steel bottlecaps. USE the adjustability of Ferrous Limits = Lower......to your advantage! How??? Pass your coil over several prime/key examples....... and watch WHERE they hit on the 2D graph. As you adjust Ferrous Limits = Lower.....to a higher setting.,.,.,.,.,., you will notice the shaded-out/gray area will rise and engulf WHERE the prime/key examples are hitting/landing on the 2D graph. These targets will now ID as iron with according low-tone.

Ferrous Limits = Upper. THIS is going to be your MOST used Ferrous Limits (Iron Bias) control. This is where a lot of magic resides. Advanced users: Wear out your keypad on this one!!!
Let me state an example/experience = About 10 months ago..... at a very old inland site where a 2nd Seminole Indian war took place....... I noticed that ...nearly all of the iron in the ground..... was ID'ing in the mid/upper negative 40's. Hmmmmmmmmmm. = ONE type of iron. ONE exacting decomposition status. Only ONE generation/era of iron. ONE type of dirt. PRICELESS unsuspecting observation........that can (critically) be employed. Hmmmmmmmmm. I dropped Ferrous Limits Upper (of 8)...... all the way down to a ridiculous low setting of 4. What followed/transpired......was nothing short of phenomenal. Unmasking AT DEPTH ....... in the 11" - 17" depth strata. Implements of fairly major National Historical significance surfaced. And with audible clarity that (nearly) sounded like there was no iron that was masking all of these non-ferrous MASKED targets.

Hunting at another site ((an 1891 church site....... where the church was built in 1891..... on top of where the original 1842 church stood))....... presented TWO different types of iron ID. The bulk of the nails were distinctly ID'ing in the negative mid-40's range........ and the negative low-30's range. At this site...... I needed to take into consideration BOTH era's of nails ((conductively)). I was only able to lower Ferrous Limits = Upper.....from a factory preset of 8........ dropping it down to 6. Still...... yes, the detector was a bit noisy/chatty; yet, the unmasking was exceptionally formidable. On several occasions..... I would NOT dig a target; but/rather..... switch back to Upper = 8....... and watch the targets become audibly masked....... again! Dropping down to 6........and the masked targets would 'warble'...... in a audibly blurry fashion; yet, understood. Intelligible.

On the wet slope of the beach....... I use Ferrous Limits Upper = 4, Ferrous Limits Lower: 0. In this configuration......... DEEP non-ferrous targets are less likely to ID as 'iron'. Steel bottlecaps/crown caps ID as a perfect non-ferrous........ until you look at the 2D screen...... and you see an elongated/striped diagonal line (smeared.....blurry-looking). THAT'S indicative of a steel bottlecap. Bottlecaps sound large/broad/elongated audio anyway.

Let's talk about steel bottlecaps. They are the Achillies heal of ANY/ALL detectors...... to include the Manticore. An absolutely new, shiny steel bottlecap..... on the Manticore...... will ID as a perfect non-ferrous target............,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, landing dead-center of the 2D graph.,.,.,perfectly on the non-ferrous line. Remember......eddy currents (electricity) follows on the outside of any metallic object. Since these steel bottlecaps are non-ferrous Zinc coated....... and/or non-ferrous Nickel coated on the outter skin of the bottlecap....... hiding/masking the inner core of pure steel !!!.,.,.,.,.,.,., this is EXACTLY one of the reason/rationale as to 'why' a detector ID's them as 'non-ferrous'. But. Fortunately. In fairly short order........ these new shiny steel bottlecaps will start to oxidize quickly. Which....... in turn........ will THEN start to ID as iron on a detector.

Another comment. The Ferrous Limits Upper..... as a factory preset..... is rather aggressive! Yes '8' and '9' are still fairly aggressive...... and a bit noisy whilst detecting.

Ferrous Limits unmasking capabilities perspective:
Example: Dropping Ferrous Limits Upper .... from 8......... down to 7.........,,,,,,,,, will add about 13% more iron falsing/fatigue factor. And about 27% more unmasking. Can your brain handle it....on that particular day? That 13% additional falsing may fatigue-you-out.... in short order. But. IF you learn the unsuspecting nuances...... it is a Godsend. The 'employable' answer ALL resides in: BODY ROTATION around the target.
For example: A single bent square-nail will: 'iron false' to a higher non-ferrous tone....at a 13% greater body-rotate rate. BUT.... if there is a non-ferrous target in co-locate with the bent square-nail...... the detector will 'hang-on' to a non-ferrous tone for substantially longer amounts of body-rotate. YOUR type of nails....... and YOUR type of mineralization.......will dictate your site-specific numbers.

Roofing tin is a nightmare in some sites I have.The above post is something of high value to me however I might need to read it several times to properly understand how to employ lol

Very exciting, Tom



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2022 04:26PM by reddirtdigger.

I know there are like 3 types of bottle caps hitting on various levels depending on the machine. The best machine i ever used for those babies that showed up in the non-ferr was the CTX.

I am totally confused with the Mantacore coming soon..... then we get the 700 and 800. What do these two offer the Mantacore doesnt? Seems to me they still have the coil issue and...... leak maybe? Clearly as tight as money is ..... people arent going to buy both or either maybe until they are sure they dont leak for beach hunting.

700 & 900-----and better question would be---what do they offer that the 600 & 800 doesn't?----dewcon4414 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I know there are like 3 types of bottle caps hitti
> ng on various levels depending on the machine. T
> he best machine i ever used for those babies that
> showed up in the non-ferr was the CTX.
>
> I am totally confused with the Mantacore coming so
> on..... then we get the 700 and 800. What do thes
> e two offer the Mantacore doesnt? Seems to me the
> y still have the coil issue and...... leak maybe?
> Clearly as tight as money is ..... people arent go
> ing to buy both or either maybe until they are sur
> e they dont leak for beach hunting.

700 and 900 have the new pod, shaft, and stem design with higher certified waterproof rating, -19 to 100 VDI scale, coil light, and vibration.

Basically all the shortcomings of the 600 and 800 addressed.

More data:

Regarding best performance....via EMI mitigation.
If you are at a site.....relic hunting. Or coin hunting. Or both.
Use All Terrain General Mode or All Terrain High Conductors Mode. Which one?????
Set BOTH Modes up ...the same. THEN find out which one will mitigate EMI better.......via LONG PRESS in EACH one of the specific Modes.
If one of the Modes can mitigate EMI just one Sensitivity point/setting higher....... than use that specific Mode.

If you are low conductor (relic or coin) hunting..........and you have the following 3 Modes set up the same: All Terrain Low Conductors, All Terrain High Conductors and All Terrain General.
If you find that All Terrain High Conductors OR All Terrain General can run Sens (a minimum of) 2 points.....or higher than All Terrain Low Conductors........... after a LONG PRESS Noise Cancel....... than use THAT Mode.
You need a minimum of 2-points higher Sensitivity allowance with AT-G or AT-HC ..... in order to match (or exceed) All Terrain Low Conductors Mode. AT-LC Mode does use a slightly different grouping of SMF freq's.
These are things that you may never think of. . . . . . because........ if you are going low-conductor hunting; the common-sense thing would be to use All Terrain Low Conductors Mode.......without question. Soooooooo................ it is not intuitive to use other Modes...... especially if you are unaware that the other Modes 'might' be better than All Terrain Low Conductors Mode.........if the following (above) conditions are met.

Beach Modes:
Beach General = A substantially modified EQX Beach Mode-1
Beach Mode Low Conductors = A substantially modified EQX Beach Mode-1
Beach Mode Deep = A substantially modified EQX Beach Mode-1
Beach Surf & Seawater = A substantially modified EQX Beach Mode-2
Beach Modes: General, Low Conductors & Deep......... are nearly absolutely identical..... EXCEPT for their Factory Preset set-up configuration. This is what makes it easier for the non-technical hunters. If you set up all the available parameters (ie: Recovery Speed, Ferrous Limits, Audio Theme, Discrimination Pattern.....etc......) to the exact same setting............ you will see identical performance. Said differently: Beach Mode General, Beach Mode Low Conductors & Beach Mode Deep....... is (virtually) the same ONE Mode..... BUT...... the Factory Presets is what makes them different...... for the general public/hunter.

DanNM........ For inland..... Recovery Speed '2' is the sweet spot on Manticore..... for best depth (and still some very reasonable target separation.....with polyphonic warble). BUT....... some folks' mineralization may require a slightly higher Recovery Speed.

Jesse..... roofing tin is indeed a form of sheet steel (tin)...... and Ferrous Limits Lower is exactly what you will be playing with..... to mitigate this tin.

Mike K......... MC will out-perform the CTX in nearly every hunting application (has more to do with the Manticore's NEW Operating System).
As for finding tiny jewelry in freshwater....... again...... the new O.S. onboard Manticore...... will do better. You may need to try the different low conductor Modes with Manticore (NOT any of the Beach Modes..... as they are config'd for wet-salt)...... and see which one(s) handle your wet (freshwater) mineralization the best.

Dew........ The EQX 700 & 900 come in at a different (lower) pricepoint; yet =
They share the Manticore Prospecting audio (aka....a continuous threshold/continuous pitch/all-metal audio mode...... also similar to pinpoint audio).
They also share the Manticore 100% carbon-fiber shaft and camlock's ...... and NO coil ears (to break)...... just like the Manticore coil.
They have a slightly better EMI mitigation system ............ yet, nothing like MC.
EQX 800 = 12.8" on a Nickel .... in wet-salt.
EQX 900 = 13.8" on a Nickel .... in wet-salt.
(((This is a substantial performance gain/jump!....yet, not up to M.C. performance level.........,,,,,,,,,,,............. or price-point))).

I have been VERY time-poor with the EQX 700/900 project......... because all time/labor/energies/effort have been placed on Manticore project. BUT...... some of the upgrades to 700/900 are a direct carryover from MC..... and do not require any time/effort to validate.,.,.,.,.,., because ....it has already been validated...... in Manticore project.

OVERALL: I am trying NOT to get your hopes up TOO high.....with Manticore; yet, I must say this:
If you have been following this forum for nearly 20-years...... you know that I desperately SCREAM for a couple TENTHS of-an-inch greater depth. On the beach...... in the wet-salt...... Manticore is ascertaining about THIRTYTWO TENTHS of-an-inch (3.2") greater depth over EQX.
Inland....... with MUCH better EMI mitigation....... I am (on average) ascertaining approx TWENTY TENTHS of-an-inch (about 2" full inches) of greater depth over the EQX......with Manticore.
Euphoric Nirvana!!!
How could this NOT open up old sites.

I'll bet there is a LOT of furious (recently purchased) Equinox 600 & 800 customers out there!-----sumrtym Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 700 and 900 have the new pod, shaft, and stem desi
> gn with higher certified waterproof rating, -19 to
> 100 VDI scale, coil light, and vibration.
>
> Basically all the shortcomings of the 600 and 800
> addressed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2022 07:50PM by D&P-OR.

Thank you very much Tom! I really appreciate the detailed information in regards to my questions. I'm going to make sure that I come back to this post once I get my machine in hand. I'm looking forward to every post you're able to make in regards to the Manticore. Thank you very much again for your time and your information..

For inland hunting (and testing)...... here are my settings:

All Terrain High Conductors
Recovery Speed = 2
Ferrous Limits = Upper 7 (to start with)...... and Lower 3
Ferrous Volume = 2
Volume = 25 (Wired KOSS QZ99 phones)
Nothing notched..... nothing Disc'd out
Discrimination Pattern = All Metal
1-Region All Tones
Audio Theme = Normal....... but with Profile set to = Simple (This is important for deep targets to sound louder)
Sens 2-points higher than EMI. 2-points INTO the EMI. THEN..... a LONG PRESS Noise Cancel....until the unit locks on to one specific Noise Cancel channel. THEN boost the Sens to "just at.... or: just below" any EMI.
Go hunt.

Manticore does false in iron....... just like nearly everything out there. But ...... (again)..... once you learn its language (in concert with: body-rotation around the target whilst continuously sweeping)...... you can learn its language fairly quickly.

Here's a unique datapoint: MC's max depth (with reasonable ID) in test-garden is: 14.2"
If you place Ferrous Limits Upper on '0'.......... max depth (with reasonable ID) in test-garden is 15.4"
Problem is...... with Ferrous Limits Upper on 0...... even just one nail ...will sound like a coin!

Keep in mind...... all the data that I am throwing at you is: Florida conditions.

I am trying to (as rapidly as possible) get data to you quickly........ so...... for those of whom acquire a Manticore.... you will:
#1. Have a better understanding of the unit.
#2. Be able to have a higher initiation plateau..... out of the box.

And..... for those who like to shoot YouTube videos.....,,,,,, will have a better (more accurate) base-of-comparison.

Thank you Tom you are saving me alot of time wasted in the field when I get this unit.I will still need to figure out the best settings in my soil however I feel iike I probably have very similar ground conditions to you in Florida.

Perfect information, thank you Tom.
All date as helpful and this is the best forum to read it on.
Regards