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Does anyone use the Manitore or Equinox for wet saltwater beach hunting and comparisons on the two.
- Thread starter Guvner
- Start date
I don't. I just got my new manticore now. I been out of detecting for a while. From the videos and what I read so far you might as well get a manticore. I think the fbs tech picks the best 3 frequencies of the 28 or so it has available and goes with it. How many the manticore uses is hard to find out. While its probably more then 3, I don't know how it determines them, and if and how often they change. In order for manticore to work in a salt water beach multi iq or multi freq must be on. I would be interested if more info on how many and what frequencies are used on the beach. I mean in wet sand and in the surf. One thing manticore does not have that I would want now is a gps module. Oh and a bitter complaint about minelab. They no longer ship the manual, nor do they ship a plug for the charging cables. I have no idea why but all companies are doing this fad now. The manual is available sold separately now for 14 bucks. Maybe someone with both machines can speak specifically on the differences between the two on the beach (manticore and equinox).
Mark ( ohio )
Well-known member
I could speak on one but not the other... I have the nox ( 600 ) and just came back from another trip to an east coast beach hunt/vacation.. Ran the detector in multi, beach 1 mode sens at near max ( 23/25 ) and also hunted in all metal mode for the most part. Detector performed fabulously and is deep. Heavy areas of black sand I lowered the sens back 2-3 clicks and all was fine again. I'm guessing the expanded VDI range would be welcomed over the nox's for some people, but for as infrequently as I make it to the salt-water area the 600 is a keeper.
Good luck with your choice. Mark ( ohio )
OldBeechnut
Well-known member
Now days it's really hard to tell what is what when it comes to references on detectors. Seems everyone wants to be a star which makes it hard to tell who is telling the full truth.
Me, from what I can tell .... what everyone is posting as far as finds, I would go with the Manticore. Both the manticore and the 900/700 seem to be 100% submergible which the 800/600 had leak issues.
My hunting partner uses the 900 Nox, seems to be doing much better with it since his upgrade from the 800. Me, I'm with TVR, old school Excalibur and a AQ PI for those spots that you can't buy a target.
Good Luck!
Me, from what I can tell .... what everyone is posting as far as finds, I would go with the Manticore. Both the manticore and the 900/700 seem to be 100% submergible which the 800/600 had leak issues.
My hunting partner uses the 900 Nox, seems to be doing much better with it since his upgrade from the 800. Me, I'm with TVR, old school Excalibur and a AQ PI for those spots that you can't buy a target.
Good Luck!
What surprises me. Is your still using the excal. Hawk that thing for the 3030. There is a program that Gary Drayton has in his book on it. I swear by it. You will hit harder on small fine rings and much much harder on thick gold rings. The deepest ring I got was a white gold signet ring, that was tiny. I mean tiny. And it was 18 inches down. Signal was iffy at first. Place was all but hunted out. After one scoop...the signal got stronger. Took about 4 or 5 back to back scoops to get it. I am certain it was not on the wall of the hole. At least try a used one or a friends machine with the tock 11 inch coil. I think you would really really be able to go over your known spots an find stuff just sitting there. gl.
Few years back was detecting at Deerfield Beach, Florida and just missed seeing Gary. Met a guy from upstate New York with a CTX 3030 who did run into Gary several minutes before I met the guy with the 3030. He said Gary took the time to help him set up the jewelry program on his detector and five minutes later he hit a ring. He was excited! It was a pretty bad red-tide day, so I did not stay much longer as I had found some decent earrings, I headed off the beach to let my eyes recover from the burning.
OldBeechnut
Well-known member
HaHa.. Thanks.. Love my Dinosaurs...Sold my CTX years ago, after a few years & several side by side compares to my modified Excalibur's... also I was concerned the CTX may flood since all of my hunting is submerged, I sold it right before the Nox came out, Luckily. I did have high hopes for the CTX since I was a long time user of the Explorer series Minelab. Nice machine just does not have the punch the Excalibur does in all metal.
My Excalibur ruled for 6 years over on the ring daddy forum until they closed, so it does not miss much.
Then came the Fisher AQ PI.. No water detector can compare.. I call it my clean up machine.
Appreciate the response. From reading it, it looks like you gave the heater a good try. I use to be paranoid about it flooding. I never had mine flood. But I know someone who did. This may or may not be true but I think most floods were user error. It is still a design flaw if the machine isn't intuitive and floods due to lack of proper fitting, etc. I used an aftermarket gasket I got from some ... gasket store online. I still have some of them. The other port Id snug up every hunt. That port is probably the one that leaked the most, I think behind it was the usb connection. I never had it leak, but now. Come to think of it. My usb connection stopped working. That suggest some water damage at some time. If I had the machine today id probably seal with silicone glue and only open it once every few hunts, and re seal. Later bud. Glad to see your still hunting. I been out for a while due to health issues. I am gonna give it a try again. Only problem is no beach around here is cut out.
OldBeechnut
Well-known member
Health can slow us down for sure, I had a few down years but very Blessed I'm back out. Stay strong and I'm sure you will make it back out.
I was paranoid about the CTX having water issues.. Had two guys I started hunting with in 2015, both had CTX's. Mikes started having the "stripped screen" from submerging his. Mike converted to the Excalibur after doing some compares also. I'll see if I can have him post a picture of a place him and his buddy hammered with the CTX's and swore it was cleaned out.... and the difference the Excalibur made.
Mark kus
Well-known member
I owned all 3 800 900 manticore all 3 are excellent only reason I have the Manticore is the build quality coil waterproof and I do like the trace target screen.
And the 9" coil on the Manticore is my favorite coil its as light now as my D2 2.8lbs exactly!
Mark
jimmybigshot
Member
Owned the CTX, just traded it for another Manticore. My 2 sons and I use the Manticore and all love it. It is a fantastic beach machine and don't worry about it while underwater. If you go with the Manticore, I assume you will be a happy detector.
I have the CTX, the Equinox, and the Manticore. The CTX has better target ID, but I have to use a little slower sweep speed. The Manticore is a step above the Equinox for a number of reasons, primarily the screen that keeps you off the small metal bits/ the rusted out bottle caps, and the performance in all metal/ prospecting mode, which is similar to Excal pinpoint but with target ID and red digit iron ID.
But the depth of a FBS machine in pinpoint with a good coil is better than any of the above machines, I like a Sovereign GT with the Ultimate 13 inch coil for wet sand/ calf deep ocean hunting.
My observations are based on beach hunting on moderately mineralized southern beaches.
But the depth of a FBS machine in pinpoint with a good coil is better than any of the above machines, I like a Sovereign GT with the Ultimate 13 inch coil for wet sand/ calf deep ocean hunting.
My observations are based on beach hunting on moderately mineralized southern beaches.
OldBeechnut
Well-known member
I have to agree, i've went behind a few of the machines with the excalibur in PP and had no problem finding deeper treasure. That would be the Manticore, Nox 800 and 900. Not had the chance to find a D2 hunter around here. But those machine do have the excalibur in trashy areas, hands down.
Thawarlock
Member
I highly recommend the Equinox 700/800/900. I have fooled with the Deus 2 (fantastic) and Manticore. Though I’m sure its a descent machine, I found the Manticore massively underwhelming following the release hype. If you are not going to completely submerge your detector and just want to do beach/dry land then get the Deus 2 WS6. Its a bargain with full capability of the Deus 2 aside from being submersable.
I feel the Excalibur is deeper in the water then the manticore. One example is my friend was using the excal in pin point and I was using the manticore. He let me here a faint target that I was unable to here with the manticore. I fanned away some sand. Raised the sensitivity up ( got to unstable)
I feel the manticore it more sensitive to smaller targets then the excal.
If I was using it for wading in the water. I would use the Excalibur and maybe hip mount it( less drag when swinging)
I really like how the new machines are so compact and lighter
So far the MANITCORE hasn’t leaked when submerged. I do take the screws of the handle after being submerged because water gets in the handle and don’t want the saltwater setting in there
I feel the manticore it more sensitive to smaller targets then the excal.
If I was using it for wading in the water. I would use the Excalibur and maybe hip mount it( less drag when swinging)
I really like how the new machines are so compact and lighter
So far the MANITCORE hasn’t leaked when submerged. I do take the screws of the handle after being submerged because water gets in the handle and don’t want the saltwater setting in there
I'm not that impressed with the newer machines in the water. I've had the 900 and Deus 2. I still have the 900 which I like with the 6" coil for relic hunting. I was able to buy a like new original fisher impulse with an 8" coil last march. The Deus 2 and 900 weren't even close to matching the impulse depth. I also found a very deep CZ-21 which I also use in the water. These older machines aren't great on the small stuff but when I'm in the water I don't like chasing the small stuff. I guess if I had to use a newer machine in the water I would try a Manticore with a 9" coil .
CTX to me has the best audio - I love the Excal audio too but I had two and they were too unmanageable in the car (fixed straight CF shaft) and they missed targets like chains/smaller stuff. Put it in a modern setup, lower the price, and it would sell. My AQ is nice and light but also misses targets. My Dual Field is awesome but too heavy. CTX too heavy as well. However if you don’t mind it I might say to stick with it. The Manticore is awesome hardware. It probably detects all there is to detect - excerpt for black sand areas. On dry sand it is a set it and forget it machine that finds most everything. My issue is me. I don’t hunt often and have to relearn it each time. Targets tend to drift towards iron ID’s based on depth. Mix that with the foil bits and it gets noisy on some of my beaches. Others are clean, few targets, and you wonder if the detector is working. I got the 8” coil for it and prefer it vs the 11”. Haven’t tried the 9” - it may be even better. You could pick up a used eq800 for under $500 and eq600 under $400 - later sell it if you hate it. I had a eq800 but preferred the Ctx so I sold it while it was relatively still new. The EQ/Manticore have more setup choices than the CTX and you have to decide if you are ok with that before spending $1K. You might feel overwhelmed. Or you might like experimenting and learning the new machine.