If you’ve been around metal detecting for even a short while, you’ve probably heard rumours from other detectorists about the New Minelab and maybe even talk of a metal-detecting beast! Well, both of these rumours are true, as in September 2022 Minelab announced their new flagship coin and treasure detector, the Manticore.
The Manticore is a high-performance metal detector which sits in the higher echelons of the Minelab detecting hierarchy. This is the next generation of metal detector, both physically in its construction, and through its power and intelligence.
The Minelab Metal Detector range is quite diverse in terms of aesthetics, in this regard they’ve always been very considerate, and not lazy when it comes to product design. If we compare for example the Go Find range, with their portable, boxy style with that of the very, loud and dramatic red, angular styling of the Vanquish range and then finally into the elegant, slimline, cool grey styling of the Equinox series you can really see diversity in construction and market potential. We think Minelab have catered to another segment of the detecting community with the design of Manticore, we’ve reached what we would describe as, tactical or stealth mode and this is reflected in the almost military and advancing colour and construction.
Telescopic
Feeling somewhat like a toy for a 00’ agent, due to its lightweight, black carbon fibre stem the Manticore reduces down to the size of a dumbbell. Gone are the days of worrying about detector length, and having to angle your machine into the boot of your car, or purchase telescopic aftermarket shafts,
Then there’s another spy-like feature, it’s waterproof nature. The Equinox & CTX3030 series were waterproof to 3 metres, but this has been expanded to 5 metres. The 5-metre waterproof rating seems slightly un-impressive, but please take the time to appreciate that in metres, particularly depth, that 5 metres is a very significant amount.
New Scorpion Arm Rest
The new Scorpion Arm Rest which although named after something which we would be quite uncomfortable to encounter is actually one of our favourite things about the machine. It is so comfortable. When you hold the machine, it just hugs your arm in a way that no other detector does. This is probably mainly due to the more flexible material and inner cushion, but also due to the machine's previously mentioned lightweight and great balance.
Performance
Can it deliver where it counts? The short answer is yes!
2D ID Mapping
The CTX3030 from Minelab, is a highly-regarded coin and treasure detector, maintaining its status as a high-performance metal detector for 10 years now. And one of the features that made this machine so popular is its visual XY, 2D presentation of targets. The FeCo system, or Ferrous and Conductivity to the uninitiated visually plotted the two different attributes on display, allowing the detectorists to analyse and decide on what a target could be due to the plotting position of a target. Minelab has taken this system and made it even more sophisticated. It has a new 2D mapping system which has a horizontal line running through its centre. Targets which are plotted along this central line are non-ferrous and the further they stray from it above or below means they contain a higher iron content. It covers the target's position along the y-axis, and this leaves the left to right or x position which then covers conductivity, with low conductors on the left and high conductors on the right.
But here’s where it reaches the next level, the shape of the indicator on the map is also related to the target. A solid, concise object, like a coin, will most likely be represented as a nice, clean dot on the screen, whereas a more erratic object will be represented as a more irregular shape. For example; a silver coin would show up along the centre line, as a tight dot, and towards the right side of the screen (due to its high conductivity), whereas a small iron nail would show up far from the centre line, as an irregular shape, and further towards the left of the screen (due to its lower conductivity).
Depth
The Term, 50% more power than Equinox has been flying around since the machine’s announcement and the sceptics, rightly proclaimed immediately, this does not equate to 50% more depth, and they are right! 50% more power. The energy within the electromagnetic field emitted from the search coil of a detector dissipates fairly quickly, tapering into a peak in the soil or sand. The ratio of dissipation is not relative to the power utilised and this is the reason that 50% more power isn’t 50% more depth. But, there is more depth! How much deeper is the Manticore than the Equinox? Moisture, target composition, target position/angle, mineralisation and a heap of other things can affect the depth of a machine, but we would expect another 10-15% of depth on some target types.
But so far as to say that, we’re putting more power into the ground, and it’s going to be beating the Equinox.
Mark Lawrie – Minelab Chief Engineer
It’s much deeper than the Minelab Equinox and is equal to the previous elite Minelab coin and treasure detector, the CTX3030 in terms of depth. Minelab happily describes the Manticore as a hybrid between the CTX3030 and the Equinox range and also note that is beats the Equinox in all areas of performance and equals or beats the CTX in every element, except for GPS location tracking – The CTX3030 still wins on this one.
Target Separation
Here’s something we have to tell you, as it blew our minds. Ensure you’ve read the above about 2D ID mapping to fully understand this bit.
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