OK, I got my Vanquish on Friday and took it out on Sunday to play around with the settings at a site that was full of iron of all shapes and sizes. It was also heavily hunted (I've been there four times). I was up against two XP users (Deus and ORX). I tried coin mode (in a large field), didn't get a whole lot. Switched to relic mode and wow, what a difference it made! One thing I noted was that the high volume of iron made the Vanquish chirpy at max sensitivity, but if you took your time, the good signals sounded nice and smooth. I dug two relatively modern (post 1900) thin brass buttons that came up as 9 and 10 on the VDI (way below nickel) that sounded solid. I also got a flat button, a cuff button, several bullets and casings, a 1912 wheat penny and a no date Draped Bust large cent. A word on the iron bias. Iron by itself is more likely to fool you than iron next to a good target. I had the iron bias on low, so learned that my Vanquish likes round and square objects because I dug to large iron rings and an iron buckle. However, dug very few iron nails (they were iffy, the only reason I dug them was to see what they were due to the tone). I also see why the iron is silent on the nail board tests. Vanquish does not false on iron if there is a good target nearby. It goes silent on the iron and the only way I hear it is to go to all metal. I dug a tiny cuff button (around 15) and there were two rusty nails in the same hole! Didn't hear them, just the cuff button. The large cent sounded sweet. Way up around 24. I need to work on the settings to get it less chirpy, maybe lower sensitivity. I put some photos on Facebook in the Minelab Vanquish Tips and Tricks folder, but I wanted to report here that the iron bias issues were overblown. I am not looking forward to trying the machine at the beach after getting those buttons so solid in the midst of all that iron at 9 and 10. Think I am going to like this machine.
OK, I got my Vanquish on Friday and took it out on Sunday to play around with the settings at a site that was full of iron of all shapes and sizes. It was also heavily hunted (I've been there four times). I was up against two XP users (Deus and ORX). I tried coin mode (in a large field), didn't get a whole lot. Switched to relic mode and wow, what a difference it made! One thing I noted was that the high volume of iron made the Vanquish chirpy at max sensitivity, but if you took your time, the good signals sounded nice and smooth. I dug two relatively modern (post 1900) thin brass buttons that came up as 9 and 10 on the VDI (way below nickel) that sounded solid. I also got a flat button, a cuff button, several bullets and casings, a 1912 wheat penny and a no date Draped Bust large cent. A word on the iron bias. Iron by itself is more likely to fool you than iron next to a good target. I had the iron bias on low, so learned that my Vanquish likes round and square objects because I dug to large iron rings and an iron buckle. However, dug very few iron nails (they were iffy, the only reason I dug them was to see what they were due to the tone). I also see why the iron is silent on the nail board tests. Vanquish does not false on iron if there is a good target nearby. It goes silent on the iron and the only way I hear it is to go to all metal. I dug a tiny cuff button (around 15) and there were two rusty nails in the same hole! Didn't hear them, just the cuff button. The large cent sounded sweet. Way up around 24. I need to work on the settings to get it less chirpy, maybe lower sensitivity. I put some photos on Facebook in the Minelab Vanquish Tips and Tricks folder, but I wanted to report here that the iron bias issues were overblown. I am now looking forward to trying the machine at the beach after getting those buttons so solid in the midst of all that iron at 9 and 10. Think I am going to like this machine.
I tried it out again Saturday. I am thinking of switching to jewelry mode because the recovery speed is (I think) a little faster than relic mode. Coin mode is fastest, but I am afraid I am losing depth there. It's also a matter of me learning new sounds after years of the "Garrett Sound of Money". I got the tiniest little brass stud Saturday. It was half the diameter of a thumbtack head but read nice and smooth in the tones. I got lots of tiny stuff I wasn't used to getting, little lead shot, bits of wire and furniture tacks that might have been missed. My best target was an 1879 IHP. I have been hitting hunted out, heavy iron spots to see what I am missing, and what I am missing is tiny stuff, which makes me think I really need to go to the beach, but sadly, it will be empty until the virus passes. For 7 years I have been listening to nothing but Garrett tones, so this is a new experience for me and I see the potential for this to be a powerful machine once I get settled into how to get the best results. I like the iron bias on low because it is supposed to unmask better. It's a tossup. Iffy Signals just put out a video where he did the same thing and got similar results. Little iron was masked, but he dug a saw blade. So,yeah, high bias, less falsing, but low bias, supposed to separate targets better. Thanks for all the tips guys. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks.
