Minelab Vanquish (340 440 540) tips and questions

Prospecting Australia

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Why? Easy answer, they do what other entry level detectors dont do, they work on the beach.
So where can I get one in Australia? Closest I can see at the moment is to put a holding deposit on one for when the are released in Australia. I think Minelab did the same with the Equinox.
Matt T
 
Ship of fools said:
Why? Easy answer, they do what other entry level detectors dont do, they work on the beach.
So where can I get one in Australia? Closest I can see at the moment is to put a holding deposit on one for when the are released in Australia. I think Minelab did the same with the Equinox.
Click to expand...

Yeah we always get them a bit later. Probably worth checking certified Minelab dealers first, like Miners Den or Detecta Den first.

It's good to see some more Minelab ranges come out, will give casual users more of a chance to get out detecting.
 
If they do jump over to the Vanquish, then that's a win win situation for Minelab, especially if they look to upgrade to a more advanced Minelab detector in the future vs say an AT Max. Price wise here in Oz it makes no sense to go with the Garrett products, they are simply way over priced for what you get, mainly thanks to the crappy exchange rates.
 
I'll have to check out Anaconda, as Mackay does now have one of them. Otherwise it's four hours plus to a minelab dealer.
We do have a Garrett dealer and their customer service has been excellent.
Matt T
 
Vanquish is to replace the 505 / 705 range. Now if it is as good or better than the 705 and performs on wet sand = not a bad machine ? Time will tell.

But with many hitting beaches and salt water: The Notka Simlex and others that are submersible and similar $ range; could be the better option.

But I am still waiting for a CTX3030 replacement that has GPS / Tracking and display feature that is an advance on what it is now: BUT that will be a hard call I think.
 
Why

Because the Xterra has done its miles

Multi frequency is the way forward with waterproofing / weather proof

Vanquish replaces Xterra

Vanquish was delivered to dealers this week
 
I just brought a 440 from anaconda today while I'm on holidays. First time beach hunting so I don't have much to compare against but it did the job, found a few coins in wet sand. So I can't really pick anything wrong with it as a basic detector for $450. The kids enjoyed it a lot more than gold prospecting.
 
hey guys, i just bought a vanquish 440 for $468 of fleabay and gave it a run in an old gold miners camp with very good results. we were hoping for an old sovereign, coins or maybe a lost nugget, so we run it in the jewellery mode. with the iron discrimination turned on, it ignored 90 % of the vast amount of old nails and assorted iron that are in the ground in this spot. there is miles of very thin rusty tin pieces in this spot which the vanquish did pick up, with 14/15 on the dial, but still a scratchy signal indicating it was probably iron based. quick flick to all metal registered them as -5 straight away. the ground is fairly mineralised there, so we had to back the sensitivity of 2 notches to stabilise the chatter. old lead nail heads also came in at a solid 14 but gave a clear signal, but a double hi/lo chirp showed if the nail was still attached, similar to what the the equinox does. we also tested the vanquish on a 0.21 gram nugget, with the machine in jewellery mode, full sensitivity, which it picked up at 2 1/2 inches air testing, and also picked it up with a phone book laying on top of the little nugget. pretty bloody impressive for a budget detector. the vanquish 440 is awsome for its simple, switch on and go type detecting, which the misses liked alot. definitately a game changer in the price range. good performance but less complicated than the equinox 600. im very happy with it so far, for the price. the only possible negative was that the eveready AAs we used only lasted 1 hour, which im desperately hoping is the fault of **** batteries (old stock?) and not the normal run time. the vanquishing was working very hard because of the massage volume of scrap iron in the ground at the location we tested it at, and im sure battery life will be better in cleaner locations, and better batteries. il post and again after the beach test and let you know my findings. cheers, naildigger :Y:
 
well i gave the vanquish a run on the beach today, it is as i expected after its trial in the bush, very good. in jewellery mode again, full sensitivity, it performed flawlessly on dry and wet sand. even the muddy sand in the intertidal zone, it gave no falsing signals and and discriminated excellently, weeding out about 90% of the iron rubbish. bottle caps came through at a solid 14, the same as a 9ct gold ring, but had a slightly scratchy signal, giving them away as trash. ring pulls and foil gave a 4-5 , so no avoiding them as a small gold earing comes in at the same signal. i dug some bottle caps at over 1 foot in depth and a ring pull at 14 inches, so depth is good in wet sand. $1 coins gave super clear signals at 22-23, 5c pieces a solid 10, and i dug some big iron pieces at over a foot just for interests sake. the switch on and go aspect of this detector and its performance on the beach make it a worthwhile addition my prospecting gear, and very good all rounder for the price. i havent found any gold rings or a big fat gold necklace( hope hope), but im happy with it, ps: i put aldis brand alkaline batteries in this time, 2 hours and still reading full, so il see how the battery life pans out. cheers, naildigger :Y:
 

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