Welcome to our new website, if you come across any issues or suggestions please email us sales@crawfordsmd.com or call 01724 845608.

The Minelab Manticore: An Interview with Mark Lawrie, the Minela

? The Minelab Manticore: Specifications & Release Information

A 2nd Interview with The Minelab Chief Engineer.

 


Detectival 2022 was the 1st opportunity for anyone from the public to get their hands on The Manticore. The new premium Minelab detector was announced just two weeks prior at another metal detecting rally, and throughout this time detectorists everywhere have been poised to find out more about the new Minelab Manticore. 

 



We interviewed Mark Lawrie two weeks ago to find out the initial review about the Manticore (you can read this here), but caught up with him again to delve even deeper into the features of this machine.

Is the Manticore better than Equinox? How deep is the Manticore? 

When will it be released? And, how much will it cost? Read on to find out!



Alternatively, you can watch the vlog review of this interview on our YouTube channel by clicking here.


 



How many models/packages will be available?

 

There’s going to be one model, as you can see here, it’s going to be The Manticore. It comes with an 11”, double-D coil and some wireless headphones. That’s the beast.

There will be some other coils available that you can purchase as accessories. There will be a 6x8” elliptical, which is a small one, and then a big 15x12”. And they’ll be pretty much available at launch.

 


Can you please confirm the UK Price?


The official price in the UK is, £1,799 including VAT.


 


Why do Minelab never choose to go wireless with their coils?

 

So, we’ve looked at it and it really comes down to power, and the fact that if you going to have all of that battery down at the end of the coil, for a start you’re going to have a very heavy detector down at the end of the coil. And there are also issues when you have lots of metal on the coil and you’re going over ground, that metal can also become part of the detection and so it’s not as optimal in that sense either.  

There’s no problem in getting the wireless signal up, that’s quite easy, but getting the battery, or the power down there so that you can get that depth is a challenge. 

 





In terms of depth, what is the improvement in depth from the Equinox 800?

 

To answer that question, I’ll start with the fact that it’s got more battery capacity and we chose to convert that into more depth. So, it’s 50% more power, but that’s 50% more power, that’s not 50% more depth. When the magnetic power comes out of the coil, it actually drops off pretty quickly. Probably a really easy way to answer that it to think about a target that you might be hitting at 30cm, you might get 2-3cm more depth, typically, however sometimes with a small target, like in Europe where we see lots of small jewellery and chains like that, you can get quite a bit more depth on those. It really depends on the field, the size of the target and the conditions. But so far as to say that, we’re putting more power into the ground, and it’s going to be beating the Equinox. 

 

So, you’re beating the Equinox, then are you probably matching something like the CTX3030?

 

Yeah, for CTX3030 which is quite good at low frequency targets, or big targets that are high conductors, this will be a match for CTX.  



 

You’ve been out using this quite a bit over the last few weeks. Have you found a preset that you’ve particularly enjoyed?

 

I’ve actually been using the general one quite a lot. And the reason for that is, we want the general one, which is the main default from the factory setting and we want that to work for everyone. So, I’ve been giving that a good thrashing and it’s been working really, really well. And so, 80 or 90% of the time that’s what I’ve been using. Occasionally, if I’ve been looking or a very small hammered or something like that I’ve been switching to the low conductor mode. That’s a different multi-IQ+ mode, and so the frequencies that are going on with the multi-frequencies are a little bit different and it’s optimised to find those tiny targets a bit better. 

 

All of the user interface is the same in these modes and the way that you can block out iron, and each mode those settings are remembered and so if you switch back it’s as if you never left it. 

 


 

Can you briefly explain the XY, 2D ID mapping?

 

What we’ve done is we’ve taken some technology from the CTX3030, which is the 2D ID visualisation map. It’s a picture that you have on the detector and as you go over a target, it actually draws where that target is. The horizontal axis is how conductive it is, and the vertical axis is how ferrous it is. 

 

So, if you get a target that appears to be a very small dot along that conductivity line in the middle you know it’s a coin or a ring, and as it moves away it becomes more and more ferrous, so when you go over a ferrous object it appears right at the top or the bottom. 

 

It’s a slightly different visualisation from the CTX3030 and we’ve tried to make it as digestible as possible for users and so you can just quickly look down there and say, ‘okay, that’s got some ferrous stuff going on’, or ‘yes, that’s a perfect coin, I’m going to dig that straight away’. So, we’ve tried to make it as easy to use as possible. 

 

 



Can you please explain Polyphonic audio?

 

Polyphonic audio is the ability to play more than one tone simultaneously. A lot of the audio has been rebuilt in this detector and t really helps you hear a ferrous and a non-ferrous tone at the same time. Rather than it chopping and changing it’s just one tone. You’ll think to yourself, ‘why wasn’t it always like that’.

 

 


Is The Manticore is a hybrid of the Equinox and CTX?

That’s a very fair comment. We’ve essentially taken everything from Equinox and redeveloped it, made it to the next level, but we’ve also borrowed the 2D ID system from CTX, and so yeah, it is a hybrid. 

 

And so, because you’ve had to bring those two things together are there any features of either of those machines which is preferable to the Manticore?

 

I would say for the CTX3030 the GPS aspect and being able to map your way points and where you are going, we don’t have that in this product. From an Equinox point of view, I would say that there’s nothing that the Manticore isn’t better. It’s a more expensive machine than Equinox, but it’s also more powerful, more fully-featured, it’s lighter weight, it’s more waterproof, and so you’re going to be able to make better decision with a Manticore compared to an Equinox. But Equinox is still great! It’s been a game-changer since we launched it 5 or 6 years ago and so it’s cool for me to see. I helped launch that product back than and now I’m here launching this one. 

 

 


Have you enjoyed your Minelab Mayhem journey? What response have you have from Europe so far?

 

It’s been a busy couple of weeks since we launched it. We’ve been all through Europe so, Germany, Netherlands, Chez republic, France, and then finishing back here again and so it’s been fantastic to visit the different types of customers and see the machine used in different areas and how they want to operate it. It was very successful and we’ve had a lot of buzz coming out of it and a lot of social media activity. It’s been fantastic and I have to say that it’s been one of the best machines I’ve ever toured at this stage of launching a product. I haven’t had to say it’s Prototype once! Flawless!

 

 

Release Date? When, when, when?!

 

We’re aiming to get it out as soon as possible. We’ve got out eye on November but we’ll see how we go but you can see the full spec on our Manticore Page

 


Summary 


So, it’s as deep as the CTX, and beats the Equinox on all counts – not bad ey?



Here's a recap of some of the Manticore's Top Features:


* Multi-IQ+ Technology

* 2D ID Visual Mapping

* Lightweight (Carbon Fibre)

* Telescopic (Easy to Transport)

* As Deep as CTX3030

* Wireless, Polyphonic Audio

* Scorpion Armrest (Easily Adjustable)

* Magnetic USB Charger

* Waterproof to 5m

* Vibrating Hand Grip and Flashlight



There’s not long to wait not until the release of the Minelab Manticore. You can put your name on our waiting list (no deposit required) by calling our store on: 01724 845608.

 

We here at Crawfords, are the Official UK Distributor for Minelab Metal Detectors and so if you have any more questions on Minelab machines please get in touch via phone, store, social media or carrier pigeon. 

 

Â