Vanquish question

Detectreno · Mar 29, 2022

Got a Vanquish 540 before Christmas. Overall I like it and Im having fun but.... Ive went out with it about a dozen times. What I dont understand is how jumpy the numbers are on coins and how unreliable the depth reading is. The owners manual says a quarter will read a 29. I haven't had one single quarter read a 29. Quarters read 28 - 32 but jump around between 35 and 20. Im starting to realize when I have a quarter because it will jump back up around 30 but its never just a solid 29. I know when I have a penny because it jumps around even more. Pennies jump around from 10 to 40. Depth is really unreliable too. A soda tab just below the surface can read 3 bars deep if it's just outside my coil. Its even more frustrating with bobby pins. Any advice on this? Also I tried updating the software when I first got it but it said it was current. Also. I'm using this primarily on sandy beaches at lake tahoe. Ive noticed it going completely crazy in black sand. I just skip over thise areas because its completely unusable. Is this normal operation for those conditions. Any advice? Thanks.

Valley Hunter · Mar 29, 2022

I'm using this primarily on sandy beach
Clean the coil cover Prob got sand in there

Bioheat1969 · Mar 29, 2022

Well I can't speak to the black sand, the jumpy numbers on your coins come fron a couple things, at least they do for me with my 440. First, the numbers shift based on the angle of the coin, is it flat on, at an angle or edge on. All of these can make the numbers jump around a bit. The other things that make me nutty with the numbers and depth are the mineral content of the soil. I also notice if I'm anywhere near power lines, the depth readings tend to be off.

MuddyMo · Mar 29, 2022

Pinpoint the target then swing the center of the coil over that spot if you aren't already.

szugelder · Mar 31, 2022

I have a 540, coin id's are pretty consistent for me, digging in the dirt. I'm going to guess that it's the sand causing the results you're getting, especially if you're detecting in wet sand.

atomicbrh · Mar 31, 2022

Detectreno said:
Got a Vanquish 540 before Christmas. Overall I like it and Im having fun but.... Ive went out with it about a dozen times. What I dont understand is how jumpy the numbers are on coins and how unreliable the depth reading is. The owners manual says a quarter will read a 29. I haven't had one single quarter read a 29. Quarters read 28 - 32 but jump around between 35 and 20. Im starting to realize when I have a quarter because it will jump back up around 30 but its never just a solid 29. I know when I have a penny because it jumps around even more. Pennies jump around from 10 to 40. Depth is really unreliable too. A soda tab just below the surface can read 3 bars deep if it's just outside my coil. Its even more frustrating with bobby pins. Any advice on this? Also I tried updating the software when I first got it but it said it was current. Also. I'm using this primarily on sandy beaches at lake tahoe. Ive noticed it going completely crazy in black sand. I just skip over thise areas because its completely unusable. Is this normal operation for those conditions. Any advice? Thanks.

The things you are experiencing are common for your conditions with all detectors. Depth, moisture of the soil and corrosion/thickness of the coins cause the inconsistent Target ID. Corrosion, moisture and thickness of the coins from corrosion also cause the inaccurate depth readings.
You do not have enough time on that detector to learn the nuances of that 540. Mrs. atomicbrh has no trouble with a 340 on any beach or dirt condition: black sand, wet sand, yellow clay, dry sand, etc. Most places she has good targets in her bag before I can get an Equinox linked and noise cancelled.

jmaclen · Mar 31, 2022

Detectreno said:
Got a Vanquish 540 before Christmas. Overall I like it and Im having fun but.... Ive went out with it about a dozen times. What I dont understand is how jumpy the numbers are on coins and how unreliable the depth reading is. The owners manual says a quarter will read a 29. I haven't had one single quarter read a 29. Quarters read 28 - 32 but jump around between 35 and 20. Im starting to realize when I have a quarter because it will jump back up around 30 but its never just a solid 29. I know when I have a penny because it jumps around even more. Pennies jump around from 10 to 40. Depth is really unreliable too. A soda tab just below the surface can read 3 bars deep if it's just outside my coil. Its even more frustrating with bobby pins. Any advice on this? Also I tried updating the software when I first got it but it said it was current. Also. I'm using this primarily on sandy beaches at lake tahoe. Ive noticed it going completely crazy in black sand. I just skip over thise areas because its completely unusable. Is this normal operation for those conditions. Any advice? Thanks.

The iron black sand/high iron mineralization at Lake Tahoe and many western USA lake beaches make it tough for most detectors and can really skew target IDs and depth readings even on simultaneous multi frequency detectors.

The Vanquish models cannot be manually ground balanced so that is strike one.
Higher recovery speeds can help some in high iron mineralization along with lower iron bias settings…….those are not very adjustable on the Vanquish which is strike two.

So using a smaller coil (8”) to lessen the amount of iron mineralization seen by the detector, keeping the coil a bit off the beach surface and staying away from the wet sand may help a bit. So would using some of the iron target ID range, turning down the iron volume some and just rejecting -9 and -8.

Expect target ID numbers for coins to have a wider range like you have already noticed, loss of depth, and non-ferrous targets even reading as iron targets the deeper they are.

The Vanquish models just were not made for such extreme conditions. Even the Equinox struggles at Tahoe from people I know and trust who have hunted there. Most have resorted to using a pulse induction detector.

oldkoot · Apr 1, 2022

Detectreno said:
Got a Vanquish 540 before Christmas. Overall I like it and Im having fun but.... Ive went out with it about a dozen times. What I dont understand is how jumpy the numbers are on coins and how unreliable the depth reading is. The owners manual says a quarter will read a 29. I haven't had one single quarter read a 29. Quarters read 28 - 32 but jump around between 35 and 20. Im starting to realize when I have a quarter because it will jump back up around 30 but its never just a solid 29. I know when I have a penny because it jumps around even more. Pennies jump around from 10 to 40. Depth is really unreliable too. A soda tab just below the surface can read 3 bars deep if it's just outside my coil. Its even more frustrating with bobby pins. Any advice on this? Also I tried updating the software when I first got it but it said it was current. Also. I'm using this primarily on sandy beaches at lake tahoe. Ive noticed it going completely crazy in black sand. I just skip over thise areas because its completely unusable. Is this normal operation for those conditions. Any advice? Thanks.

the issue you are having is one reason why in my opinion single frequency detectors will never be obsolete, that is one thing I am seeing in the Legend when in one of the multi modes, I do not detect beaches but on highly mineralized ground with the legend I am running a lot in single frequency mode usually in the 15 KHz setting it seems to calm the jumpy target IDs down a lot to an extent, the one thing I do not care for on the legend, the Legend is my first jump into Multi frequency, I believe it is just the nature of multi frequency, and there is a reason why Mine Lab and, Nokta/Macro put the capability's of running single frequencies in the software this is just my opinion but I feel what you describe is inherent in multi frequency detector which the vanquish is

Coin-Saver · Apr 1, 2022

oldkoot said:
the issue you are having is one reason why in my opinion single frequency detectors will never be obsolete, that is one thing I am seeing in the Legend when in one of the multi modes, I do not detect beaches but on highly mineralized ground with the legend I am running a lot in single frequency mode usually in the 15 KHz setting it seems to calm the jumpy target IDs down a lot to an extent, the one thing I do not care for on the legend, the Legend is my first jump into Multi frequency, I believe it is just the nature of multi frequency, and there is a reason why Mine Lab and, Nokta/Macro put the capability's of running single frequencies in the software this is just my opinion but I feel what you describe is inherent in multi frequency detector which the vanquish is

15 Khz isn't a bad single frequency if one had to pick one. I think it would be my choice if I only had one to pick from for all around hunting.

metaladdict · Apr 1, 2022

Detectreno said:
Got a Vanquish 540 before Christmas. Overall I like it and Im having fun but.... Ive went out with it about a dozen times. What I dont understand is how jumpy the numbers are on coins and how unreliable the depth reading is. The owners manual says a quarter will read a 29. I haven't had one single quarter read a 29. Quarters read 28 - 32 but jump around between 35 and 20. Im starting to realize when I have a quarter because it will jump back up around 30 but its never just a solid 29. I know when I have a penny because it jumps around even more. Pennies jump around from 10 to 40. Depth is really unreliable too. A soda tab just below the surface can read 3 bars deep if it's just outside my coil. Its even more frustrating with bobby pins. Any advice on this? Also I tried updating the software when I first got it but it said it was current. Also. I'm using this primarily on sandy beaches at lake tahoe. Ive noticed it going completely crazy in black sand. I just skip over thise areas because its completely unusable. Is this normal operation for those conditions. Any advice? Thanks.

Black sand at Tahoe is brutal, I think there is EMI with it also at sand harbor. My pulse detector handled it very well but I still didn't find many goodies back in 2013.

Diga · Apr 1, 2022

oldkoot said:
Is there is a reason why Mine Lab and, Nokta/Macro put the capability's of running single frequencies in the software this is just my opinion but I feel what you describe is inherent in multi frequency detector which the vanquish is

ALL SMF detectors are highly susceptible to EMI because the frequency range is so "open". The main advantage of SMF is for salt conditions, and some highly mineralized ground. For all other ground conditions, SMF has disadvantages, and a correctly chosen single frequency is preferred.

oldkoot · Apr 1, 2022

Digalicious said:
ALL SMF detectors are highly susceptible to EMI because the frequency range is so "open". The main advantage of SMF is for salt conditions, and some highly mineralized ground. For all other ground conditions, SMF has disadvantages, and a correctly chosen single frequency is preferred.

Rather then change my wording in my reply you need to go back and quote what I actually put down

here is what I actually said

and there is a reason why Mine Lab and, Nokta/Macro put the capability's of running single frequencies in the software this is just my opinion but I feel what you describe is inherent in multi frequency detector which the vanquish is

Diga · Apr 1, 2022

Sorry oldkoot. I misread your post.

Vanquish question

Detectreno

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Valley Hunter

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Bioheat1969

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MuddyMo

szugelder

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atomicbrh

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jmaclen

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oldkoot

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metaladdict

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Diga

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oldkoot

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