Just purchased a Minelab Vanquish 440 can't wait to try it out!

[Sojourner57]

Hi,
Any 440 users have any tips for a beginner? I've been watching YouTube videos. So, I've got the basics down pretty good. I gotta make a test bed to practice on.

I was gonna get the 340, then thought, well it's only $90.00 more for the next model up and pinpoint might be worth it.

TIA and happy swinging and digging.
Don

 

[Jski2011]

nice I am sure you will enjoy it, lotsa good folks here alot of great information to be found
oh and welcome from western mass

 

[Sojourner57]

Thanks! I live in Missouri. About 60 from Iowa in what I like to call the Heart of Missouri's Outback. It's 30 minutes to the nearest gas station and town of any size.

 

[Sojourner57]

I got to play with it a little in my living room. I figured it would pick up the nails in my wood floor, but in coun mode it ignored them. It detected a Canadian penny, US penny, nickel, some, quarter, half dollar and Susan B $1.00 coins.

The learning curve has started.. grin

 

[jmadill]

congrats! that extra money also got you a nice rain cover and a few more degrees of adjustment for volume, sensitivity, etc.

you will find a lot of great stuff. just be sure to carry a spare set of AA's, the machine does have a battery appetite.

 

[Bioheat1969]

I got to play with it a little in my living room. I figured it would pick up the nails in my wood floor, but in coun mode it ignored them. It detected a Canadian penny, US penny, nickel, some, quarter, half dollar and Susan B $1.00 coins.

The learning curve has started.. grin

You will find that the learning curve is very shallow, this is a user-friendly machine. Don't forget to go online and update the firmware, it will make your batteries last longer and update the iron tones.

 

[Sojourner57]

You will find that the learning curve is very shallow, this is a user-friendly machine. Don't forget to go online and update the firmware, it will make your batteries last longer and update the iron tones.

Thanks I'll do that.

 

[TexHunter]

Here's a "cheat sheet" for some common targets, and the location of the Micro A USB port. It's attached directly to the motherboard so take your time making the connection. Hope this helps...

 

[kidlester]

Good luck!
Tom

 

[Sojourner57]

Here's a "cheat sheet" for some common targets, and the location of the Micro A USB port. It's attached directly to the motherboard so take your time making the connection. Hope this helps...

View attachment 578599

View attachment 578600

I found the port, downloaded the update and it was already at 1.6.1 the latest update.

My problem now is I'm getting a good solid beep at 20-22 and I start digging. It turns out to be iron. The last one was a part of a bolt that was twisted off with the nut attached. I thought iron was supposed to be a negative number on a Vanquish? So far bits of aluminum, nails and part of a bolt, they all had solid beeps and 14 or higher.

Have I got my sensitivity turned up too high? I was in Jewelry mode this time.

Thanks!

 

[ucnegold?]

Sounds like the machine is working fine. You will dig a lot of rusty nails and bolts with the Vanquish just the same as some are finding with the high-end machines. You will get great high tones even on very deep targets. It will take some time to discern the best audio from the machine but if you practice on US coins, you can begin to understand the "round" sound a good target produces. Some of the junk like rusty nails and bolts will sound a bit more scratchy or iffy.

 

[Sojourner57]

Sounds like the machine is working fine. You will dig a lot of rusty nails and bolts with the Vanquish just the same as some are finding with the high-end machines. You will get great high tones even on very deep targets. It will take some time to discern the best audio from the machine but if you practice on US coins, you can begin to understand the "round" sound a good target produces. Some of the junk like rusty nails and bolts will sound a bit more scratchy or iffy.

Thanks for the words of encouragement! After my first day, I was getting to the point of is it me or is there something seriously wrong with my 440? I may turn it on all metal, set the sensitivity up to full, and sweep a 10'*10' clean of iron, then plant a few coins and see what happens

 

[ucnegold?]

Yes, unfortunately with the 440 you won't have any low iron bias or iron volume control as tools to check signals, but you can hunt with All Metal "OFF" and switch it "ON" when needed with a press of the horseshoe button to check for iron grunts in the signal. Turn on the targets and see if the audio changes or sputters.

Watch the VDI numbers. If the ID numbers vary wildly or by more than 3 or 4 numerical digits, chances are it is not a really good target. You can also switch between the modes to check for co-mingled targets. Coin and Jewelry modes have faster recovery speeds than relic. You can test the separation by swinging over known targets and switching search modes and see how each reacts.

You will be fooled at times because the Vanquish seems to love the heads of nails and bolts. There is also something about the rusty halo around these targets that makes them sound good. If you suspect a target is too good to be true, take your shovel and turn over the ground around the signal and see if the tone changes, breaks up or disappears.

Another tool for checking signals is to raise the coil up off the ground several inches, smaller targets (deep coins maybe) will disappear where big junk will continue to scream with the coil held high. Use the pin-pointer function to check the size of the target. A long nail, bolt or aluminum can etc. will sound off longer in the swing where as a smaller target will have a much more compact audible signal.

Good luck! Can't wait to see what you find.

 

[ucnegold?]

set the sensitivity up to ful

By the way, I wouldn't set sensitivity Full On. This will actually cause falsing and sensory overload on your brain. Adjust the sensitivity only as needed to quiet EMI or false signals from the machine when swinging. You will be amazed at how deep you will be digging even at mid-level sensitivity. Ending the swing abruptly, hitting roots or saplings with the coil will also cause a falsing high tone. Swing slow and smooth and avoid abrupt movements.

 

[floridabig]

Hi,
Any 440 users have any tips for a beginner? I've been watching YouTube videos. So, I've got the basics down pretty good. I gotta make a test bed to practice on.

I was gonna get the 340, then thought, well it's only $90.00 more for the next model up and pinpoint might be worth it.

TIA and happy swinging and digging.
Don

I just got a 440 a couple of weeks ago, I had a different detector but was getting so much noise and interference so I wanted something better. I'm still learning the machine but like alot of people have said you'll begin to hear those different tones it will just take time and I don't know of any detector that will keep you from digging rusty nails. Have fun and be patient the good stuff will come.

 

[Sojourner57]

By the way, I wouldn't set sensitivity Full On.

Thanks for all the great tips! I'll have to read them a second time and make notes.

 

[Sojourner57]

I just got a 440 a couple of weeks ago, I had a different detector but was getting so much noise and interference so I wanted something better. I'm still learning the machine but like alot of people have said you'll begin to hear those different tones it will just take time and I don't know of any detector that will keep you from digging rusty nails. Have fun and be patient the good stuff will come.

I've certainly dug a few nails and bolts already.

 

[Chroma]

About digging nails:
Digging a lot of nails with the Vanquish 440 is mostly an ear training issue. When I first started I dug tons of iron because I couldn't differentiate the sound of a good coin signal from the "iron falsing" of a rusty nail.

The rusty nail signals are not as repeatable as good nonferrous signals. When you have identified a possible high-tone coin signal, sweep over it steadily and slowly back and forth. A nail signal will not repeat on every pass--it feels like you have to coax the good sound out of it. If you sweep over the signal from a different angle it will still be inconsistent or will disappear.

The good high-tone coin signals will generally repeat on every pass from 360° around in clean ground. In iron-polluted patches of ground (e.g. yard of demolished house), coins and other nonferrous targets may have sketchier signals due to close proximity to iron. For example, a wheat penny might only sound good and repeat from one direction. So in these irony areas it is useful to detect from many different directions to maximize the finds.

I would recommend trying to train your ears in pretty clean ground at first. Just get used to digging clad coins with solid signals. Once your ears know what to listen for, the rusty nail "imposter" signals will sound less appealing.

Once your ears have some experience you can move to the more iron-polluted areas (if you want to). The trashy/irony areas can be great because I think they scare away some detectorists, leaving lots of things still in the ground. I like to use coin mode in all metal (horseshoe button activated) in these areas. I like it because good high tone coin signals will stand out from the iron grunts, and coin mode will give you the best "target separation" or "recovery speed". But running in all metal in iron trashy areas can be overwhelming (sensory overload) until you are used to it.

About the sensitivity: this is just my experience, but I can run full sensitivity nearly 100% of the time with no issues. Even at full sensitivity the machine is very quiet and stable unless you are near a power line or another source of interference. Dropping the sensitivity does reduce the iron falsing but at the expense of some depth. But if your ears can tune out the iron falsing (keep practicing), full sensitivity will give you the most information.

 

[Sojourner57]

About digging nails:
Digging a lot of nails with the Vanquish 440 is mostly an ear training issue. When I first started I dug tons of iron because I couldn't differentiate the sound of a good coin signal from the "iron falsing" of a rusty nail.

The rusty nail signals are not as repeatable as good nonferrous signals. When you have identified a possible high-tone coin signal, sweep over it steadily and slowly back and forth. A nail signal will not repeat on every pass--it feels like you have to coax the good sound out of it. If you sweep over the signal from a different angle it will still be inconsistent or will disappear.

The good high-tone coin signals will generally repeat on every pass from 360° around in clean ground. In iron-polluted patches of ground (e.g. yard of demolished house), coins and other nonferrous targets may have sketchier signals due to close proximity to iron. For example, a wheat penny might only sound good and repeat from one direction. So in these irony areas it is useful to detect from many different directions to maximize the finds.

I would recommend trying to train your ears in pretty clean ground at first. Just get used to digging clad coins with solid signals. Once your ears know what to listen for, the rusty nail "imposter" signals will sound less appealing.

Once your ears have some experience you can move to the more iron-polluted areas (if you want to). The trashy/irony areas can be great because I think they scare away some detectorists, leaving lots of things still in the ground. I like to use coin mode in all metal (horseshoe button activated) in these areas. I like it because good high tone coin signals will stand out from the iron grunts, and coin mode will give you the best "target separation" or "recovery speed". But running in all metal in iron trashy areas can be overwhelming (sensory overload) until you are used to it.

About the sensitivity: this is just my experience, but I can run full sensitivity nearly 100% of the time with no issues. Even at full sensitivity the machine is very quiet and stable unless you are near a power line or another source of interference. Dropping the sensitivity does reduce the iron falsing but at the expense of some depth. But if your ears can tune out the iron falsing (keep practicing), full sensitivity will give you the most information.

Thanks for taking the time and explaining so clearly. I'm starting to pick up on the subtitles and when I get a good solid tone from any direction I dug, if it only pings one way and not another, I'm learning to pass on them. Now if aluminum wouldn't trick me. With those nice 22s from any direction and mode.... lol.

 

[Chroma]

Thanks for taking the time and explaining so clearly. I'm starting to pick up on the subtitles and when I get a good solid tone from any direction I dug, if it only pings one way and not another, I'm learning to pass on them. Now if aluminum wouldn't trick me. With those nice 22s from any direction and mode.... lol.

You can usually tell when you have an aluminum can under the coil (versus a coin) because the signal sounds larger. It has a wider sound. When you pinpoint an aluminum can it will not give a tight, snappy sound like a coin. You'll start to get a feel for this.