Tweet
Minelab Multi-IQ vs Multi-IQ+, or why X-Terra ELITE and EQUINOX coils don't work on the Manticore
Several people have asked what the "+" in Multi-IQ+ means. Others are unhappy that their X-Terra ELITE and EQUINOX coils don't work on the Manticore.
Yesterday I watched two videos that captured the TX waveforms of all three detectors. From them I concluded that, on the Manticore, the "+" most likely means the TX current has been roughly doubled.
The numbers support this. The received target signal is proportional to TX current, so doubling the current doubles the signal. For a small target, the induction-balance response falls off roughly as 1/dā¶ with depth. So twice the signal gives about 2^(1/6) ā 1.12 times the depth, or about 12% more sensitivity. The cost is battery life, because TX power grows roughly with the square of the current.
This also explains the coil incompatibility. A coil designed for the Multi-IQ TX drive level and impedance can't simply be used on a transmitter that runs about twice the current.
----------
Minelab TX coil drive: X-Terra Elite vs Equinox 700 vs Manticore (scope readings from two lovecpokladu.cz videos)
The Czech site lovecpokladu.cz published two videos in which they scope the TX coil of three Minelab Multi-IQ
detectors. I transcribed and translated the Czech narration and read the scope screens frame by frame. Below is
only what is directly measured or shown on screen. No estimates.
SETUP (both videos)
- Scope: UNI-T UTD2025C.
- Access: a coil-connector T-adapter, so neither detector is opened.
- Signal: the single shielded pair in the coil cable is the TX. The author says the TX coil is driven straight
from the detector, while the RX signal is processed inside the coil. This agrees with Skippy's finding of an
in-coil RX preamp:
TX DRIVE LEVELS (flat level from zero, read with the author's own scope cursors, video 2)
- X-Terra Elite, own coil ........................ +9.0 / -9.2 V (+/-8.8 V in the later Manticore capture)
- X-Terra Elite with an Equinox coil ............. +/-9 V, unchanged
- Equinox 700, same Equinox coil ................. 12.2 V (flat)
- Manticore (its own coil; the author says the coil parameters differ) ... +22.0 / -22.4 V
- Ratios from these numbers: Equinox / Elite = 1.36x; Manticore / Equinox = 1.8x.
SPIKES AT THE SWITCHING EDGES (on screen)
- X-Terra Elite: about +18 V (10 V/div).
- Equinox 700: goes off the top of the screen, so at least +20 V (5 V/div).
- Manticore: goes off both edges of the screen, so at least +/-40 V (10 V/div). True peaks not measured.
VIDEO 1 (workshop bench, Equinox 700 vs Manticore, one channel)
- The probe was set to x10 with the scope channel at x1. The author says so and switches it on camera at 2:37,
so every value on screen in that video is 10x low.
- Equinox 700 (probe switched to x1): 55 V peak-to-peak, 11.7 V RMS.
- Manticore, same probe and settings: peak-to-peak and RMS both about 2x the Equinox ("instead of 5 I have 10,
instead of 1 I have 2").
WAVEFORM
- Bipolar, multi-level PWM with segments of roughly 7-46 us. Not a sine and not a plain square wave.
- No ringing is resolved after the edges. The fastest timebase in either video is 10 us/div (about 0.4 us per
display column), so the TX self-resonance cannot be measured from these videos.
RELATED MEASUREMENTS BY OTHERS
- Stock EQX 11 TX coil: L = 119 uH, R ~0.35 ohm (Skippy):
- Multi-IQ tones, Equinox 600/800 (Carl Moreland, quoted on DetectorProspector):
Park/Field 2.6 + 7.8 + 39 kHz; Beach 2.6 + 7.8 + 23.4 kHz.
- Skippy gives 7812.5 / 18229.17 / 39062.5 Hz, i.e. the 3rd, 7th and 15th harmonics of 2604.17 Hz:
ATTACHED IMAGES (one per detector; perspective-corrected frames straight from video 2, annotated)
- X-Terra Elite:
Minelab X-Terra Elite - TX - video2 bJMA0DrmV04 3m45s - own coil - 5 V-div 50 us-div (annotated).png
- Equinox 700 (blue) vs X-Terra Elite (yellow):
Minelab Equinox 700 (CH1 blue) vs X-Terra Elite (CH2 yellow) - TX - video2 bJMA0DrmV04 7m30s - same Equinox coil - 5 V-div 20 us-div (annotated).png
- Manticore (blue) vs X-Terra Elite (yellow):
Minelab Manticore (CH1 blue) vs X-Terra Elite (CH2 yellow) - TX - video2 bJMA0DrmV04 11m10s - 10 V-div 10 us-div (annotated).png
LINKS
- Video 1, Manticore / Equinox power difference on the TX coil (2023-01-30): https://youtu.be/RjNb2Tj6jCs
- Article for video 1: https://www.lovecpokladu.cz/en/home/...ting-coil-9363
- Video 2, performance comparison of the new Minelab multi-frequency series (2024-06-21): https://youtu.be/bJMA0DrmV04
- Article for video 2: https://www.lovecpokladu.cz/en/home/...or-series-9825
- Geotech1, ML Equinox coil discussion thread (Skippy's coil measurements):
- Geotech1, Minelab Equinox challenge (Multi-IQ tones):
- DetectorProspector, "So, The X-Terra Elite", page 2 (Carl Moreland's tone measurements):
- Minelab Multi-IQ Technology Explained (Steve Herschbach / Minelab Treasure Talk):
ā
Enjoy
ā
Several people have asked what the "+" in Multi-IQ+ means. Others are unhappy that their X-Terra ELITE and EQUINOX coils don't work on the Manticore.
Yesterday I watched two videos that captured the TX waveforms of all three detectors. From them I concluded that, on the Manticore, the "+" most likely means the TX current has been roughly doubled.
The numbers support this. The received target signal is proportional to TX current, so doubling the current doubles the signal. For a small target, the induction-balance response falls off roughly as 1/dā¶ with depth. So twice the signal gives about 2^(1/6) ā 1.12 times the depth, or about 12% more sensitivity. The cost is battery life, because TX power grows roughly with the square of the current.
This also explains the coil incompatibility. A coil designed for the Multi-IQ TX drive level and impedance can't simply be used on a transmitter that runs about twice the current.
----------
Minelab TX coil drive: X-Terra Elite vs Equinox 700 vs Manticore (scope readings from two lovecpokladu.cz videos)
The Czech site lovecpokladu.cz published two videos in which they scope the TX coil of three Minelab Multi-IQ
detectors. I transcribed and translated the Czech narration and read the scope screens frame by frame. Below is
only what is directly measured or shown on screen. No estimates.
SETUP (both videos)
- Scope: UNI-T UTD2025C.
- Access: a coil-connector T-adapter, so neither detector is opened.
- Signal: the single shielded pair in the coil cable is the TX. The author says the TX coil is driven straight
from the detector, while the RX signal is processed inside the coil. This agrees with Skippy's finding of an
in-coil RX preamp:
TX DRIVE LEVELS (flat level from zero, read with the author's own scope cursors, video 2)
- X-Terra Elite, own coil ........................ +9.0 / -9.2 V (+/-8.8 V in the later Manticore capture)
- X-Terra Elite with an Equinox coil ............. +/-9 V, unchanged
- Equinox 700, same Equinox coil ................. 12.2 V (flat)
- Manticore (its own coil; the author says the coil parameters differ) ... +22.0 / -22.4 V
- Ratios from these numbers: Equinox / Elite = 1.36x; Manticore / Equinox = 1.8x.
SPIKES AT THE SWITCHING EDGES (on screen)
- X-Terra Elite: about +18 V (10 V/div).
- Equinox 700: goes off the top of the screen, so at least +20 V (5 V/div).
- Manticore: goes off both edges of the screen, so at least +/-40 V (10 V/div). True peaks not measured.
VIDEO 1 (workshop bench, Equinox 700 vs Manticore, one channel)
- The probe was set to x10 with the scope channel at x1. The author says so and switches it on camera at 2:37,
so every value on screen in that video is 10x low.
- Equinox 700 (probe switched to x1): 55 V peak-to-peak, 11.7 V RMS.
- Manticore, same probe and settings: peak-to-peak and RMS both about 2x the Equinox ("instead of 5 I have 10,
instead of 1 I have 2").
WAVEFORM
- Bipolar, multi-level PWM with segments of roughly 7-46 us. Not a sine and not a plain square wave.
- No ringing is resolved after the edges. The fastest timebase in either video is 10 us/div (about 0.4 us per
display column), so the TX self-resonance cannot be measured from these videos.
RELATED MEASUREMENTS BY OTHERS
- Stock EQX 11 TX coil: L = 119 uH, R ~0.35 ohm (Skippy):
- Multi-IQ tones, Equinox 600/800 (Carl Moreland, quoted on DetectorProspector):
Park/Field 2.6 + 7.8 + 39 kHz; Beach 2.6 + 7.8 + 23.4 kHz.
- Skippy gives 7812.5 / 18229.17 / 39062.5 Hz, i.e. the 3rd, 7th and 15th harmonics of 2604.17 Hz:
ATTACHED IMAGES (one per detector; perspective-corrected frames straight from video 2, annotated)
- X-Terra Elite:
Minelab X-Terra Elite - TX - video2 bJMA0DrmV04 3m45s - own coil - 5 V-div 50 us-div (annotated).png
- Equinox 700 (blue) vs X-Terra Elite (yellow):
Minelab Equinox 700 (CH1 blue) vs X-Terra Elite (CH2 yellow) - TX - video2 bJMA0DrmV04 7m30s - same Equinox coil - 5 V-div 20 us-div (annotated).png
- Manticore (blue) vs X-Terra Elite (yellow):
Minelab Manticore (CH1 blue) vs X-Terra Elite (CH2 yellow) - TX - video2 bJMA0DrmV04 11m10s - 10 V-div 10 us-div (annotated).png
LINKS
- Video 1, Manticore / Equinox power difference on the TX coil (2023-01-30): https://youtu.be/RjNb2Tj6jCs
- Article for video 1: https://www.lovecpokladu.cz/en/home/...ting-coil-9363
- Video 2, performance comparison of the new Minelab multi-frequency series (2024-06-21): https://youtu.be/bJMA0DrmV04
- Article for video 2: https://www.lovecpokladu.cz/en/home/...or-series-9825
- Geotech1, ML Equinox coil discussion thread (Skippy's coil measurements):
- Geotech1, Minelab Equinox challenge (Multi-IQ tones):
- DetectorProspector, "So, The X-Terra Elite", page 2 (Carl Moreland's tone measurements):
- Minelab Multi-IQ Technology Explained (Steve Herschbach / Minelab Treasure Talk):
ā
Enjoy
ā