Golden uMax at the Beach!

[Smudge]

So I went to Daytona Beach this past week for a seeded club hunt in the dry sand. I had a little time to kill beforehand, so I decided to see how close I could get to the water before the detector started going nuts. The surf was extremely rough that day. Seaweed everywhere.

Went from the dry to the wet sand. Not a sound.

Went from the wet sand to the area where the salt water formed a slight film on the surface. Not a sound.

I did not want to venture into the surf, so I started walking and swinging, low and slow.

Within five minutes I had hit a penny and a dime. The penny was about 2" down and the dime was about 4" down in the wet sand.

There was only some slight falsing and even that was only occasional.

I was absolutely amazed at how quiet this detector ran in this hostile environment.

Bravo Tesoro.

[Sandman]

This is why I say not all beaches are the same when it comes to salt concentrations or black sand. There are to many variables. At least you know you have another beach machine.

[Smudge]

Sadnman, I'm with you there.

I just figured a 10 kHz detector with preset ground balance would have gone absolutely nuts in the wet sand.

Live and learn.

[rmptr]

I've always taken my Tesoros to the beach...
They do well, but not as good as purpose built machines.
...and I'm always afraid of getting them wet...
wouldn't be worth it to me, so I prefer to take the wet machines in the soup.
At least you know you'll have a reliable backup and a good machine on the dry.
rmptr

[Terry Soloman]

Remember to KEEP! the variable notch width control knob at 12 O'clock and most pull-tabs will have a distinict double sound and any rings that give a clear high or low sound are good targets. If you rotate the notch width control counterclockwise or clockwise on this detector,(even if you are not using the wide or narrow control, the sound of pull-tabs will change.) If the width knob is fully clockwise while not using the notch control, a Quality 14 K gold ring will give a double tone just like a pull-tab and pull-tabs will sound good. So, when you have the width control- set more or less properly, if you get that distinct pull-tab sound, then switch the narrow or wide control on, and if the sound disappears or is broken up then you know that the target is a pull-tab. Of course there are people that collect pull-tabs.

Love your theory. Here's the rub.. A silver or platinum ring will sound exactly like a pull tab - Exactly. Dig it all, or you don't get it all. That is my theory.

[ds6191]

How do you like your golden? It sounds like a dream machine.Different tones and you really can notch out most of the pull tabs? I have a silver and am thinking about getting a golden also. I can't find much info on it other than, Get a Vaquero it's the same price. Interested to hear your thoughts. Dan

[Smudge]

It's probably the best discriminator I've ever used.

I tested a lot of targets while I played with the controls.

Basically I run the discriminator at the preset arrow, wide width on the notch, with the dial at about the 12:00 position.

In my ground, my high tones are either silver or clad coins, except nickels, which hit at a mid tone. "Zincolns" which don't even register (no loss to me), but copper and clad pennies still ring out clean. So if its a high tone, its either a coin or a large crushed aluminum can.

Mid tones will cover nickels, rings, and still some pulltabs manage to get through, especially beaver tails. I could set the discrimination, higher, but i start knocking out thin gold. At my present settings, my 2gr gold ring still sounds off fine in air tests, so I don't play with the controls any further.

But my junk targets dug have dropped off dramatically.

The Golden is an awesome cherry picker.

[ds6191]

Thanks for the reply.So you have found rings and nickels with the golden?I know no machine can be 100% right.But if I could discriminate most pulltabs and still have a chance for gold and nickels,that would be great. I would love to hear from anyone else that swings the golden.I'm really interested and I want to stay with Tesoro. It's that whole warranty thing,my sons detector went out and the warranty is up. Thanks, Dan

[Sandman]

I just retested my Golden ,u Max ten minutes ago and the results are:
4 different types of pull-tabs knocked out.
1 10K gold ring knocked out, 2 other 10K gold rings detected clearly.
2 14K rings detected clearly.
1 18K gold and white ring detected clearly.

Changing the position on the width knob (with notch control off) alters the tone of the above mentioned targets.

That's my theory and I am sticking to it.
Care to debate the theory of evolution? Just kidding.

You have to remember that all those gold rings are alloyed with different metals and conductivity as your 10 kt. test shows. 14 kt. rings are only 58% pure gold. Whats the other metal?

[ds6191]

Exactly! If you can cherry pick once in a while and still have a chance at nickels and gold that would be great. Right now on my silver the only cherry picking is copper penny on up. No chance of gold or nickels. Then if you get the time to go over the area again, you can dial down. I'm afraid if I went out and pulled 50-100 pull tabs every hunt, I wouldn't be having to much fun. And unfortunately my hunting time is becoming less and less. Dan