New Vaquero - maiden voyage today - needs some input

[ModernMiner]

I have been using a Silver uMax for over 5 years now and love it. As some of you know, I have found about everything with that Silver over the years. I recently decided to move up the ladder and buy a new Vaquero after all the great feedback I've been reading. Today I took the Vaquero out for its maiden voyage. I hit a ball field, and sand play area at a local school to try to get used to the different signals. Attached are my big finds. Nothing banner yet.
Today I mainly detected with the SENS set at about 9, and DISC set above iron just to get a feel for it.

My experience with the machine so far has been:

PROS-
*This machine goes deep and I had no problem digging coins at 8".

*Ground balance wasn't too bad once I tried it a few times. (This was my biggest fear)

*Great in dry sand. I found even the tiniest pieces of metal in dry sand.

CONS-
*The tones still sound the same to me whether it a coin, tin can, or anything else. My Silver uMax was very distinct and I could pretty much tell what the target was going to be.
This is a biggie for me. Can you other Vaquero users figure out say a coin from tin? Button from coin? etc

*My pinpointing needs work. I didn't find it as easy to pinpoint as the Silver uMax, and really had a tough time when I tried to pinpoint by pressing the "pinpoint" button. I use the same 9x8 coil on my Silver uMax too.

I know I'm still a rookie on this new Vaquero and things will only get better, but any input would be great.

Thanks,
MM

[Keppy]

Well i don't have a vaquero but that was some nice finds for your first time out with it...

[redclay]

I have been looking at the Vaquero and was under the impression there was no difference in the tones. The way of telling what the target might be is rotating the discrimination knob until there is no sound.
It will be interesting to see some responses to see if I understand correctly and of course to get you an answer.

[Keppy]

I have been looking at the Vaquero and was under the impression there was no difference in the tones. The way of telling what the target might be is rotating the discrimination knob until there is no sound.
It will be interesting to see some responses to see if I understand correctly and of course to get you an answer.

Yes your right the Vaquero has only one tone........

[Sandman]

You had a lot of time using the old detector and it had one tone also, but there was a slight difference in how the sound got to your ears. It will just take more time and soon your ears will learn the slight differences in sound. The V is a great detector which gets better with a good set of headphones like Black Widows.

[ModernMiner]

You had a lot of time using the old detector and it had one tone also, but there was a slight difference in how the sound got to your ears. It will just take more time and soon your ears will learn the slight differences in sound. The V is a great detector which gets better with a good set of headphones like Black Widows.

Thanks Sandman. I was hoping you would reply.
I think that may be a lot of it. I have been so used to the sound of my Silver uMax AND my old headphones (cheaper brand). I started fresh this time with the new Vaquero and a new set of Grey Ghost headphones. What a difference! Those headphones are so quite.
Looking forward to learning the new Vaquero. I get out quite a bit, so I'm hoping to be turning up some deep relics soon.
Thanks,
Doug

[RPG]

You had a lot of time using the old detector and it had one tone also, but there was a slight difference in how the sound got to your ears. It will just take more time and soon your ears will learn the slight differences in sound. The V is a great detector which gets better with a good set of headphones like Black Widows.

Thanks Sandman. I was hoping you would reply.
I think that may be a lot of it. I have been so used to the sound of my Silver uMax AND my old headphones (cheaper brand). I started fresh this time with the new Vaquero and a new set of Grey Ghost headphones. What a difference! Those headphones are so quite.
Looking forward to learning the new Vaquero. I get out quite a bit, so I'm hoping to be turning up some deep relics soon.
Thanks,
Doug

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Get used to it. One thing I like about the Vaquero over the Silver is the soft mellow tone it gives on deep good targets. Go ahead and plan on getting the 5" concentric coil. I use mine as much if not more than the 9X8. You will be surprised how many targets you are leaving behind because of masking with the big coil. The pinpointing will come, it's second nature to me now.

Good luck Doug.

[tabman]

Don't use the pinpoint button to pinpoint with, because it's easier to pinpoint in the discrimination mode using the 'x' method. At least it is for me. Instead, use the pinpoint button to quickly check the ground balance and to size targets.

I hope this helps.

tabman

[cokat7]

*The tones still sound the same to me whether it a coin, tin can, or anything else. My Silver uMax was very distinct and I could pretty much tell what the target was going to be.
This is a biggie for me. Can you other Vaquero users figure out say a coin from tin? Button from coin? etc

*My pinpointing needs work. I didn't find it as easy to pinpoint as the Silver uMax, and really had a tough time when I tried to pinpoint by pressing the "pinpoint" button. I use the same 9x8 coil on my Silver uMax too.

I had very similar issues when I first got the Vaquero. Like you I first used the silver umax with cheap headphones and in a month I could guess about 50% of the targets accurately, 2 months and I was guessing 7-9 out of 10 targets accurately. Foil was very distinct, scratchy/breaking up. I could usually tell the difference between a dime, nickle, quarter, dollar, penny, and most all the common park and playground finds, I learned exactly what a bottlecap sounded like.

When I got the Vaquero everything changed, the tone was so different and it was really hard to tell the difference between targets. After using it for a while I could tell the difference between good and bad targets and tell the size, but still can't really "call" the target like I could with the silver. Mind you I don't hunt parks and playgrounds like I did with that machine either.

I can now tell the difference between clad and silver or copper, I 'know' when I have iron under the coil. But bottle caps always sound like clad to me, at the beach I couldn't care less if I dig bottlecaps, but in grassy areas I would like to pass them up, I'm sure one day I'll figure it out.

As far as pinpointing goes, it took me about a month to start pinpointing just as well or tighter than I could with the silver.

Good luck.

[ModernMiner]

Great feedback and a BIG help to me. Thanks to all of you for replying. I'm feeling a lot better about the Vaquero now. I thought maybe my hearing was going.
I know I need a lot more time in the field, but at least I know now the the tone I am hearing is the norm for the Vaquero vs. my Silver uMax which is different.

Thanks,
MM

[rws51]

I noticed the same thing with the sounds of the Silver µmax and the Vaquero. I hunted with the Silver for two years and it has a distinct sound over different types of targets. Coins have that sweet mellow tone and trash has the scratchy broken tones. I got a new Vaquero last summer and noticed right off the bat I couldn't tell what was under the coil nearly as easily as with the Silver. Everything
sounds the same to me with the Vaquero, but if it beeps I'm going to dig it anyways. I probably got in about 50 hours on the Vaquero with the heat and drought limiting my detecting, but I will say the Vaquero is one heck of a detector. I took it to an old picnic grove that has been pounded hard with a Fisher 1266x and a couple of Fisher CZ's and the Vaquero did an excellent job finding several coins
that were from 5 to 8 plus inches deep, especially buffalo and V nickels. The Silver is a great detector but the Vaquero is an awesome detector that will amaze you with its depth and sensitivity to tiny targets. Good luck with your Vaquero.......

Roger

[ModernMiner]

I noticed the same thing with the sounds of the Silver µmax and the Vaquero. I hunted with the Silver for two years and it has a distinct sound over different types of targets. Coins have that sweet mellow tone and trash has the scratchy broken tones. I got a new Vaquero last summer and noticed right off the bat I couldn't tell what was under the coil nearly as easily as with the Silver. Everything
sounds the same to me with the Vaquero, but if it beeps I'm going to dig it anyways. I probably got in about 50 hours on the Vaquero with the heat and drought limiting my detecting, but I will say the Vaquero is one heck of a detector. I took it to an old picnic grove that has been pounded hard with a Fisher 1266x and a couple of Fisher CZ's and the Vaquero did an excellent job finding several coins
that were from 5 to 8 plus inches deep, especially buffalo and V nickels. The Silver is a great detector but the Vaquero is an awesome detector that will amaze you with its depth and sensitivity to tiny targets. Good luck with your Vaquero.......

Roger

Thanks for the post Roger.
I've had the Vaquero out a few more times now and you are right. Great depth, and it will pick up some tiny targets.
My pinpointing has improved greatly since my first outing. I really love this new machine. Couldn't have been better timing either, since I had to send my Silver uMax into the shop after 5 years of use.
-MM-