The different depths of the Vaquero..user error or factory error

[DigDugNY]

I've had my Vaquero for close to a couple years now and I definitely don't have any complains about it. Many of you have seen my posts and I definitely ask a lot of questions, but I've also made some cool finds. I haven't hit as many silver coins as I'd like, but I doubt its the machines fault.

Recently it's been actin up a little and I hope it's not because dirt got into the control housing. The speaker vents aren't in a great spot. I'm planning on sending it in soon to get a clean bill of health and get my coils re-tuned.

The reason I am writing this post is that after reading all the posts about the Vaquero since getting it I have seen significant differences in depth people get. I have seen posts of people hitting signals down to 15", and most can get about 10-12", but some are only getting like 5" max. In my case I seem to be finding coins in the 7-8" range when I'm lucky, but lately i'm only getting deep iron. I know this can be user error in some instances and it could also be ground conditions, but the fact that so many people have had significant differences depth wise makes me wonder if it's how they get it from the factory. A lot of times, from what I've seen, it takes having to return a machine back to the factory to get it returned in better working order than before. I hope that isn't the case, but it makes me wonder if I had sent it back earlier if I would have gotten it back and got more depth

 

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[Keppy]

Well you can't believe the depth that every one say's they get with there detectors on these forums............ No matter what brand of detector they use............. I think a lot get there depth in there dreams only...............

 

[DigDugNY]

Well you can't believe the depth that every one say's they get with there detectors on these forums............ No matter what brand of detector they use............. I think a lot get there depth in there dreams only...............

That could very well be true, but I guess I wrote it giving them the benefit of the doubt, lol

 

[SpiritRelic]

You have to remember to supertune the vaq or it will not get the great depth you are looking for.Alot of times you will forget to do this procedure and you just don't know why you are not getting the depth.On the current line up the vaq is the only model that supertunes for added depth.Do not forget,supertune for about 2 to 3 inches of added depth.If you are just jewelry and coin hunting in a trashy park this may not be a good idea.I have been detecting since the 70's.The vaq is one of the deepest detectors on the entire market along with the tejon.Proper ground balance and supertuned the vaq will go deep esp for silver coins.

 

[BottleCapBandit]

I just picked up a vaquero today. I took it home and searched the yard and found a small buckle (quarter sized) @7" deep in sugar sand NOTsuper tuned. I also found a plow blade @13" but that is a much larger target obviously. I have only the stock coil but it was pinging coins @3-6" with ease. All the ground in my yard is sugar sand and loaded with trash.

 

[SpiritRelic]

On every detector i get my hands on i air test with a quarter.If you get close to 12inches with a faint signal you are doing great.I get this with a vaq and tejon with no problem.I have had some expensive minelabs that would not get this.I like the sensitivity of a tesoro.Trust me the vaq and tejon will go as deep as any vlf detector on the market.People think that all these other high end detectors go deeper but they don't.They just have the fancy tones and meters.They are heavy as hell also.Tesoro metal detectors are some of the very best.They could just come out with some new designs and that would be awesome.

 

[vaquero44]

I think for the money the vaquero is one of the best values in detecting with one of the best warrantys out there

 

[Ism]

Much of the poor performance on a Vaquero is due to RFI. The Vaquero shows little effect from RFI except in performance. I found this out using other detectors in the same area as the Vaquero.
The other detectors went crazy under the same circumstances. Another condition I found that reduced the depth performance was an area that had a buried concrete slab with rerod (my guess based on the fact that there was a building on the site and I got a solid iron signal in all-metal over the entire area). The slab was about 3 ft under the surface (the area was full of wheat pennies, nickles, and silver dimes). I couldn't detect coins any deeper than 3-4 inches with the Vaquero in this area. Probably similar to the effects that wet saltwater beaches have on it. So essentially the ground/area conditions are why the depth reports vary.

One last thing is the sensitivity control behaves exponentially. Going from 9 to 10 can double the depth. Going into the red can double that.

 

[SpiritRelic]

I agree,high levels of emi will effect any vlf detector but one thing i noticed about the vaq is that it does great around power lines so much better than alot of other detectors i have used.If any bad ground conditions exist like bad ground go with a DD coil for the best operation. .

 

[Tee1up]

Airtest

On every detector i get my hands on i air test with a quarter.If you get close to 12inches with a faint signal you are doing great.I get this with a vaq and tejon with no problem.I have had some expensive minelabs that would not get this.I like the sensitivity of a tesoro.....

Relic, when you air test, are you using a regular, modern quarter in all metal mode?
(Thx in advance).

 

[SpiritRelic]

Yes,a modern quarter.The quarter is the coin i go by with all my comparison test.The vaq was one of the top detectors when a group in England did comparisons of every vlf detector,when it came to hitting the deep target.So that is my test when i get a different detector that i go by.Some say you can't go by air test,but i do.If a detector don't hit it in the air,i don't see how it could do any better in the ground.So with my reading and research and use of the vaquaro and also the tejon i have found personally that these two detectors are no nonsense deep seeking fine metal detectors.If i get serious about wanting to go out for deep coins or deep relics,i will grab one of these detectors for sure.