Unexpected vaquero

[swolfe]

Hello hunters! I have recently discovered that I will be getting a Tesoro Vaquero for my birthday. I have been using a coinmaster pro for a couple of years and my old machine was a metered whites db/4.

I have need for a second machine as I often hunt with my mom and we share our one working detector. We're happy with the coinmaster pro and I see that it's actually a bit cheaper than the vaquero. My impulse is to return the Tesoro and get a second coinmaster pro or even the coinmaster GT - would this be a mistake? I don't want to give up a nice machine if that is what the vaquero is.

The idea of not having a meter is a bit intimidating but I feel like I could handle it, my question I guess is what should I expect from this machine? Should I expect similar performance minus the target ID or multi tone? Am I just losing features or would I gain something?

I see some good things about the Vaquero on sites regarding depth. Depth is nice but should I really expect the vaquero to be deeper than my current machine?

 

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[fella]

Yes, The Vaq will be much deeper than the Coinmaster Pro. In fact the CMP is one of the weakest detectors I've ever owned. Even the Ace's I've used would kill it in the depth dept.
The Vaquero is a great performing detector and you should do well with it. Good luck!

 

[swolfe]

Yes, The Vaq will be much deeper than the Coinmaster Pro. In fact the CMP is one of the weakest detectors I've ever owned. Even the Ace's I've used would kill it in the depth dept.
The Vaquero is a great performing detector and you should do well with it. Good luck!

Thank you for the reply! I see the vaq listed as one of your past machines. Mind if I ask why you got rid of yours?

 

[Terry Soloman]

The Vaquero is deeper and more sensitive than your current machine. If you feel more comfortable with a visual display then do what you will.

 

[swolfe]

The display isn't a deal breaker. I'm interested in trying the other machine.

 

[Cariboo5]

I've had my Vaquero for many years and I am more than happy with it's over all performance from depth, ground balance and especially for me no screen or meter as the country I am in is old ghost towns and mining. I like the idea of not knowing what I am about to dig up which could be old Chinese items, maybe an old axe along a creek etc. that shows the miners were once here..

The vaquero has been so good and I am now a Tesoro fan that I just bought about a month or 2 ago a Lobo Super traq that I'm looking forward to trying on the claims when the snow is gone for nuggets....

Just my 2 cents worth....Good luck on your decision & happy hunting...

 

[Hobojo]

The Vaquero is deeper and more sensitive than your current machine. If you feel more comfortable with a visual display then do what you will.[/
Anytime you have an unexpected delivery you should always follow the Dr's* advice!
Wow what a nice gift! You really should keep it! Its a gift that will keep on giving thats for sure , its a Tesoso!


* Dr. of all things Tesoro.

 

[luvsdux]

It may take you a while to get used to no display, but once you get to know the Vaquero you won't miss it.
luvsdux

 

[swolfe]

Yes I didn't look at that angle. The gift was given to me because the person thought I'd like that particular machine yet knew I wouldn't try it on my own. The reason I use linux instead of windows is a similar story... I guess I'm not really out anything to keep it.

The tracking info says it will arrive tomorrow so hopefully I get a break in the winter weather to try it out. Thanks to everyone who offered me their advice.

If I end up digging a bunch of deep nails hoping they are coins, I'm going to send them to the tesoro fans (just teasing).

 

[swolfe]

OK, the vaquero came today and I assembled it making it mine forever - for better or worse lol.

Initial reaction is that the quality is good, I've read that the knobs can be loose, mine aren't but I'm a bit surprised at how tiny the knobs are. The construction is solid and the control box is made out of strong feeling plastic. The battery door comes completely off and that eliminates a hinge that might break but I hope I don't lose it LOL. The S rod is metal and feels solid when put together and locked in place with the cam locks. The shape of the S rod is a bit different than I'm used to and I'm going to have to try it out for a few hours to see if that's good or bad. The coil and connecting rod seem more fragile than the rest of the machine - do the coils tend to crack/break?
Overall the assembly was easy and not unlike other detectors I've assembled.

I took it out and ground balanced it, it was pretty easy. I tested a few coins and pulltabs and tried discriminating them out or at least until they made different sounds than the coins. This worked well and I got a decent response on the zincolns with pulltabs pretty much discriminated out. The screw cap I had was still ringing in like a penny but that's how my coinmaster often sees them too, as zinc pennies. The screw cap still gives a signal with max discrimination so I'm guessing that I am able to discriminate out up to a zinc penny or so which is normal.

I live in an old house (100+ years) and I've only ever found one silver coin in the yard. I always suspected that this might be a depth problem as my yard has been scoured by me over the past couple of years with 4 different detectors. I was excited to take the vaquero around and see if I got any nice sounding hits. Nothing rang in like a coin or anything but I did get a little bit of a grunt that I will dig when the rainwater dries up and the temp rises a bit.

The pinpoint mode seems limited. When I am over the target for a second or so the audio goes silent. Is this a battery saving feature and can I change it?

The detector seems solid and works as described so far. I will have to get used to its language and I think I will do fine here since I've had a couple of beep and dig units before (a radio shack one, a harbor freight one and what I thought was a bounty hunter).

 

[Hobojo]

Ok first I am NO expert but, I think the Vaq has an " Auto-All metal " which i think means it has to be moving in all-metal, so when its stationary over the target in will auto tune back to the threshold. When you push in the pinpoint button you are putting it into the auto-all metal. Once that happens you need to keep the coil moving listening to the " quack , quack " of the Vaq , the higher the pitch the shallower the object , the lower the pitch the deeper the object.
The Vaq is pretty sensitive and if you send it into supertune you'll get some chatter, especially in hi min soil.
Any how hope that helps , happy quacking!

 

[swolfe]

yeah been playing with it in the yard on and off, wish the weather would cooperate.

 

[swolfe]

Ok, I am getting more used to the Vaquero now, I alternate between my machines and did a 4 hour hunt using only the vaquero. I have been running with almost no discrimination because I have found that targets seem to experience a phenomenon I've seen described as iron shift in a very pronounced way with the Vaquero. Iron shift meaning that the deeper a target is, the closer to iron the signal is.

I watched a popular silver hunter set up his Vaq on youtube and I was using his setting for discrimination at first to get used to coinshooting and to just get used to the machine in general. After some hunts using this setting I changed to a very low discrimination setting and went to one of my jewelry spots. I got a soft hit and I expected that it was a bit of canslaw. Thumbing the discrimination knob I found that the target disappeared just past the line that seems to end the IRON section on the discrimination knob. I was surprised to find a nickle about 4 inches deep. Sitting the nickle on the surface I found that it now disappeared near the line that is labeled 5 cents.

I suspected that I might have the ground balance set incorrectly so I rebalanced and continued the hunt, now digging targets that disappeared at very low levels of discrimination. Deeper targets seem to suffer from this "iron shift" and it is causing me to have a bit of trouble knowing when to dig.

I'm digging every signal at this point and trying to listen for subtle differences between targets. I am able to rule out large targets using the poinpoint method but I'm not sure yet how to tell the difference between a nail and a deeper nickel.

 

[atomicscott]

Ok, I am getting more used to the Vaquero now, I alternate between my machines and did a 4 hour hunt using only the vaquero. I have been running with almost no discrimination because I have found that targets seem to experience a phenomenon I've seen described as iron shift in a very pronounced way with the Vaquero. Iron shift meaning that the deeper a target is, the closer to iron the signal is.

I watched a popular silver hunter set up his Vaq on youtube and I was using his setting for discrimination at first to get used to coinshooting and to just get used to the machine in general. After some hunts using this setting I changed to a very low discrimination setting and went to one of my jewelry spots. I got a soft hit and I expected that it was a bit of canslaw. Thumbing the discrimination knob I found that the target disappeared just past the line that seems to end the IRON section on the discrimination knob. I was surprised to find a nickle about 4 inches deep. Sitting the nickle on the surface I found that it now disappeared near the line that is labeled 5 cents.

I suspected that I might have the ground balance set incorrectly so I rebalanced and continued the hunt, now digging targets that disappeared at very low levels of discrimination. Deeper targets seem to suffer from this "iron shift" and it is causing me to have a bit of trouble knowing when to dig.

I'm digging every signal at this point and trying to listen for subtle differences between targets. I am able to rule out large targets using the poinpoint method but I'm not sure yet how to tell the difference between a nail and a deeper nickel.

Hey good luck with it! It was a constant battle for me, deciding what to dig with my Vaq. I couldnt hear any subtle differences in tone that helped me with ID and I eventually gave up trying. Some seem to have no problems 'learning the language'. I hope you get comfortable with it. HH

 

[swolfe]

Hey good luck with it! It was a constant battle for me, deciding what to dig with my Vaq. I couldnt hear any subtle differences in tone that helped me with ID and I eventually gave up trying. Some seem to have no problems 'learning the language'. I hope you get comfortable with it. HH

Season is over and numbers don't lie. The vaq did find me the best ring I've ever found but my good finds for the season are way down.

 

[atomicscott]

Season is over and numbers don't lie. The vaq did find me the best ring I've ever found but my good finds for the season are way down.

I found my coolest item ever with my Vaquero. A brass abracadabra talisman with hebrew characters. Overall my finds were much less though

 

[DiggerinVA]

Deep targets do not "disc out" or "ID" where they are suppose to.....for example, a deep 3-ringer might ID around the foil range on an ATpro....and i have dug really deep bullets with the F75 that even wanted to bounce down to iron....depth and ground conditions greatly effect true VID numbers or in the Vaquero's case, where they disc out....

 

[atomicscott]

Deep targets do not "disc out" or "ID" where they are suppose to.....for example, a deep 3-ringer might ID around the foil range on an ATpro....and i have dug really deep bullets with the F75 that even wanted to bounce down to iron....depth and ground conditions greatly effect true VID numbers or in the Vaquero's case, where they disc out....

Disc set to quarter and I dig a 5" deep rusty bolt. I don't think 5" is considered a deeper target. That got old real quick. I no longer use disc to hunt. Thumbing the disc to id target is horse & buggy thinking IMO.

 

[DiggerinVA]

Disc set to quarter and I dig a 5" deep rusty bolt. I don't think 5" is considered a deeper target. That got old real quick. I no longer use disc to hunt. Thumbing the disc to id target is horse & buggy thinking IMO.

I agree Scott, but we are talking two different things.....i am talking about deep targets reading lower than they should.....you are talking about a machine "liking" rusty iron and reading it "higher" than it should.

 

[atomicscott]

I agree Scott, but we are talking two different things.....i am talking about deep targets reading lower than they should.....you are talking about a machine "liking" rusty iron and reading it "higher" than it should.

Understood. My mistake