Tesoro Sand Shark - technical specs

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algeus

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Aug 13, 2014
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well, i have a vaquero and looked through the manual. nothing about fcc or ul in it. they sell tesoros in europe also. is there a metal detector dealer that could possibly assist you?

Thank you very much for checking!

Regarding Europe - Normally I would expect USA based vendor will certify the products locally, then as far as I understand there are something called MRAs - mutual recognition of certifications between certifying entities(e.g. there is such an agreement between CE(Europe) and USA standards.Same for Israeli local certifications and FCC).

Unfortunately the machine was purchased not from EU,but from Canadian reseller, hence I would not expect some EU shop to help me on that. Rather I was looking for Tesoro to assist me, but days are passing, and I'm getting absolutely no response:(.
 

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algeus

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Aug 13, 2014
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I actually have an update.
I've first approached Tesoro support on 05-Feb-15 asking about certifications.Yesterday,on 23-Feb-15 I finally got some answers,hurray!

Tesoro reseller from Canada (I bought the machine from) was able to obtain an EC Declaration of Conformity for Tesoro Sand Shark for me through its channels. Made me really happy. On other hand, the customer service I've experienced with Tesoro is not a service I'm used to working with American companies. Maybe they just had a bad day/week/month there simply ignoring my mails? Who knows...

Anyway,really hope to get my machine soon here:).
 

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jld66

Sr. Member
Oct 28, 2014
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thats good. i asked if a dealer could assist you. does seem strange you got no help through tesoro though.
 

Terry Soloman

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I actually have an update.
I've first approached Tesoro support on 05-Feb-15 asking about certifications.Yesterday,on 23-Feb-15 I finally got some answers,hurray!

Tesoro reseller from Canada (I bought the machine from) was able to obtain an EC Declaration of Conformity for Tesoro Sand Shark for me through its channels. Made me really happy. On other hand, the customer service I've experienced with Tesoro is not a service I'm used to working with American companies. Maybe they just had a bad day/week/month there simply ignoring my mails? Who knows...

Anyway,really hope to get my machine soon here:).

Would you be willing to share the information you got with us here to back up your claims?
 

atomicscott

Bronze Member
Aug 18, 2011
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Riverside CA
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Current: Nokta Makro Simplex+, Teknetics Patriot, Fisher Gold Bug (original), GP Pinpointer (Garrett Clone) Lesche. Owned: Omega 8000, Minelab X-Terra 505, Fisher F2, Tesoro Vaquero, & Compadre, Whit
Primary Interest:
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Couple of things :

1."I would stop blaming Tesoro, and ask myself why I didn't check with my country's import requirements BEFORE I tried to import an electronic instrument that is so closely associated with recovering antiquities. All of the information needed by customs is in the owners manual. If YOU can't explain what you are going to do with the metal detector to your customs agents, that is NOT Tesoro's fault. I say YOU are the one that messed up and Tesoro has NO further responsibility in this matter."

Actually I did check that. It's not the first detector I'm importing, and I know more or less what I would need to present. The issue is that our Customs are quite unpredictable on that. They can give you a permission on some machine,and ask you for more info on the other. In this particular case,all I need is some USA/EU certificate. So simple. It can be found for other vendors I've imported and I NEVER had any issue with that.Never.I have my Garrett ACE 250 here,FCC certified and imported to Israel without a single issue.
So am I the one who messed up? I don't think so.
I'm now simply in a situation in which I need the vendors help,and I'm not getting it. Don't need any "secret formula" or something like that.Just a short feedback from the support.Yes,we do have a certifications to show you/No,we don't have it.

"Israel - The Antiquities Act 1978, Section 9a states that `no person shall excavate in a private property for the purpose of discovering antiquities, nor search for antiquities in any other manner, including the use of metal detectors, nor gather antiquities unless he has received a licence for such from the Director. Breach of this section carries a liability to imprisonment for a term of 3 years...."

Thank you for informing me about my country's laws. Why are you doing that?:) Why do you think I need to explain to the Customs agent the purpose of the detector import? Nothing like that sir.I was only asked to provide certs.And that is what I'm asking Tesoro to help me with. Now,let me explain couple of things about our local laws. One CAN import metal detector to Israel.No explanation needed. One CAN use it in Israel, just not within archeological sites, and not gathering antiquities with that. I and many others are using and importing it happily.

I understand you want to "protect" Tesoro, but really hope you are not doing it for money,as you are not doing a good job sir.

It is amazing that Tesoro cannot provide fcc compliance certs. How can someone defend Tesoro not returning emails? Is that the customers fault or Tesoro's? Are modern gold rings or clad considered "antiquities"? I wonder if any of the other manufacturers would be able to provide fcc certs. If we lived in a country that was constantly being targeted by terrorists, I would hope our government would take the same precautionary measures at customs. Well it looks like he will be going elsewhere for his detecting needs. Is it that hard to return emails? EDIT: just read that you are getting it worked out. Good news, I hope you do well with your new detector!
 

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algeus

Jr. Member
Aug 13, 2014
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Would you be willing to share the information you got with us here to back up your claims?

What would you like to see?
A proof of a fact you've wrote nonsense trying to blindly defend a company that couldn't provide me an adequate answer on a simple question for weeks? Or the document I got finally from Tesoro?

I really have no prejudice about Tesoro or any other vendor. The opposite is true - after using Garrett products mostly, and following a lot of good reviews on Tesoro Sand Shark I've purchased one. Upon receiving a bad service(for whatever reason) I feel that is my right to share it with other people. Hope it's ok with you.
 

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algeus

Jr. Member
Aug 13, 2014
86
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It is amazing that Tesoro cannot provide fcc compliance certs. How can someone defend Tesoro not returning emails? Is that the customers fault or Tesoro's? Are modern gold rings or clad considered "antiquities"? I wonder if any of the other manufacturers would be able to provide fcc certs. If we lived in a country that was constantly being targeted by terrorists, I would hope our government would take the same precautionary measures at customs. Well it looks like he will be going elsewhere for his detecting needs. Is it that hard to return emails? EDIT: just read that you are getting it worked out. Good news, I hope you do well with your new detector!

Well, I got no FCC compliance certs. What I got is "Declaration Of Conformity" with CE standards,and no information about FCC compliance or any other proof than a document signed by Tesoro. I just HOPE it will satisfy our customs as I didn't get a response from them yet...
And yes,all other vendors I checked with(Minelab and Garrett) are stating that their products are FCC certified...so really don't understand what are the issues preventing Tesoro to provide the information about its FCC compliance status.

Anyway,I can't wait to get and try the machine, and really hope all this mess was worth it:).
 

jld66

Sr. Member
Oct 28, 2014
250
234
Maine
Detector(s) used
Vaquero with 8x11, 8x9, 5.75 concentric coils.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Well, I got no FCC compliance certs. What I got is "Declaration Of Conformity" with CE standards,and no information about FCC compliance or any other proof than a document signed by Tesoro. I just HOPE it will satisfy our customs as I didn't get a response from them yet...
And yes,all other vendors I checked with(Minelab and Garrett) are stating that their products are FCC certified...so really don't understand what are the issues preventing Tesoro to provide the information about its FCC compliance status.

Anyway,I can't wait to get and try the machine, and really hope all this mess was worth it:).

well hopefully you will get it. i am a fan of tesoro. but not returning e-mails with information that other companies openly give and is no secret is odd. i have called them twice with questions and they give good, informative answers and make sure you are satisfied with the answer. heck the second time, could hardly get them off the phone. not complaining. just strange that tesoro does not seem to be aware of this with overseas buyers and should be able to clear it up in a more timely manner in the future with them. i cannot see anything wrong with that. some people get to defensive when anyone even hints at something other than absolute praise for tesoro. they are a good company. but, they are not perfect.
 

Terry Soloman

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I think this is just another hatchet job attempt - period. I urge all of you to do a little common sense checking on this "story" before making up your own minds. For instance, have any of you contacted Garrett, Whites, Fisher, or Tesoro and asked them for the information the OP says he did?
 

jld66

Sr. Member
Oct 28, 2014
250
234
Maine
Detector(s) used
Vaquero with 8x11, 8x9, 5.75 concentric coils.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I think this is just another hatchet job attempt - period. I urge all of you to do a little common sense checking on this "story" before making up your own minds. For instance, have any of you contacted Garrett, Whites, Fisher, or Tesoro and asked them for the information the OP says he did?

well, me for one did not, did you? but, this seems legit. it is not another one of those, cazador is a no go. i got good word that tesoro is going out of business and so on. what if it is not another hatchet job? if my competitors could get there products easily through customs in another country and it came up that mine was not. i would make sure that customer got what he needed to, receive it right away and make sure it would not happen in the future. as far as trade secrets go. anyone with electronics knowledge can get a detector. take it apart and copy it. it is not like a recipe or anything like that. and if it is another "hatchet" job. it was a good laugh then and i got the egg on my face. i try to help out others the best i can. not start criticizing and have a know it all attitude. because i certainly am the first to admit that i do not know it all and never will. haha. good luck and have fun...
 

atomicscott

Bronze Member
Aug 18, 2011
1,564
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Current: Nokta Makro Simplex+, Teknetics Patriot, Fisher Gold Bug (original), GP Pinpointer (Garrett Clone) Lesche. Owned: Omega 8000, Minelab X-Terra 505, Fisher F2, Tesoro Vaquero, & Compadre, Whit
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
well, me for one did not, did you? but, this seems legit. it is not another one of those, cazador is a no go. i got good word that tesoro is going out of business and so on. what if it is not another hatchet job? if my competitors could get there products easily through customs in another country and it came up that mine was not. i would make sure that customer got what he needed to, receive it right away and make sure it would not happen in the future. as far as trade secrets go. anyone with electronics knowledge can get a detector. take it apart and copy it. it is not like a recipe or anything like that. and if it is another "hatchet" job. it was a good laugh then and i got the egg on my face. i try to help out others the best i can. not start criticizing and have a know it all attitude. because i certainly am the first to admit that i do not know it all and never will. haha. good luck and have fun...

Obviously this dastardly fellow devised a scheme to pretend he was importing a sand shark & lured Tesoro into not being able to provide needed compliance certs. so he could force them to not return his emails. It happens all the time....
 

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algeus

Jr. Member
Aug 13, 2014
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Obviously this dastardly fellow devised a scheme to pretend he was importing a sand shark & lured Tesoro into not being able to provide needed compliance certs. so he could force them to not return his emails. It happens all the time....

:)))))))))

I really don't feel like quoting Rusty's mails here(doesn't sound right to me, as it was a personal correspondence after all),but here is a part of my mail to him from 11-Feb :

"...Regarding the certifications.To be honest,I didn't know it will be such a problem to find out whether Tesoro products are certified,or not.:) This information is easily obtained while looking on Tesoro competitors sites,but nothing could be found on tesoro.com...
Stephanie,from Customer Support wrote me that : " When I responded to your questions about if the Tesoro Sand Shark model is certified UL approved, and I responded YES, it's because the Sand Shark takes 8-AA size alkaline batteries and does and would not have enough current to disrupt any electrical field. I hope this answers your question.""

Looking on UL cert list, I could find Garrett,Minelab and the others,but not Tesoro:(. Anyway, as I really don't want to send my Tesoro SH back rejected by Customs, I would be really grateful if Vince or anybody else could provide me some information about Tesoro products international certifications. Of course,if there are any...

Thank you in advance"


This mail,and the two that followed, were never answered. It was a response to a message in which Rusty stated he has no knowledge about the certifications, and maybe Vince G. could help me with that.
So,maybe somebody there could not answer my question for a good reason. From my side - it was a bit frustrating.

No "hatchet jobs"(learned a new phrase in English!) here. I'm a real person,making my living from IT/Networking and not from negative PR of this company or another.
 

Carl-NC

Bronze Member
Mar 19, 2003
1,871
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Washington
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I think this is just another hatchet job attempt - period. I urge all of you to do a little common sense checking on this "story" before making up your own minds. For instance, have any of you contacted Garrett, Whites, Fisher, or Tesoro and asked them for the information the OP says he did?

Terry, I worked for White's, and now work for First Texas. What algeus is talking about is perfectly legit and routine. Any detector with a microprocessor is required, at a minimum, to be tested for radiation emissions and have an FCC Declaration of Conformity. If the TX runs over 9kHz, they have to be tested as an intentional radiator. If they are exported, there are additional certifications required, like CE.

The manufacturer is required to have the paperwork (certs & test results) on file and available. It may be that the Sandshark has never been sold for export, so it may not have a CE certificate, but Tesoro should have at least an FCC DoC. It sounds like that's all Israeli Customs was asking for. The whole thing should have been resolved in 2 emails.

algeus, UL has nothing to do with this. UL listing is normally associated with dangerously high voltages/currents, such as things that get plugged into a wall outlet. I don't know of any hand-held battery-operated detectors that are UL-listed.
 

atomicscott

Bronze Member
Aug 18, 2011
1,564
1,055
Riverside CA
Detector(s) used
Current: Nokta Makro Simplex+, Teknetics Patriot, Fisher Gold Bug (original), GP Pinpointer (Garrett Clone) Lesche. Owned: Omega 8000, Minelab X-Terra 505, Fisher F2, Tesoro Vaquero, & Compadre, Whit
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Terry, I worked for White's, and now work for First Texas. What algeus is talking about is perfectly legit and routine. Any detector with a microprocessor is required, at a minimum, to be tested for radiation emissions and have an FCC Declaration of Conformity. If the TX runs over 9kHz, they have to be tested as an intentional radiator. If they are exported, there are additional certifications required, like CE.

The manufacturer is required to have the paperwork (certs & test results) on file and available. It may be that the Sandshark has never been sold for export, so it may not have a CE certificate, but Tesoro should have at least an FCC DoC. It sounds like that's all Israeli Customs was asking for. The whole thing should have been resolved in 2 emails.

algeus, UL has nothing to do with this. UL listing is normally associated with dangerously high voltages/currents, such as things that get plugged into a wall outlet. I don't know of any hand-held battery-operated detectors that are UL-listed.

Carl, thanks for the edification. Did you actually teach Terry something he did not know? That is an amazing feat. I must mark this day on the calendar, lol.
 

Terry Soloman

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Terry, I worked for White's, and now work for First Texas. What algeus is talking about is perfectly legit and routine. Any detector with a microprocessor is required, at a minimum, to be tested for radiation emissions and have an FCC Declaration of Conformity. If the TX runs over 9kHz, they have to be tested as an intentional radiator. If they are exported, there are additional certifications required, like CE.

The manufacturer is required to have the paperwork (certs & test results) on file and available. It may be that the Sandshark has never been sold for export, so it may not have a CE certificate, but Tesoro should have at least an FCC DoC. It sounds like that's all Israeli Customs was asking for. The whole thing should have been resolved in 2 emails.

algeus, UL has nothing to do with this. UL listing is normally associated with dangerously high voltages/currents, such as things that get plugged into a wall outlet. I don't know of any hand-held battery-operated detectors that are UL-listed.

Your information is partially correct. IF the OP had bought his "NEW" Tesoro Sand Shark from an AUTHORIZED TESORO DISTRIBUTOR OR DEALER, that distributor or dealer would have automatically supplied his country's customs office with the needed paperwork. I was trying to give the OP the chance to admit he DID NOT purchase his Tesoro machine from a dealer or distributor AUTHORIZED to EXPORT or IMPORT to Israel, and most likely had a third (private) party here or in Canada buy it for him in an effort to save money.

This whole story reeked from the beginning. When you don't play by the book, when you circumvent the system on purpose, these things can happen.
 

Terry Soloman

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Carl, thanks for the edification. Did you actually teach Terry something he did not know? That is an amazing feat. I must mark this day on the calendar, lol.

LOL! :laughing7:
 

jld66

Sr. Member
Oct 28, 2014
250
234
Maine
Detector(s) used
Vaquero with 8x11, 8x9, 5.75 concentric coils.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
thanks for clearing that up carl. i am a tesoro fan. but, it does seem like they dropped the ball with this. like they are doing with this whole cazador thing. tesoros are more than likely the only detector i will ever use and i do fly their flag whenever someone asks what detector to buy. it does seem like they could do some things better. that is just common business sense. if you have people overseas wanting and willing to buy your detectors. make it easy for them to do so. the other companies are by providing the proper things that is required. how freaking hard is that to realize? haha
 

Terry Soloman

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thanks for clearing that up carl. i am a tesoro fan. but, it does seem like they dropped the ball with this. like they are doing with this whole cazador thing. tesoros are more than likely the only detector i will ever use and i do fly their flag whenever someone asks what detector to buy. it does seem like they could do some things better. that is just common business sense. if you have people overseas wanting and willing to buy your detectors. make it easy for them to do so. the other companies are by providing the proper things that is required. how freaking hard is that to realize? haha

Once Again - IF the OP had bought his "NEW" Tesoro Sand Shark from an AUTHORIZED TESORO DISTRIBUTOR OR DEALER, that distributor or dealer would have automatically supplied his country's customs office with the needed paperwork. I was trying to give the OP the chance to admit he DID NOT purchase his Tesoro machine from a dealer or distributor AUTHORIZED to EXPORT or IMPORT to Israel, and most likely had a third (private) party here or in Canada buy it for him in an effort to save money.

Dealers and distributors have protected territories that only they are authorized to sell in. A private citizen that bought a Tesoro in the U.S. or Canada will not have access to customs paperwork an OVERSEAS DEALER or DISTRIBUTOR does. A dealer that admitted they sold to someone outside their territory could risk losing theirs - period.
 

Carl-NC

Bronze Member
Mar 19, 2003
1,871
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Washington
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Your information is partially correct. IF the OP had bought his "NEW" Tesoro Sand Shark from an AUTHORIZED TESORO DISTRIBUTOR OR DEALER, that distributor or dealer would have automatically supplied his country's customs office with the needed paperwork. I was trying to give the OP the chance to admit he DID NOT purchase his Tesoro machine from a dealer or distributor AUTHORIZED to EXPORT or IMPORT to Israel, and most likely had a third (private) party here or in Canada buy it for him in an effort to save money.

This whole story reeked from the beginning. When you don't play by the book, when you circumvent the system on purpose, these things can happen.

My information is completely correct. It doesn't matter where he bought the detector from. Coulda been new, coulda been used, coulda been a gift from Cousin Jed. Customs doesn't care, all they want to see is the DoC, which the manufacturer should have (and most AUTHORIZED TESORO DISTRIBUTORS OR DEALERS wouldn't have). Nothing reeks here, and algeus did nothing wrong. There is no sin in not buying from an AUTHORIZED TESORO DISTRIBUTOR OR DEALER, which he may have done in any case.
 

Terry Soloman

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May 28, 2010
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Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
My information is completely correct. It doesn't matter where he bought the detector from. Coulda been new, coulda been used, coulda been a gift from Cousin Jed. Customs doesn't care, all they want to see is the DoC, which the manufacturer should have (and most AUTHORIZED TESORO DISTRIBUTORS OR DEALERS wouldn't have). Nothing reeks here, and algeus did nothing wrong. There is no sin in not buying from an AUTHORIZED TESORO DISTRIBUTOR OR DEALER, which he may have done in any case.

We disagree Carl. We both know Whites and First Texas would - and do - protect their dealers and distributor's territories overseas. This whole thread was a smash and bash job from beginning to end with the usual suspects showing up.
 

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