Choosing a first detector for the wife?

[DannyB1954]

Here we go again.

Tesoro is of the DEVIL. Stay away from their magic it WILL posses you. If you hold one up side down remove the coil cover and look at it with a maginifing glass you can see the numbers 666 imbossed on it, i think? Look very hard. See it? I knew you could . There now don't you feel better? Use the farce!!! Use the farce!!!
You have been forewarned.
Now go buy a Tesoro and stop this thread from going down the rabit hole, PLEASE.
Oh and buy the way do you think Tesoro might build a new machine in 2016?

I thought that technique for reading the number only worked if you jumped up and down on one foot while spinning around clockwise if the left foot was used, counterclockwise if the right foot was used, all the while barking like a chicken. I could be wrong about all of this of course.

 

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[atomicscott]

Here we go again.

Tesoro is of the DEVIL. Stay away from their magic it WILL posses you. If you hold one up side down remove the coil cover and look at it with a maginifing glass you can see the numbers 666 imbossed on it, i think? Look very hard. See it? I knew you could . There now don't you feel better? Use the farce!!! Use the farce!!!
You have been forewarned.
Now go buy a Tesoro and stop this thread from going down the rabit hole, PLEASE.

Oh and buy the way do you think Tesoro might build a new machine in 2016?

Lol

 

[dirtscratcher]

I love how people use videos to judge a detectors ability as if people watching the vids will get the same results in their own soil & hunting conditions. The X-Terra with 6" 18.75 khz coil was simply MILES ahead of the Vaquero in trashy sites. Even with the stock concentric coil I still dug way less trash than with the iron-hugging Vaquero. Funny, I never noticed anybody complain about the iron masking of the X-Terra until now. BTW, I no longer own the XT 505, so no reason to bash it on my account, lol. The only way I found this out was to hunt the same pounded out sites back to back and compare finds. Not some nail board test, etc...

The nail board test is a joke. Very rare to view a video that is not slanted. Detectors that do the best at finding silver coins with nails in the same hole struggle on the nail board test, but when they have been in the ground together its completly different. I believe that some of the best at the test struggle the most with the iron that has been in the ground along time. This has been my experience others I'm sure vary.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Hi all, new member here.

I am wanting to buy my wife a detector. We are complete MD noobs.

She is 58 and not really the most computer savvy. I am thinking lightweight and simple is best.

The struggle I am having is defining simple. To me and reading about Tesoro's...turn on and go...seems the easiest.

Other folks try to tell something like the Garrett Ace 350 or Eurotek Pro (something with a screen) is easier for beginners. I am not convinced and feel if you don't don't have the knowledge it can be set up wrong and miss stuff.

So, if Tesoro is the way to go for a beginning detector how do I pick one? I am thinking about a budget of $200-$300 budget and that leaves me the Compadre, Silver uMax and the Cibola as choices.

For a complete noob, who really won't know what she is doing and will likely dig most anything that beeps for awhile, can someone explain to me which one you would buy and why? Also if you really think a display unit is the way to go please don't hesitate to speak up.

So, what have we learned Westside?

1) Metal Detectorists be crazy
2) Everybody likes different machines
3) For gawd's sake don't tell them what you ended up getting for your wife!

 

[Fletch88]

The nail board test is a joke. Very rare to view a video that is not slanted. Detectors that do the best at finding silver coins with nails in the same hole struggle on the nail board test, but when they have been in the ground together its completly different. I believe that some of the best at the test struggle the most with the iron that has been in the ground along time. This has been my experience others I'm sure vary.

You got that right! The ones that do good to very well on NBT are too "sparky" for my taste. Some say learn to hunt into the noise. I prefer the ones that run quietly (even under a power line), find deep silver and allow the user to dig a lot less junk.

 

[dirtscratcher]

If it's in my signature, it's a decent detector. If you can find a location that's doesn't have too much EMI and you're in the mood for cherry picking silver coins then the Omega will do a really good job for you if it's not too trashy and it is set up correctly. Keep in mind that I'm using the Omega like a Tesoro detector by discriminating out everything up to and including the pull tabs that are on the test board and digging everything that beeps. The VDI numbers on the display are bouncing around from 68 to 78 during the test and is giving a mid tone. The detector is telling the user that the quarter on the test board is likely trash, a larger pull tab, a screw cap, a zinc penny, or maybe a Indian head penny. There is no high tone or VDI number to indicate that there is a silver quarter on the test board. I've tested the Omega with a single tone and with 3 tones. Either way it only gives a mid-tone during the test. The Omega is a good detector, especially versions 5 and 6.

The Minelab x Terra detectors are the worst that I've ever used when it comes to unmasking targets in trashy areas. Their recovery speed is really awful. They didn't hang around on my signature list for long.



tabman

You hit on a very good point. A lot of these vid detectors can be ran in one tone and perform a lot like a tesoro. But they can also be ran quite a few other ways that actually help quite a bit. My personal favorite is zero disc with 3 tones in moderate trash. In heavy trash especially iron 2 tone with 0 disc. I too was very disappointed in my exterra 705.

 

[westside bengal]

Just an update....been really tied up with some minor but aggravating health issues. I want to thank everyone for their advice.

I ended up buying a Tesoro Silver uMax. She hasn't used it much yet but she is pleased so far and we all know if Mama's happy.......

And she is trying hard to talk me in to going with her. I am a real history buff but I am really tied and not sure how much time I can dedicate.
So I probably will go with something like a Compadre or the used route.

Thanks again

 

[RobRieman]

Just an update....been really tied up with some minor but aggravating health issues. I want to thank everyone for their advice.

I ended up buying a Tesoro Silver uMax. She hasn't used it much yet but she is pleased so far and we all know if Mama's happy.......

And she is trying hard to talk me in to going with her. I am a real history buff but I am really tied and not sure how much time I can dedicate.
So I probably will go with something like a Compadre or the used route.

Thanks again

Cincinnati area ?