Help out a new guy; Compadre, uMax, or Cibola

[ckpage86]

Hey guys, looking to buy a machine. I have been going out with my 10 year old who got a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV for Xmas. We are both having fun, but I feel the BH is not the best, and want something of my own, and something better. We have been checking out parks, and we have a national forest close by we have been checking the trails and such. I am interested in finding coins, and gold. My son is excited to find bullet casings (which we find a ton of so far) so even though I consider most of our hunts bad days, they are great days for him!

I was originally looking at expensive machines, and realized as much as I would like to spend $900 on a machine, I do not think that is the best route to go right now, enter Tesoro machines. For the cost I can purchase a pin pointer and whatever accessories I might want and still be way under the cost of the more expensive machines. I started looking at the Tesoros machines seriously this morning, and I am now considering purchasing one of them to hone my skills on.

So, from you guys I was hoping you could give me advice for the following three machines:

1. Compadre, looks good, grab and go, cheap, would go with the open 8" coil
2. Silver uMax, seems more flexible with the sensitivity knob, lower frequency than Compadre (I am leaning towards this model for sensitivity?)
3. Cibola, a little more than uMax, has more knobs and such

What would be the best option in terms of cost, flexibility, ease of use, and overall opinions on these devices.

 

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[Welgund]

Compadre is a machine that when you decide to upgrade to a more expensive model you don't have to get rid of it cause it's the least expensive Tesoro and one you will always want to keep. The compadre is magical and just plain finds treasure and coins and probably the best tot lot machine made of all machines even the more expensive ones.

 

[doggoneitdignit]

I agree with Welgund. The Compadre is a good companion to as a beginner and even when you move up to intermediate and advance user to have as a starting point detector. Get to know this an you can see yourself over the years of experience move up to a intermediate to advance detector if you decide to stay with Tesoro and always use this as your back up or pass it on to your son if you decide to stay with the sport. And the Compadre is the best between the three for small baby fine jewelry as well has the 180 discrimination circuitry like that of the Tejon!

HH.

 

[fltacoma]

Shoot, I would have a hard time deciding. Seeing as you are out in Tucson, I would at least get a Widescan coil, possibly 12x10, or 5.75 for those mineralized areas. If you could stretch out the money, I would recommend the Vaquero which is used for coin/relic/gold hunting. If not, then the Cibola.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Of the three, I would get the Silver uMax, and upgrade it to the 11"x8" widescan coil.

 

[ckpage86]

Hey everyone, thanks for the responses and the advice. I just got off the phone with KellyCo. I ordered the Silver uMax and a Pro Pointer. Should be shipping out this afternoon!

 

[ckpage86]

Terry, is the coil you are referring to this one: S-11x8W-SW-E ?

 

[Terry Soloman]

Terry, is the coil you are referring to this one: S-11x8W-SW-E ?

Yes! 11x8" Widescan (includes scuff)

S-11x8W-SW-E

3'

 

[ckpage86]

Cool! I will look into it. I will run it stock for a bit once I get it and see how she does before I do any upgrading. Thanks Terry.

 

[tabman]

Cool! I will look into it. I will run it stock for a bit once I get it and see how she does before I do any upgrading. Thanks Terry.

You won't go wrong with the Silver µMax. It's one sweet detector.

tabman

 

[ckpage86]

Shipped already! I am too excited. Should be here Friday, only wish it would get here quicker. Ughhh....I hate waiting for packages.

 

[doggoneitdignit]

Can someone touch on the MaxBoost offers on the Silver. Is this where Tesoro started with thier uMAX for more power on the operational amplifiers 'gain' build on the Pots for Sensitivity, and imagine this is not like the Supertune but maybe..somewhat where the Supertune offerings like the Vaquero allow you to gain also by the audio Threshold and Sensitivity along with the negative Ground Balance when working this in together. Is this correct, where the the MaxBoost is gain just on Sensitivity alone?

I realize the uMax is built on microprocessor technology but what does it offer overall since it's inception when it came out to Tesoro users in general.

Thanks.

 

[Terry Soloman]

What is Super Tune?Super Tuning is a technique to get better depth and sensitivity out of any machine that has an adjustable Threshold control.The Threshold control is normally used to set the level of hum in the All Metal mode. A light steady hum is usually desired so that any small or deep target will cause a change in the audio sound. To Super Tune a detector, put it in the Discriminate mode and turn the Threshold knob all the way to the clockwise position. At this point, the All Metal mode will no longer operate correctly, but you will see an increase in depth and sensitivity while hunting in the Discriminate mode.What is High Output Technology?Most metal detectors work by sending out a signal, receiving it back, amplifying the return signal, and deciding whether or not to beep. One way of making the detector more sensitive is to increase the amplification of the return signal. This works well up to a point but can cause a machine to overload the circuits and become chirpy. Another way is to increase the initial signal going out, but once again, too much power and the signal will become unstable.High Output Technology combines the increased transmitted signal and the high gain amplification of the return signal to get the best depth and sensitivity out of our lightweight, compact detectors. When a detector becomes chirpy, the most common reason is the noise to signal ratio. Signal refers to the information being passed through the circuitry and noise is any type of other interference. As the signal is amplified, the noise gets amplified as well. At Tesoro, we use high tolerance components and design them into the circuit to create a lower noise to signal ratio. Tesoro Metal Detectors - Official company web site with metal detector models for treasure hunting land or water.

 

[doggoneitdignit]

What is Super Tune?Super Tuning is a technique to get better depth and sensitivity out of any machine that has an adjustable Threshold control.The Threshold control is normally used to set the level of hum in the All Metal mode. A light steady hum is usually desired so that any small or deep target will cause a change in the audio sound. To Super Tune a detector, put it in the Discriminate mode and turn the Threshold knob all the way to the clockwise position. At this point, the All Metal mode will no longer operate correctly, but you will see an increase in depth and sensitivity while hunting in the Discriminate mode.What is High Output Technology?Most metal detectors work by sending out a signal, receiving it back, amplifying the return signal, and deciding whether or not to beep. One way of making the detector more sensitive is to increase the amplification of the return signal. This works well up to a point but can cause a machine to overload the circuits and become chirpy. Another way is to increase the initial signal going out, but once again, too much power and the signal will become unstable.High Output Technology combines the increased transmitted signal and the high gain amplification of the return signal to get the best depth and sensitivity out of our lightweight, compact detectors. When a detector becomes chirpy, the most common reason is the noise to signal ratio. Signal refers to the information being passed through the circuitry and noise is any type of other interference. As the signal is amplified, the noise gets amplified as well. At Tesoro, we use high tolerance components and design them into the circuit to create a lower noise to signal ratio. Tesoro Metal Detectors - Official company web site with metal detector models for treasure hunting land or water.

Perfecto, Thanks Terry u da man!

 

[Hobojo]

Im gonna have to agree with Tab and Terry, as if thats a bad thing.
Get the Silver Umax.

 

[steve1357]

Cibola.

I have all three.

Cibola is the deepest, and is the higher frequency for gold. (think jewelry)

With that said, how deep do you want to dig? lol

 

[pinenut]

optional coil...

Cool! I will look into it. I will run it stock for a bit once I get it and see how she does before I do any upgrading. Thanks Terry.

Starting off with and learning the detector & stock 8" donut is a great idea. While I like the 11x8 widescan for relatively clean areas, if you plan on hunting camping spots in your national forest...do read about and consider the smaller 5.75" concentric coil. In my opinion, they are the absolute best coil to use in trashy camp sites (though 8" donut is pretty good) and also one of Tesoro's least expensive. ^_^

Warning... I know you said parks and "National Forest". Detecting in national forest should be cool (it's also where I live and detect), but don't do it if you're thinking about detecting in a national PARK...
NATIONAL PARK=BIG NO-NO. Mister ranger may warn you once, but can confiscate equipment and/or arrest you.

 

[ckpage86]

Well, got the uMax and ProPointer AT today. Totally awesome. The pin pointer makes a HUGE difference when it comes to retrieving targets. My son was loving using the PP AT. We also went to the WarMart this morning before the Tesoro arrived and picked up the Fiskers garden knife digging tool, worked great for us. We only got out for about an hour, then it started raining...

Highlights of our hunt. Some clad, a hot wheels bottom (the boy said it's cool, so he wanted to keep it), a fake diamond jewelry thing, and a smashed penny from the San Diego zoo with some cool pandas on it. Two thumbs up from the lil man signifies a hunt well done.

 

[Hihosilver]

Well, got the uMax and ProPointer AT today. Totally awesome. The pin pointer makes a HUGE difference when it comes to retrieving targets. My son was loving using the PP AT. We also went to the WarMart this morning before the Tesoro arrived and picked up the Fiskers garden knife digging tool, worked great for us. We only got out for about an hour, then it started raining...

Highlights of our hunt. Some clad, a hot wheels bottom (the boy said it's cool, so he wanted to keep it), a fake diamond jewelry thing, and a smashed penny from the San Diego zoo with some cool pandas on it. Two thumbs up from the lil man signifies a hunt well done.

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Thats the greatest treasure right there... father and son getting out together!