I did it - I bought a Mojave!

[jsulateskee]

I have been detecting for almost a year now. I started off with a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV and after falling in love with the hobby I quickly upgraded to the BH Quick Draw Pro. I have been using the QDP ever since. However, I always find myself coming back to Tesoro machines. After doing a lot of research and reading through threads on here I made the decision to go ahead and purchase the Mojave. I am super excited and can't wait to get it out in the field. With that said....any suggestions getting adjusted to the machine? I am used to having visual target ID numbers as well as a pinpoint feature. When I owned my Tracker IV I got pretty good locating targets using the X method so I don't see that being an issue. What setting(s) do you all recommend starting off with until I get used to it? Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Happy Hunting!

 

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[Ammoman]

Congratulations. i hear its a great machine. just pay attention to how the target sounds before you dig it. I like to run my Compadre just below the nickel setting and thumb the knob up and down as i check out targets.

 

[Peter67]

You can't go wrong with a Tesoro. They are fun using and will find the goodies. I have high end detectors in my collection but use most of the time Tesoro's. This has a reason.

 

[jsulateskee]

Congratulations. i hear its a great machine. just pay attention to how the target sounds before you dig it. I like to run my Compadre just below the nickel setting and thumb the knob up and down as i check out targets.

I had such a hard time deciding between the Mojave and the Compadre. Thanks for the reply! Happy hunting my friend!

 

[digger27]

Here is a reply I posted to a newbie with a Compadre...these are the basics for most Tesoros.


################

Here is where metals will show up on your dial.
Forget the numbers, just study their locations.





The way you figure out what you are digging before you dig it, which is never 100% by the way, is to "thumb" that disc knob and figure out where the metals in the range you see in the picture go away or "disc out".

*Tip*....It is more accurate to turn the knob way up and then turn it down slowly as you are swinging over the target and stop at the area where you hear a tone come in, than to turn it up until it fades out.

Now you have done this and lets say it was silent till you got to the zinc mark.
Now you have a clue, and this hobby is all about taking all your clues and putting them together to make an educated guess.
From studying the picture, you remember that this zinc area should sound off if you have a zinc penny or other zinc item, an Indian head penny, a screw-cap or gold.
Might be some other things like can slaw, but it could be one of the first four, too.
Maybe you want to run your coil around the target area and try to size the target.
Where does the tone sound loudest and then fade out?
Hit it from a different angle and try to get a picture in your mind on how big it is...coin size, maybe a little bigger?
In all metal or turning it back below zinc on the disc knob, how loud does it sound when you scan it?
Really loud, maybe medium loud or softer?
This gives you a clue on the depth.
Another depth trick is lift the coil and swing over it.
Do you lose it at 3 inches above the ground, 4-5?
If you know your limit of your detector, and subtract the height of your coil above the target where it goes silent, this can give you approximate depth.

Now you decide to whip your coil over the target real fast and see if the tones stay solid from all angles or breaks up.
If it breaks up it could be trash, if not, still might be a good target.

All of these techniques are aimed to give you clues, and those clues will lead you to an educated guess and that will lead you to digging a hole...or not.

As you put in your time, you also start to hear slight differences in that tone.
A zinc penny might sound very solid and full and the same all the way through, but a screw-cap might not sound so full.
Maybe you noticed after locating and scanning hundreds of these that a screw-cap doesn't stay full, but maybe breaks a little right at the end.
It gets a little fuzzy.
You never could tell the difference at the beginning, but now, after much practice, you can hear that difference, and so you have another good clue as to what you might have sitting in the ground below you.

Solid tone, rings true, no breaking of the signal, small like a coin, really loud tone, can raise the coil pretty high before it fades out...I think this is a zinc penny that is about 1 inch down...then you dig it...and it is.
Or maybe not, like I said, not 100% in this hobby...ever...but you cut your odds down some on digging trash, and you made a good guess.

It's a process.
As you progress, your guesses get better.

The universe must be laughing at us that do this hobby because it made so many bad things ring up in the same areas as so many good things.
Aluminum hangs out where the high tone coins do.
Nickels and gold live in the same neighborhood as pull tabs...as a matter of fact, gold seems to live in almost all the neighborhoods.
Nobody is perfect, we all dig lots of trash, but the better you get the less trash you dig and the more treasure you find.

Study the picture, know your metals and where they line up in relation to your disc knob.

Then practice, practice practice.
Really listen and try to remember that tone you hear before you dig a target, then remember what target you dug after that specific tone.
It takes time for your instincts to kick in and this stuff becomes second nature, but it will eventually happen.
Once you dig enough holes.

That's how I do it.

HH


***EDIT***

Make sure Y'all scroll down to Slingshot's post # 15 on settings for coin and jewelry hunting that are much more specific than what you just read here.
You can't get any better advice than this!

Here is sllingshot's advice and method...

With my Compadre, setting the dial on the "i" in iron gets rid of paper clips, small nails and still picks up small gold chains, earrings AND teeny foil, FRAGMENTS of tabs, and just about any other tidbit. Moving it to the "r" in iron gets rid of larger nails, bolts and the gold chains start to get a little fainter, although the teeny foil is still bothersome. Between "iron" and "foil" is where the tiny gold chains and teeny foil are no longer bothersome? and the larger foil and all other coins are still found and I feel is the perfect "coin" hunting setting because the gold rings down to tiny ones are easily found. If you aren't worried about the tiny stuff, I take a regular-sized piece of foil and set the disc to where the foil breaks up and this would be THE setting for coinshooters and the rings are still there-just some tiny ones may break up like the foil. Any higher than this is just flirting with disaster as far as gold is concerned. I HAVE set it to where tabs "crackle" and just hunted for all coins except the nickel in some horrendous places and had a ball-even brought back memories of the old days. To answer your last question: This is the order in which targets no longer give a signal as the discrimination is increased-and if I'm assuming you didn't know this, please forgive: iron, foil, nickel, pulltabs, coins above nickel. I no longer go above foil. Also, most Tesoros will not omit the higher coins at any setting.



########

You have the extra knob on the Mojave an that is just more that can help in certain situations.
Even on lower sense this thing can still get deep.

 

[jsulateskee]

This is actually really helpful - thank you, I appreciate it!

 

[Terry Soloman]

You have a great machine in the Mojave! When you turn it on, set your Sensitivity halfway between 4 and 5. Set your Discrimination just slightly into the Yellow of the Nickel zone. Start in Low Ground Condition. If you are getting some falsing, then switch to High GC. Swing speed is unimportant (super fast machine). Big Silver and Gold to you!

 

[jsulateskee]

Appreciate it, Terry - thanks!

 

[Terry Soloman]

Go Get Some!!

 

[MM32KY]

I have had a Mojave for about 3 months and I just replaced the second battery. I am a total newbie to metal detecting. With my first two batteries, I have found over $100 in clad, five rings one sterling and one 10K gold class ring. It will take a little time to learn the Tesoro language but I my opinion you made a great purchase.

 

[Stoof2010]

Congrats!!
I'm sure you will love it.
Take time and learn the subtleties of the Tesoro language and you'll be surprised how much that "one tone" has to say.
:-)

 

[jsulateskee]

I got my Mojave in the mail today, threw it together and headed to the nearest park. It is going to take some time getting adjusted to a non-VDI machine but I like the simplicity of it. I found a bunch of junk with a few coins thrown in. The pin pointing indicator on the coil is spot on. I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to get it back out tomorrow. I did notice that it was a bit chatty. I had to turn the sensitivity down to 3. There were power lines nearby so I am assuming that's why. I still found some targets at decent depths considering how low I had the sensitivity. One thing I found a bit odd was after I had recovered a couple targets I swung them by hand back and forth under the coil and got no audio response!?! The detector picked them up before being dug but wouldn't detect them after!?!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Enjoy the new machine...

 

[fortaleza]

You chose a great machine and the best bang for the buck. Nice and light ez to learn. Have fun.

 

[Honest Samuel]

I will take out my new Mojave in the great state of Connecticut in April.

 

[jsulateskee]

A quick first hunt with my new Tesoro Mojave

 

[DukeBoxer]

Nice video! I'd argue that you have the disc set too high but it seems you dug some nice stuff. Try it set right around or above the "i" in iron and dig any solid repeatable signal. You'll dig more trash but I bet you'll dig more nickels and maybe some more jewelry

 

[jsulateskee]

Nice video! I'd argue that you have the disc set too high but it seems you dug some nice stuff. Try it set right around or above the "i" in iron and dig any solid repeatable signal. You'll dig more trash but I bet you'll dig more nickels and maybe some more jewelry

I appreciate the feedback. I plan on going back to the same park here in a day or two and will lower the disc. Thanks again and thanks for watching, appreciate it.

 

[doggoneitdignit]

Nice hunt and video on your Mojave. HH.

 

[jsulateskee]

Nice hunt and video on your Mojave. HH.

Appreciate it, thanks for watching!