relikhunter
Sr. Member
Been thinking about getting a deleon,does anybody have any comments on this ie:depth,sens,meter display anything that would help me make my decison....thanks in advance........rh
daleon
- Thread starter relikhunter
- Start date
TonyinCT
Sr. Member
Great tesoro detector with the target ID. A sleeper unit that is better than advertised.
Michigan Badger
Gold Member
relikhunter said:
Like stated above, the DeLeon is a "sleeper unit" that has been largely ignored by the detector community. I owned one in the spring and summer of 06 and during that time I dug more deep old coins and relics than I did the previous 5 years of hunting with other top brand machines.
Due to many negative comments online about the DeLeon I decided to sell the unit (cheap) at the end of the summer. That was a very bad mistake.
I just ordered a new Tejon but I'm also thinking about another DeLeon.
Badger
warsawdaddy
Gold Member
I had a friend from out of state who came over and md'd with his Deleon.He said he was disappointed with the depth and sent it in to Tesoro,three times.When he got it back the third time,that sucker went deep!Don't know if this is something that happens often or not on the Deleon.
Just this weekend, I popped 2 quarters out of a field and I'll swear on a stack of bibles that they were at least 11". The meter was pegged out at 9".
See if you can find someone in your area and give it a test drive. To sum it up in a few words, "I'm keeping mine."
See if you can find someone in your area and give it a test drive. To sum it up in a few words, "I'm keeping mine."
Michigan Badger
Gold Member
warsawdaddy said:
My guess is the problem was with his coil. They have hot and cold coils. The hot coils are tuned dead-on to the electronics. Tesoro (all makers) get loads of returns. They figure most of the time the guy didn't bother to read the manual (which is often true). So, they give it a quick bench test and send it back.
By the 3rd time they were most likely ticked so they either cut open his coil and set it properly or put a new coil on. Was his coil replaced? They can open these things and reseal them so you'd hardly know they had been opened.
The DeLeon is rated as deep as the Tejon (which I own) and should detect a silver dime in mild soil at 6 or 7 inches if the coil is hot. It will hit a quarter at 7 to 8 inches. This is about as deep as almost all the top machines can go today contrary to claims (give or take an inch). We have too many "fish stories."
If ones soil is mostly mild then the DeLeon and Cortes are much better machines than the V or Tejon. If soil conditions can get ruff then the adjustable ground balance machines are a little better (maybe an added inch or two).
BUT, if a person doesn't understand ground balancing and do it very often (about every 15 minutes or so) then the ajustables are a very real disadvantage.
Depth is NOT everything as we all know. Some mega deep machines are heavy, can't pinpoint, are awful in brush (signal every time the coil bumps something), and very expensive. The DeLeon is a great all-around detector that's deep and fun to use.
I know guys swinging those monster heavy machines who have a horrible time on every hunt. Personally I go to have fun
Badger
relikhunter
Sr. Member
- Thread starter
- #7
Thanks to all that answered you've answered all of my questions,thanks again.....rh
Peak190
Jr. Member
- Apr 23, 2005
- 77
- 0
- Detector(s) used
- Fisher 1212x,Deleon ,Cibola,Tejon,Cortez,MXT,GTI2500
The Deleon is very good for parks and schools and fresh water beach>The meter will tell you if its a pull tab everytime and is accurate on its depth of target .Easy to use. Has good depth but could use more. Super light. Hot on silver. 4 out of 5 . HHrelikhunter said:
mastereagle22
Silver Member
- May 15, 2007
- 4,909
- 31
- Detector(s) used
- E-trac, Explorer II, Xterra30, Whites Prizm IV
I don't know if it is too late to answer or not. I bought a Deleon one month ago and have found a LOT of stuff including 3 rings!! I have only gone 4 places with my machine. It is very easy to learn to use. It finds things deep. The deepest coin was a clad quarter at 10.5 inches measured with a ruler. I have dug a piece of steel banding like they put on lumber when they ship, that someone had bent over and over until it was about the size of a half dollar and 2 inches thick at 12 inches deep, measured with a ruler. Most of my finds have been between 2 and 6 inches, pulled a 1957 silver quarter out at 6.5 inches (measured). The only silver I have found yet. The machine is perfectly balanced, I have run over 20 hours on the first set of batteries and it just now is reading half-way on the remaining battery life!! The only complaint I have is no backlight!
Went out with my friend who owns and XLT and this was our results: Tesoro: 4 quarters, 5 dimes, 12 zinc pennies (lots of junk) and back of brass button.
XLT: 5 quarters, 2 dimes, 8 pennies, two buttons and a lot of trash. So at least I am keeping up with the big dogs! XLT cost $898.00, Deleon (used) $350.00!!! I went to a sand lot after someone with a Explorer XE ran through there and found 2 quarters, 8 dimes, 4 pennies, and a sterling silver toe ring! The ring read as trash and he went right over it!! I am not to proud to dig anything! So I have three rings to show for it! I can only say I LOVE the Deleon and I am currently working on becoming a Tesoro dealer!!! GO TESORO! and no they didn't pay me to say any of this!!!!
Went out with my friend who owns and XLT and this was our results: Tesoro: 4 quarters, 5 dimes, 12 zinc pennies (lots of junk) and back of brass button.
XLT: 5 quarters, 2 dimes, 8 pennies, two buttons and a lot of trash. So at least I am keeping up with the big dogs! XLT cost $898.00, Deleon (used) $350.00!!! I went to a sand lot after someone with a Explorer XE ran through there and found 2 quarters, 8 dimes, 4 pennies, and a sterling silver toe ring! The ring read as trash and he went right over it!! I am not to proud to dig anything! So I have three rings to show for it! I can only say I LOVE the Deleon and I am currently working on becoming a Tesoro dealer!!! GO TESORO! and no they didn't pay me to say any of this!!!!
Shortstack
Silver Member
- Jan 22, 2007
- 4,305
- 416
- Detector(s) used
- Tesoro Bandido II and DeLeon. also a Detector Pro Headhunter Diver, and a Garrett BFO called The Hunter & a Garrett Ace 250.
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
mastereagle22 said:
Your finds sound great. Can you tell us what the DeLeon indicated for the rings you found? What were the numbers and what did the notch indicators show? You mentioned that they were shown as trash. Could you please be more specific?
Thanks.
I've noticed on my DeLeon that some nickels indicate as zincs. They were from the 1970's and blackened by the acidity in the soil.
mastereagle22
Silver Member
- May 15, 2007
- 4,909
- 31
- Detector(s) used
- E-trac, Explorer II, Xterra30, Whites Prizm IV
Your finds sound great. Can you tell us what the DeLeon indicated for the rings you found? What were the numbers and what did the notch indicators show? You mentioned that they were shown as trash. Could you please be more specific?
Thanks.
I've noticed on my DeLeon that some nickels indicate as zincs. They were from the 1970's and blackened by the acidity in the soil.
[/quote]
OK the first ring I found was only gold-plate on jewlers brass? Not sure what jewlers brass is but that is what the jewler told me. It had a 1/2 carrat cubic zirc in it. This ring was found in my backyard next to my above ground pool. The machine beeps a solid 95 when near the pool so I put the machine in AM mode and had the sens set to 4. I would get a tab signal with a 38-44. This is not what pull tabs read on my machine, at least not the ones I have found in the past. Since I was learning the machine I did everything I could to really memorize what was going on. The only time I got any other reading was in the iron foil range at 68-72. So I dug the signal (I dig all signals except Iron/foil less than 15) and out popped the ring. My heart beat a little faster and my feet floated off the ground because I had only had the machine for two days and had only used it for 1 hour and 10 mins by the time I found my first RING!! The second ring was sterling with clear and red stones. It had been hit by a lawnmower and was smashed into an oval of sorts. The machine initially showed silver/coin 95 at 2 inches. When i put it in AM mode to pinpoint it went to tab 88-92 and would not budge. So again I dug the ring and at 1.5 inches pulled it out of the ground. The jewler said he could repair the shape but the 5 of the stones are missing from the ring so I am not going to bother with it. He said he has seen these rings new for around $30. Not too bad a find! The last ring read as iron/foil and never went above 20 until I kicked into all metal mode then it bounced between silver 95/liftcoil to iron/foil liftcoil. It was in a sand volleyball pit so I took my frisbee-sifter and scooped up some sand and at first thought I found a piece of aluminum since it was flat and pretty small. Flipped it over in my hand and saw it had detail and designs on it then looked at the back and it said 925!!! Sterling. Took it to the jeweler with my other two and he said it is a toe ring that sells for around $9-15 depending on where you buy it from. So I hope I have provided you with enough info. The one other thing I have found that the Deleon has not done to good iding are nickels. I have only found 4 and only one was a solid nickel on the display but it was only 1 inch in the ground. The others have all been in the nickel tab range. I look for between 22-38 on my machine which is what the other 3 nickels I have found read at. I am keeping a very detailed journal of my finds and what the detector says because I am considering becoming a Tesoro dealer and think this type of info would be very helpful. A zinc penny is always Zinc/Coin 88-95 with a little bit of reading in the Zinc column and a lot in the silver/coin column. Quarters and dimes always peg at the silver/coin 90-95 range and the one silver coin I found was Silver/coin 95 and never even budged and it was that reading all the way around the coin! Hope this helps
Thanks.
I've noticed on my DeLeon that some nickels indicate as zincs. They were from the 1970's and blackened by the acidity in the soil.
[/quote]
OK the first ring I found was only gold-plate on jewlers brass? Not sure what jewlers brass is but that is what the jewler told me. It had a 1/2 carrat cubic zirc in it. This ring was found in my backyard next to my above ground pool. The machine beeps a solid 95 when near the pool so I put the machine in AM mode and had the sens set to 4. I would get a tab signal with a 38-44. This is not what pull tabs read on my machine, at least not the ones I have found in the past. Since I was learning the machine I did everything I could to really memorize what was going on. The only time I got any other reading was in the iron foil range at 68-72. So I dug the signal (I dig all signals except Iron/foil less than 15) and out popped the ring. My heart beat a little faster and my feet floated off the ground because I had only had the machine for two days and had only used it for 1 hour and 10 mins by the time I found my first RING!! The second ring was sterling with clear and red stones. It had been hit by a lawnmower and was smashed into an oval of sorts. The machine initially showed silver/coin 95 at 2 inches. When i put it in AM mode to pinpoint it went to tab 88-92 and would not budge. So again I dug the ring and at 1.5 inches pulled it out of the ground. The jewler said he could repair the shape but the 5 of the stones are missing from the ring so I am not going to bother with it. He said he has seen these rings new for around $30. Not too bad a find! The last ring read as iron/foil and never went above 20 until I kicked into all metal mode then it bounced between silver 95/liftcoil to iron/foil liftcoil. It was in a sand volleyball pit so I took my frisbee-sifter and scooped up some sand and at first thought I found a piece of aluminum since it was flat and pretty small. Flipped it over in my hand and saw it had detail and designs on it then looked at the back and it said 925!!! Sterling. Took it to the jeweler with my other two and he said it is a toe ring that sells for around $9-15 depending on where you buy it from. So I hope I have provided you with enough info. The one other thing I have found that the Deleon has not done to good iding are nickels. I have only found 4 and only one was a solid nickel on the display but it was only 1 inch in the ground. The others have all been in the nickel tab range. I look for between 22-38 on my machine which is what the other 3 nickels I have found read at. I am keeping a very detailed journal of my finds and what the detector says because I am considering becoming a Tesoro dealer and think this type of info would be very helpful. A zinc penny is always Zinc/Coin 88-95 with a little bit of reading in the Zinc column and a lot in the silver/coin column. Quarters and dimes always peg at the silver/coin 90-95 range and the one silver coin I found was Silver/coin 95 and never even budged and it was that reading all the way around the coin! Hope this helps
Shortstack
Silver Member
- Jan 22, 2007
- 4,305
- 416
- Detector(s) used
- Tesoro Bandido II and DeLeon. also a Detector Pro Headhunter Diver, and a Garrett BFO called The Hunter & a Garrett Ace 250.
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Thanks, mastereagle22. That info does help alot and I'll add it to my cache. There's another point I'll throw out for you and others who might be reading this thread. If a ring is broken, it'll have a very different response than if it is whole. In other words, if the ring's metal band is broken into, its electrical conductivity is changed and it'll give a much weaker signal.
Another point for folks to keep in mind is that ID detectors give the approx. distance from the bottom of the coil to the target. If you're detecting a grassy area that has healthy growth and some thatch, and the target is ID'd at 2 inches, it's very possible ( or probable ) that the item isn't in the dirt at all, but is on top of the dirt under 2 inches of over-growth. Most readers may already realize this point, but I've noticed that the owners manuals usually aren't specific about that point.
Lastly--- I have samples of different coins, tabs, screw caps, etc. glued to paint stir-sticks that I use for my detectors. Instead of air testing items, which I don't think really means anything, I take these test targets into my yard, lay them out on the ground, then scan them to test my machine. That way, the detector has to " work " within the true matrix that I'll expect it to operate and the discriminate & sensitivity settings will mean something. Air testing is great---if you're searching for floating coins and rings. So far, I've never seen any of those. If I ever DO see floating coins, etc. a trip to the doctors would probably be in order.
Another point for folks to keep in mind is that ID detectors give the approx. distance from the bottom of the coil to the target. If you're detecting a grassy area that has healthy growth and some thatch, and the target is ID'd at 2 inches, it's very possible ( or probable ) that the item isn't in the dirt at all, but is on top of the dirt under 2 inches of over-growth. Most readers may already realize this point, but I've noticed that the owners manuals usually aren't specific about that point.
Lastly--- I have samples of different coins, tabs, screw caps, etc. glued to paint stir-sticks that I use for my detectors. Instead of air testing items, which I don't think really means anything, I take these test targets into my yard, lay them out on the ground, then scan them to test my machine. That way, the detector has to " work " within the true matrix that I'll expect it to operate and the discriminate & sensitivity settings will mean something. Air testing is great---if you're searching for floating coins and rings. So far, I've never seen any of those. If I ever DO see floating coins, etc. a trip to the doctors would probably be in order.
