Tejon and the beach

[Philvis]

Next week I am heading to Lima, Peru to visit my wife's family for two weeks. This will be the first time I am taking a metal detector and I will be taking my new Tejon. My plan is to detect the beaches around Callao, where the old main Spanish port was. Detectors are a rarity in Peru because of their high price, so I am hoping there will be goodies to be found. I am mainly looking for Spanish colonial era coins, etc., but will take what I can get.

Can anyone who has a Tejon give me any tips that may help me out? I am just going to work the dry and possibly wet sand. The beach where I will mainly be at is not a fine sand beach. Lots of larger particles and some cobbles. I really haven't had the opportunity to get to know my Tejon too well as I only used it a couple times and unfortunately had to send it back to Tesoro to get repaired. I'm guessing it had a loose wire or something. I should be getting it back from Tesoro today, so I have some catching up to do before next week. The opportunity there is very ripe and I want to be sure I am in top form or as close to it as I can get. Any pointers will be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

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[Sky_Warrior]

well just make sure you have fun...thats all that really matters............Treasures just one of the perks of this hobby. Good Luck and Have a Nice Trip

 

[Sandman]

You will have to ground balance on only the dry and then balance again on the wet. It will be unstable going from dry to wet so stay in one or the other. You might have to lower sens. near the water too because of the extra black sand.

Good Luck and have fun.
Sandman

 

[Philvis]

Thanks Marine and Sandman. I should have regular internet access, so I will post any of my finds.

 

[rmptr]

I'm thinking the Tejon is a pretty hot machine for beach use, Philvis, but if that's what you got....

Find where the wealthy tourist beach front hotels are... for a start.

Good luck!

rmptr

 

[Philvis]

I just got back from Lima. rmptr, you couldn't have been more right. Unfortunately the Tejon just wasn't up to the challenge the beaches there presented. It was like a geiger counter at the epicenter of a recent nuclear blast. The beach was just way too mineralized. If the coil was closer than 2 feet to the ground it was going crazy. I changed to the 5.75" widescan coil hoping that might help, but it still was going crazy. I adjusted sensitivity and discrimination but got nowhere. Even on the dry sand it was chattering too much. Really disappointing, because there is lots there to find, but next time I will be ready with a machine that will handle the beaches there.

I did detect the backyard of my grandparents' house which is only about a 6 ft by 15 ft swath and got a few good hits. I hit a nail first and then a rusted round piece that was similar in size to a screw on cap. I then got a great signal and it turned out to be a 1995 5 Soles coin, which is equivilant to just under $2 in value. I got a couple more coins (10 centimos) and called it a day. I couldn't continued digging up the backyard being it was so small and being it was the desert, I didn't want to kill what little grass there was. Here is a pic of my find and also of the coast I tried to hunt. Next year I will be better prepared!

 

[rmptr]

WoW!

Is that a photo of Lima, Philvis?

What a great photo!

Looks like an awesome place to be...

Have a friend from Peru... Art V. has been here a long time, now... Very nice fellow.

I would suggest you have the Sandman recommend a machine for your next trip.
With his advice, the machine will possibly pay for itself!

HH
rmptr

 

[Philvis]

Thanks for the input rmptr. Yes, that is a pic from one of the cliffs overlooking the coast in Lima. There is so much potential there it isn't funny. I was even told of the areas where the pirate ships often scuttled, so it definitely was a big downer for my trip not being able to detect the beaches, but at least I learned something from it. I will definitely be better prepared next time.

My wife's family has some land in northern Peru and they invited me to come up next time I visit to check it out because there is gold on it. Her great uncle told me that he knows a man up there who dowses and successfully finds gold, so they were pretty much amazed with my Tejon when I showed them what it could do...off the beach of course, haha. Next year I will be better prepared for sure, so in the mean time, I need to work on what I have got here locally.

 

[oldbill]

Glad you had a safe trip home, I would suggest that the Tejon is not as good as some say it is. I bought one and it sounds like a machine gun so it's in the closet! Bill

 

[Keppy]

....Glad to hear you had a nice safe trip to bad that some one that new the Tejon did not see your post before you left for vacation..I have never used the Tejon so my input would not have helped you......Better luck next time...And from what you say it looks like you will have a lot of luck. ...==Jim==

 

[nuggetshooter323]

A Lobo Super Traq or a Vaquero would have been the way to go. I tried my Tejon out when I was nugget hunting one time, and I couldn't even get it ground balanced. The LST or the Vaquero will handle any minerlization.