2 hours side by side t2 se and vaquero

[IowaRelic]

I have been wanting to compare the t2 se with the vaquero in one of my super iron infested home sites. I have only used the t2 so far there and find keepers each visit. I don’t have any fancy videos or pics or anything. I have 4 kids and 2 jobs so I dig when I hunt. No time for fiddling with more gear. But I have good experience with each machine...

The dirt here is mild 58-65 on the t2. The targets are surface to about 6” with iron targets heavily mixed in. Has been dozed and since farmed every year.

T2 settings: sens 99 disc 0 FA process. 5” coil

Vaquero settings: neutral ground balance, threshold at 1 o clock, sens at 10, disc just below nickel. So running pretty calm on the vaquero. 5.75” concentric mounted.

I was surprised by this hunt. I started with the vaquero for 1 hour. Now that I have a machine with iron audio, I can tell how iron infested it is, the vaquero disc really is incredible. It ran very quiet and when I got a good target it would ring out and repeat. Good performer. Pulled 4 flat buttons with it and a ton of shell casings. The dull low tone got boring after some time but it is a solid detector as I already knew. I dug zero iron, which previously was always a problem as I always ran it too hot. Of course it’s light as a feather and has no fatigue with it.

The T2 also pulled 4 flat buttons and numerous casings in its 1 hour. It’s more noisy and it has actually fatigued my brain on long hunts. But there are settings to over come this. It has no problem sniffing out tiny non ferrous targets in the heavy iron litter.

So in conclusion, there was nothing found by either machine that the other would not have found. Each one was able to pull a button at 5” in the iron. The Tesoro is quiet and confident. The t2 is sparky and fast as hell and has a slight edge in separation in FA. IMO. The t2 is a bit heavier but so well balanced it’s like a tool not a toy.

These two machines compliment each other well. I know many have moved on from them as they are dated, but for my relic sites they are tough to beat. That Tesoro disc circuit is so superb, I never realized until I ran the t2 in 1 tone with some disc. Way more crisp and precise on the vaquero. Just sounds more confident. The t2 will outdo the vaquero in these old yards for coin shooting. Takes some guess work out and allows for 0 disc. So it is easier to avoid trash with the t2 in a more modern setting.

I know there is no groundbreaking info here, but it’s my experience with these two detectors. Thanks for reading.

 

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[fella]

Wondering why you'd run sens at 99 in heavily infested iron? Would run hella more stable and quiet turned down a bit yeah?
Kinda like running your high beams on in dense fog!

Not saying it would ever be on Vaq's level but it sure would help.

 

[IowaRelic]

Wondering why you'd run sens at 99 in heavily infested iron? Would run hella more stable and quiet turned down a bit yeah?
Kinda like running your high beams on in dense fog!

Not saying it would ever be on Vaq's level but it sure would help.

I have tried both max and lower now. At first I used FA at about 80 sens and I decided I liked the way it acted better at 99. I read an extensive post by Keith Southern about using FA at max sens only and how it’s is the best for unmasking in iron. I was skeptical but did a 3 hour hunt in this spot with these settings. I dug countless very small brass, lead, zinc items. Every time I could get a clear squeak I could repeat, there was a non ferrous target, many times co located with nails. I would have iron audio mixed in but clear repeatable high tone as well. In other tone modes like 3 or 4 tone it’s way more difficult for me to run max sens. Even in 2 tone. But FA chops the signals so short and allows you to virtually hover the coil over a squeaker target as its operating so quickly. As opposed to 2+ where I get better results with a broader sweep. FA allows me to swing more my speed and move at a quicker pace where you would usually slow way down. Targets have to be shallow as the loss of depth in FA is pretty noticeable to me.

The vaquero just seems to conquer this with a great discriminator. Amazingly quiet in iron until it’s run hot anything over 10 sens on mine and any threshold at 3 o clock or higher and and it won’t shut up in the thick stuff. My mistake for years was running it too hot. A neutral ground balance, 10 sens and 1 o clock threshold gets good depth and runs quietly. I’ve given up on super tuning and power balancing. Dug too much iron. Made me buy the t2. Which now makes me appreciate the Tesoro discriminator. Glad I kept it.