Advice on buying a second detector

[skyboy09]

I own a Tesoro Vaquero and I'm looking to buy something with a display and tone ID. My question is should I consider a tesoro again (Cortes perhaps) or another brand ( I plan to spend about 800 bucks)? In the beginning with the Vaquero, I loved the mystery of not knowing what you'd dig up but after a while i wanted something that gives you a bit more information, at least in letting you know whether you are looking at a coin or not. The Vaquero doesn't offer a different tone for diff metals, except what i've noticed to be a more "shallow" sound when it detects tin or sheet metal.

I mentioned the Cortes because If i end up getting it, i have few questions on it. I noticed it has adjustable ground balance only in all metal mode, and preset in disc mode. Does that mean the Cortes has that constant threshold tone audible as the Vaquero when in all metal mode if i want manual GB? I always hunt in disc mode just so the threshold tone shuts off as it seems impossible for me to find anything with the Vaq in all metal mode. Also Does the Corte's preset GB in disc mode translate to less of an advantage in depth or highly mineralized soil that other detectors?
Finally how well does it perform in hot rocks or how does it display them? I can't seem to make my Vaquero ignore hot rocks no matter how much i ground balanced; I've recently hunted at a school yard where my Vaq went haywire and gave some solid signals on rocks i thought were coins. I'm sure i missed some coins when i started getting similar signals but stopped digging thinking it would be a rock again.
Sorry if I asked for a non biased brand opinion by posting in a tesoro forum; For some reason my gut feeling still says Tesoro but wanted to see what you guys recommend as you've had a chance to compare other brands against Tesoros.
Regards and God Bless

 

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[jharhed]

Hey sky, I'm in the exact same spot that you are in. I have the V and want tone/vid. I had the deleon, same guts as the cortez I hear, great machine just got real squirrely at times, sold it right after the last incident, had a real hot spot to hunt and it went bonkers, erratic numeric display and no gb in disc mode. It found ALOT of clad for me no rings unfortunately, no fault of the machine, was hoping that tesoro would have something new out by now so that I wouldn't have to brand hop, but it is what it is. I'm going to try another thing that swims + er.

 

[sqwaby]

I have a Vaq(love it for coins relics, land or beach) and decided to try the golden umax, its got no VID, but wanted to try the tones. I'm starting to like the golden for coin hunting at parks etc, the notch works well but its not good on the wet beach and it doesn't get the depth the V does. I wish the middle tones had more freq separation also. I think I would like to try a Xterra 70. I'm hooked on Tesoro's light weight though, and great target separation in the trashy places..

 

[Sandman]

It is hard to beat a Tesoro for a non ID machine. Actually the ID other detectors have only shows a "guess" as to what the target is based on conductivity and is frequently wrong. If you feel you just gotta have a visual "id" the Garrett 1500 GTI, Whites MXT, DFX, or XLT is a fine option with many extra coils. The Minelab X-Terra series are also nice. The light weight of the Tesoro's and the warranty is hard to beat.

"
I mentioned the Cortes because If i end up getting it, i have few questions on it. I noticed it has adjustable ground balance only in all metal mode, and preset in disc mode." What this means is when you adjust the GB in All Metal, it is set that way in the Disc mode. Change the GB to something else in another location and when you switch to Disc mode it is set to what you adjusted it to in All Metal.

 

[John (Ma)]

I actually owned a good quality detector with a display before I switched to Tesoro. I found some nice things with it by looking at the display. However, I felt I was missing targets. So with that detector, I judged wether to dig or not prior to looking at the display and my finds increased. So now I own four detectors and none of them have a display and have found some nice finds. By not looking at a screen, I tend to dig more junk, but, I have found plenty amongst the junk. Even with the screen ID, I found some coins and a few rings where it read junk. I like the Tesoro light weight, warranty, simplicity and capabilities. To each their own, this hobby is supposed to be fun, so good luck with your decision and let us know what you decide, even if you try another brand.

 

[Phantasman]

Tesoro's only multitone unit is the Golden, with no TID.

It appears you bought the V because of the depth, and rightly so..........it's deep. But I wouldn't recommend one to someone starting out. After using my Deleon for years, I find myself using the tone (though single) more than the display. And even then, I watch the numbers, not the segments. There are too many variables that affect TID readings to make them accurate. If the quarter is setting right (flat), the Deleon will show quarter, show 95 every time it sweeps, and the tone hits hard each time. A buried can will show the same thing, but the sound (as you move 90 degrees around) will NOT be the same. And lifting the coil 3 inches in the air will many time still se the can but not a quarter.

The Deleon is a great machine to learn on to move towards Tesoro's H.O.T. type detectors (V, C and Tejon). You get a lot of the signature sounds of Tesoro's past.

Tone ID is good for a quick way of distinguishing ferrous and non-ferrous, as well as dreaded pull tabs/s-caps. If I wanted a tone machine with TID, my first choice would be the Whites M6. An array of tones, segments that work graphically and still get a number ID. As much as I hate to say it, I think you would be disappointed with the Cortez, as the only different tones it has is for the SUM analysis, and it does not GB to Disc mode. The display is small and harder to read to see the segment's rising over the Deleon. 1X8 is so much easier to see than 2X16 in the same area. Of course it does have a light and Tesoro's finicky notch system.

I know the new Fishers have a lot of what you mentioned, but I'm not a big First Texas fan and let someone else comment on them.

My worthless opinion for what's it's worth.

Dan

 

[AUDuke]

In answer to to your question. the ground bal is only adjustable in the all metal mode, it is pre set in the disc mode and does not change.