Cibola vs. Vaquero

[Tea Are Bee]

I soon hope to be purchasing one of these two machines, and I understand the biggest (if only) difference in the two is the Vs manual GB. I live in Western Pa and this will be my first detector so I was curious as to anyone elses experiences in the area with the two machines, and whether the manual GB and other advantages of the V would make a big difference for a beginner.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[Sandman]

Besides the manual ground balance the Vaquero also has a Threshold All Metal Mode, Silent search Disc, and All Metal Fast-tune pinpoint. It is better than the Cibola in that you can also use it in areas that the Cibola will be unstable.


Time is the only thing you never get back, why waste it using a detector that isn't up to the task?

 

[GreyGhost]

Besides the manual ground balance the Vaquero also has a Threshold All Metal Mode, Silent search Disc, and All Metal Fast-tune pinpoint. It is better than the Cibola in that you can also use it in areas that the Cibola will be unstable.

Cibola should also have "silent search disc" and "all metal pinpoint".
I own a Cibola but am thinking of upgrading to a Vaquero because of all the black sand and minerals we have in Arizona. I think I'll benefit from the manual ground balancing because I've been encountering a lot of chatter from my Cibola lately. You make a good point too about the Vaquero's "threshold all metal mode". When I was looking over its features I didn't realize it had this. On the Cibola the only way to hear the threshold tone is to push the pinpoint button then tune the THRESH knob but on the Vaquero (if I'm reading the online manual correctly) you can turn the THRESH knob until until you hear a constant tone, always on tone. And you can also click the DISC knob all the way down into a fixed ALL METAL mode. On the Cibola the only way to enter into ALL METAL mode is to push the pinpoint button.

 

[Sandman]

Grey Ghost,

It might not be some of the black sand in AZ that is giving you an unstable Cibola. With many of todays electronics lots of things can affect them, even some cell phones.

http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/davejohnson/Electrical Interference.htm

 

[GreyGhost]

Grey Ghost,

It might not be some of the black sand in AZ that is giving you an unstable Cibola. With many of todays electronics lots of things can affect them, even some cell phones.

http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/davejohnson/Electrical Interference.htm

Most of the places I detect are far out of cellphone reach. Do you think it would still affect it?
I was MD'ing a wash this weekend with lots of black sand and naturally it was making my Cibola beep but I wondered if under that sand there might have been some nuggets because I was in gold country only about a mile from the border.. maybe a Vaquero might have helped or maybe not.

 

[Sandman]

Grey Ghost it could have been bigger nuggets or fired bullets. We never can tell for sure till we dig it up. Even when I am out in the boonies I turn off the cell phone. I can't be bothered with calls anyway to remember to pick up a milk on the way home. If I need to make a call I can turn it on.

 

[GreyGhost]

I'll remember to turn my cellphone off from now on. I don't like to be bothered either and you never know if/when you're gonna need all the battery juice you got incase you get stuck or injured somewhere.

 

[birdman]

I have both machines and the V is the better one. In some areas the ground balance makes a huge difference. Both are fantastic.

 

[thrillathahunt]

I have used both too and I agree the Vaquero is a better machine, BUT to utilize it to it's fullest, ground balancing needs to be constantly checked and adjusted for maximum efficiency. As far as All metal mode, I never use it anyway.