Just purchased a new Tesoro Sand Shark Detector. Any friendly tips welcome.

Bill G · Oct 12, 2013

I just purchased a new Tesoro Sand Shark Detector my first PI detector.

I traded in a Gold Bug Pro I was not really using all that much towards it. I have hunted inland old house sights and such for about 20 years now. I currently use the Garret AT Pro for that task. The AT Pro is a darn good detector over all and does a fine job in fresh water and white sand on the beach even ok on damp sand. Here on the west coast though like all VLF detectors the AT Pro does loose some of it's effectiveness on wet salt water beachs down at the water line.

I have decided after all these years to start taking beach hunting a little more serious. I don't plan to hunt out deep in the ocean as I can not realy swim well but I will be hunting low tide as far down as I can get. After doing the research dollar for dollar I agree with Terry Solomon and others about the sand Shark detector, so I have one on the way. Thank's Terry for all the great info.

I have used and owned other Tesoro detectors over the years and have no doubt the Sand Shark will be the same, good build quality and it will perform as expected plus the lifetime warranty.

I look forward to the learning curve with the new PI detector and just enjoy the relaxation that come when detecting. ( While the wife reads a book in a lawn chare and says look at my detector geak husband go, oh boy this has been going on for years with her He He!!!)

Any tips go for it guys. I welcome them and thank you all in advance. I have read a lot already and there is some good information available out there and here. Also available is the normal blown out of perportion things that I have seen as well out there. (I have been at this hobbie to long to buy into all that and can desifer the bull from the truth)

Take Care & Happy Hunting To All, :occasion14:

Bill G

G.I.B. · Oct 12, 2013

Put some good magnets in your beach scoop. The Sand Shark will find some incredibly small pieces of metal.

Terry Soloman · Oct 12, 2013

FIRST, go back to page 12 in the manual and MAKE SURE you have set your tone frequency to match YOUR hearing the best. Do you hear high or low tones better? Next, set your pulse width to about 3/4 power (2-230pm position). Turn your threshold up to where you can barely hear it above the waves and wind noise - like a mosquito hum, and use the machine in NORMAL mode.

DO NOT just walk up or down the beach in one direction or the other! Pick yourself a 50-yard long beachfront, and start gridding it. You start at the wet sand high mark and detect right into the water thigh-deep, move over a step and detect right back up to the high wet sand mark.. Rinse and repeat until the whole 50-yards or 5-hours is done.

Slight “Positive” signals are also called “whisper” signals. This is a very soft or slight, almost unnoticeable, rise in the threshold signal. It will always be repeatable over the target – not random. If your threshold is set too high, or too low, you can miss them easily. If your threshold is not smooth you can miss these whisper signals easily. There can be a couple of reasons, including EMI, for an unstable threshold. The most common is too much pulse width. Sometimes you can max it out, sometimes you can only run it at the 12-1 o’clock position. It depends on the beach. If you want to make your machine more sensitive and cut down on interference, make sure you are not wrapping your coil wire close to the coil down on the lower plastic rod (see photo).

“Negative breaks,” are also referred to as whisper signals. This is when the threshold gets quieter, or goes away completely over the target. Again, negative breaks are always repeatable over a real target – not random. As you remove a little sand from over the target and re-sweep with your coil, the signal becomes a slight or stronger positive signal.
I use “Normal” mode, because it is easier for me to hear these positive and negative breaks in the threshold – that does not hold true for everyone. It takes time on the headphones to learn to recognize whisper signals, usually over 100-hours. Sometimes actually speeding up your swing back and forth helps to recognize these signals. The general rule however is always to SLOW down and pay attention.

I’m right-handed, so I swing the Sand Shark with my left arm. I mount the box up high and use the arm strap so that I let go of the detector and use my left hand to remove the target from the scoop. The arm strap keeps the detector right there attached to me, but gives me the ability to use both hands. Lastly, using your scoop effectively takes practice in the water. I put my toe just in back of the pinpointed target then place my scoop right in front of my toe for the recovery. This works well with practice. You’ll learn to time the waves. Hope this helps you, and feel free to PM me with any other questions or explanations.