Should I give my Vaquero a chance?

[atomicscott]

True the supertuning does affect the disc accuracy. Unfortunately, I found I couldn't get more than about 5-6" on a dime unless supertuning.

 

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[chinchilla]

True the supertuning does affect the disc accuracy. Unfortunately, I found I couldn't get more than about 5-6" on a dime unless supertuning.

I think you must have very tough soils, the vaquero is a depth seeker, specially on thin coinage

 

[atomicscott]

I think you must have very tough soils, the vaquero is a depth seeker, specially on thin coinage

Maybe, but I'm not having any problems finding dimes/coppers at 8" with the F2 using the 4" coil. Also hitting them at 9" with the XTerra. Lower frequency detectors generally do better on higher conductivity metals (silver, copper, etc...) than the higher frequency machines. Also some deeper signals on the Vaquero were so short and clipped sounding, I couldn't tell if it was a deeper coin or just some rusty metal that wouldn't disc out. In my test garden, that is exactly how the dimes would sound past 5". Very short signals, sometimes intermittent, that sounded like a tiny, earring sized target. I never would have dug those signals in the field. Now supertuning would up that to 7-8" easily, but it was too unstable to use at most of my sites with sens nearly maxed out. I busted my back constantly digging trying to figure out if those short/clipped signals were deeper coins, or just iron. That is not the case with my current detectors. If it's a coin it's always a solid signal, regardless of depth. Higher freq detectors like the V tend to like iron more, that's just the nature of the beast (maybe that's why the V has a great reputation for relics?) If it works great for you that's awesome. This is just my own personal experience with the V. It's a great machine for some people, I guess I just didn't have the patience after a year to keep trying to learn it. All machines have idiosyncracies that have to be dealt wth, I just eventually grew weary of wondering what I might be missing out on. HH

 

[chinchilla]

Maybe, but I'm not having any problems finding dimes/coppers at 8" with the F2 using the 4" coil. Also hitting them at 9" with the XTerra. Lower frequency detectors generally do better on higher conductivity metals (silver, copper, etc...) than the higher frequency machines. Also some deeper signals on the Vaquero were so short and clipped sounding, I couldn't tell if it was a deeper coin or just some rusty metal that wouldn't disc out. In my test garden, that is exactly how the dimes would sound past 5". Very short signals, sometimes intermittent, that sounded like a tiny, earring sized target. I never would have dug those signals in the field. Now supertuning would up that to 7-8" easily, but it was too unstable to use at most of my sites with sens nearly maxed out. I busted my back constantly digging trying to figure out if those short/clipped signals were deeper coins, or just iron. That is not the case with my current detectors. If it's a coin it's always a solid signal, regardless of depth. Higher freq detectors like the V tend to like iron more, that's just the nature of the beast (maybe that's why the V has a great reputation for relics?) If it works great for you that's awesome. This is just my own personal experience with the V. It's a great machine for some people, I guess I just didn't have the patience after a year to keep trying to learn it. All machines have idiosyncracies that have to be dealt wth, I just eventually grew weary of wondering what I might be missing out on. HH

agreed, what works for some people sometimes doesn't work well with others and viceversa, maybe it just has to do with detecting style

 

[atomicscott]

That's what I used to think.

 

[Cal G.]

Maybe, but I'm not having any problems finding dimes/coppers at 8" with the F2 using the 4" coil. Also hitting them at 9" with the XTerra. Lower frequency detectors generally do better on higher conductivity metals (silver, copper, etc...) than the higher frequency machines. Also some deeper signals on the Vaquero were so short and clipped sounding, I couldn't tell if it was a deeper coin or just some rusty metal that wouldn't disc out. In my test garden, that is exactly how the dimes would sound past 5". Very short signals, sometimes intermittent, that sounded like a tiny, earring sized target. I never would have dug those signals in the field. Now supertuning would up that to 7-8" easily, but it was too unstable to use at most of my sites with sens nearly maxed out. I busted my back constantly digging trying to figure out if those short/clipped signals were deeper coins, or just iron. That is not the case with my current detectors. If it's a coin it's always a solid signal, regardless of depth. Higher freq detectors like the V tend to like iron more, that's just the nature of the beast (maybe that's why the V has a great reputation for relics?) If it works great for you that's awesome. This is just my own personal experience with the V. It's a great machine for some people, I guess I just didn't have the patience after a year to keep trying to learn it. All machines have idiosyncracies that have to be dealt wth, I just eventually grew weary of wondering what I might be missing out on. HH

I wonder if there was some kind of trouble with your machine. My Vaquero gets a lot more depth on coins than the range you are quoting. When hunting tot lots I try not to set my up too deep or it will get those metal stakes that hold the under skirt down below the shavings or rubber strips. Even in sand that has to be ground balanced, I have dug coins at 8 to 12 inches. Only on deep digs have I had a rusty nail ring out. I don't super tune, I usually hunt with Iron knocked out and threshold at 3 o'clock and sensitivity at 9-10. Most of my ground has to be ground balanced, tot lots are usually neutral and sand lots can very from neutral to bad. Anyway good luck and HH!

 

[atomicscott]

I wonder if there was some kind of trouble with your machine. My Vaquero gets a lot more depth on coins than the range you are quoting. When hunting tot lots I try not to set my up too deep or it will get those metal stakes that hold the under skirt down below the shavings or rubber strips. Even in sand that has to be ground balanced, I have dug coins at 8 to 12 inches. Only on deep digs have I had a rusty nail ring out. I don't super tune, I usually hunt with Iron knocked out and threshold at 3 o'clock and sensitivity at 9-10. Most of my ground has to be ground balanced, tot lots are usually neutral and sand lots can very from neutral to bad. Anyway good luck and HH!

I have dug quarters at 8"-9" with my Vaq, but dimes never more than about 5-6". I rarely supertuned as I didn't think it was necessary unless you were looking for very deep coins like 9-10". I rarely ran the thresh past the usable range for pinpointing, and I usually ran the sens at about 9 or so. Tesoro retuned the coil for me, tested the unit and gave it a good bill of health. I think it's doing what it's supposed to, but deeper smaller targets are only a blip sometimes and to me some were hard to tell from something trying to be disc'ed out, or a deeper small coin, etc... It was also pretty common to dig iron that rang up as a dime or quarter. Not just bigger iron, but bolts and nails, etc... I also found it a pain to thumb the disc every time you wanted to ID a target. I think it's a good machine for the person that likes beep & digs or someone willing to really learn it. I had it over a year and then I bought an F2. I found quite a few coins at a local school with the F2 (a few clad dimes at 9") that I missed with the Vaq. It's probably just me not completely learning the language of the Vaquero, and passing up good signals thinking they were trash? I really liked the V's all metal mode alot though! I could find tiny lead shot about 1 grain, and coins, etc... at much better depths. I was very well practiced in listening to the tiny whisper targets zipping through the threshold, as I mostly got the Vaquero for gold nuggets. I think it makes a great nugget shooter for the price with one of the smaller DD coils.

 

[Fletch88]

I have dug quarters at 8"-9" with my Vaq, but dimes never more than about 5-6". I rarely supertuned as I didn't think it was necessary unless you were looking for very deep coins like 9-10". I rarely ran the thresh past the usable range for pinpointing, and I usually ran the sens at about 9 or so. Tesoro retuned the coil for me, tested the unit and gave it a good bill of health. I think it's doing what it's supposed to, but deeper smaller targets are only a blip sometimes and to me some were hard to tell from something trying to be disc'ed out, or a deeper small coin, etc... It was also pretty common to dig iron that rang up as a dime or quarter. Not just bigger iron, but bolts and nails, etc... I also found it a pain to thumb the disc every time you wanted to ID a target. I think it's a good machine for the person that likes beep & digs or someone willing to really learn it. I had it over a year and then I bought an F2. I found quite a few coins at a local school with the F2 (a few clad dimes at 9") that I missed with the Vaq. It's probably just me not completely learning the language of the Vaquero, and passing up good signals thinking they were trash? I really liked the V's all metal mode alot though! I could find tiny lead shot about 1 grain, and coins, etc... at much better depths. I was very well practiced in listening to the tiny whisper targets zipping through the threshold, as I mostly got the Vaquero for gold nuggets. I think it makes a great nugget shooter for the price with one of the smaller DD coils.

Yes the thumbing of discrim in real trashy area can get old quickly ! In real trashy parks it's almost worth just running up past tab to look for silver and clad. I know you lose gold and nickels at that setting, but there isn't much valuable gold in most areas I'm hunting. Just started running Tejon for a short time today. Really like the coin check switch/ dual discrimination switch! Will report later