Visionquest
Full Member
Well, after seeing Jimmileo's report on the Cobra Beach Magnet,I figured I would do something similar on a Tesoro Sand Shark as I purchased on this month and it is for the same basic use and not much more cost. Hopefully the info will be of value to someone.
Typical cost of the machine online and dealers is $543.20
The Sand Shark is of course a Pi unit so it has no discrimination, I didn't see this as a bad thing in the water since most of the time there isn't a lot of trash where I detect. It is a very well built rugged machine and reasonably light 3.5 lbs. It is also very well balanced and I have not seen any fatigue swinging it. The batteries are 8 AA's and are fairly easy to change and the water tight seal is of very decent quality. There are four knobs, one for mode one for threshold, one for pulse width (Sensitivity) and one for volume. The threshold knob also has a battery test feature. The mode knob allows you to power the machine on and switch between VCO or normal mode, I leave it in VCO all the time. The searchoil is changeable and the headphones are not, they are decent however and do a fine job. The control box can be moved to two positions on the shaft based on preference and is equipped with a bracket to belt mount it on your body as well as plenty of cable length.
In VCO mode, pinpointing is very easy, the target gets louder and changes pitch, the closer you are to it, also indicating depth. I find it easier to pinpoint with than the XLT even, just a simple process.I haven't used the other mode, likely it gets more depth, but I don't think it is necessary for what I use it for and it doesn't have the pinpointing ease.
In my limited experience using this machine (maybe 5 times in the water) I was happy with its results, in lakes I know are heavily hunted weekly (I know the guys doing it) with decent setups, it still has found a lot of clad and quite a few pieces of cheap jewelry as well as a matchbox car and a few fishing lures. The downfall with the PI is the no discrim, it Will pick up the tinyest peice of metal you can imagine, I have found several broken fishhooks etc that were less than a quarter inch. Not sure how they stayed in my scoop. I also have found that pick up every bobby pin ever, usually 30 plus every time I use it. They are everywhere. Similar to pull tabs.
So if you don't mind digging everything, this machine is very well built and has a lifetime warranty. It has great depth and pinpointing and a reasonable cost. Not as entertaining or in depth as Jimmi's report, but hopefully it will give some more perspective on budget submersible machines.
You might notice if you looked in the classifieds recently, I am selling this one, not because I don't like it, I am interested now in the Garret Infinium LS, Another PI, quite a bit more money but has some useful features 96 frequencies and a way to identify ferrous metal.
-Mike
Typical cost of the machine online and dealers is $543.20
The Sand Shark is of course a Pi unit so it has no discrimination, I didn't see this as a bad thing in the water since most of the time there isn't a lot of trash where I detect. It is a very well built rugged machine and reasonably light 3.5 lbs. It is also very well balanced and I have not seen any fatigue swinging it. The batteries are 8 AA's and are fairly easy to change and the water tight seal is of very decent quality. There are four knobs, one for mode one for threshold, one for pulse width (Sensitivity) and one for volume. The threshold knob also has a battery test feature. The mode knob allows you to power the machine on and switch between VCO or normal mode, I leave it in VCO all the time. The searchoil is changeable and the headphones are not, they are decent however and do a fine job. The control box can be moved to two positions on the shaft based on preference and is equipped with a bracket to belt mount it on your body as well as plenty of cable length.
In VCO mode, pinpointing is very easy, the target gets louder and changes pitch, the closer you are to it, also indicating depth. I find it easier to pinpoint with than the XLT even, just a simple process.I haven't used the other mode, likely it gets more depth, but I don't think it is necessary for what I use it for and it doesn't have the pinpointing ease.
In my limited experience using this machine (maybe 5 times in the water) I was happy with its results, in lakes I know are heavily hunted weekly (I know the guys doing it) with decent setups, it still has found a lot of clad and quite a few pieces of cheap jewelry as well as a matchbox car and a few fishing lures. The downfall with the PI is the no discrim, it Will pick up the tinyest peice of metal you can imagine, I have found several broken fishhooks etc that were less than a quarter inch. Not sure how they stayed in my scoop. I also have found that pick up every bobby pin ever, usually 30 plus every time I use it. They are everywhere. Similar to pull tabs.
So if you don't mind digging everything, this machine is very well built and has a lifetime warranty. It has great depth and pinpointing and a reasonable cost. Not as entertaining or in depth as Jimmi's report, but hopefully it will give some more perspective on budget submersible machines.
You might notice if you looked in the classifieds recently, I am selling this one, not because I don't like it, I am interested now in the Garret Infinium LS, Another PI, quite a bit more money but has some useful features 96 frequencies and a way to identify ferrous metal.
-Mike
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