Tesoro vs. Garrett AT Pro question

[DiggerinVA]

OK....Lets use myself for an example, so i dont offend anyone. I use the ATP or ATG most of the time...so if im hunting say...a school yard and i hit a shallow 54-55 signal....that is too high for a nickel and 98% chance it is a modern pulltab. So using the ATP, im probably goin to just keep gettin it. Now if i had my Compadre (my jewelry hunter) im gonna really listen to that signal, and aluminum will most times give a stronger, louder, almost blaring signal where that small 10kt ring (that reads 54-55 on ATP) will sound smooth and soft. and i have searched for a multi tone machine that showed any difference in pulltabs and rings......the little Compadre with 5" coil is good as i have found.

 

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[atomicscott]

I understand Scott.....but if you are digging less trash....then how do you know it is all trash?

Well, I know that when I hit a target that I THINK is something good it more likely IS something good, with my current detector. With my old detector, I would think, "hmmm....this SHOULD be a coin". I dig, & nope, a rusty washer or bolt. Never had an idea if it was a coin or a rusty nail until digging it to find out. You see, they all sounded the same to me, being the SAME one tone on every target. I did not hear a 'round' sound, or whatever on a coin. With my X-Terra, I get a different tone on different coins/conductivities of metal. This should all be elementary to you since you own the AT Pro, I believe it works in a similar fashion, if not please correct me. I assume you had a Vaquero as well. If so, what was your particular reasoning for not using the Vaquero exclusively as opposed to the AT Pro, since it seems to be just as good? You seem to like the Vaquero a lot.

 

[DiggerinVA]

It depends on my mood....if i dont want to dig alot of trash i use the at pro....i love its ability to seperate in iron with the 5x8 coil....the ATP or gold will be the machine i use at a site first....then i will go back with the Tesoro and find the treasures in the trash so to speak. And i have actually never used a Vaquero....but i have had/used the Tejon, Cibola, Outlaw, Silver umax, Compadre 8" and 5" and now the Sand Shark.

 

[Welgund]

I find this thread very interesting since I own all the machines being talked about and the xp deus also. I have an old drive in theater near me that is infested with pull tabs and bottle caps. I have found many a nice old coins there dating back to the 1940s. lots of silver and wheat pennies. The only machines I will use there is the Compadre and Vaquero.
I have tried the AT Pro there and the Deus and there is way to many bottle caps to run them more then 1/2 hour before I am heading to the car to get the Tesoro. The discriminator on the tesoros is so much better than the AT Pro when it comes to modern trash like bottle caps. I hunt probably 3 to 4 times per week and use the tesoros more than the at pro or deus. When I go to the local parks I use the Vaquero in the open areas for deep coins and the compadre around the pavilions where we all know is laden with can slaw and bottle caps. If I had to choose only one machine and the rest had to go it would be the Vaquero out of all my machines. That is only because I can ground balance it and change out the coils. My trusty Compadre has found more gold and coins though and would be very hard to let go.

 

[DiggerinVA]

The $160 is very well spent for any detectorist to add a Compadre to their arsenal...

 

[Rock22]

Well, I talked to Rusty for over an hour last night. What a great guy! Very friendly and more than helpful. I have so much to learn so listening to him describe how these things work was amazing. I really think the powers that be over at Tesoro should name a detector after him. Let him design it,add a picture of him on the side and call it the Rusterio! After explaining to him where I live and how I will use the detector he helped me to arrive at the Tejon. It may take me a long time to really get the hang of it but I have the time in the summer, I am a school teacher so I have the summer off. I am also going with what one member said a little further back in the post about following my heart. I feel very good about this company and how dedicated they are to making a good quality product. Nothing against any of the other companies because I am sure there are many great products out there. For me it will be a Tesoro.

 

[dirtscratcher]

I understand Scott.....but if you are digging less trash....then how do you know it is all trash?

A detector with tones and a screen can still be used to dig everything where it would be exceptable. But in some parks if you were to dig everything it would look like someone took a rottotiller to it. Even trying to cherry pick I dug to much trash it just loves iron. If I were only digging plowed fields I would consider using it again but not turf hunting.

 

[Fletch88]

Well, I talked to Rusty for over an hour last night. What a great guy! Very friendly and more than helpful. I have so much to learn so listening to him describe how these things work was amazing. I really think the powers that be over at Tesoro should name a detector after him. Let him design it,add a picture of him on the side and call it the Rusterio! After explaining to him where I live and how I will use the detector he helped me to arrive at the Tejon. It may take me a long time to really get the hang of it but I have the time in the summer, I am a school teacher so I have the summer off. I am also going with what one member said a little further back in the post about following my heart. I feel very good about this company and how dedicated they are to making a good quality product. Nothing against any of the other companies because I am sure there are many great products out there. For me it will be a Tesoro.

Congrats on the Tejon. It is not complicated to learn you should be comfortable with it after a few hours of hunting. For coin shooting just set the bottom disc just below nickel ad the top above screw cap or above where a zincoln cuts out. When you hit a target a quick push forward on the toggle gives you an idea of what the target "could" be. It's really like a process of elimination. Start out in a fairly clean area with targets on the surface and understand where they drop out on the disc knob. Practice pinpointing to understand where target is in relation to coil. I should be right in the center on the stock concentric coil. Good luck and happy hunting!

 

[dirtscratcher]

The truth is this......people who rely on fancy screens and multi tones to "cherry pick" sites with WILL DIG LESS TRASH. But a well trained ear and a good Tesoro will pull good targets that the "fancy screen" missed. Most times it will be targets in the mid-range. Everybody loves silver, but silver is easy to ID.....gold is not so easy and the screens dont help here......just a good trained ear and persistence. Multi-tone users tend to naturally relate mid-tones to trash in some areas.....where as a "mid-tone" doesnt exist to a Tesoro user....

So if what you are saying is true it has nothing to do with the detector but users developing bad habits. A multitone user can still dig everything as a matter of fact most can be set to one tone making them like having a built in tesoro.

 

[atomicscott]

You sound like a broken record.
I still have no idea why you come on the Tesoro forum as we all know that it didn't work for you. Others may master it better then you did.

It is a post regarding the Vaquero & I owned one. Did you? They may have mastered it better 'than' I did, but not better 'then' I did.

 

[DiggerinVA]

Yes...dirtscratcher I think alot of it is bad habits....and we just get lazy sometimes and dont really listen to our machines. We just want a screen to say dig or dont dig.

 

[Rock22]

I will admit that the screen did make me very lazy. I am happy to be getting a detector with no screen to confuse me. I continue to read the book on the Tejon and it will take me time to learn it but I am determined to really work at it to enjoy the hobby. I can't wait to go over all the spots on my land that I have already hunted with my Whites and use my new Tesoro!

 

[woodknack]

I will admit that the screen did make me very lazy. I am happy to be getting a detector with no screen to confuse me. I continue to read the book on the Tejon and it will take me time to learn it but I am determined to really work at it to enjoy the hobby. I can't wait to go over all the spots on my land that I have already hunted with my Whites and use my new Tesoro!

Keep us posted. Love to hear all about the tejon.

 

[SouthFLdigger]

Funny thing is i only hunt by sound, on my ID machines any tone that breaks my discrimination setting of 30-39 i dig ! The only cherry picking i do is disc out foil in the trashiest of areas, everythign else i dig. My arms and shoulders seem to be getting bigger every week as a result but im finding lots! I have a Compadre and its a great detector and as someone once mentioned everyone should own one. But in very high trash bottle cap areas i love having multiple tones that a gamma or delta can provide and iron audio which is a fantastic feature (CoRe, Gamma, AT...). IDs are worthless for deep targets, i don't rely on them much. And by the way the Tejon is an amazing machine, if the darn thing worked in salt i would gladly buy one !

 

[rainyday101]

If it is working well, true. some guns may have better pointability, or less (percieved) recoil for more accurate follow up target aquistition, etc...My buddy had a GSXR 750, I used to ride my FZR 600 with him in the canyons. Then I rode his bike & realized why he was stomping me so bad, lol. I needed to ride the gixxer to realize how much better it was. If you just want to see if it can be better, you won't know til ya...Wait rainy, is this deja vu all over again? Lol

No, it's not a deja moment. (And yes I know what you are talking about!) With the success I have had with my current machines I just can't justify spending the cash to try something else. I have tried my buddies detectors, F75 and AT Pro. Can't say they are bad, I am just use to analyzing the Tesoro audio real quickly. They both do really well with their detectors and struggle with my Tesoro. It's just more a matter of learning to use what you have really well.

Most of my time last season was spent in the water and with a decent amount of success. I plan to spend most of my time in the water again this season and for the money my Tiger Shark rocks in freshwater.

We all have our favorites and always will. In the end it's just a matter of learning what you have really well and success will follow. It can get to be an expensive tour buying detector after detector to find that magic bullet, I don't think it actually exist- Yet. That said some of these new foreigners like the Makro Racer look quite interesting.

 

[Tnmountains]

Congratulations on the Tesoro. You will be happy. I always watched what people used that I had respect for and what they found and these forums are full of my questions on every machine I have. I got a lot of good help here.
Now find some treasure

 

[NWMP]

I love the garrett machines (at pro & at gold) but I also like the Tesoro machines. Where I live for really good depth I need manual ground balance so that eliminates the Deleon. But it all comes down to your preferred hunting style and just what you like. I dont think you can go wrong with any of the machines listed as long as you take the time to really learn the machine you will do well. Good luck!

I greatly enjoy my AT Pro. But my Tejon is a proven deep and sensitive machine (it is also light weight). So the Tejon is a keeper. I tend to use my Tejon further north when I want to go deep in mild soil, but to each their own.

 

[john glassman]

I love this post I used different machines since 1980 and Tesoro I have always used it never let me down on finds.I think a good pair headphones that properly enhance the tones you hear through the headphones..ps if like any machine stick with life to short to worry about it!

 

[nitnelyons]

I use the Vaquero, & my brother uses the AT PRO. Past 3 years we been hunting together, (about every weekend in good weather), normally the ATP finds are either, better, or more. On June 13, 2015 the Tesoro "finally" beats the ATP. Tesoro finds on the left. 4 Wheats, Token, 2 Silver Rosey's, & a Walking 1/2. ATP finds on the right, Token, Silver Charm, Silver Rosey, & an Indian Head Penny. Just ordered the new 11x8 Delta coil for Vaquero. I had the ATP, E-TRAC, CTX 3030, XP DEUS, but I love the Vaquero. You won't be disappointed.

 

[tabman]

I use the Vaquero, & my brother uses the AT PRO. Past 3 years we been hunting together, (about every weekend in good weather), normally the ATP finds are either, better, or more. On June 13, 2015 the Tesoro "finally" beats the ATP. Tesoro finds on the left. 4 Wheats, Token, 2 Silver Rosey's, & a Walking 1/2. ATP finds on the right, Token, Silver Charm, Silver Rosey, & an Indian Head Penny. Just ordered the new 11x8 Delta coil for Vaquero. I had the ATP, E-TRAC, CTX 3030, XP DEUS, but I love the Vaquero. You won't be disappointed.
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Those are some very impressive finds! Big congrats! Have you ever given any thought to that your brother might be better at detecting than you are? LOL

tabman