The Mojave has blown me away!

[DukeBoxer]

A little back story, my wife bought me a Whites Coinmaster Pro a couple years back because I wanted the same detector my cousin had. I used it around my yard and found a bunch of coins once I learned how it worked. Then I upgraded to an AT Pro after watching Diggers and found my first silver coins with it, 2 of them being in my own front yard.

Soon after I got the AT Pro I learned how to cherry pick the high tone coins and basically was doing just that. I dug a few nickels here and there but usually just listened for high tones and learned the VDIs and dug just those. Last winter I started reading more on here since I couldn't be out detecting and I started reading up on other brands and Tesoro kept on coming up.

I didn't really understand the draw of a one beep machine with no screen or VDI but then the Mojave came out and people were raving about it. I read every day about the finds, about how fun it is, about it's little brother the Compadre and I decided at some point I wanted to try one.

A few weeks ago I came across a great deal on a used Compadre so I jumped on it and started taking it out and learning it. I did like people said to do, set it around either the middle or to just above iron, swing and dig. Then I started reading Digger's methods of rolling the disc up and then back down to listen to where and how it comes back in. I jived with it and I was always stopping off places to test it out.

Then I decided to see if I could find a good priced Mojave so I checked ebay and one popped up. I bid on it at 30 seconds to go but lost and then to my surprise I got an offer to buy it at my bid because the person who won didn't live in the US so I jumped on it and ever since I received it I've used it 9 out of 10 times I've been out detecting and it has just amazed me each time. The way I hunt with it now is to set it just at the top of iron and swing away, if I get a solid repeatable signal I'll dig it. No rolling the disc, at least not in areas that aren't super trashy. I've found some cool things and some things have made my jaw drop. I've also found more nickels with this thing than I ever found with the AT Pro. The other day alone I found 8, compared to 6 dimes, 2 quarters and 3 pennies, 2 of which were zincs. And if this guy loves nickels, you know that it'll love gold too!

Here are a few pictures of recent finds...


These are old Monopoly pieces, I had no idea what they were and thought at first they came from a charm bracelet. They're pretty small and they were solid signals that screamed dig me. I checked all around where they were and couldn't find any more



This was also a solid repeatable signal that was hard for me to find with the pinpointer but the detector saw it perfectly. It's some sort of rivet from clothing, girls jeans or shirt most likely


This guy is pretty cool, I was hoping it was silver but it's just stainless. Needless to say it ended up in the trash


And then there's this ring...when it came out all I saw was a gold spot and I almost pooped myself. Then I started to clean it and realized it was junk or plated. It's marked 14KT GE ESPO, gold electroplate. I'm pretty sure it's over copper. Oh well

Anyways, I love this detector so much that I'm loaning my cousin the AT Pro and using these 2 Tesoros from now on. People might say otherwise but I believe that some of these things I wouldn't have ever dug because they didn't have a good VDI on the AT Pro or maybe they would've been a little jumpy. Not so with the Tesoro. If it repeats it gets dug. I also can't explain the nickel thing. Maybe some come in right around pull tabs, 53, on the AT Pro and maybe some come in a little lower than 51 but I've been pleasantly surprised that I've dug so many.

 

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[lairmo]

I had a hatchet necklace like that when I was a kid...I would've given you 50 cents for it...lol

Happy Hunting!!!

 

[Terry Soloman]

I have a Multi-Kruzer, an Equinox 600, and I will never get rid of my Mojave! Just a super little machine.

 

[jld66]

I have tried the at-pro a few times for a little while and even wanted to like it. Just did not see what all the hype is about them. I found it to be a below average detector. You can't swing them over a dead cat and bring it back to life no matter what their users claim or how much they are in love with it. I've used it and go out with others that use it. I'll stick with the vaquero, no matter what the clowns on TV claim the at-pro can do...

 

[smokeythecat]

Everyone has their favorites out there. Most any machine will work for you as long as targets are in the ground to begin with. My best find was with a machine that cost $329.00. That was a Tesoro Cibola. I have the Vaquero now.

 

[HistoryStudent]

I too am a converted AT PRO user only my reason for buying my first Tesoro was what I had heard about its iron discrimination. Basically, I heard that analog machines can discriminate better than digital machines. My at pro chatters in nail sites and and it was fatiguing and frustrating to use in trashy areas. So I did some research and decided to buy a used Tesoro Golden uMax and it's now my primary machine. I swear it's like magic, calm and quiet in both trash and nails but it has no trouble detecting the things I look for. I love the 8x9 concentric coil and my experience with the golden is very good. It's a pleasure to hunt with.

My Eldorado uMax, with its ED180 discrimination is a much noisier machine so I use it less but I'm glad that I have it

 

[smokeythecat]

HistoryStudent, welcome. My first modern machine was the old Lobo. I got into a camp of Rev War items and cleaned up! I have a Cibola and Vaquero. Love them both and I also have an XP Deus with the HF coil. I call it the little laser. I need a lightweight machine these days.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Sweet finds!

 

[nomad 11]

just a note duke. dont throw those trinkets and odd items away. save them in a bucket and when winter rolls around and you cant go detecting. you can go through them and reminisce !

 

[Honest Samuel]

I will be out with my new Mojave in April in the great state of Connecticut.

 

[Hihosilver]

40 degrees, windy and sunny here in Ohio today, so I thought to myself, “put on some long John’s and take that new Mojave out to the park, cuz no one will be their...”

Set the disc just below the yellow/white foil line and started searching for jewelry in a ball field located in one of our city parks. Didn’t find any gold, but I was digging older and deeper pulltabs. I only had about an hour and a half to hunt, so decided to turn up the disc for the last half hour just to see what might happen, as this ball field has been around at least from the 1950s. Did not find any silver, but I did get a nice solid hit that would not disc out and stayed nice and solid, and roundish... turned out to be a clad quarter every bit of 7” deep!

Not bad.

 

[Honest Samuel]

I have tried the at-pro a few times for a little while and even wanted to like it. Just did not see what all the hype is about them. I found it to be a below average detector. You can't swing them over a dead cat and bring it back to life no matter what their users claim or how much they are in love with it. I've used it and go out with others that use it. I'll stick with the vaquero, no matter what the clowns on TV claim the at-pro can do...

I agree with you and never will buy that detector. I will start using my new Tesoro Mojave in April.

 

[DukeBoxer]

Honest Samuel, where are you in CT, north, south? I'm Southern CT. I'm having the same problem with the Mojave that I was having with the Compadre. I can only really use it in the "High" ground setting and it still beeps on the basalt type volcanic rocks. It's not that big of a deal because it just kinda chirps but I'd like to compare it to another Mojave to see if mine might need some adjustments.

Nomad 11 - I hear you but I have a problem with junk just hanging around the house. I grew up with a hoarder and I can't stand seeing stuff just sitting around if it's no use or value to me. I'm about to toss those monopoly pieces soon too...if anyone wants them let me know

Terry - I thought you sold the Mojave. I'm still waiting for the Equinox 800. I'm moving down to Costa Rica soon and I have a hunch I'll do pretty damn good on the beaches and swim holes down there. Plus there used to be gold mines around me. I'm hoping to find some nuggets in the spoils piles.

 

[Honest Samuel]

Welcome to Treasure Net. I live near Bridgeport.

 

[aaroncr]

Super nice,..the Tesoros have always interested me. I think they are just cool. Never swung one yet. I started on the tracker 4 so using only my ears isn't really an issue for me..just haven't got one yet but plan to some day. I'd really like the outlaw package but when the time comes the cheaper Mojave may be my machine to try this brand out.

 

[Timecop67]

Has anyone tried coils other than the 7 inch concentric that comes with the Mojave? The guy at Big Valley that sells them also recommends the 7 inch DD wide coil on the last video at his web site. Maybe allowing the Mojave to punch a little deeper in mineralized soil.

 

[Peter67]

Tesoro's are just the detectors that give me the most fun. I do own more high end detectors and sometimes (not always) i find more stuff with them but i don't get as much pleasure using them as i do with the Tesoro's.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Has anyone tried coils other than the 7 inch concentric that comes with the Mojave? The guy at Big Valley that sells them also recommends the 7 inch DD wide coil on the last video at his web site. Maybe allowing the Mojave to punch a little deeper in mineralized soil.

I had the factory tune my Mojave to the 11" x 8" widescan, and it is very good on dry sand, sports and farm fields. Now that I have the Equinox 600, I only use the Mojave with the stock 7" concentric.

 

[Honest Samuel]

I also own a Mojave and the best of luck to those who owns one.

 

[Dan B]

I've always liked Tesoro machines, even though I don't currently own one. I waited for the Cazador like everyone else, but eventually gave up, and ended up with an ATPro. It was a different animal for sure, but I gave it a chance. It ended up being a great machine and I had my best year of detecting in almost 30 years. Now I have the ATMax. But I still have a place in my heart for Tesoros, so I know I will have one again some day. In fact, I have a couple of coils and accessories to sell, and when I do, that money is going toward another Tesoro.

Dan