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Tesoro Cortes


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I've always liked the Tesoro Cortes.  I like the design intent.  I like the way it looks.  I like the Sum mode with the audio tones.  I like the graph.   I like the Target ID range.   I like pretty much everything about it except the single tone hunt audio in Disc mode and the overshoot null in the non-motion all metal sometimes gives me a fit.   I've had six of them over the years and I usually part with them mostly due to the single tone hunt audio.   But I get nostalgic after a while and end up getting another one every now and them....which is what has just happened.   I saw one for sale and started looking at it again but didn't jump.  Then a NIB unit came up for sale at a very good price and I couldn't help myself and jumped.   Welcome home number seven.  HA.

I think I will put the Cleansweep coil on it and just hunt athletic fields with it where beep dig single tone is ok and all I really care about is ground coverage or places  that I've already cleaned out and just want to run through for recent drops.  Hope to hunt it next weekend and share thoughts and results.

Wife is probably going to wack me, though.   Only been two months since the last new purchase.

HH
Mike

Tesoro Cortes Data & Reviews

tesoro-cortes-metal-detector.jpg

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Thanks for sharing your recent Cortes purchase Mike,  I knew you were looking for one from a recent post of yours.

Was going to contact you,  have a nice one just haven’t had time to post it.  Also have a Deleon,  I’m still up in the air which one I’ll keep. Both have positives and negatives, like the larger Deleon screen.

Will try the Cleansweep coil, I’ve never tried one but have one from a recent Tesoro purchase from last year.  It came with a Golden uMax,  Will definitely be swinging both Cortes and Deleon soon.  I’m looking so forward to using both, havent used them in a few years.

looking forward to reviewing your views on the Cortes.

Congrats!

Paul

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1 hour ago, phrunt said:

I like the look of that.  I didn't know that particular model existed. 

Simon, in your mild to moderate dirt the Tesoro Deleon would be even more fun and with a Cleansweep coil..............

Still loving my 24K BTW!!!!!

Jeff

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  • 2 weeks later...

My Sunday morning got rained out.  Woke up to heavy fog, then drizzling rain an hour later...and next week is laundry day so....maiden voyage is still a ways out.

Bench testing with the stock coil shows this particular model to be tuned a  bit different from the ones I've owned in the past. It seems to be tuned more in line with  the 10 kHz operating frequency.   All of the other Cortes models I've owned have had the Nickel TID in the mid to high 30s, from a 34 to a 39, and there is one for sale on the 'depot classified that has a nickel id in the low middle 40s.  Mine has a nickel id in the high teens/low twenties.  

The Cortes uses a TID of 0 for iron and 95 high conductors start at penny/dime range.  That leaves a spread of 94 numbers for low and mid range conductors.   My model is giving a 20 point spread for foil and 74 point spread for the middle range...I don't recall my zinc id at the moment...it was in the 70s  but at the moment I can't peg it to a single number...I'll have to go back and double check.. At first I was a bit bugged that the nickel id was so low, but in reflection I find that it is really more in line with the operating frequency.   In reality how much useful resolution can a 10 kHz unit put into the foil range?   

That said,  my entire mid conductive range has really opened up and it's TID spread is completely in line with a 10 kHz unit....74 points of resolution between a nickel and a dime is right where a lot of non-ferrous trash resides and where the resolution would be the most useful in picking goodies out of the trash.   So I'm a bit stoked about that.  

Another thing I am seeing is that I'm not experiencing the over shoot null on this model...at least not on the bench...I'll have to wait and see if it does it on the ground.    The other surprise is the All Metal mode is much deeper than any of my other units.  My past Cortes' (remember I've owned 6 of these in the past) usually only detected slightly deeper in all metal than they did in Disc mode.    This unit is much deeper in All Metal.   The no-motion all metal mode still only gives an id at DIsc mode distances but the all metal threshold operation goes much further...  

The one real negative is that the detector is tuned to the stock coil and not my Cleansweep coil.   Which means that large high conductors wrap to iron much faster than they should.   So where a dollar coin would stay in the non-ferrous range at 12" on the stock coil, it will start wrapping to iron about 4" on the clean sweep coil, and all high conductors move up accordingly...dimes are staying at dime but quarters and higher are moving up the scale.   Not a big deal for a jewelry hunter but a good thing to know.  I'll ponder about this for a while and see if I really need to care or not....

Anyway....over all I'm pretty happy with it's potential.   Now just to get it on the ground.

HH
Mike

 

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Mike, sounds like you got a jewel of a detector find.  Can you tell the date of manufacture?  I'm just wondering if this is one of the newest ones that they may have intentionally tuned this way instead of just a random hickup in their tuning procedure.

 

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I dunno...Its a new in box unit that is at least 2 years old.    I'll post the serial number and we'll have a go at it.

HH
Mike

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Serial number 233307.    I can't read the code so I have no idea.

TID boundaries appear to be 0 to 20/22 for foil to nickel.   20/22 to 74/75 for nickel to zinc cent.   74/75 to 95 for zinc cent to dime.

That is a pretty decent spread of TID for the mid conductive range....  20 points for low conductors,  53 points for middle conductors, and 20 points for middle high conductors.   

 The Cortes is an analog detector.  As you raise your discrimination it will affect the depth all all targets near the discrimination point.   So using the nickel for an example....maximum depth is possible with a minimum disc setting, but as I raise the disc setting I start shaving off distance from the nickel response.  So using discrimination is a balancing act between rejection and response distance.  Since I plan to mostly use the Cortes with the Cleansweep coil I have to be ok with the distance I can get on my lowest conductive targets with the iron rejection I'll need.   I tend to think that the lower TID range of my unit's nickel setting has an affect on narrowing this balance. 

At this point, with iron disc set where I need it, Sensitivity on 5,  my lowest conductive ring (TID of 3) gives a air test distance of 3" on the Cleansweep coil, while maintaining a 4.5" nickel air test distance.  This translates to 1" of distance lost from my iron disc use.  Which is acceptable for the Cleansweep coil.   

I focus on the staying rather low on the sensitivity setting as EMI could well keep me here, if EMI lets me use a higher Sensitivity setting then life gets more golden.  

I'm still good to go Cleansweeping for rings.

HH
Mike

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