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Ne Nevada 1st Time Ghost Town Detecting (long)


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12 hours ago, kac said:

Looks like you had a great time. Didn't bring your Vaquero? 🙂

Wouldn't mind giving that a try if I could get the time off and travel out there. Thanks for sharing.

The Tesoro Vaquero would have been a handy detector to have along, if it had the small 6" Concentric coil.  I've had 3 Vaqueros and the only one I liked was the last one after I had Tesoro give it the High-Tone mode.  I don't like the standard Low-Tone.  It does have a slight depth-of-detection edge' over my favorite Tesoro's ... slight ... but overall in-the-field performance I prefer my Bandido II microMAX w/6" Concentric coil.

Why, some might ask?  Because I think it has a cleaner rejection in the lower Iron Audio to lower Non-Ferrous range, but since I like to use the All Metal mode periodically, I can toggle in and out of All Metal with the Bandido II microMAX w/o having to mess with the variable Disc. setting to swish to All Metal with the Vaquero.

 

1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

It was on the candidates list.  Since this month-long trip included detecting for natural gold I also brought a PI.  I don't have a trailer nor a roof mount storage container so everything (including a futon mattress for sleeping) has to go inside my Jeep Compass.  Three detectors is already pushing it.

I always have a Silver Sabre microMAX (µMAX) in my vehicle for any incidental opportunity t get out detecting.  On a prolonged detecting jaunt I will replace it with a Bandido II microMAX or simply add that in with the other units.  It, too, keeps a 6" Concentric coil mounted full-time.  In short, I never go detecting without having at least one good Tesoro along.

 

1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

I don't have a small coil for the Vaquero.  (Monte has indicated the stock 8"x9" concentric has good separation, but it still seems like the wrong choice in so much trash, and small coils fit better in and between the vegetation.)  The F75 is a decent backup for the Equinox in gold bearing areas (in case the Equinox conks out, etc.) as well as a decent backup in park hunting, etc.  Besides the 4"x6" conc. I also brought the Mars 5"x10" (Sniper) DD.  Thus the F75 made the cut ahead of the Vaquero.  But, yes, with a small coil it should be a good performer in that trashy ghost town desert environment.

I hope you can find a good 6" Concentric coil for the Vaquero, or swap it off for a different good Tesoro w/6" Concentric coil.  A good-working Tesoro with a functional small, Concentric coil makes a terrific complement to any detector outfit.  I have my Nokta Relic w/5" DD because that 19 kHz device works great and can pretty much match my Tesoro's performance in very dense Iron Nails.  The Relic is my specially-assigned Relic Hunting unit for 'Toano-type' old sites.  The FORS CoRe and then the FORS Relic with their smaller coils, easily replaced the Teknetics T2's and Fisher F-75's I had, along with quite a few other detectors.  But not my Tesoro favorites.

As for the 8X9 'Out-Of-Round' Concentric coil, yes, it can work reasonably well.  In testing I have done or witnessed with the Tejón using Tesoro's 8½X11, 6X10, and NEL's 5X9½ Sharpshooter DD coils, they failed terribly to handle the 4 Iron nails on my Nail Board Performance Test, but when he/they mounted the stock 8X9 Concentric they had commendable performance.  But any coil over a 7" diameter, and actually a 7' coil today, I consider a mid-sized coil along with an 8", 8X9, 5X8 or 5X9½. 

I'll use any of these mid-sized coils in a moderately littered site, but when the going gets tough, and the ghost towns I enjoy hunting usually are, I favor a good smaller size coil in the 4½" to 6" or perhaps 6½" diameter.  Also, if I have the option, I like a Concentric over a Double-D.

You had a good coil on the F-75 for a lot of the area in a lot of those old Nevada townsites, and a 6" DD on an Equinox can also do okay.  Now, let's get busy figuring out a few old sites to put together another WTHO!

Monte

 

 

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Thanks for the travelogue and finds display. I bet the best part was meeting & enjoying the other people.

It is also nice to see that other people hunt my kind of sites where a coin is a special find along with lots of interesting "junk", most of which I happily keep!

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I have the same concentric on my Tejon that You have on your Vaquero and agree it can be tough in high trash areas. The concentric does pass the nailboard test but the dd's don't. I do like the trigger on the Tejon to quickly jump to all metal to target check.

I used the default low audio pitch as it has more nuances. Some adjust that and the audio seems flat so that is the least used potentiometer on that machine 🙂

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1 hour ago, kac said:

I have the same concentric on my Tejon that You have on your Vaquero and agree it can be tough in high trash areas. The concentric does pass the nailboard test but the dd's don't.   I do like the trigger on the Tejon to quickly jump to all metal to target check.

I used the default low audio pitch as it has more nuances. Some adjust that and the audio seems flat so that is the least used potentiometer on that machine 🙂

I know you're replying to 'GB' but I had a few vaqueros and while the 8X9 Concentric works in moderate trash, the 6" Concentric is definitely the way to go in any trashier condition.

Correct, DD coils do not handle dens Iron nails like a Concentric coil ...  on most Tesoro models.  In the end it gels down to the detector's circuitry design and smaller DD coils work well on my Relic, Simplex +, ORX and Apex devices.  All of those, and my two Tesoro's, out=perform several 'modern' detectors on a few dense Iron Nail Test, to include the Equinox, Vanquish, T2 and F-75 models to name a few.   That said, I wish Garrett would make their 4½" Concentric coil for the Apex.

I also like the trigger-toggle on the Tejón, which is also why I like the thumb-toggle on my Bandido II µMAX over the Disc. control operated All Metal selector design of the Vaquero.

I also wish more detectors provided a variable Tone control like the Tejón.

Monte

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Hey GB, it was nice meeting you and thanks for coming all that way to enjoy an outing.  Thanks for the pics and nice write up.

As you now know, the outings can be really fun in those old sites and can also be frustrating at times when ya add in all the iron and rusted tin chunks but there seems to always be a few keepers still out there hiding in the junk. 

Hopefully Monte will get one put together for next year and if so, I'm sure I'll be there and hope to see a bunch others as well.

 

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Now if we could just figure some way to convince Tom in California come join us an Outing, we'd have one more skilled and interesting person to join a great bunch of people who attend.

Besides, we've had 13 WTHO's without a gold coin being found yet so maybe Tom can bring his good fortune make a change in that.

Monte

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GB - Great writeup! I had a great time also as always on the W.T.H.O. Gregg did a great job as President and maybe Monte the CEO can make it next time. 

Tom from Arizona AKA

Tom Slick

 

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