Elusive Diablo Micromax

[Desert Dawg]

Lots of cool coils available  new to fit the umax, Nel, etc. 3x6, 5.5", etc. Same coils fit as they do the Lobo Super Traq.

[EL NINO77]

I myself am curious, .. what can make snake on Tesoro Mojave - as an alternative to the concentric coil...

[Rick K - First Member]

My immediate problem seems to be solved by a local person in Superior AZ who has agreed to sell me a Lobo Supertrac at a good price. I will meet him tomorrow at 0800 at “Los Hermanos” a popular Mexican restaurant/bar in Superior. After doing the biz, my wife, myself and my best friend will have Huevos Rancheros and a breakfast beer before  heading back to Gold Canyon.

The standard elliptical coil from the LST will tide me over till I figure out what to do with my new (and totally unnecessary) toys.

One plan is to play the two Tesoro’s off against the world’s best preserved Treasure Baron Goldtrax - another prize won by diligent attention to various forum posts. There’s one of those for sale on eBay now for $1,255. Daft of course, but mine is at least as nice.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TREASURE-BARON-GOLD-TRAX-METAL-DETECTOR-by-Discovery-Electronics-1986-Model/253739625853

[Rick K - First Member]

Great shoot-out cut short.  

The 10” elliptical coil off the LST - paired alternately with the Diablo MM and the LST quickily reminded me or why I sold 2 DMM’s earlier.

Beuatiful, light, elegant - but not for me.  Too uncompromising - too pure,  Metal - beep.

I have grown used to more.  The Diablo MM is sold and the LST is looking for a coil which went with the DMM.

Having said all that, here’s something I posted a while back elsewhere about Tesoro.

“It's not what you find - It's not what tools you own - it's the pursuit of "el tesoro" - the treasurel - the pursuit being a combination of expectation, experience, exercise. calculation and - sometimes reward. 

I found the simplicity and directness of Tesoro's machines to have a sort of immediate connection between seek and find - a connection that I enjoyed. 

The greatest detectors in the history of detectors - no. 

But clearly, their passing - if in fact they are gone - is the passing of an era. 

I found simple jewelry - lost or hidden- at the site of the destruction of an Arabian town by the Ottoman forces of the ruler of Egypt - Mohammed Ali in about 1814. 

I found copper scraps from smelting of ore in Sumerian times (about 2000 BC) at a mine and refining site in Oman 

I found the nut I lost off the end of an important bolt on my vehicle in the sands of the desert (nice to have a metal detector when you are 50 miles from a paved road in the sand). 

I will miss Tesoro - even though - truth be known - I never bought one of their machines new... 

That's the killer...metal detectors work - too well - too long. 

Tesoro didn't understand that - lifetime warranty - what commercial foolishness. But then, in those days - we had different ideas about what constituted business integrity. 

They will be missed.”

[Steve Herschbach]

On 1/23/2019 at 9:30 PM, PhaseTech said:

Hey Rick, performance wise, what does the Diablo micromax compare to? 

These old machines are before the advent of high gain circuits pumping higher voltages to the coils. They all have a nice, soft, mellow feel but lack in true punch compared to modern machines. The Diable compares favorably to the 1990 original 19 Gold Bug for performance, no surprise since the same designer. They are hard to compare to new machines as most everything made these days is "sparkier".

I have never had luck with the nostalgia and going backwards thing. Improvements in the technology may be glacially slow at times, but it does improve. The Compass Gold Scanner Pro was my last walk down memory lane quite a few years ago now. Some things you should not go back to, as the reasons you left the old machine in the first place still exist but even more so.

[PhaseTech]

Hi Steve, don't worry I have no interest in buying one, just trying to figure out why they go for so much on the used market. Is it because they are rare? Is it because they are so hyped up? 

 

[alaskaseeker]

The Tesoro Tejon was a great little unit, I had a few of the micromaxs but think I would look for a Tejon .. Be sure when swapping coils you know what the frequencies are, I know you guys are having fun with these units....

[Kickindirt]

Anyone tried the concentric coils on these diablos? Trying to decide if I should buy a Nel sniper coil or a Tesoro concentric coil. I never really cared for DD coils on my other Tesoro's.