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Pots worn out on my Tejon and I have the info for the ground balance pot but not on the others. Threshold and I believe 2nd disc are the same Sensitivity, primary disc and VCO/Tone might be the same I can't get a good reading on them as they are worn out and still soldered in so any info would be a huge help. Thanks

Today was a day that I've been waiting for for two weeks. A great forum member GB amateur contacted me to see if I would be interested in getting together to hunt on his way back from another trip on the east coast. Without reserve I said yes. With all the details worked out we got together today to hunt an old swim club established in the 20's. It was hot hot and more hot today and I was hoping we would have a good time before we both died of heat stroke. GB was running the 800 and I was too for about 15 minutes, When I decided to change over to the Compadre. I have found a few silvers there and had some problems with iron so what the hell. We both were finding some clad and wheaties. After an hour or so GB raised his hand with the first silver of the day a merc dime. Shortly after I pulled a 62 rosie. More clad and wheaties I decided to move to a spot I hunted a fair amount with the 800, But not with a Tesoro. Within a few minutes I pulled out a 44 merc. Two minutes more and out comes a 9k wedding band. The Compadre never ceases to amaze me. After a little while longer we decided to call it quit's and get some lunch and BS some more. Getting a chance to hunt with GB today was as fun as it gets and to have a good time with someone who you respect makes it all the better.

I started a new thread on a subject that we were discussing in this thread. In a post there, @kac said: ...When you get into can slaw and pull tabs you can easily just skip all that by cranking up the disc to the pull ring mark where class rings sit and most aluminum has dropped off and make an easy and quiet hunt for coppers and silvers. This looks like what @dogodogwas saying he likes do when cherry-picking high conductor coins. Sounds like you stil accept Zincolns. Is that right? Do you set the disc so that ringtabs are truly silent or on the hairy edge (giving ratty response)? (kac continues:) Hunting in the aluminum range the Tejon has the advantage of dual disc so you can work a tighter range but that can be just as tedious as hunting with a VDI machine and constantly checking numbers with the exception that as I mentioned before there is a pop to most aluminum. Is the 'pop' dependent upon where you set the threshold? I recall you (and maybe others as well) mentioning this previously. Is this one feature that makes an analog detector superior to a digital (for that particular 'discrimination' technique -- I don't mean superior across the board)? Is this something that you need to train your ear to pick up? I think cut square tabs and nickels for me are too difficult to hear the difference and oddly their numbers are nearly identical on just about all my machines that have VDI screen. I don't know what you mean by 'cut square tabs'. Do you just mean modern racetrack shaped pulltabs broken off from the can? So listenting for the 'pop' doesn't distinguish those from nickels? If I'm expert at anything in metal detecting, it's aluminum drink can pulltabs. I really like nickels and as you note, their dTID's (on detectors with digital Target ID readout) are in the same general range as pulltabs, sometimes with overlap. Most of my experience is with the Minelab Equinox (to be specific I'm talking Park 1 or Field 1, 5 tones, Recovery Speed = 4) and here is a breakout of the types of targets by dTID: Nickels: (start with the 'wheat' and shift to the 'chaff'): dTID sweetspot in the 12-13. There can be differences depending upon such things as depth and amount of corrosion. Shallow fresh drops are usually 13 while corroded ones tend towards 12. Most of the time I get some 12's and some 13's. Deep nickels (quieter on the volume scale and also more bars on the strength meter) can blip an 11 or 14, but still most of their dTID signals will be in the 12-13 band). The signal strength is the key for me. If I'm getting a rather weak nickel signal I'm not strict with the techniques below. In my area pulltabs don't tend to be as deep as the deeper nickels so most of them give a pretty strong to very strong signal. Rolled over beaver (only): Have quite a bit of 11 along with 12 and a bit of 13. In fact I can (most of the time) distingish these by going to Park 2, 50 tones, recovery speed=6 where they always give lots of 11. Smallest (latest in series, so closer to 1975 vintage, particular the single piece ones as opposed to those with a rivet) ring+beavertail, extended: mostly 12-13. I end up digging all of these as trying to distinguish from nickels is too risky. Modern punchout (near disk-like piece of thin aluminum that's part of the can lid and gets pushed into the can when opened): almost completely in the 12-13. These are pretty much impossible to distinguish from nickels, IMO. Just dig 'em and cuss the idiot who went to all that trouble to remove them. Bent over itself ring-only pull: These are assymetric so probably give a 'tell' when picked up from different directions, but they tend to be strongly in the 12-13 sweetspot. Modern racetrack pulltab: Fortuantely these seem to be one of the easiest to distinguish with the Equinox as they give both 13 and 14 dTID's. The 14 is in the long direction so if perfectly aligned you may get only 13 but you don't have to be much off that alignment to get the 14. 'Early' circular ring only (i.e. beavertail missing): These are easily separated from nickels, somewhere in the 15-17 range but unless bent do not come close to the 12-13 sweetspot. Of course these (and all others) are still a problem for jewelry detectorists and their symmetry (except for the rivet extension) make them sound really sweet, as if a nice fat gold finger ring). Ring and beavertail (attached) but with tail folded over or even wrapped around the ring: These tend to dTID lower than ring only, but still above the nickel sweetspot. 14-15 with maybe some 13 thrown in. Some more unusual varieties (at least in my area) are the early 'squaretab' which rather than racetrack is closer to rectangle, and even kind of butterfly shaped sometime. These dTID higher than nickels, and in fact a bit higher than the modern racetrack 'cousins', especially when not on-axis (meaning you're coil trajectory isn't solely along the narrow part). Another less common are the small ring+beavertail (intact) which contain a rivet. I'm not confident these are easily separted (dTID-wise) from nickels. Finally, there are many varieties of ringtabs associated with other cans such as Pringle potato chip cans and some automotive fluid cans. Those are larger and still further distance from nickels. One last word of caution: a fair amount has been written about Wartime Nickels ("silver nickels" which have no nickel content but rather quite a bit of silver and some manganese). In my experience they signal with the same dTID's as standard nickels but some have reported their TID's going up even into the Zincoln zone. In those cases, discriminating against pulltabs can lead to missing those. I do think they are rare but maybe I've passed over some?? So, kac, after all that, how does your Tejon respond to these various pulltab types, and do you set your threshold so as to be able to ignore all of them?

I just purchased a NIB Silver umax today. I started to use my Compadre about 3 weeks ago to cover some hunted out HaHa ground that I've been pounding with the 800. I've become aware that the 800 has a little problem masking out silver targets in areas with a lot of nails. I know some of you will tell me I'm using the wrong settings ect, ect. But after trying all the so called great settings from other users I still came up short and feeling like I missed some good targets. So for shits and giggles I pulled out the lowly 5 3/4'' Compadre and hit a few spots. Well now I saw a dramatic silver increase in some of my nail infested areas. There's a lot to be said for setting your Disc near max and just hunting the BEEP = Silver. A light bulb went off and I almost forgot how great Tesoro machines were at discrimination. So a few days ago I got the bug to find a Silver umax, for better depth. Lucky for me a member gave me a tip on a new one. As soon as I get it I will give it a good run. I think sometimes old school detectors will give the new ones a run for the money. I hope all tesoro fans take their machines for a walk once in a while, You might just have a good time.

Not mine. I doubt if the seller will get that, but I thought it was a crazy high price. Seller also states that there were rumors that there were only 150 mojaves made.

Anyone have experience with coil options similar to the precision 7” coil that comes standard on the mojave?

Does anyone know what the pots and push button on the circuit board of the Tesoro Lobo for?

I have a Tesoro detector but somehow the wires that go from the circuit board to the batteries have came loose. I need to see a diagram on where the wires go please?

Im looking for a battery cover for my Tesoro Compadre,, Does anyone know who might have bought out all the stock when the factory closed,,Or does anyone have an extra one they would to sell, Thanks

I either need someone to help me find a manual to download for the original bandido (not 2) or I need info on what the little black knob is on the back of the control housing. Maybe how to ground balance it. General information about it.

my grandkids broke one of the battery door push pin connectors to my amigo II, does anyone know where I could find a replacement one? It appears to be exactly like the one on my old whites goldmaster II. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank's to all that reply.

I have found that my Vaquero is a good honest all around detector that fits much of my detecting style and needs. I would like to do the high tone audio mod. Contacted Keith Wills and he does not do this mod. Is there anyone currently doing this upgrade?

I recently had the pleasant surprise of a mint condition Tesoro ‘Outlaw’ metal detector, minus coils, showing up at my doorstep as a gift from a very generous enthusiast and forum friend. It is an attractive metal detector and after spending a little time with it, I find it a very interesting detector, operational wise, as well. It has three operational modes; a motion all-metal auto tune mode, a non-motion all metal mode, and a silent search discrimination mode, all accessed via a three-position switch. It also includes a manual ground balance control dial that affects all the operating modes, a threshold control dial, a on/off + sensitivity control dial, a discrimination control dial, and in the center below the speaker louvers is a dual layer push button that servers both as a pinpoint and a retune button. Seems all very straight forward at first glance, until you discover its secret: The Tesoro Outlaw is a true, threshold based, metal detector. The threshold setting affects every aspect of the detector. The good news is the threshold setting is a set and forget control. Set it to where it gives the faintest hum and leave it alone. For me that is approximately the 1 o: clock position. And that brings us to the center Red Button. That little red push button in the center of the Outlaws face plate is the most important control on the detector. It is imperative that after every setting change that you make to the detector settings that you press and hold that red button and hear the threshold return. I mean after EVERY and ANY adjustment to the detector settings, no matter what the change is. If you change the disc setting, you press and hold the button until the threshold returns. If you change the Sensitivity setting, you press and hold the red button until the threshold returns. If you change threshold settings, if you change operating modes, after you ground balance, you have to press and hold the red button until you hear the threshold return. Takes about a second, maybe a second and a half for the threshold to return. No big deal once you understand it but it has to be done. If you don’t return to threshold after every and any operational setting changes the detector will be working at reduced performance/reduced depth, as if the threshold had been set somewhere below the audible hum, which will affect your depth. That is the way it operates. Once you figure that out you are golden. There are two all metal modes. The far-left switch position says ‘AUTO’. This is the motion all-metal mode with auto threshold retune. This is the operational mode that you need to be in for ground balancing. The all metal gain is preset. Sensitivity is controlled via the threshold setting. The threshold auto retune speed is perfectly acceptable for the majority of ground minerals. Might be a little too slow for really bad ground but for most of us it is fine. The middle switch position is the non-motion all metal mode. You control the threshold drift via the red button retune. Again, the all metal gain is preset. Sensitivity is controlled via the threshold setting. Ground balance affects depth performance for high conductors in all operating modes. Too far positive (clockwise) and you will severely impact high conductor response. However, the ground balance does not go all the way to salt so low conductors are not affected by a maximum negative (counterclockwise) setting. Yes….if you do not intend to use the all metal modes you can Power Balance in Disc mode. Yes….if you do not intend to use the all metal modes you can super tune the Threshold. The Discrimination mode is the far-right switch position. The Sensitivity control only affects this operating mode. The Threshold setting affects this operating mode. Ground balance settings affect this operating mode. Assuming you have your Threshold setting where you want it, and are ground balanced to an acceptable point, then you can further increase your sensitivity with the Sensitivity control. Discrimination control is classic Tesoro. I think the Disc range is ED120 or there abouts. It is easy to max the disc and just hunt high conductors and it is easy to disc out most small foil and hunt nickels upwards without losing a lot of depth due to the disc setting. I put the Cleansweep coil on it this past weekend and hunted recent drops and found it good on both high and low conductors. The Cleansweep is a fairly shallow coil….5” to 6” tops in Disc mode. Maybe 3” more in all metal modes. I was happy with its performance on both low and high conductors as a 10.6 kHz unit. I was happy that it seemed pretty EMI resistant. Ground balancing in the Auto tune mode is pretty straight forward, except you have go a bit slower on the coil pumps than you might normally be use to as you have to let the threshold retune between pumps, again about a second, second and a half. It’s a neat detector. I’ve never used anything quite like it before. HH Mike

Recently my Tejon seems to be extra sensitive to EMI and I get a waiver or flutter in the threshold. Is there a way to tune or fix that? Not sure if something is failing or if it is just out of tune. Thanks

Got a call from my Sister yesterday afternoon. "I'm at Goodwill and they have a metal detector here for $7.50. You want it?" "Sure, what is it?" "A Tesoro Lobo" "You bet" "OK, I'll bring it over later". It has a broken arm cuff, but other than that it's really clean. Very Good to excellent condition. Not all my "Treasure Hunting" is done with a detector. Just wanted to share.

These past few weeks, been using various analog models at an old farmstead. Although we’ve hit this area numerous times, hardly anything good surfaces but it’s a fun site to hunt and a good site to test equipment. Between the seven Tesoro models I’ve been using here these past few week’s, the Cortes was probably the best of the bunch and thats with using the 12”x10” DD coil and with full sensitivity. The 12”x10” spoked concentric coil was okay with a lower sensitivity, but it suffered some stability with increasing sens and that’s due to our West Coast inland soil. So, pretty much stuck with the larger widescan. Second best was the Lobo, Although it lacked depth it was great in areas thick with iron. Next, The Outlaw and modified Mohave ran equal, good depth with using the 12”x10” DD. The Mojave has a manual GB, which is needed for my soil. The Pantera did well, but tough soil prevented the extra depth needed. The Deleon just couldn’t get rid of the falsing, even with the large DD Deleon can’t handle our soil with high sensitivity. The Golden uMax did okay, but our soil is tough on the Golden. The 12”x10” DD improved depth with all these models with the exception of 4-pin Lobo, using stock coils with the other models in my soil were useless. The larger widescan coil is definitely deeper, eliminates most if not all ground noise, and still very sensitive to smaller targets. My favorite out of this Tesoro bunch is now the Cortes, for farm land hunting and definitely running the 12”x10” DD. One 1951 silver dime surfaced, one wheat penny and 1959 copper penny. Two musket 1/2 balls, few saddle snaps. Site has potential, We’ve pulled numerous seated coin’s, Couple of Bust and one gold coin from here on previous hunts. Going back today, this round will use a Teknetics Mark III, Compass CoinScanner Pro II, GoldScanner Pro and a Whites 5900 Di-Pro. Can’t wait, older technology makes the hunt more challenging and fun. HH, Paul

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

I’ve been doing some freshwater hunting with the Excalibur lately but I’m finding that the old girl nulls quite a bit due to the lake floor being quite mineralised...it is a clay base. I can turn the Sens into Auto but that really dumbs the unit down and depth really suffers. I have been thinking of getting the Tiger Shark but not sure if the GB will be effective enough and whether it can handle the minerals. The Excalibur in PP is quite effective but there is too much iron junk to contend with. Any thoughts out there....... Thanks Tony

I found this nice tesoro compadre at the local goodwill today for less than $20. I couldn't resist buying it. Took it home and put in a new battery and it works great. it must be an older one because it has a metal coil screw.

I need a little help here in understanding the primary discrimination knob. Here is my observation. 8X9 coil, Using a lead pellet as a test target, buried 3", when placed in All Metal the target sounds off loud and clear. When switched to the discriminate mode, knob far left (zero discrim,) I don't receive any signal. I would think that at the lowest discriminate setting I should be getting a signal from iron on up. Is it possible the internal discriminate circuit out of adjustment?

Is the Delta 4 pin connector proprietary or is it something someone sells somewheres? Looking into building a coil for my Tejon and if that goes well will use it on a Lobo mod. Thanks

I’m looking for internal pics of the power box. I have a few wires that broke loose from circuit board. Also the 2 wires coming from the battery compartment. Thank you

OK. I have a nice little Compadre with the 5.75" coil. I also have a Vaquero with the 11*8 coil. Will I benefit having a Concentric coil for my Vaquero or would it be a little bit redundant? And what coil would you get, as the 5.75" concentric is pretty much unobtainable, for the Vaquero if replacing the coil? Thanks

The Tesoro Pantera is a VLF discriminating metal detector that was produced around 1990 by Tesoro Electronics. It had a cult following due to its proficiency in extracting non-ferrous targets from dense ferrous trash. Information on it is rare so I am reproducing the material from the catalog page below. Instruction Manual at tesoro.com GENERAL DESCRIPTION The Pantera is a high performance VLF metal detector which is capable of rejecting ground mineralization and buried metallic trash simultaneously. It includes Notch Discrimination so that most common pull tabs can be rejected without losing nickels and small gold rings, or so that only a particular band of desired targets will be detected. Notch Tone Target ID provides a low tone for targets below the Notch Level setting, and a higher tone for targets above the Notch Level setting. Design emphasis was placed on performance and ease of use, while minimizing or eliminating those troublesome adjustments that could cause a loss of performance if not used properly. The Silent Search Discriminate Mode is based on motion, which means that the search coil must be moving slightly to detect a target. The motion required is so slight that pin-pointing is possible in this mode, however a No Motion pin-point mode is included, which with the 8 inch open center search coil makes pin-pointing a very simple task. A Ten Turn Ground Adjust control is used, which allows the detector to be adjusted to virtually any type soil. This control allows the operator to get the absolute maximum performance from this detector. The unit is furnished with an 8 inch open center concentric search coil. We feel that this coil will provide excellent performance in most situations. The open center greatly simplifies pin-pointing. The detector can be used as a pole mounted arm rest unit, or as a body mount unit. It can be converted easily without tools. SPECIFICATIONS Operating Frequency ......................... 12 kHz Coil Size ............................................. 8" Diameter Coil Type ............................................ Concentric Audio Frequency Hi Tone............. Approx. 800Hz Low Tone......... Approx. 600Hz Audio Output .................................... 1½" speaker and ¼" stereo earphone jack Weight .............................................. Approx. 3½ pounds Battery Requirements ..................... 12 volts DC (8 AA penlight batteries) Battery Life ...................................... 15-30 hours Optimum Temperature Range ........ 30° F to 100° F Optimum Humidity Range ............... 0 to 75% R.H. Operating Modes.............................. All Metal Expanded ED-120 Discriminate Notch Reject Discriminate Notch Accept Discriminate Click on catalog image below for larger view.....

Winning bid of $200! That's got to be a deal! I paid like $448 the first time I had one.