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I have a tesoro vaquero and i was looking for everyones thoughts on what other tesoro would be complimentary to the vaquero for another tool in the tesoro tool box?

...I've got a Tesoro Mohave coming in (after using the Minelab 305 last year, and the Tesoro SilverMax a few years back)(oh, and also a Teknetics EuroTec--arrggg)...the Mohave has a Ground Condition switch, and I'm curious about mineralization in southwest high desert (specifically central NM)--is it generally high or low mineralization, though I realize there's quite a varied geology in NM? PS: chose the Mohave from Tesoro's lineup because I figured a new machine equals new and better circuitry, and ditto the Epsilon 7" coil. What say?

Today I picked up a Compadre at a great price to try out since I've read so many good things about Tesoros. I brought it home and played around with it a little in the yard. I think I've cleaned out my yard of good targets so I was just listening to the tone. Then walked into the garden against the house. I got a hit where I've been over multiple times before with an AT Pro and I bent down to check it out since it sounded like it was right on top. I moved a rock out of the way and probed around with the pinpointer and nothing. So I scanned the spot again and there was no beep and then I started scanning around thinking I moved whatever it was when I brushed away some dirt. Come to find out it was the rock itself that was making the detector beep. Here's the weird part...I had rolled the disc all the way up to max and it still beeped. I bent down and put the pinpointer against the rock and nothing. I went inside and grabbed my AT Pro and scanned the rock and again nothing. I thought it was weird and walked away. Then a little later I went to a park in my home town and was checking the playground with the mulch/woodchips. I found a dime and a zinc penny, both gave good repeatable tones and I had the disc set to the "N" in iron. Then I walked out of the playground and started checking around the edge in the normal dirt and was getting beeps all over the place. I turned disc up to max and again was getting beeps from rocks of the same type. These rocks are ignored by the AT Pro, the Garrett Pro Pointer AT and a Whites CoinMaster Pro that I had before I'm pretty sure these rocks are called basalt, they are brown on the outside and if you crack them open they are pretty solid and uniform and a blueish gray color in the center and a lighter ring around the outside. I'm also pretty sure they are high in iron and of volcanic origin (I learned about them years ago in grade school). I can upload a picture and a video of the Compadre hitting on them if anyone wants. I guess my question is for people using this machine, how do you deal with these type of rocks, do you learn the subtle nuances of the beep given off by these rocks compared to say a coin or junk or do you just try not to hunt in areas where they are concentrated? I honestly bought the machine to try and learn it and probably use it in playgrounds and tight junky areas. I don't see myself using it in fields or anywhere wide open since it has the 5.75" coil on it.

Tesoro declined to keep sponsoring the Tesoro Forum on Findmall so it has been renamed the Relic & Metal Detecting Forum The explanation was posted here.

Something new for you Tesoro fans finally. Tesoro has released a new model called the Tesoro Mojave. Tesoro website link. Interesting little machine, specs out like a deluxe Tesoro Compadre in my opinion (12 kHz, ED 180 discrimination) and for a list price of only $279.00 (discounted to $251 on the internet). The Compadre is a remarkably good little metal detector for its price but was always limited by a hard wired coil and one knob operation. For you Compadre fans this might take it to the next level. The Mojave uses Epsilon series 5 pin coils and so a large number of inexpensive coil options already exist. New Tesoro Mojave Data Page Operating Frequency 12 kHz Searchcoil Type Round, Concentric Searchcoil Size 7" diameter Searchcoil Family Epsilon Cable Length Approx. 3' Audio Frequency Approx. 630 Hz Audio Output 1 ½" speaker and headphone jack Headphone Compatibility ¼" stereo plug Weight (may vary slightly) 2.2 lbs Battery Requirement One 9 Volt DC (alkaline) Battery Life (typical) 15 to 18 hours Optimum Temp. Range 30° to 100° F Optimum Humidity 0 to 75% R.H. Operating Modes Silent Search Discriminate/ED 180 High/Low Ground Condition Selector Switch Stealthy Black Micro Housing and Hardware Fully Adjustable Sensitivity HIGH/LOW Ground Selector Fully Adjustable Tri-Colored Zone Discrimination Waterproof Coil Featherweight 2.2 pounds Fully Adjustable rods ¼" earphone jack External Speaker 9 Volt Battery for 15-18 hrs All Epsilon 5 Pin Coils Interchangeable Lifetime Warranty Tesoro Mojave Owners Manual (Very Slow Download) Tesoro Mojave metal detector Tesoro Mojave control panel Tesoro Mojave coil options

I've been in the hunt mode to find and acquire one of the rare 3X18 Delta 4 pin Hot Technology cleansweep coils for about 3 years. Finally got my hands on one. These coils have been out of production for about a decade and they're about as rare as 'hen's teeth'. Tesoro still makes the Cleansweep in the 5 pin Epsilon configuration but not the 4 pin Delta . Mating this coil up to my Lobo Supertraq has provided me with some interesting observations. Generally speaking it does cover a large swath of ground with each sweep, but the sweep speed has to be slowed down to say 1/2 to 2/3 of the speed of the stock 6x10 elliptical coil to get a good target response. My best depth was a measured 5 inches on a quarter on edge. It pinpoints fairly well off both the toe and the heel, but I do a full circle of the target to make sure the target is within my 6 inch cut plug. The coil discriminates very well. Now the interesting stuff. First, it does not fully ground balance in the All metal mode. Pumping the coil down and up, it sounds off loud on the down push and does not respond on the up pull. However, it is still functional in the AM mode, targets are still picked up clearly and the pinpoint function still works. Both modes, All Metal and Discriminate achieve the same depth. I ran the Sensitivity at a gain of 3, more gain didn't achieve any more depth. In All Metal with a smooth threshold the coil ran stable and only responded to ground tracking and targets. In Silent Search Discriminate (setting of 3 1/2) the coil had at times a propensity to load up and give off erratic chatter, it also sounded off on 'bumping'. I found the best way to run the coil was in AM and upon locating a target I would do a quick switch to Disc. to determine to dig or not to dig. I will do some further testing but I believe I have found it's boundary limitations. A good coil, it just has some quirks. I would imagine this would be more stable on a Vaquero.

At least on this day. While I anxiously await the release of the Equinox and probably even more painfully, my position on the pre-order list... I am continuing to enjoy my Vaq Black. I, and a hunting partner, decided to cover a sports field next to an early 40's elementary school a week ago. I armed myself with my SE Pro, and he with his Deus... and we overlapped each others paths more than one time in the grass outfield of an old ballfield. After a couple hours of hunting, a handful of clad and one wheat in my pocket, I made my way back to the car, and grabbed the Vaquero. I am certain I covered the same ground we had both walked over in the hours before, but I was getting solid hits in the coin area and pocketing some more clad, including 2 pocket spills that included a quarter and a nickel among the coins.... which is interesting in itself (I believe the combination of low and high conductors changed the id, and one or both of us passed on the targets...). I then came across a solid tone, and uncovered some beautiful silver. :) I know that one silver quarter is slim pickin's compared to some of the other finds posted across the forums... but for me.. it was a pretty amazing find. Within 10 minutes, I snagged the silver ring as well. A good day for the Vaq Black :)

Hi All, Working on home LCD VDI project with my GSII that I hope to be able to put on the Lobo St. However I can't tell if the Lobo ST has the same chip. I found a schematic for the original Lobo that shows that it does have one but I can't find anything clear on the Lob ST that would show me for sure. Could someone who owns a Lobo ST, when you have time, look at the board and specifically look for this chip...an LM358. Could also be a LM358N, It would even be helpful if you could take a picture and just reply to the this post. I found a couple of pictures on the web of the Lobo St circuit board but the resolution isn't good enough to read the labels on all the chips. This is what it looks like on my GS1I Appreciate it. Mike

Noticed on a comment by Steve H on FindMall November 2012 he may be interested in a Diablo Umax in good condition . Well theirs one for sale in Australia better than that it is unused . If Steve or any member wishes to view , follow the instructions below , save scrolling through useless info . Forum : Prospecting Australia . Under "For Sale or Swap" Title "Auction " by Outback Page 2 of thread and auction and details start on approx post 16 of page 2 . Cheers goldrat

After reading on the topic of shallow sports field hunting/screwdriver popping , I decided to give it a try. With some practice it is doable, it will open up acres of park area I would have passed on if I would have had to dig a plug. I am a little over a year into detecting and have been using a non manual gb Gold Bug, it serves me very well but after doing this shallow hunting I am thinking about getting a Tesoro. It is not a particular machine I want, it is that Clean Sweep coil. It really looks as though you can cover some ground. I am not looking for depth beyond what my Carrot will signal. I know there is no magic bullet, am I reading too much into this ?

Hey Chuck, Funny you mentioned the Tesoro Mojave. A guy called me about 2 months ago looking for one of these units. He said he uses it for gold prospecting in Western Australia of all places. He said the Tesoro brand is very difficult to get over there and he went through several of these units, looking for another one. Why he was using this unit for nugget shooting is another questions, but sounded like he was finding gold and was happy with it. On another note about Tesoro, I sure wish they had they a good Tesoro that would run against at least the entry level PI's on the market today. I honestly believe Tesoro has some of the best customer service in the World. They also have a lifetime warranty on all their metal detectors. I remember in the late 90's I had an original Tesoro Lobo go down. I called Tesoro and they said bring it up today. The guy said if I drove it up, he would look at it and repair while I waited. During this visit to the Prescott facility I had the unit worked on, fixed and tuned up in just a few hours and during that time they toured me around the office and warehouse. Some of the most friendliest people I have ever met. I could only wish some of the other manufactures were in the same boat. Jack Gifford was the owner and head engineer at Tesoro Metal Detectors in Prescott, AZ. He also worked for Bounty Hunter & Fisher. Just my two cents, Rob Allison Rob's Detector Sales New Tesoro Mojave Data Page

Hello all, Longtime lurker, first time poster as they say. I've been coin detecting for about 2.5 years and now want to try gold detecting. Although I consider myself a decent detectorist when it comes to coins, I have no experience detecting gold. I don't even know if there is gold in my area...but I'm going to give it my best shot to find out. That being said, I don't want to go out and buy a dedicated gold machine right now. I would like to try what I have, see if it looks promising and then maybe get a GoldBug II. I tested 6 of my 9 machines on small pieces of lead down to 0.2 grams and the Tejon gave the best air test results (as expected as it is the highest freq. machine I have). I was using the stock 8x9 concentric coil. My question is - what would be the best small nugget coil for the Tejon? My ground is 'hot' as my AT Pro normally ground balances at 94, so I think a double DD or 'widescan' would be best. I am looking at the 5.75" widescan and the 10" elliptical widescan. Would the 5.75" be significantly better than the 10" on small nuggets? Should I be looking at the NEL coils also? Thanks in advance for any insight or help you can give. I'm anxious to try my hand at gold detecting and want to get the best coil for the Tejon to give it a shot. Jon

Got up this morning and bumped into my Orig. Tesoro Lobo (20 kHz). I had nothing to do this morning so I went out to the local city park and did some detecting in the tot lot with the Lobo. Didn't find anything exciting but had fun with this Classic!!!!! I quickly remembered how great the discrimination is on this detector, one of the best that I have used. No ID #'s but it didn't matter. Set the discrimination on 4 and proceeded to hunt. Beep and dig! Spent a couple of hours just messing around and realized what a great detector the Original Lobo is and how cool it was to be using a 15 year old detector that worked just as good as when it was new. Thank You Tesoro for a great morning and a product you should be very proud of manufacturing!!!!! Jimmy

Just an observation I had this week, I been working some tailings with my PI, well as some of you know it can get crazy with iron. My only alternative was to use my Tesoro Umax with stock coil and give it a go. So the next day I went and scanned some small piles and within 15 minutes got a nice signal. The sound came in clear as I scanned left and right. Within seconds I recovered a nice 5.54 gram nugget! So for those coming into nuggethunting...don't despair if you only have a cheap vlf as you can find gold with it. Just get out there and scan those piles and eventually you will find that little fella..

Steve I have just been reading your Review about the Lobo and the Lobo Super Traq, Now the Lobo has Manual Ground Balance and the Lobo Super Traq had Auto GB and it has built in pre set Ground Balance setting, To me Tesoro are Rock solid in the fact they have A Life time Warranty and the KHZ seems to be in the right place, In the UK they Got Tesoro to tune them for the UK because we needed a lower disc Range and they are Sold under the Name of Laser and the Laser Hawkeye even Has A Screen on it But it Runs at 10khz, One thing I do Know is Before XP came along Over here Tesoro and Laser were the Top Dogs when it came to finding Hammered Coins and to tell you the Truth I still have doubts if any machines can beat them at finding Hammered coins, And if people were to come over here I would suggest that they Bring one of them with them or my Old Faithful and what would be the US equivalent Model, See here:- http://www.detecnicks.co.uk/Laser_Hawkeye.html So Seeing as the Tejon runs at 17.5khz and it has Manual GB and the Tejon with the Pro Upgrade has Auto GB as well surely these might be a Better option, Or does the GB not have enough Range Adjustment to suit Prospecting, The weight of the Tejon would Suit A lot of Older Gentlemen Like VanursePaul Norvic and Fred of coarse, with the weight of 1.43 kgs or 3 Lbs to me these Machines would suit those of us that suffer Back and Shoulder problems, How does any of this relate to your findings, Thanks Mate John.

I have some friends doing beach and lake detecting. A couple of them just purchased the Sand Shark. I don't know much about them. Anyone have any experience with them?

I have a Lobo ST and my wife will be swinging a Fisher Gold Bug. Is there any chance that we could cause EMI on one another? If so, what would be a safe separation distance? Thx Bob

Anyone know if a manual ground balance pot and knob can be added to the Tesoro Lobo ST like they do on the Cibola? If so, who does this mod and how much would it cost? Thanks for any info.

Now that we know the name , I remember Steve saying their Lobo ST was getting a bit old. So hope it's a new gold detector ? Jack

Was just curious if anyone has used the Outlaw with the DD coil for prospecting. The operating frequency isn't optimal for nugget hunting so was wondering what others thought. Might work good where there is a lot of trash and ground is not overly mineralized.