Big chunk o' silver!

[REVIER]

Took my Vaquero and 10X12 DD coil out for a last hunt before I send it in for a tune-up
I am also changing it from the high tone to the low tone and for those of you that are interested it is only gonna cost me $15 to do this.

I was pulling out several coins from a pocket spill and saw the end of a necklace in the hole that I thought might have been silver...but it wasn't.

A little while later I cam across this thing.
12.5 grams of silver and huge!
The half is in the pic to give you a size comparison.

That DD coil had me digging several pop tops today.
Some I knew were trash, some disced out just before max on the knob so I knew those were also trash, a few did not disc out and sounded and acted like a coin.
This one was sweet and loud, did not disc out and ended up being NOT a pop top...thank goodness!

My first Ankh symbol I have ever dug, and she's a beauty!

 

[oneguy]

a keeper for sure!!!!!!!!!

 

[chevyman52]

That is a nice chunk of silver for sure. Congrats.

 

[atomicscott]

Congrats again! Beautiful stuff REVIER! I wasn't aware that detectors needed a 'tune-up' though. Lol. How do you know when it's time for a tune up? Bummer for Tesoro, having to ship all these 'tuned-up' detectors back on their dime. Well I guess that's what the lifetime warranty is for.

 

[atomicscott]

Come to think of it, they did re-tune my coil on my Vaquero, so that is kind of a tune-up! My mistake, I apologize.

 

[REVIER]

Congrats again! Beautiful stuff REVIER! I wasn't aware that detectors needed a 'tune-up' though. Lol. How do you know when it's time for a tune up? Bummer for Tesoro, having to ship all these 'tuned-up' detectors back on their dime. Well I guess that's what the lifetime warranty is for.

A few months after I bought it, (over 3 years ago), it went bonkers on me and just switched to a high pitch squeal.
Turning it off and on and pulling the battery did no good so I just went home, took out the battery and left it sit for a few days and used my new-to-me at the time F2 instead.
A few days later I put the battery back in and it seemed to work fine, but from that day on I was always a little leery.
As far as depth it wasn't an issue because back In Bama the soil I hunted limited all detectors to only a few inches so I was never that concerned about that.
Now I live in Kansas with much better soil and a very rich history.
The few times I have taken it out it seemed to work fine, but I never seemed to find anything super deep except large cans so I am not sure if it is working at optimum levels, in disc and even in all metal.
There are a few sites I have hunted that I know had civil war activity, and a few also had each of the Sante Fe, Oregon and California trails pass through those areas.
If there is something deeper that is great buried at any of these sites I just want to know in my heart of hearts I am going to have the best shot at finding them.

I hunted a few times with the Vaq and my DD coil to find this Ankh symbol, and I had a few other hunts recently with it too and I realize the DD coil is not as sharp in the disc area as a concentric, but it seemed to me that disc has drifted a bit and does not seem as sharp as it used to be...even with the DD coil notwithstanding.

Also, I have been hunting with a Compadre for about 2 years and I have realized I prefer the lower tones on the Tesoros by far vs. my high tone I ordered when I bought my Vaq new.
As a matter of fact, the high tone on my Vaq is actually annoying to me now, so this is my chance to get everything right and put my mind at ease.

I expect to fall in love with my Vaq again when it comes back, and as much as I prefer hunting in the trash with my other units and smaller coils, there is a whole bunch of my old park sites that have some wide open areas that I know I can cover way more efficiently with that big DD coil.
I went over just a few areas in the last few hunts with this set-up and found much that I had missed in previous hunts.

I plan on getting a small concentric sniper for the Vaq too, and that will complete my coil set and maybe let me find some even deeper targets in the trashy areas I love to hunt so much.

The tech I talked to, Reed, (a very pleasant fellow), said to send both of my coils in and they will check everything out every way but Sunday and get this thing working at optimum levels...and I believe him.

Time to attempt to go deep in my great Kansas soil, and I can't wait to hunt with a detector that I can have 100% confidence in that it can and will do exactly that.

 

[atomicscott]

That would be very interesting to try the low tone. The high tone did seem a bit annoying to me as well. I had a similar situation with my Vaq and after talking to Robert (Allcav) I was advised to send it in. This is when they retuned my coil. Mine always seemed to work great in all metal. When I received it back I did a bit of testing and found the 5.75 DD to be about the same depth as the stock coil (after re-tuning). For general detecting I almost preferred the Compadre, I really liked the disc. There is a guy on a mods forum (can't remember where, sorry) that is adding a sensitivity pot and GB pot to his Compadre. That always sounded like a great project to me. That would be a hot detector! It would probably work well for a pinch hitter nugget machine as well. One thing that is great about analog, there isn't really a whole lot to go wrong, as long as it's properly taken care of. That and the fact that the Compadres are extremely reliable, would alleviate any concerns of killing the warranty by modding it.

 

[REVIER]

I have that 7" coil Compadre, it works pefectly well in my great soil and goes deep, and pair it with my Vaq I have the best of all worlds named Tesoro in my mind.
I love switching between the two, and add in my F2 and I never even have a chance to get bored.

Still curious about using and learning another detector, a high end F75 makes the most sense for me since I know the F2 language so well, but I will continue to use my Vaq and all my detectors and will never sell any of them.
When I buys something they stays bought.

 

[DiggerODirt]

That is a lunker of a shiny for sure...WTG!!!

HH,

 

[birdman]

That is the largest silver i have seen.Very cool.