Cortes

[RLOH]

Just got a used Cortes and gave it a good workout yesterday and today. I didn't know what to expect as what I have read about it has been sort of a "love hate relationship". So off I go with a clean slate on my opinion. First day I went to my neighbors yard which has been my proving grounds for 8 years. I have found everything from 1834 silver to yesterdays clad. Within one minute, I got a clear signal reading silver and from 6 inches comes a wheat penny. In twenty minutes I found four more copper pennies, all from 5 to 7 inches. Not bad since I had not found anything here for the last six months. Yesterday, I took it to an older park playground area where I had found 5 wheat pennies with my Explorer se last week. I found two more wheats and I dug a ton of pull tabs to get familar with the screen. Most all read nickles in the 40's. I dug no nickles and I was disappointed by this. Today I went to an older beach that has ten feet of sand and 60 feet of sloping grass. The last time I was here two years ago, I found about 75 coins with a CZ and most were 6 plus inches deep. I had not been back since. Most of the coins were clad and they appear to sink fast here. I started out along a sidewalk and as soon as I fired up the Cortes, I saw old plugs so someone had been here recently. They were either in a hurry or bad because I started popping coins every three feet. I dug 5 zincs just to see how accurate the meter was and then I started digging just the silver, copper signals. I dug 60 clad dimes, quarters, and copper memorials in three 60 foot passes. Most were 7 to 8 inches deep. The meter was spot on and I did not even use the sum mode or all metal for pinpointing. I had not dug one nickle so I started looking for any numbers in the low 30's where my nickle air check showed. I got some bouincing numbers that read 32 to 40 and when I dug them, about half were nickles. I don't have the nickle thing figured out yet, but this is one neat detector. I bought it for clad hunting athletic fields and new parks and I was hoping for a detector that would find 6 inch deep coins. I think it is capable of much more and I am going to like this detector. I had always read that Tesoro could not make a decent metered detector, but I have found that rumor to be false. R.L.

 

[drdetecto]

For what it's worth, I think that nickels have a cleaner, richer tone that is fairly unique. I don't know how else to express it, but with a little more use, I think you will hear it.

 

[BarberBill]

I picked up a used DeLeon a little over a year ago and quickly discovered it performs in my soil very well. Much better than some of the opinions I've read on different forums. I've found the id to be very accurate on coins and the depth to be quite respectable and I love the weight compared to another TID machine I have. I may trade up or add a Cortes when the right deal and my budget comes together as I would like the extra information it offers, as well as the ability to ground balance at least in all metal. I've found lots of nickels and they ID just fine, but I'd say the reliable nickel id isn't quite as deep as on the copper and silver coins. Also, in my experience with the DeLeon and MXT, Odd shaped aluminum and different shaped tabs or bent tabs sometimes come in very close to the nickel ID and you just have to take that in stride. By digging all the close signals you will get your share of nickels if they're in the ground. BTW, I've had very good results using the 7" concentric coil as well.
HH
BB

 

[amcjavelin]

i've recently just bought my fourth deleon brand new and find on the id #'s that nickels hit on meter or lock on usually at 39, IH pennys right on 68, womens gold ring solid 41 in the nickel range all i can say is if its nickels you want anything in the thirtys or just over 40 and listern to the signal sometimes i get choppy signals on nickels or tight spaced waving of the coil

 

[BarberBill]

AMCJAVELIN makes a good point. I've found that once I'm pretty well centered over the target with either ID machine if I just twitch the coil I'll often get a bit more locked in, accurate reading of the target.
HH
BB

 

[Mike Hillis]

Hi RL,
One of things I've always liked about the Cortes was the target id lock on I could get using the Sum mode when I couldn't quite figure out what I had under the coil.

HH

Mike

 

[THingfool]

I agree with drdetcto, nickels have a "richer" tone if you will. ANd have found if it says nickel on meter, 4 out of 5 times is either a nickel or ring. Depth isn't always accurate but close and have found numbers run from 15 to 40 for nickels in my area. Hope you enjoy your Cortes. HH.

Ed