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How DEEP is Tesoro
- Thread starter coins
- Start date
amcjavelin
Active member
what would the measurements be roughly?
I've been involved with detectors for a long time, 39 years this past December, and since I bought that first one, a BFO that would go maybe 3 inches deep on a big coin, I've had way more different detectors than I can remember. I've learned a little about detecting, detectors and how they work since that first one, but one thing it took me a long time to realize is that because a certain detector brand and/or model works great for someone in another place doesn't mean it will do the same for me at the places I hunt. There are a lot of variables from one location to another that have a bearing on detector performance, not the least of which is the soil conditions.
Here's a good example. In most of north MS the ground is bordering on being saline and has virtually no mineralization, and most detectors go deeper here than most places except mineral free beaches. The higher frequency detectors like the Tejon and Nautilus DMC IIb go very deep, but the multi-frequency Minelabs don't do well here. I've had two multi-frequency Minelabs, and know several others in this area who have had them, but of all the detector users I know in north MS only one person currently uses one and he doesn't use it full time. Fifty miles or so northeast of here in that red Alabama dirt it's just the opposite, the multi-frequency Minelabs go deep while the higher frequency detectors can barely find a coin two or three inches down. Some preset ground balanced detectors won't detect a coin lying on top of the ground at some places there, but the multi-frequency Minelabs work well and get excellent depth.
The soil conditions here and in that red Alabama dirt are extremes, but there are less drastic soil differences that have an impact on how deep a specific detector will go and how well it works. That's a major reason some people get great results with a certain model where they hunt while others in a different area get less than satisfactory results, and also a reason so many detectors are traded and sold. To know which detector will go deeper on coins in your area you can ask those who detect there what detector they get the best result with, but to know for a certainty you'll have to have to do as I and many others have done. That's to buy, or borrow, and try detectors until you find the one that goes the deepest and/or works best for you in your ground. What you don't need to do is buy a detector just because someone posted a great review or a bunch of great finds they made with a certain brand and model. I've done just that more than once, been disappointed and wound up losing money because I assumed a detector that worked well and had great depth in Kennebec, Maine or Gila Bend, Arizona would give the same results here.
Here's a good example. In most of north MS the ground is bordering on being saline and has virtually no mineralization, and most detectors go deeper here than most places except mineral free beaches. The higher frequency detectors like the Tejon and Nautilus DMC IIb go very deep, but the multi-frequency Minelabs don't do well here. I've had two multi-frequency Minelabs, and know several others in this area who have had them, but of all the detector users I know in north MS only one person currently uses one and he doesn't use it full time. Fifty miles or so northeast of here in that red Alabama dirt it's just the opposite, the multi-frequency Minelabs go deep while the higher frequency detectors can barely find a coin two or three inches down. Some preset ground balanced detectors won't detect a coin lying on top of the ground at some places there, but the multi-frequency Minelabs work well and get excellent depth.
The soil conditions here and in that red Alabama dirt are extremes, but there are less drastic soil differences that have an impact on how deep a specific detector will go and how well it works. That's a major reason some people get great results with a certain model where they hunt while others in a different area get less than satisfactory results, and also a reason so many detectors are traded and sold. To know which detector will go deeper on coins in your area you can ask those who detect there what detector they get the best result with, but to know for a certainty you'll have to have to do as I and many others have done. That's to buy, or borrow, and try detectors until you find the one that goes the deepest and/or works best for you in your ground. What you don't need to do is buy a detector just because someone posted a great review or a bunch of great finds they made with a certain brand and model. I've done just that more than once, been disappointed and wound up losing money because I assumed a detector that worked well and had great depth in Kennebec, Maine or Gila Bend, Arizona would give the same results here.
stevecoleccs
New member
Thanks very much JB - very well said & every bit made perfect sense!
I live in TN a couple of miles over the line. The ground as red clay sandstone and red gravel. Iron oxide makes it red. Other places it's good dirt with very little red clay. The I've dug bullets on the 11 to 12 inch range with the tejon in good dirt. The explorer will hit dimes in the 10 to 11 inch range in good dirt. Like JB said the explorer will do better in the bad but the depth will still be reduced by a good bit (30 to 40% in some areas). It's like putting a shield over the target. Also multi frequency is slower and doesn't like air between the coil and the ground. It also doesn't like disturbed ground. All the issues play a factor. The tejon is hard to beat for relics due to the way it hits on lead and brass and still has good iron rejection once you learn it.
Great post from JB!
I've dug a silver Rosie from a measured 10" found with my Tesoro Silver Sabre Plus.
Deepest coin I ever found.
I'd say most coins are within 4" of surface, and next bunch 4-6".
Far fewer deeper than that, and not necessarily older.
Of course newest drops are nearer the surface...
Earth/soil conditions seem to be turbulent and drops do not head for China!
My more powerful machines will find more junk deeper!
(I guess that means relics!)
YMMV
Best
rmptr
I've dug a silver Rosie from a measured 10" found with my Tesoro Silver Sabre Plus.
Deepest coin I ever found.
I'd say most coins are within 4" of surface, and next bunch 4-6".
Far fewer deeper than that, and not necessarily older.
Of course newest drops are nearer the surface...
Earth/soil conditions seem to be turbulent and drops do not head for China!
My more powerful machines will find more junk deeper!
(I guess that means relics!)
YMMV
Best
rmptr
I have had three Minelab's, and two Tesoro's. I have been detecting for almost 38 years and have had many other machines. First was a Relco Frontiersman, brand new $129.
Back to the Minelab vs. Tesoro.
I never did a side by side comparison. My Minelab Explorer went out while I was searching a great civil war site in Missouri, lots of stuff there. I didn't want to spend the money for the new Explorer II so called a dealer and ordered a Tejon. I spent the summer using the Tejon and in the fall bought a Minelab Explorer II. Went back to my field, which was right alongside a major U.S. Interstate and hardly found anything. The Tejon really had found almost everything. The Tejon is very deep in the right soil conditions. I think it is much deeper in sopping wet soil. The Minelab is also deep but I don't ever remember finding anything at the depth of the Tesoro.
Problem is both machines are deep machines, but the Tesoro is half the price; half the weight; twice the sweep speed; and nowhere near as complicated to set up as the Explorer. I thought the Explorer was hard to set up until I bought a DFX. Even with the books and DVD that machine has just way to many adjustments and hardly any knowledge of what they do, not to mention the false readings every time it bumps into anything. Anyone for a DFX?
Back to the Minelab vs. Tesoro.
I never did a side by side comparison. My Minelab Explorer went out while I was searching a great civil war site in Missouri, lots of stuff there. I didn't want to spend the money for the new Explorer II so called a dealer and ordered a Tejon. I spent the summer using the Tejon and in the fall bought a Minelab Explorer II. Went back to my field, which was right alongside a major U.S. Interstate and hardly found anything. The Tejon really had found almost everything. The Tejon is very deep in the right soil conditions. I think it is much deeper in sopping wet soil. The Minelab is also deep but I don't ever remember finding anything at the depth of the Tesoro.
Problem is both machines are deep machines, but the Tesoro is half the price; half the weight; twice the sweep speed; and nowhere near as complicated to set up as the Explorer. I thought the Explorer was hard to set up until I bought a DFX. Even with the books and DVD that machine has just way to many adjustments and hardly any knowledge of what they do, not to mention the false readings every time it bumps into anything. Anyone for a DFX?
The other folks have done a good job at answering. My .02c would be that, YES, there are going to be deeper seeking coin/relic machines than the Tesoro lineup (yes, probably the Explorer, esp. for deep high-conductors, and Yes, for TID at depths, etc...) But there is more to the question than raw depth. There is a trade-off in that the deep-seeking power-houses generally mask much worse than machines which are reknowned for seeing through and around iron. So for example: if you set a nail besides or on top of a dime, for instance, those raw-depth-machines would be MUCH more prone to masking, and you would walk right past your coin.
I can think of a particular site, in the midst of a desert stage stop, which is so iron ridden that it would be a solid signal, when in all-metal pin-point mode. There would simply be no stretch of clean earth, etc.... The Explorer just nulls from one end to the other, no matter how slow you go, and even with small coils, etc... But when we got a 2-filter machine in there, we were able to get oodles of more targets out of there, sometimes coming out of the hole with several nails in the same handful of dirt.
So in some environments, depth is not the only issue. For others (like worked out green lush turf, where you're angling for deep silver), then yes, the Explorer would be the choice.
I can think of a particular site, in the midst of a desert stage stop, which is so iron ridden that it would be a solid signal, when in all-metal pin-point mode. There would simply be no stretch of clean earth, etc.... The Explorer just nulls from one end to the other, no matter how slow you go, and even with small coils, etc... But when we got a 2-filter machine in there, we were able to get oodles of more targets out of there, sometimes coming out of the hole with several nails in the same handful of dirt.
So in some environments, depth is not the only issue. For others (like worked out green lush turf, where you're angling for deep silver), then yes, the Explorer would be the choice.
Michigan Badger
New member
Really the only way to know this for sure would be to line up all the machines and test them one by one on the very same targets.
I've owned many Minelabs including several Explorers.
To cut to the chase here let me say the depth of the Tesoros is as good as it can be and yet still have a stable detector.
Some machines get extreme depth but good luck sorting out all those signals.
I don't know about you but I'm into this hobby to enjoy myself not to suffer.
The Explorers are very good but I'll take a Cortes or Tejon any day. And at any given site I'll probably find more keepers than the guys with the Explorers due to the machine's slow nature.
Badger
I've owned many Minelabs including several Explorers.
To cut to the chase here let me say the depth of the Tesoros is as good as it can be and yet still have a stable detector.
Some machines get extreme depth but good luck sorting out all those signals.
I don't know about you but I'm into this hobby to enjoy myself not to suffer.
The Explorers are very good but I'll take a Cortes or Tejon any day. And at any given site I'll probably find more keepers than the guys with the Explorers due to the machine's slow nature.
Badger
maria8forever
New member
So deeeeeeeeeeep you better get pinpointer if you get a TESORO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....................