Is the Lobo Any Good ?????

[Cal_Cobra]

I picked up a Lobo (non ST version) in a package deal along with a Minelab Sovereign and a bunch of accessories. I've been using the Sovereign (works great for salt and fresh water beach hunting), but I'd like to give the Lobo a shot.

It came with the 3" x 7" Nugget coil and a large "Wide Scan" Eliptical coil. It doesn't seem very well balanced the way it's currently configured, but looks like the control box can be belt mounted, so it should be OK.

How does it do in iron ?

How does it do for coin shooting ?

Is it a deep seeker ?

How's the pinpointing on it ?

Are the audio tones similar to the Minelab Sovereigns ?

TIA,
Brian

 

[CQuarles]

I have the ST, and it works very well in iron. It is a great dual purpose detector. I have never found any gold with it, but I have found several silver coins at 6/7 inches. I have no doubt it will go deeper. I can't remember what the technological differences are between the ST and the original Lobo, but I think it might have something to do with the ability to use auto or manual ground balance, plus a blacksand/ alkali toggle. But, I'm not sure, so someone else may need to get back with you. I have recently bought another detector, and probably need to sell my Lobo ST, but I am not sure I really want to. It's a great detector....

 

[Monte]

I picked up a Lobo (non ST version) in a package deal along with a Minelab Sovereign and a bunch of accessories. I've been using the Sovereign (works great for salt and fresh water beach hunting), but I'd like to give the Lobo a shot.

It came with the 3" x 7" Nugget coil and a large "Wide Scan" Eliptical coil.

[size=large]Brian, the best advise I can give you here is to get out and use your Lobo, learn it well, and make use of both coils. Then you'll know what it is and isn't capable of doing. Personally, I favored the original Lobo over the LST overall.

They made both wide-scan and concentric coils in both Elliptical coil sizes, but most of the 7" elliptical coils I used, or encountered, were the concentric design and I preferred them the the wide-scan (Double-D) for most coin hunting and even nugget hunting applications.[/size]

It doesn't seem very well balanced the way it's currently configured, but looks like the control box can be belt mounted, so it should be OK.

[size=large]The Lobo series, and the other Tesoro models using the same size ABS housing, were not all that bad. Make sure you're not using it with the rod over-extended. That's what I most often see when folks remark about weight and balance. They have the rod length too long.

Also, the larger wide-scan coil will 'feel' a little heavier, but the smaller 7" elliptical coil ought to feel just fine.[/size]

How does it do in iron ?

[size=large]Especially with the small concentric coil, the Lobo does well in iron (nails, etc.) infested sites.[/size]

How does it do for coin shooting ?

[size=large]The Lobo can make a great 'coin shooter' for many, especially if they haven't fallen into the trap of wanting and using visual Target ID.[/size]

Is it a deep seeker ?

[size=large]That depends upon your definition of "deep seeker" and what you expect out of a detector. Also, which coil is used, the settings used, and so forth. Generally,it is about 'on par' with most other VLD motion discriminators. Not the wimpiest, to be sure, but not likely to be the deepest-detecting model. You are going to have to use it in your hunting environments to know if it is deep enough to satisfy you. personally, I know that 'depth' isn't everything and I like having good iron trash rejection.[/size]

How's the pinpointing on it ?

[size=large]Very good.[/size]

Are the audio tones similar to the Minelab Sovereigns ?

[size=large]No, since the Sovereign produces a variable audio tone based upon target conductivity and the Lobo is a mono-tone model. That said, I prefer the audio responses of the Lobo.

Looking forward to your posts on how the Lobo works for you.

Monte[/size]

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Hi CQuarles and Monte. Thanks for your advice, very much appreciated.

If the Lobo is a monotone machine, I guess that's effectively like hunting in all metal mode on most machines (except it uses discriminate) ?

Thanks,
Brian