new De Leon

[William1221]

Hi Im new at this hobby and have bought a De Lone. For months Ive been trying to filter out the BS about milti frequencies , depth, discrim. and etc. I chose this machine because its basic and I think its as good as the top $ mine labs and the rest of them . Im hooked on this hobby. Any pointers or info on how to operate this machine other than the usual pre set would be greatly appreciated. WHAT is all this stuff abt multi frequencies and other hypes that are out there ? Any truth in them?

 

[hrsetrder]

I think you made a wise choice with the Tesoro. As far as multi freqs go , I think that is just sales hype. The detector would just confuse itself unless it has a processor like the ones used at the pentagon. This is just my opinion , the detector would sound off like a couple of robots chatting at a yard sale if you got into a trashy area. I have had the top dog machines , and I have found that to be more productive in hunting , is to be less destracted by bells , whistles , and programs. Fact is , you would be playing with gadgets more than hunting. When it becomes like work , then it stops being a hobby, who wants a car that they have to tune on all the time? I can take a simple Tesoro U max , and hunt with the best of the units out there. I have proved this several times ( with several people). I actually was banned from a forum for stateing my opinion about Minelabs. I dont care what anyone says about them , they cannot justify the price tag they put on them. Overpriced , under preforming , and attract iron like a magnet has been my experience with them. Minelab also has a hard time admitting this , but their engineers have been called on this bluff in the past. The target Id on the deleon is about 95% on the mark. Depth is really good also with this machine. You will be very happy with it.
HH , David

 

[Neil]

Im not sure what hype your talking about with the Minelabs William. They have their strong points like any detector and their weakpoints. I dont agree with Davids post below (horsetrdr) in that they are iron magnets...I have a Sov and an Explorer and you pretty much have to run those in all metal to get iron. Ive used quite a few detectors and still have quite a few of them and one thing Ive noticed about multi freq detectors is that they ID accurately at depth. I never found a single freq detector that could ID at depth like a Minelab or Fisher CZ.
Also, I live in NJ and most of my hunting is at the ocean and I can go from dry to wet sand with no falsing with my minelabs(sov and Explorer) and get outstanding depth and sensitivity. I have to ground balance my CZs but they work extremely well there also. Ive used alot of Tesoros and the only one Ive ever got to work smoothly in the wet sand was the Tiger Shark and its depth was not impressive at all. I also used a Tejon there but I had to run the disc up pretty high, right about nickel range. You can think that multi freqs are hype all you like but you really have to try one for yourself and then you will know.
The biggest drawbacks on the Minelabs are their weight and their slow recovery from target to target. But they do hunt well.
David if you read this and are interested in hooking up for a hunt and are in or near NJ please let me know.
Please understand Im no electronics person, have no training in it at all so my statement about them being the best on ID at depth is just from my personal use of detectors. I just found it coincidental that both detectors that IDed so well at depth are both multi freqs.
As far as CZs and iron, well, from what Ive experienced so far with them, I dont see that being a problem either. A little experimentation has shown me how to recognize iron with them pretty good.
Good luck with the Deleon, Tesoro makes a nice detector and that one should do you well if you are a coinhunter.

Best of the Holidays to you,
Neil

 

[JHM]

I have both a minelab and a tesoro. I like them both. Seem like they complement each other. The Tesoro is better in trash with the fast recovery and easy controls. The minelab has a depth advantage and I found stuff with it in spots that have been pounded for years.The minelab has a Bad learning curve though.

 

[hrsetrder]

As posted before this is just my opinion. Nobody can convince me of the claims made by Minelab. The engineers are still scratching their heads from the questions I threw at them. If your buying a Minelab for the depth , then you are throwing money out the window. A Cibola will smoke them in depth , at alot better value.They suck at target seperation , so if you want to dig everything at a decent depth and pay to much , then minelab is for you. I would buy myself a BFO if I wanted that knid of results , and save my money. The quality is another point to bring up , the battery setups on the muskys suck. They are built of low quality plastics that remind me of bounty hunters control housings. I am not the only one that feels this way about minelabs. I have used every brand of detector out there(not model) , and I am very disappointed with minelab. They are the only detector that I would never use again , I thought it was just the Muskys , but I tried the X-terras , and the XS and the SD series. I was unhappy with all of them. The part I hated the most was the money I had to shell out , just to find out I could buy a Garrett , Bounty Hunter , or a Tesoro and get better results. The following are quotes from other forums , this is not my opinion , but what others think.
You may have to eat crow. The following was posted by Tom Ashworth on his forum.

"The new Garrett Infinium LS is proving to be a lower cost version of Minelabs SD series. I am impressed with the depth on larger nuggets. I have tried it on an 3 ounce nugget that I have and it would pick it up at 29 inches (wow). I have a Minelab SD22000d that would only pick it up at 20 inches."

"The Minelabs only use/process 2 or 3 frequencies during operation, regardless of claims of 17 or 28 frequencies. They've never given a clear answer on this, but the patents spell out what they're doing, as does a look at the coil signal. Still, they are very capable detectors, but ergonomically they suck. Waaay too heavy"

As said before these are opinions , if you are happy with what you use , then dont worry about what anyone else has. It doesnt matter who you are , or what you use , you will miss targets (deep or shallow). The key to results is wondering over the target in the first place.
HH , David

 

[JHM]

Glad to hear it , I've got a Vaquero. I can look forward to digging deeper targets with better target separation. I guess time will tell. I think they all have good points and bad points. There are as many opinions as there are treasure hunters. I will have to agree with you about target separation, that's why I bought a tesoro. Sorry you had bad luck with minelab, I will check out that forum. I have a quattro similar to an explorer. It may suck as you have stated. But if you check the Quattro forum on this site, you will find pictures of some really nice coins. Surely all those people aren't commiting fraud.

 

[rentasquid]

with some of your points JHM. Especially about people finding nice coins with Minelabs. I know a few people who have used multiple detectors and have really excelled with the Explorer series. The proof is in the pudding, and I have seen lots of great finds with the Explorer. Do I have an Explorer? No. Might like to try one someday, but I dont think that they are all hype. And as David said, why worry about what someone else uses. If they are doing well with them, thats great. I'm sure that they dont think that its hype!

J.

 

[JHM]

I my area most places are well hunted. Seems like you have to hunt deep or get in the trash to find anything. I really like the target separation the tesoro has. I had a fisher 1265 that I really liked but it played out this year. I hated the Quattro when I first got it. But a year later I like it. You have to have a lot of patience. It was hard for me to get used to and I think the explorer is worse. Take a look at some of the finds posted by B.RATNY . I wish I could take lessons from him! He also has a Tejon.

 

[Neil]

Hey David, I see where your at with this and sorry I replied to the above post. Personally I dont like to bash detectors on a public forum because these are indeed public forums and guys who dont know any better can take our words as gospel.
I know what your post is and Ill not reply any more to it.

Take care and HH,
Neil

 

[hrsetrder]

I agree they have their points , but I will never spend that type of change on a detector when its not needed. It all comes down to being at the right place , at the right time .They could have very well made those finds with a Tesoro or maybe another detector. They just had a Minelab in their hands when they walked over the target.. Most good finds are researched , or found where no other detectors have been. The ole timers like my dad beat my generation to the silver coins with BFO machines. Thats why they are rare to find today , no matter what machine you got. You hunted with a BFO because thats all the choice you had back then and those machines cleaned house pretty good , as we all can tell by going to our local parks. I have conducted my own tests , so my opinions are from my own experience with them. I wish everyone the best with whatever you use .
HH , David

 

[JHM]

I think we found common ground and I can agree 100% with that. There were more find in my area with the old metrotech detectors 30 years ago than what is found today. Seems alot of the good ole day are gone. I've got to get better at research. I hate to find a new place, then find it's been hunted to death and there's always those posted signs to deal with.

 

[hrsetrder]

I heard that , Its kinda like that mysterious guy that comes by to empty the change out of the pay phones. You never see this guy (ever) , and its kinda like going to a place you are certain nobody has hit , just to find it is cleaned out. Makes you wonder just how many detectors have beat the not so beaten paths.
HH , David

 

[dharvey]

William, I'm not sure about frequencies transmitted or received and processed by the minelabs, but I know that the exII works well in parks in my area. It is somewhat temper mental at first but ounce you get used to it you can pretty much turn on and go. I don't spend allot of time fiddling with settings or anything. If it's a trashy area I go to a smaller coil and slow way down on sweep speed. I agree that minelabs are overpriced compared to other brands.
I believe that Tesoro is the best bang for the buck in metal detectors, they are very good machines, easy to use, have good discrimination, are very light in weight have good depth and a lifetime warranty at a fair price. what more could a person ask for?
Alot of people seem to like the Garrett Ace 250 and I'm considering giving it a try.
One thing that I think hurts alot of us more than anything else is counting on target ID too much, we wind up spending more time analyzing targets and less time digging targets. Sometimes I just take my machine of choice for the day and dig every target in a small very trashy area. Yes I get alot of trash but every now and then I come up with something nice that I never would of found any other way. After all the surface trash is gone I break out the big coil and start digging deeper, it's amazing what a person finds under all that trash.
Man this got long winded! I don't post much, mostly just browse and learn from others. Anyway I like the EXII it's my goto machine, I also have a vaquero that rides in my work truck with me all the time, I use them both every chance I get. I've tried most brands, whites, tesoros, fishers, minelabs, guess what? I found good targets with all of them!
Main thing is get out, hunt and enjoy!
The De Leon will treat you right... great choice

P.S

Couldn't resist showing you my best find ever...1896 S Barber Found between a park and the road in a trashy area with a Whites XLT.
HH

 

[JHM]

Nice Quarter! I've only found 1 barber quarter. It was a 1900 and well worn.