The idea I had, one of several Tesoro model concepts I shelved away several years ago, was for a lighter and better-balanced, more versatile 'notch' concept model to take the place of the Pantera. The Pantera was my favorite Tesoro two-tone notch detector. My concept model I called the PUMA. I brought it up in a Mojave/Compadre discussion below, but here are the links and the accompanying cut-and-paste comments I had. It would be a great way to make use of the Tejón's package of control housing and battery housing, powered by AA batteries. I hope this helps.
Monte
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?17,2348880,2349748#msg-2349748
Yes, the Pantera and similar performing Tesoro models can work pretty well, and if anyone has a good specimen and likes it they ought to hang onto it. I personally doubt that we will ever see a Pantera type unit with multiple notching design unless they gear up and engineer up to build a more exacting digital circuitry design, as it likely won't happen with analog circuitry.
I do miss the Pantera as I prefer to have more operator control of important adjustments, such as Ground Balance. I wouldn't mind seeing a new model using the Téjon package with the AA batteries, like the Pantera used, and a new name to eliminate confusion. So, my though is to make a PUMA but with two individual Discriminate controls, one smaller-size knobbed pot with a full-range adjustment, and based on the ED-180 full-range of acceptance. Label the Primary Disc. control B-U and the Secondary Disc. control T-D.
With the ED-180 circuitry, your Primary Disc. adjustment starts at the lower end and adjusts upward through the lower-conductive range. Bottom-Up so you can reject iron, foil, bigger foil, nickels, etc. Then, use the Secondary Disc, control that adjusts from the higher-conductivity targets downward. The Top-Down Disc, control would start with silver dollars and adjust downward through the higher conductive range thru dimes, pennies, zinc pennies, screw caps, etc. That would allow the user to adjust a Notch Accept 'window' to their liking from either end.
You could use a clicked setting knob for the Secondary T-D Disc. control, like the Disc. control on the Téjon or Vaquero that clicks from All Metal into Disc., but on the PUMA [size=small](a rename for Pantera or Panther)[/size] the 'clicked' setting would simply be 'Off' so that the control would not get bumped. It would be for specialty applications. The average detector user would mainly use the Primary B-U Disc. for traditional ferrous and foil trash rejection.
Oh, that little-sized knob like the centered Tone level knob on the Téjon? That would be a variable Tone-Break knob, and be doing what the Notch Disc. does on the Pantera with Notch 'Off' and allow the user to adjust a Low-Tone / High-Tone break-point wherever they wanted on the full ED-180 range. What if you only wanted to hear One-Tone and not Two Tones? Fine, you take your pick and set the smaller-size Tone Break control fully clockwise and ALL targets will produce the Low-Tone audio. Turn the Tone Break control fully counter-clockwise and ALL targets will produce the High-Tone audio.
All this PUMA package in the Téjon size housing and powered by AA batteries.
• All Metal or Disc. mode select toggle
• Manual GB control using a 3¾ or 10-turn pot
• Threshold control
• Sensitivity control
• Tone-Break variable control small-size knob
• B-U Disc. primary control
• T-D Disc. secondary control
• Pinpoint push-button
Precision 7" Concentric coil as standard
Analog circuitry and use the High-Tone audio like the Bandido II [size=small]micro[/size]MAX. No display. No Touchpads. No fancy stuff. Just a nicely balanced model using KNOBS, and providing all the necessary adjustment features many users might want with the well known and appreciated Tesoro performance.
Food for thought.
Monte
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?17,2348880,2349778#msg-2349778
That's exactly what I was describing in my PUMA concept detector. A full ED-180 Disc. so it would please everyone, to include Beach Hunters, Coin Hunters and Relic Hunters.
The primary B-U Disc. would be adjusted from the low end, such as iron, foil, etc., progressively as it does now, and the T-D Disc. would adjust just the opposite, from the higher conductive range downward through silver dollars, halves, quarters, dimes, pennies, Zinc pennies, and so forth. That way you could adjust from either end and have a 'window' that you would want to notch 'accept' whatever range you wanted.
The variable Tone Break control could be adjusted anywhere on the ED-180 range scale to make a 'Tone Break' that you want for Low-Tones and High-Tones. ALL of this doable with an analog circuitry and using good old KNOBS!
Monte
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?17,2348880,2349819#msg-2349819
Here are some examples. Don't think of Tone Break like on the FORS Relic or Racer 2, think of it the way Tesoro designed the Pantera and other models I mentioned. Tone Break on my PUMA concept is a separate variable control that references off the ED-180 scale. Here are some examples of how someone might adjust the settings I would like to have:
Coin Hunting in iron and small trash:
• Click the T-D Disc. into the locked and non-functioning position so you hear all the high-end conductors, such as silver.
• Adjust the B-U Disc. up to reject iron and possibly very small foil.
• If you want to hear 2-Tones, increase the Tone Break control just to the point that silver war nickels or many men's gold rings now produce a Low-Tone audio. All targets above that Tone Break setting, such as Zn/Cu 1¢, 10¢, 25¢ and larger denominations respond with a High-Tone.
Relic Hunting old sites with targets that read the entire range of conductivities:
• Click the T-D Disc. into the locked and non-functioning position so you hear all the high-end conductors, such as silver.
• Adjust the B-U Disc. up to reject iron nails, if you don't want to hear them.
• Adjust the Tone Break setting to wherever you desire, such as to allow sliver dimes and higher conductivity coins to produce a High-Tone.
2nd Option for Relic Hunting:
• Click the T-D Disc. into the locked and non-functioning position so you hear all the high-end conductors, such as silver.
• Adjust the B-U Disc. up to just accept iron nails, or leave it at the minimum ED-180 setting to hear ALL metal targets, ferrous and non-ferrous, if you want to hear them.
• Adjust the Tone Break setting to wherever you desire, such as to Low-Tone on most iron, such as just above a nail response. That would process most iron with a Low-Tone, and all conductivities above the Tone Break point for iron [size=small](such as buttons, bullets, cases, coins, tokens, etc., etc.)[/size] would then produce a High-Tone.
Jewelry Hunting and NOT wanting to be bothered by Zinc Cents and higher conductive targets or by iron nails:
• Adjust the T-D Disc. to reject the higher-conductive coins, just to the point where you have rejected the Zinc Cent.
• Adjust the B-U Disc. up to just barely reject iron nails. This means you will now hear all targets more conductive than a nail and less conductive than a Zinc Cent.
• Adjust the Tone Break setting to wherever you desire, such as just above a US 5¢ coin so that the nickel and all lower-conductive targets produce a Low-Tone, and all targets more conductive that the Tone Break setting has a High-Tone.
Just some examples, and in the end it is really a very functional, yet simple, multi-purpose detector.
Monte
maybe Allan will use a Cannon on them 