Tesoro Compadre, ground balance and power balancing ...

[margiop]

Hi guys,
I have a nice and lucky tesoro compadre, would like to add a ground balance pot, do you think it is possible ?
My aim is to power balancing that little boy, in order to achieve the best results in low min areas.
I will also add the connector, I have a good 8,5 widescan coil to use.

PS please, don't write me "why don't you buy a silver umax/vaquero ..."

 

[Hombre]

Hi margiop

There is a guy on here that does mods, goes by the name Sven, you might give him a PM.
Regards

Hombre

 

[JB(MS)]

There's an internal trimmer pot on the Compadre for ground balancing. Most likely it's a 50 k as that's the value of the ground balance pots on the

 

[Sven]

I have specific info on it, just have not complied it into anything yet.
Thought about doing one myself, just haven't found one yet at a give away price.

Here's some pictures of what others have already done.

 

[margiop]

Ground and sensitivity knobs are quite clear, but what about the pinpoint button ?
Is there a no motion all metal circuit ?

 

[Monte]

Perhaps to someone who likes to tinker during wintry weather down time, or just for the fun of it. I, for one, wouldn't waste my time for the cost of parts, time I could be hunting or researching, possibly messing up the circuitry and voiding the warranty. Besides, I think just buying a different model would be more cost effective and, usually, provide an all around better-performing unit.

Just opinions.

Monte

 

[margiop]

5 dollars for a pot and a hour of hard job could be worth ? mabe yes, maybe no.
detector mods are quite interesting

 

[tvr]

Monte hits the nail about ... "someone who likes to tinker". That was my main motivation for doing the ground balance mod to my Cibola.

Sure there are risks. There is one that doesn't get talked about much but should be considered before going inside one of these. With the very small, low power, surface mount circuits; if you don't properly ground and discharge your self, your tools and the assembly you are going to work on (particularly in a low humidity winter time work bench / kitchen table environment) a static discharge through a sensitive component may very well kill the detector. You know, those sparks you get when you reach for a door knob.

So if you are going to tinker, tinker with your eyes open. Learn and understand what you are going to do before you do it.
Cheers,
tvr

 

[SandCat]

If Marconi or Edison would have had detectors, bet they would have had them apart.

 

[Sven]

Monte hit it on the head. If you are buying it new or near new price, spend a little more for a better detector.
If you bought it cheap, have time and a few dollars and don't mind tinkering......

I have to say this, back in the days, we had cars to tinker with, took lowly slow cars, motorcycles and suped them up into fast hi-performance beasts.
Just can't leave anything be, it needs to be mod'd. The creative urge.... It also makes it an individual personal expression about ourselves, where everything in the world is mass produced and identical. And lets everyone see yours is different. Art in a way.

The Tesoro line is one detector brand that's like a car, they are tinker friendly. For those who can no longer afford to tinker with cars and bikes,
you can still get your fill with a Tesoro and a bunch of older analog knob control detectors.

 

[akille68]

Please, consider that in Europe Tesoros have a 2 year warranty...

 

[margiop]

I would like to keep it on the tech side, I know about warranty, but mine has ended (two years old).
So, if a 5 dollars pot could do the deal, why not ?
So, the question is, do you think that I could gain something power balancing a compadre (not touching sensitivity or disc) ?
Here in Europe there are a lot of target that are on the foil range, power balancing a modded IDX RO on black sand mode with little disc has done miracles.
The coin down here for example, it is 1,22 inches thin silver coin, It sounds on the disc range between iron and foil.
If power balancing allows me to reach more depth or a better sound, why not ?

 

[Sven]

It's a little bit more than just adding a pot on the Compadre. You may have to add a resistor or two and add a threshold control.....

 

[candycane]

Monte hits the nail about ... "someone who likes to tinker". That was my main motivation for doing the ground balance mod to my Cibola.

Sure there are risks. There is one that doesn't get talked about much but should be considered before going inside one of these. With the very small, low power, surface mount circuits; if you don't properly ground and discharge your self, your tools and the assembly you are going to work on (particularly in a low humidity winter time work bench / kitchen table environment) a static discharge through a sensitive component may very well kill the detector. You know, those sparks you get when you reach for a door knob.

So if you are going to tinker, tinker with your eyes open. Learn and understand what you are going to do before you do it.
Cheers,
tvr

Excellent post...My boyfriend owns a CB & Ham Radio Shop of 20 years and remembers what tvc is talking about. He remembers the sparks.$$$$$$$

 

[magglobe]

so i can adjust ground and sensitivity by trimming those 3 knobs in the pic above?