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That Golden uMax is a Great Instrument!
- Thread starter Wirechief
- Start date
category as great machine that is fun to use....I love the tone ID...RichardnTn
Hi Jim and glad to meet you. Yes the Golden is a great little tone instrument from Tesoro. Of course it is very light at just over 2 lbs. and has a single 9 volt battery for power. I really like the way you load the battery into the instrument, it is a very convienent process. I have noticed on this model as well as other units that the headphone jack is situated very close to the top locking collar and if you have a very large headphone plug it might actually touch the collar as you are plugging in your headset. I use the Detector Pro Jolly Roger's on all of my detectors and the plug on these do rub against the top collar but once you have it completely inserted it is clear from then on.
I had always heard that the Golden is not an easy instrument to master but I found it to be the opposite. Setup is very straight forward. Of course you are not able to manually ground balance it like the Vaquero, it is preset. One of the first things I observed is the fact at least in my hunting areas that I am able to run the Sensitivity wide open unless I am almost under a low hanging power line. In doing an air test I am surprised at the distance I have from the target to the coil. With the instrument setup and Notch Window on in the the narrow setting I can get out to almost 8 inches with a clad dime and start getting a signal both directions in the swing.
But in the real world things are quite different due to the natural law of physics and ground conditions. I have tended to think in my part of the world, that this old farm dirt doesn't have much mineralization in it. So I did a little test and put 4 fairly powerful magnets on the back of my hoe and dragged it around the yard briefly and of course it accumulated some small iron particles on it and so I do like to have manual GB if possible but the Golden had no problem with my conditions. These laws of physics are going to limit any brand or model of metal detector and so depth is simply limited and you are only going to get so far down no matter what. So for me depth is a pretty relative thing because of all of the variables involved.
Anyway I have been hunting my Mother-in-Laws yard a block down from my home and everytime I go over to hunt I always come back with something. I never realized how much change I was stepping on! I started taking the Golden over about a week or so ago. Immediately I started finding targets that had that hard hitting Tesoro audio. I knew when it was a good one or not. I really like the tones on this instrument. There is no doubt they are pretty close together but with practice you will learn to seperate them. I really like the overload tone , it is pretty cool and I found it a great aid in locating a target after it was out of the hole. You have to understand we have been in a great drought in West Texas for awhile and when I dig into this dry dirt it just turns to powder, so it is pretty easy to lose a target in the powder and that overload tone is a pretty good pinpointer. I located a lot of coins that way.
Also on pinpointing even though the Golden doesn't have it, when first tracking down a target to dig it just flip over to all metal mode and it really aids in finding where to start your dig. I hunted using the Narrow Notch and of course set it up to get rid of those darn pulltabs. I set the discrimination on the little black triangle and Notch control to about 11 o'clock and it really works, not perfect by any means but definitely knocks out tabs. I still dug an occasional pulltab but could tell when it was a bad target too. Like I said you knew when you had a coin because of the solid tone and audio. The tones do tend to run together if the target is in an odd postion or shape or has another object along with it.
One day I wore myself out digging coins, there were so many, I guarantee you the Golden will put you to work because it is a coinshootin son of a gun! I also hunted without the Notch Window and just used the primary Discriminator. I still found many coins and dug a few more pulltabs. I would say the average depth of the targets I recovered were about 4 inches. Virtually all the coins have been clad or Zinc. The house is about 50 years old but I'm not sure when the home began to house little ones and they tend to lose or even bury coins and toys. So I have not hit any silver yet but it's got to be there. I did dig 4 wheaties and a New Zealand 2 pence copper 1971.
I figure I have found so far close to 15.00 in coins and I'm still digging. I really like that white 9x8 coil they put on the Golden too. It is a coin magnet.Oh yeah SMT is the best thing to ever happen to the detector industry, that's why they are getting lighter. The Golden has a uprocessor in it of course to handle multiple tasks at one time. The PCB is well populated but very small,it's really cool! You know if you think about it when looking at a PCB on the component side it looks like a miniature city, I really dig SMT and electronics.
So anyway I have dug multiple quarters, dimes, pennies, toy cars, nickels, keys, and so on. I have also been using the Tejon in the same yard and I found coins with the Golden that the Tejon missed! But I must say during this dig my Tesoros have found more than any other brand. Some say Tesoro is getting behind the times but I am finding more with their instruments without a doubt. James and Vince are doing a great job and I look up to them and their Mother and Father Jack. I love their story and I hope they never sellout and keep the family business going. If I can accomplish a tenth of what they have in my detector business I'll consider myself fortunate. So God Bless Tesoro and the Gifford's I love your products!
John Tomlinson, CET
John's Detectors
I had always heard that the Golden is not an easy instrument to master but I found it to be the opposite. Setup is very straight forward. Of course you are not able to manually ground balance it like the Vaquero, it is preset. One of the first things I observed is the fact at least in my hunting areas that I am able to run the Sensitivity wide open unless I am almost under a low hanging power line. In doing an air test I am surprised at the distance I have from the target to the coil. With the instrument setup and Notch Window on in the the narrow setting I can get out to almost 8 inches with a clad dime and start getting a signal both directions in the swing.
But in the real world things are quite different due to the natural law of physics and ground conditions. I have tended to think in my part of the world, that this old farm dirt doesn't have much mineralization in it. So I did a little test and put 4 fairly powerful magnets on the back of my hoe and dragged it around the yard briefly and of course it accumulated some small iron particles on it and so I do like to have manual GB if possible but the Golden had no problem with my conditions. These laws of physics are going to limit any brand or model of metal detector and so depth is simply limited and you are only going to get so far down no matter what. So for me depth is a pretty relative thing because of all of the variables involved.
Anyway I have been hunting my Mother-in-Laws yard a block down from my home and everytime I go over to hunt I always come back with something. I never realized how much change I was stepping on! I started taking the Golden over about a week or so ago. Immediately I started finding targets that had that hard hitting Tesoro audio. I knew when it was a good one or not. I really like the tones on this instrument. There is no doubt they are pretty close together but with practice you will learn to seperate them. I really like the overload tone , it is pretty cool and I found it a great aid in locating a target after it was out of the hole. You have to understand we have been in a great drought in West Texas for awhile and when I dig into this dry dirt it just turns to powder, so it is pretty easy to lose a target in the powder and that overload tone is a pretty good pinpointer. I located a lot of coins that way.
Also on pinpointing even though the Golden doesn't have it, when first tracking down a target to dig it just flip over to all metal mode and it really aids in finding where to start your dig. I hunted using the Narrow Notch and of course set it up to get rid of those darn pulltabs. I set the discrimination on the little black triangle and Notch control to about 11 o'clock and it really works, not perfect by any means but definitely knocks out tabs. I still dug an occasional pulltab but could tell when it was a bad target too. Like I said you knew when you had a coin because of the solid tone and audio. The tones do tend to run together if the target is in an odd postion or shape or has another object along with it.
One day I wore myself out digging coins, there were so many, I guarantee you the Golden will put you to work because it is a coinshootin son of a gun! I also hunted without the Notch Window and just used the primary Discriminator. I still found many coins and dug a few more pulltabs. I would say the average depth of the targets I recovered were about 4 inches. Virtually all the coins have been clad or Zinc. The house is about 50 years old but I'm not sure when the home began to house little ones and they tend to lose or even bury coins and toys. So I have not hit any silver yet but it's got to be there. I did dig 4 wheaties and a New Zealand 2 pence copper 1971.
I figure I have found so far close to 15.00 in coins and I'm still digging. I really like that white 9x8 coil they put on the Golden too. It is a coin magnet.Oh yeah SMT is the best thing to ever happen to the detector industry, that's why they are getting lighter. The Golden has a uprocessor in it of course to handle multiple tasks at one time. The PCB is well populated but very small,it's really cool! You know if you think about it when looking at a PCB on the component side it looks like a miniature city, I really dig SMT and electronics.
So anyway I have dug multiple quarters, dimes, pennies, toy cars, nickels, keys, and so on. I have also been using the Tejon in the same yard and I found coins with the Golden that the Tejon missed! But I must say during this dig my Tesoros have found more than any other brand. Some say Tesoro is getting behind the times but I am finding more with their instruments without a doubt. James and Vince are doing a great job and I look up to them and their Mother and Father Jack. I love their story and I hope they never sellout and keep the family business going. If I can accomplish a tenth of what they have in my detector business I'll consider myself fortunate. So God Bless Tesoro and the Gifford's I love your products!
John Tomlinson, CET
John's Detectors
Thanks John,
I myself love the uMax series of detectors, especially for coins, but relics too. I have a Conquistador, Eldorado and a Vaquero, and love them all for different reasons. The Conquistador is just a plain old do it all with no thinking, or fuss. It's a great coin shooter, dry sand shooter, or just kicking around detector. The Eldorado is a super Relic hunter and medium wet sand hunter (especially with the Troy Super 7 coil). These two units go deeper then a lot of more expensive units (Tesoros in general do), I never feel like I'm missing a lot of targets as I swing. I use the Vaquero for relics and coins in the woods/brush and deep plowed fields due to it's slow sweep speed. All have the Freq. shifter, that I love and use a good bit.
I have been swinging for a year now, and have run the gambit on detector trying..... I started out with the Bounty Hunters and tried three different models. Moved on the a Fisher ID Excel. It has it's moments, but......... Just not it for me. Tried a Garrett ace 250, and it is a good unit for the price. Decent depth and a good TID, but was not as deep as I needed it in my bad soil. I tried a Prism 5, and moved on quickly, a 5900 and loved it, but at that point had a Vaquero, so they competed for the same type hunting. I have been happier with the Tesoros more that any other brand.
scott
I myself love the uMax series of detectors, especially for coins, but relics too. I have a Conquistador, Eldorado and a Vaquero, and love them all for different reasons. The Conquistador is just a plain old do it all with no thinking, or fuss. It's a great coin shooter, dry sand shooter, or just kicking around detector. The Eldorado is a super Relic hunter and medium wet sand hunter (especially with the Troy Super 7 coil). These two units go deeper then a lot of more expensive units (Tesoros in general do), I never feel like I'm missing a lot of targets as I swing. I use the Vaquero for relics and coins in the woods/brush and deep plowed fields due to it's slow sweep speed. All have the Freq. shifter, that I love and use a good bit.
I have been swinging for a year now, and have run the gambit on detector trying..... I started out with the Bounty Hunters and tried three different models. Moved on the a Fisher ID Excel. It has it's moments, but......... Just not it for me. Tried a Garrett ace 250, and it is a good unit for the price. Decent depth and a good TID, but was not as deep as I needed it in my bad soil. I tried a Prism 5, and moved on quickly, a 5900 and loved it, but at that point had a Vaquero, so they competed for the same type hunting. I have been happier with the Tesoros more that any other brand.
scott