Vaquero Depth

[somedad56]

I went out today and was detecting an old school yard. I was not hitting anything deep so I threw a nickel and a penny on the ground where no metal was. The strange thing is I was only able to hit either about 4-5 inches above them. I tried all metal mode and still I was not able to hit them any higher. I checked the ground balance and it was very close to being perfect for the ground I was working in. Has anyone else experienced depth problems out of one of these machines? Is there anything I can do to make it go deeper? Maybe I am doing something wrong. I ground balanced the detector and made sure it was as good as I could get it, I then turned the freq over to 2 where I usually hunt, the threshold was at a steady audible tone. I should have had better results today with these coins. Hopefully someone can help solve this problem.

 

[JHM]

Check the battery power. When mine drops 1 notch below full, the depth starts dropping. I bought a powerex 9.6 volt rechargable battery that helps a lot and use alkalines as a backup. Seems like 9v isn't enough power to get full performance. You will notice this with air test as well.The tejon runs on 12 volts, I'm wondering if that's why they are deeper?

 

[somedad56]

I dont know....what mAh does your rechargeable 9v run at? I do know that if you get them in lithium you can get the mAh rating way up there. Also, I wonder what the highest safe mAh rating is for the Vaquero? Strangely enough, I tried an air test of the Vaquero on a table and with all coins I could hit them (with some sound) at 12 inches...thats not bad...but today when I tried an air test with the coins ontop of the ground I couldnt hit them but about 5 inches directly above them....thats strange.

 

[Wirechief]

Hi 56, the reason you want a higher current capacity in your battery is so it will last longer. The Vaquero will only draw what it needs. There would be not much need to add more voltage to the machine because of the internal voltage regulator IC. But if you get too much voltage at some point you will probably damage the machine because the regulator can only handle so much. I also did the same air test outside on the ground and got more than 4 or 5 inches with the sensitivity control maxed out. We don't have a high mineralization condition here in West Texas, just lots of iron in the dirt. Ok I hope this is helpful 56. God Bless.

John Tomlinson,CET
John's Detectors

 

[somedad56]

Hi John,

Thank you for the reply! So if I stay in the 9v range the mAh rating can be however high and still not damage my machine? I am trying to get the best operating time out of my batteries with the best power rating for performance. I found some rather large rated 9v batteries (like 1200mAh) just didnt know if those would hurt my detector. Take care and God bless to you too!

 

[khouse]

You said it was near perfect GB? But did you GB the detector at 6 inches off the ground? I think your detector was GB at 1 inch or closer to the ground. Then you lifted the coil up and away from the ground to see how far you could detect the coin. This may have been the problem?

 

[somedad56]

I guess I didnt think of it that way. Possibly the detector needed the ground for stability after having been ground balanced to match the mineralization of the ground.

 

[khouse]

That's what I was thinking. Try bobbing the coil from 1 foot down to 6 inches while GBing. Then try to pick up the coin at 6 inches. Post back your findings.

 

[somedad56]

I will try to do that tomorrow khouse. Thanks for the idea. God bless.

 

[JHM]

I'm using a standard for NiMh batteries but the battery is rated a 9.6 volts. Also groung balance is really critical. My ground has a lot of iron in it. I have read 30 to 40% less between air test and actual depth.

 

[JHM]

It may be just in my head but I thought it helped. The battery I'm using puts out full voltage until right before it dies. One thing I noticed is when the alkalines got down to about 4 beeps the depth seemed to drop off a lot.

 

[Wirechief]

Yes that is correct when your voltage begins it's downward slope you will begin to lose depth. I like to keep good healthy batteries in my detectors too. Ok happy hunting.

John Tomlinson,CET
John's Detectors

 

[saika]

I was almost ready to build a battery pack that mounted like the DeLeon and load it up with AAs. Even a pair of 9 volts in parallel would help and should be quite safe.

 

[JHM]

Do you think a pair of 9v would give more depth or just last longer

 

[saika]

I don't know for sure, it was just an idea. An expert on batteries and electtronics would have to answer for sure.

 

[manganos]

n/t

 

[khouse]

Parrallel is + to + and - to -
This set up would still be 9 volts but it doubles the capacity. So it would last twice as long.

 

[Wirechief]

Hi 56, Yes the high current capacity batteries will last longer than the standard 9 volt battery. I'm happy with the way the Vaquero works for me and I just use Alkaline batteries. My favorite is really the Golden uMax, amazing how deep it can go. Ok 56 CU later and God Bless ya.

John Tomlinson,CET
John's Detectors

 

[saika]

What does putting them in parallel do for the amperage?

 

[khouse]

It would double the amperage/hour rating. That will double the life. You are still going to buy the same amount of batteries per year. But you will change them out half as offen.