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Which Detector Should I Use
- Thread starter moose57
- Start date
thumperjones
Member
I'd get rid of that Eldorado so you no longer have to choose. I'll take it off your hands just to be a nice guy. 
But really, that Bandido II with the 5.75" small coil should be killer if there is a lot of trash. I assume there will be around an old house. I'd only put the bigger coil on if I suspected targets were very deep.
But really, that Bandido II with the 5.75" small coil should be killer if there is a lot of trash. I assume there will be around an old house. I'd only put the bigger coil on if I suspected targets were very deep.
The choice is a very easy one for me to make. I have twice the Tesoro models that you have, but only two coils to chose from, so my picking is easier. 
Too many years of detecting and trying, testing, evaluating different search coils lead me long ago to the conclusion that, generally, I need only two coils per detector. For some makes and models I have settled on only one coil as the most practical for it and what I expect to use it for, and at times I might give in a little and own three coils for one detector, but that is very, very seldom.
It would be good for readers to know that in order to help you make preparations for your search. To me it seems obvious that you haven't hunted older houses or old house sites, or you wouldn't be asking about which detector and/or coil to use. Therefore, it might need more helpful hints than simply a detector choice or a search coil selection. Regardless of the detector and coil you go equipped with, make sure you are comfortable with how to set the detector up and search the type of location you will be going to.
If you haven't searched an older home location before, then take some time between now and then to practice both search techniques and recovery methods. If it is a lived-in house, and has a groomed yard, it will be especially helpful to master the recovery skills so you can quickly and cleanly recover targets more likely to be good while leaving now ugly sign you were there. If it's otherwise in disarray or just a site with exposed dirt, etc., then you can use careful digging/plugging methods and just clean up the spot after the recovery is made.
The micro-sized Eldorado has the ED-180 Discriminate circuitry and it is the model I like to grab when a site is relatively clean and free of a lot of iron debris. It lets me adjust to the minimum Disc. setting for an all-metal search and can, at times, provide a little better depth of detection. This is really only practical when there isn't a lot of shallower, masking trash targets, but if I encounter a more littered area, I can adjust it up for performance similar to the other Tesoro models.
For the bulk of the 50+ years I've been detecting, I have used smaller-sized search coils. When they came out with their so-called 5.75 coil [size=small](which actually measures 6" in diameter
)[/size], I worked with a couple of the Concentric 6 inchers and found they worked quite well, provided ample coverage and detection depth for trashier sites, helped improve the lighter-weight and comfortable balance I needed with my bad back/neck/shoulder, and I have gone to the 6" Concentric coils exclusively.
Most of my detecting is in trashier places and/or close to metal structures and fences and the smaller coils add improvement to performance in those sites. I do have the stock 8X9 Concentric that came on my Eldorado and I keep it mounted to it in case I want to hunt a wide-open beach, sports field, or a plowed field, etc. Any site where I might want slightly more coverage and a touch more depth where it is relatively clean and free of shallower targets that can/will hamper gaining any depth.
So, I would suggest for general searching and being able to get closer to, and in-and-around trees, shrubs, near sidewalks and other things, use the 6" Concentric coil. There can be all sorts of seeable and unseen metal pipes and structures you might encounter and the smaller-size coil can work to your advantage.
Use the detector you are most comfortable with, pick the coil you decide will work best for you, then practice and be ready for the site in a couple of weeks. Just work at mastering the detectors and coils you have, remembering to use a slow and methodical sweep. Do not get carried away with a Tesoro by using a fast sweep speed as it will not perform well should you get into any challenging ground mineral conditions or have a lot of rejected targets too close to desired finds.
Best of success to you and let us know the results after-the-hunt.
Monte
Too many years of detecting and trying, testing, evaluating different search coils lead me long ago to the conclusion that, generally, I need only two coils per detector. For some makes and models I have settled on only one coil as the most practical for it and what I expect to use it for, and at times I might give in a little and own three coils for one detector, but that is very, very seldom.That sounds great! I just returned later yesterday from hunting many old house and other building sites, so I'm curious, is this a standing, habitable house with a maintained yard? Is it an older, out-of-use structure and the surrounding grounds are in disarray? Or is this simply the site of an old house where now it is just exposed ground, rough vegetation and grasses/weeds, and perhaps some building rubble?moose57 said:
It would be good for readers to know that in order to help you make preparations for your search. To me it seems obvious that you haven't hunted older houses or old house sites, or you wouldn't be asking about which detector and/or coil to use. Therefore, it might need more helpful hints than simply a detector choice or a search coil selection. Regardless of the detector and coil you go equipped with, make sure you are comfortable with how to set the detector up and search the type of location you will be going to.
If you haven't searched an older home location before, then take some time between now and then to practice both search techniques and recovery methods. If it is a lived-in house, and has a groomed yard, it will be especially helpful to master the recovery skills so you can quickly and cleanly recover targets more likely to be good while leaving now ugly sign you were there. If it's otherwise in disarray or just a site with exposed dirt, etc., then you can use careful digging/plugging methods and just clean up the spot after the recovery is made.
I have both the Eldorado [size=small](late version)[/size] and Bandido II [size=small]micro[/size]MAX, and additionally have a Silver Sabre [size=small]micro[/size]MAX and an older Bandido II. Each of them sports a search coil I would use 90% of the time .. or more .. and each is equally capable of hunting any old house site. Three of the them feature the ED-120 Discriminate range of acceptance and are just fine for hunting any typical site, do well dealing with nails and other small iron, and provide me with a quick-response and fast-recovery.moose57 said:
The micro-sized Eldorado has the ED-180 Discriminate circuitry and it is the model I like to grab when a site is relatively clean and free of a lot of iron debris. It lets me adjust to the minimum Disc. setting for an all-metal search and can, at times, provide a little better depth of detection. This is really only practical when there isn't a lot of shallower, masking trash targets, but if I encounter a more littered area, I can adjust it up for performance similar to the other Tesoro models.
In the summer of '83 I started using and selling Tesoro's, and in very short order I made the 7" Concentric coil my main-use choice for the bulk of all my detecting. It was just a little better balanced than the early thinner 8" 'donut-shaped' Concentric coil, provided almost the same depth, and just 'felt better' for the trashier sites I hunt. I used to keep an early thin-profile, white-colored 8" coil from my original Bandido around for the few times I beach hunted or just wanted slightly more coverage or depth.moose57 said:
For the bulk of the 50+ years I've been detecting, I have used smaller-sized search coils. When they came out with their so-called 5.75 coil [size=small](which actually measures 6" in diameter
)[/size], I worked with a couple of the Concentric 6 inchers and found they worked quite well, provided ample coverage and detection depth for trashier sites, helped improve the lighter-weight and comfortable balance I needed with my bad back/neck/shoulder, and I have gone to the 6" Concentric coils exclusively.Most of my detecting is in trashier places and/or close to metal structures and fences and the smaller coils add improvement to performance in those sites. I do have the stock 8X9 Concentric that came on my Eldorado and I keep it mounted to it in case I want to hunt a wide-open beach, sports field, or a plowed field, etc. Any site where I might want slightly more coverage and a touch more depth where it is relatively clean and free of shallower targets that can/will hamper gaining any depth.
So, I would suggest for general searching and being able to get closer to, and in-and-around trees, shrubs, near sidewalks and other things, use the 6" Concentric coil. There can be all sorts of seeable and unseen metal pipes and structures you might encounter and the smaller-size coil can work to your advantage.
Use the detector you are most comfortable with, pick the coil you decide will work best for you, then practice and be ready for the site in a couple of weeks. Just work at mastering the detectors and coils you have, remembering to use a slow and methodical sweep. Do not get carried away with a Tesoro by using a fast sweep speed as it will not perform well should you get into any challenging ground mineral conditions or have a lot of rejected targets too close to desired finds.
Best of success to you and let us know the results after-the-hunt.
Monte
I hunt a number of old house (mid 1800's and back) using the standard Vaquero coil. 8 inch Compadre, and recently the 5.75 inch concentric for the Vaquero. That small coil has picked up a number of items that slipped by my slightly larger ones The yards are loaded with trash in the way of iron nails and scrap. In some places the signals are almost constant. I thumb the discriminator dial to help ID targets on both my Compare and Vaquero. All in all I've had very good luck.
I'd put the 5.75" on the Bandido II and the 7" on the Eldorado.....then after half an hour or an hour, I'd assess how things were going re iron and trash and how infested or not the site was...If I thought there was anything to be achieved, I'd try the 8" on one of them...
machineman
Member
Small coils are the way to go on old house sites for me. Especially if the house is rotted or burned into the ground. All the nails are still there on top of the good stuff.