Which Tesoro (non sharks) best for wet sand older or newer model

[Crossbones]

Hi, understanding that none other than the Sand Shark is made for wet salt water beaches or shallow salt water beach pools--I was hoping that some of you folks might have figured out a certain coil-Tesoro combination that works better than expected. Is there an older model like Stingray or Bandido that would work best ? Or could a Vacquero or Cibola with a certain coil do the trick.If you could share your experiences that would be helpful. I`m hoping to become a Tesoro owner soon. Thanks.

 

[comcat]

vachero or better still,,cibola with 12 x 10 d.d.coil,,,works awesome and very quiet,,pick up 1 cent clad coin at around a foot in sloppy wet salt,,,,rgds ,,,comcat

 

[tvr]

Keep in mind that comcat's Cibola has been modified by adding the capability to ground balance from the front panel.

I haven't used any of the older Tesoro's (except Compadre) so I can't really do a comparison of models, but from what I've experienced on the beach with single frequency VLF detectors (Tejon and Cibola), you really want to be able to ground balance to the area you are hunting.

With things properly ground balanced and a little bit of discrimination you can do very well. Some areas of the beach may require running a little less sensitivity than others, but you should be able to find good targets with a good detector that you can ground balance to the conditions.
tvr

 

[comcat]

well hold on there,,,i tried to ground balance the cibola on the salt wet,,,but didnt do it to the full ,,pos or neg,,so i dont know if i did or not ground balance,properly,,,but in all metal, the machine went mad if i changed distance from the sand,,,but with disc selected with the 12 x 10 dd coil (i am sure that the digital g.b will be the same in this config, even if you dont have anything other than the average set g,b, from the factory) as long as this coil is fitted,will do the same,,,,so in a nutshell the vachero( or the cibola,,which seems to have a better sweep speed and iron rejection in disc,) will be as good as each other on the beach in shop bought format,,,,because the two modes dont seem to be in tandem on the beach ,,as long as you use the 12 x 10 d.d. coil,,,,i could be wrong,,,as inland the 10 turn g,b, sets the whole balance for the disc,,,,this must be the same for ,,salt wet,,,,as it has not affected me on the salt wet,,, it seems that if i am in common ground settings,,, the machine will find a 1 cent clad coin,(which is really iron crap,,)in sloppy wet sand at good depth,,i.e. 10 - 12 inches ,,without making a fuss,,thats good enough for me,,,(or has the g.b. conversion been more accurate than i think??comcat,,,,,,,

 

[tvr]

Comcat,
Glad that combination is working well for you.

In fairness, I haven't taken the Cibola back to the beach since adding ground balance mod to mine, so can not 100% say it acts like ground balance does on the Tejon. As it came from the factory, with the standard coil and the 12 x 10 widescan, my Cibola would false a lot crossing the wet / dry boundary and when the water washed over the coil. Could remedy some by turning sensitivity down.

With the Tejon, the same widescan coil on some of the same beaches I had the Cibola on, the ground balance adjustment when over salt made a significant difference in falsing. It becomes much more stable and I can run higher sensitivity when I get the ground balance close. In some areas of the beach I ran out of adjustment (was full couterclockwise, or negative setting) but at full negative setting it would still be more stable and could run higher sensitivity than if I ran it to mid-setting on ground balance in those areas of the beach.

Try turning sensitivity down when you ground balance to see if it doesn't go quite so mad. Over the wet sand, I need to do that with the Tejon.

In any case, my humble opinion is that beach conditions can vary a lot from beach to beach. Having a detector that lets you adjust ground balance for both all metal and discriminate modes can help you adjust better for bad conditions. One that doesn't ground balance may perform quite well, but I like having the option.

Cheers,
tvr