ACE 250 v Tesoro Silver Umax an others

[trueblue]

I own several Tesoro's and am considering the Ace 250 as alternative/change to my Silver ,why you may ask ... well I wanna hava bit more on me targets like tone id & notch for a start ....I did have a BH QDII that was a bit dissapionting as after reading the bounty hunter forum I had expected a bit more in the way of performance .....it pinpionted Like a dog miles off sucked batterys up like there was no tommorow ,an was build like a $2 kids toy , I sure hope the ace 250 is a bit betta than that .. now I ve read this same post over on Tesoro forum an the Ace gets a floggin as expected by tesoro users ..Also the ace seems to have the Rep of being a very poor PinPointer , or is this just inexpierenced users ? is the TID is it as good as some claim ? up there with the xterra 30 ? or just a jumpy time wasta

'HH"

just wanted to add the fact that the Tesoros pinpoint dead accurate 100% all the time and I dont wanna go back to being a bombcrater digger like I was with the BH

 

[Old Katz]

Ask yourself: What do I expect from a metal detector? What didn't my old one give me?
I am not an expert by any means but I have the Ace 250 and am pleased with it. It does not have the bells and whistles
of other machines have but it preforms well. Does it have better depth than other machines? Probably not.
I never seem to get past 6 inches on dimes, quarters and nickels. In fact most of what I find is in the 2 to 4 inch range and
sometimes beyound. It works fine in relic mode and finds things deeper because the targets are usually bigger and the coil
is coining to react to a bigger target. Most of the other machines, from what I have read, seem to fall within the same depth range.
Katz

 

[trueblue]

the 6 inch depth is ok by me I also pickup most my finds @ 1-4 " so thats not a prob .....I wanna save me back a bit if pos so yeah reply on the TID for part , I can cherry pick OZ $1 & $2 cions with almost 100% accuracy using my Tejon an wen I need depth I will use it , but some time I just want a light small grab an go machine for totlots thats why Im lookin at the Yella fella , the silver great lil detector but again ya end up diggin plenty trash yeah ya can thumb the disc an get real good idea by the audio aswell but hey I wanna try somethin diff an the aussie users here reckon the 250 's great for cherry pickin the $1&2's from what I read .

 

[lazyaussie]

Mate the ace is a killer in the tot lots & if your looking for $1-2 coins it"s hot stuff. if your hunting for shallow $1 & $2s at 1-2 inch it gives a nice little double beep that screams gold coin when 3-6 inch deep the $2 gives a sharp beep in pinpoint the $1 is a little wider. pinpointing takes a bit to get use to but when you get use to it it"s OK + you use pinpoint for sizing the target so you can leave all the lovely coke cans in the ground. now for hunting old silver i run all metal with the senc as high as i can run it without getting to many false signals usually 6-7 bars you"ll find silver at 7-8 inch easy & deeper if you dig those scratchy high tone signals e.g a small high tone in detect mode & in pinpoint the smallest little scratchy beep ( head phones are a must for this ).
in the tot lots near the metal play stuff back the senc to 2-3-4 bars depending how close to the metal you are & listen for the double beep when passing the metal bars.
i had a xterra 30 there about the same on the grass for new coins & maybe a little to the x30 for old pre dec coins but the ace comes out tops in the tot lots.
just look back to some of my posts you"ll see how good they are in the tots.
were in Aussie are you ?? i"m in Vic
hope this helps
lazyaussie

 

[slingshot]

My Silver can go deeper at slow sweep speeds-but the Ace can match it at faster sweep speeds. The ID comes handy in some areas that are trashy or if you are limited for time. I have different opinions on the sensitivity, though. 4 sensitivity on the Ace is the deep setting for me because of the sensitive makeup of the Ace. And I hunt in 3 sens. in most areas. Now if I were in an older area with possibilities of good targets-I would go as far as 6 and sweep the coil SLOWER-both with the Ace and the Silver. And,yes, you will have to work harder pinpointing with the Ace unless you invest in a sniper coil. It's a toss up and I love Both of them. The battery life with headphones is awesome on both of them. Somedays it's a hard decision which to use.

 

[Uncle Willy]

I know all about Tesoros. Owned them for years, from the time Jack Gifford first opened his doors for business in Glendale, Arizona almost three decades ago, and still have one in my collection and always will They are great little machines. The 250 is a different breed and the hottest selling machine out there. Garretts get flogged by many, mostly by folks who have never used one and don't want to be left out of the flogging group, or couldn't figure out how to use one.. When I ran the Garrett Classroom a few years back the folks who couldn't figure a Garrett out were legion but I'm happy to say that I changed that for most of them and they've been happy ever since..

The 250 is not a Tesoro nor does it operate and perform like one but once you have mastered it you would be hard pressed to find a better coinshooter in its price range or any other price range. It gets great depth ( not really a big deal in general coinshooting ), has rapid response and recovery, ID's as accurately as any of them and has that great belltone that is the sound of money. On some coins it gets so happy it sounds like a battery of phones going off. Pinpointing with the elliptical coil is a little tricky for the uninitiated but easily mastered. Like all Garretts it is sturdily built. I think you would be quite happy with one.

Bill

 

[gordygroover]

Been swinging my Ace since last November so don't go thinking this opinion is from a grizzled veteran.
The pinpointing can, at times, be a bit off.
I have had days (usually with wetter soil) that my pinpointing is spot on...other times I have given up in frustration in not being able to find the darn target.
While I am not a veteran with years of experience I have found over 90 dollars in change. This is mostly one penny at a time so I have done a lot of pinpointing with the 250.
Taking my time and pinpointing from at least two sides of the target gets me on top of the target often enough to make my recovery rate acceptable for me.
I read with envy about Tesoro users with tremendously accurate pinpointing abilities but I am content with my present skill level and my machines capabilities.
6 inches is a pretty good amount of depth for my coin finds. Those metal fasteners that hold down the fabric underlayment of the tot-lots come through loud and clear under ten or more inches of wood chips though I have yet to find a coin that deep.
I have no regrets on my Ace purchase whatsoever and love the lightness of the entire unit.
The more I hunt the less I find myself looking at the screen. Though the Ace has only a few sounds to identify targets each tone has subtle sub-tones that soon become as accurate as any icon on a video screen.
Guess I didn't give you much helpful information but I hope I didn't blow any smoke up your backside either.
Gordy on the Columbia

 

[trueblue]

all very imformative answers I got hope in that Ive ordered a 250 so time will tell ...as you guys well know alota the knockers are just biased in the mines betta than yours attitude , wow theres some real haters of the ace out there after what I read on another board about the ace but the obecjtive was easy to read between the line that these types just have it in for Garrett no doubt ...As for Tesoro's Im extremly impressed with my Tejon I clocked well over 300 hrs on it , the Silver its OK done about 60-80 hrs with it but it just aint on a par with the Tejon by any means , it singnals pretty weak on any coins deeper that 3-4 so ya really gota be pay'n attension after using the Tejon it just feels as if the Silver needs a shota steriods to wake it up , I aint knockin it just how I perceive it to be . Had a compadre didnt keep it all that long as I just couldnt get handle on those suppossive subtle tones uknow the ones well anyway the slight differences were so slight to me that I would think you would need a labratory to actually pick them but hey just thumb the disc for the info .Those subtle veriances in the tones I can hear them quite easy on the Tejon an the Silver but the Compadre was a real beep an digg , So the ace with its tone id will indeed be a welcome change , what depth do you guys get an acurate TID till ? whens it all start to fall apart ? Im not lookin for depth in as much I would prefer a half decient TID

lazieaussie# north eastern Vic

 

[lazyaussie]

Trueblue the TID gets a bit fuzzy at 4-5 inch in the grass for the $1-$2 you sill get a high bell tone the target indicator just jumps a little. in the tot lots maybe a little deeper 5-6 inch depends on the tot lot some you get good depth & others not so good depth 4 inch i don't know why ???. the only Tesoro i"v had was a old Eldorado so cant compere them to the ace all i know is i"v had & got a few detectors & the ace is my favorite it"s very fun & easy to use & is light to swing. one thing i always use headphones just makes it a better machine + makes the battery's last longer.
i"m in south east Melbourne
lazyaussie

 

[Old Katz]

>>>>theres some realmhaters of the Ace out there on other boards<<<<<

What? How DARE they!
What were their complaints?
Katz


[size=x-small]Did someone say, "lets go detecting?"[/size]

 

[khouse]

I have had quite a few detectors in the past. I have two Ace 250's. One for land and one for water - "lake looter". I bought a new Silver uMax to compare the two. I saw no difference in depth between the two. I found that I missed the tone ID and notch discrimination the Silver lacked. I sold the Silver uMax. Don't get me wrong - the Silver is a good detector. It just wasn't a 250 in my opinion. I did like the light weight of the Silver though.

 

[khouse]

In my soil I can get a good TID to 6 inches. After that the tones and repeatable beeps tell me to dig. You would pay as much as $450.00 for a detector with tone ID. The 250 is less than half that price! The little 4.5 inch sniper does almost as well as the stock coil in depth because you can run the sens maxed out most of the time. I usually run the sens at 7 bars in my ground. You will love the notch discrimination. You can knock out the tabs and still get your nickle beeps. The notch disc is fully adjustable unlike some. If you choose to only pick up quarters then you can do that. Some other notch detectors won't let you. Some new users have had trouble pinpointing. There is a ton of good info on how to pinpoint with the 250 from Uncle Willy and John Edmonton and others. I made a quick video a while back to help some hunters pinpoint. Take a look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liyIUKonpGs

 

[Monte]

[size=large]"trueblue" ... Fist, I want to let you know I got your E-mail and PM and am working on finding the memory stiock with that info on it. I hope to send it by tonight.[/size]

I own several Tesoro's and am considering the Ace 250 as alternative/change to my Silver ,why you may ask ... well I wanna hava bit more on me targets like tone id & notch for a start ....I did have a BH QDII that was a bit dissapionting as after reading the bounty hunter forum I had expected a bit more in the way of performance .....it pinpionted Like a dog miles off sucked batterys up like there was no tommorow ,an was build like a $2 kids toy , I sure hope the ace 250 is a bit betta than that.

[size=large]I've owned and/or used just about everything out there during the past forty-some years. Presently, I have a couple of White's and a Tesoro Bandido II

 

[trueblue]

Trueblue the TID gets a bit fuzzy at 4-5 inch in the grass for the $1-$2 you sill get a high bell tone the target indicator just jumps a little. in the tot lots maybe a little deeper 5-6 inch depends on the tot lot some you get good depth & others not so good depth 4 inch i don't know why ???.

thats sounds pretty respectable to me as most my finds are in that depth range and a few more tools to help decide wether to dig or not will be welcome at some sites

What? How DARE they!
Katz

indeed

khouse I have already ripped your video to my HD a few days back , great job I enjoyed it and think it will help alota ACE users that are having difficulty PP'ing , I wanna thankyou for putting it out there it influened my decision to buy the 250 as poor PP'ing is a big put off to me but after reading alota reviews an watching your video I quickly formed the decision that most of the negative reports about the ace's PP ability were most likey due do to poor understanding or inexperience in most cases .

"trueblue" ... Fist, I want to let you know I got your E-mail and PM and am working on finding the memory stiock with that info on it. I hope to send it by tonight.

I appreciate that Monte , knowledge is power and I just cant get enough

I do wish the upper rod was a little longer from the hand-grip to the arm-cup, but it's usable "as is" buy bigger guys, it just seems like it was aimed at kids and perhaps shorter women.

I better be careful the wife will claim it thats her biggest gripe with the detectors as she quite petite

The Ace 250, like many other Garrett's, is a little delayed in the response when sweeping a target. It is NOT like a Tesoro and, for many who try to make a transition, it is one of the tougher things to get used to

yes Monte that had crossed my mind I could see by watching video's of the 250 in the feild that it indeed seemed slow in it its reponse when compared to lightning fast Tesoro's and yeah I think that will take some getting used to and make it somewhat more difficult for the Ace to shine in the very heavy trash , theres a particular site that Ive been successful at hunting with the Tesoros is extremly trashy , 60 years or so of old camp fire sites contaning melted cans , lead you name it , have been graded over the sandy surface then to add to that ya tabs , cans ,screwcaps ect an ya got a detectorists nightmare honestly ya cant swing the 5.75 more that 3-6 inch's in any direction without it soundin off and yet with plenty a time and patience an the 5.75 on a tesoro the goodies start to surface and for this reason but not this reason alone I will always keep my tesoros

The Ace 250 supplies 'adequate" Target ID info, and will perform well against much of the competition. I'd personally take it over a Minelab X-Terra 30. I had one and it could only be worked in the woodchips playgrounds here as the GB was drastically negative ... by design ... and there was no way to make a user adjustment. All TID's, including my modified IDX Pro, XLT and including the Ace 250's, will have problems providing an accurate TID 'at-depth' simply there are too many variables and they do not have a strong enough signal to process.

Still, the Ace 250 is a lot of detector for the $$$, and certainly has its place in any avid detectorists arsenal. That's why I plan to get another.

then thats good enough for me , I reckon Im gunna like the ace

well I takeit the TID on the xterra 70 to be the same as that on the X terra 30 and if thats the case then the lil ace is a goer for the $$$

 

[Uncle Willy]

Hey Monte you old detectorist you, good to see you pop in. Don't be a stranger. It's like I always tell folks who have switched from another brand to Garrett - if you try to use a Garrett like you did your former detector you will have some problems.

Bill

 

[khouse]

The Xterra 70 has 28 notches. The 250 and Xterra 30 has 12. Still the Ace does great in most soils. The sniper coil should be one of your first accessories.

Thanks for the thumbs up on the video. I have been detuning then X ing the target for center of the coil pinpointing. This will keep shallow and deep targets right at the little cut out in the stock coil. Using the pull back method or center pinpointing is made much easier with detuning. Good luck with the 250.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah a 4.5 inch coil that gets seven inches. Unhearsd of.

Bill

 

[Monte]

I reckon Im gunna like the ace

well I takeit the TID on the xterra 70 to be the same as that on the X terra 30 and if thats the case then the lil ace is a goer for the $$$

[size=large]I think you'll like the Ace 250, just as long as you take the time to learn it well and give it a chance to show you what it can do.

No, the Target ID on the X-Terra 70 is not the same as the X-T 30. It has twice the segments, and a lot more to offer in the way of adjustment features and in-the-field performance. Then, too, it is in a much higher price bracket than the Ace 250.

Monte[/size]

 

[slingshot]

I just have to add my favorite subject that you guys taught me-"twitching". It's speeding the coil up over the target in small sweeps, much like an umpire dusting off the home plate. It gets more depth and better discrimination ID's on a target. Yesterday, I was at a school with my normal medium/fast searching sweep speed and hit a quarter in the bark/chip area. Coming back at a slower rate to pinpoint it,(I do it in motion discriminate to save time), the signal became one way. "Twithching the coil made the signal "bong" really loud and it was a quarter at "7". Another time I got a zinc/penny signal and "twitched" it and it locked on zinc and it was a well eroded zincer. If there's any fault with this method, it's that you might find a "nickel" pencil eraser at "3". You can balance out between slowing the coil down and "twitching" to decide what the target is. Hope this helps and makes sense.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

G'day trueblue.
I read your post a couple of days back, but before I could respond, the Norton blocked the site and I'm only now able to respond. It looks like you have had some good responses already. I haven't read them all, so I'll respond with Aussie coins in mind.
We seem to have swung similar detectors. I started out with a Tracker 4, and have owned an X-Terra30 since they've been out. I have also owned the Ace for just on 2 years now. I haven't owned a Tesoro though.
The X-Terra 30 and the Ace are very similar detectors in a sense. Both have 12 notches eta. That said, they are also very different machines too. After using the X-Terra, it took some time to readjust to using the Ace. Mainly due to it's tones. They are not modulated, and at first, it sounded like a blunt instrument. Once you train your ear to it though, you get to figure out the good hits.
One of the really good bits that you will like about the Ace, is that it is a fairly reasonable detector at sorting out whether you have a screw cap under your coil, or a gold coin. It will take a bit of time to learn, but this happens in pinpoint. Coins will have a sharper signal fade than a screw cap. Unlike the X-Terra 30, where a $2 coin can bounce down to 28, the Ace will always lock both gold coins into notch 8 (equivalent to 32 on the 30). This is also where the Bell tone kicks in. Very handy. I've only ever had 2 gold coins come in at a lower notch.
As far as pinpointing goes, although the method in the manual works, it's not the best way to do it. It's probably why some folks have bagged it out as a poor pinpointer. To date, I've found it to be the most accurate. the best way to do it, is off the 12 o'clock position of the inner coil. If you listen closely to the audio drop off while doing this, you be figuring out what you target is in no time. If a target is 2 inches or closer, then all targets drop off suddenly and you won't be able to sort them out. They will however be very easy to locate due to the accuracy of the pinpoint (at this range). If you lift the coil a bit, it seems to soften the edges of the signal enough for you to be able to figure out your targets. BTW, a deep large target will keep hanging onto the pinpoint, which makes them easy to figure out. There are clues for some of our other coins as well, but I won't go into those now.
Something else the Ace does better than most, is hunting around play equipment. The standard coil is pretty good. Dropping the sensitivity down to 3 bars, will get you in as close as 3 inches. If you get the sniper coil, if you don't mind forgoing discrimination, you can get to within an inch of an upright, and directly under metal. I have pinged coins with the top of the coil in direct contact of the metal above. You can only do this in pinpoint though. The coil is a coaxial (double shielded) and when in pinpoint, it gives off no signal to to side of the coil, or above it, hence it's abilities.
I'm waffling. If there is anything that I can help you with, then fire away.
Mick Evans.