clueless in NJ

[mortarman]

OK, please be patient with me. I'm new to all this and have been going round and round with trying to decide on the best machine for me. I had it narrowed down to either the Fisher F5 or the Vaquero. I started leaning toward the Fisher because of the features and the readout/tone Id's. But now I'm reading that it's not a good relic hunter because it doesn't go very deep. So now I'm looking at the Vaquero again but I have a stick up my butt thinking a machine without a screen is going to be really hard to learn. Is that a valid issue or am I mistaken? I've read that the Vaquero goes deep. I'm mostly looking for an all around detector that can be effective with finding coins as well as relics. Doing parks and school yards as well as old homesteads/ghost towns. Not too worried about beaches cause I'm planning on getting a Sand Shark in the future.
So, any help for this indecisive newbie will be greatly appreciated. I'm going to post this in both the Fisher "F" forum and here so I can get both schools of thought! Thanks!

 

[DetectorOCD]

I have the F5 but I'm selling it for a Vaquero. The reason being, I can't stand the chatter of the F5. Yes, you can tune out the chatter, but I just want to get out there and dig. Fisher are inherently chatty. Tesoros have a nice silent search discrimination. I think you might get frustrated as a newbie using a F5. The f5 also loves EMI so if you get near power lines, you might get annoyed with the interference. I'd get the Vaquero if I were you. Just my 2 cents.

 

[grouser]

here is my take,,,,, the Vaq IS deep and a simple machine to learn,,, all the Tesoros are a user's dream. They are competent and guaranteed for life. The single tone DOES take different shapes and tells you ALLOT about what you are going to dig,,,, most veterans (read and you shall see) even with the best screen machine in the land learn to or migrate to LISTENING to the tone when deciding if they are gonna dig or not,,,,, the screen is NOT the deciding factor ,,,, the EAR is !!! Fisher makes a GREAT machine,,, but if depth is what you need, and the Vaq is deeper,,,, then there ya go HH my friend !!

 

[mortarman]

You are right OCD about the chatter on the Fishers. I was watching a video of the F5 and the gentleman put it aside to dig and it was going crazy. And Grouser, I understand where you're coming from with listening! Do you guys know if the Tesoro warranty follows to second owners or is it only for original owners? Thanks for the help.

 

[mortarman]

Well never mind about the warranty question. I emailed Tesoro and they got right back to me. This is what they said:

Hi Scott,
The way the warranty works is the original owner has the warranty. However, we do do a lot work as a courtesy.
I hope this answers your questions.
Thanks,


--
Robert Martensen
robert@tesoro.com
(92771-2646
Pretty nice. I'm going to buy a Vaquero. And a new one! Thanks everyone for your help!!

 

[DetectorOCD]

Glad to hear you're buying a new one! I love supporting Tesoro as they support us very well

 

[grouser]

if the damage is not from abuse,,,, Tesoro has a history of taking care of their machines,,,,, for anyone that is using it at the time,,,,,

 

[Craig]

I have owned a couple of high end machines, took all the fun out of detecting. Was always wondering if I had it set right. VDI screen was helpful, but it was easy to just pass something up. I now own two Tesoros and couldn't be happier! The Vaquero is one heck of a detector, so is the Tejon ! Both are deep machines. You'll get the hang of using one after a few minutes. Remember the trick to successful detecting is digging everything from the foil up You'll get what your Tesoro is telling you by the size of the target to the coil. Usually a large signal is trash, small target is a coin etc.

 

[fwcrawford]

As far as I am concerned, the Vaquero with the manual ground balance is superior to the fisher.
For hunting old homesites that are iron infested, the Vaquero is very quiet until it senses a good target.
I would rather use this detector than any detector with an ID screen when searching old homesites.
The small 5.75 coil is a good addition to the stock coil and performs well and has very good depth for its size.
Just my thoughts... good luck in your decision

 

[mortarman]

That's a lot of the type of places I want to hunt. Here in south jersey, out in the pinelands there are quite a few abandoned towns but the ground is very sandy with iron ore so hopefully the vaquero can handle that. You don't know the relief I feel to have finally made a decision! I was obsessing way too much! I was Hoping to get one machine and that's it. I realize now that's not going to happen.

 

[joe dirt_1]

I have owned several digital detectors and I won't own another one. The meters become useless in the trash and you will pass up many good targets if you rely on the meter. I got a new Vaquero about 3 months ago and couldn't be happier. It is very deep and quiet in the trash. Excellent detector !

Roger

 

[mortarman]

Sounds great Joe_dirt, I'm ordering my Vaquero next week!

 

[oldcoon]

In over 40 years of detecting I have, by and in large, always used the beep 'n dig type detectors. This year I felt I had to jump on the bandwagon and bought a high end machine manufactured by a company in Oregon. Some of the time it is spot on. If it says a dime at 4 inches, under the right conditions, you can almost bet the family farm on it. Other times though ...... well lets just say the numbers and icons jump and dance a bit, like going from a 15 showing the icon of a nail to a 59 showing the icon of a penny all one one sweep. Too many times it comes down to a crap shoot as to whether to dig or pass on a target. My Tesoros are much more reliable. Repeatable signals get dug. I don't miss much. With the other machine I am never sure.

 

[dixiedigger57]

the best dicriminator is ones own eyes, i believe as said by legendary Guru Monte Von Berry. beep and dig. see what it is by digging it up. there are machines without meters and lights and such that are pretty good, but no machine is perfect, no ground the same, no trash the same. if it sounds good , dig it, let your eyes tell you if its a keeper. i have 4 units, no meters, and traded the one i had with tones and meters. some people like steak, some chicken some pork chops, i like them all but its what suites you that counts. whatever you get, just learn the machine and use it to its maximum capabilities. some of the largest hoards abroad were found by newbies with cheap machines they did not really have a clue how to work. luck helps too. HH and good luck.

 

[mortarman]

I wish I would have talked to you guys 4 months ago when I started all this. I would have saved myself a lot of grief and sleepless nights!

 

[grouser]

dats why we are here,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[JimGilmore]

Yeah, you can determine what stuff is and decide what to dig. Or you can be like me and use your detector to determine WHERE to dig... With both the golden and the GB I determine where the target is within 1 inch. I do not wish to be using a backhoe to dig up parks and leaving a mess. I use only a probe made from 1/4" fiberglass rod and a craftsmen file handle. I do not glue them in so I can replace them since they do wear down. If I cannot hit the coin I usually do not dig.
With the golder and the csc I can pull the coil back till the target is right at the tip. And the gb with the 5" coil is just as good ant getting an easy to pinpoint target.

 

[Hank68]

Go with tesoro, myself I have a silver umax and very happy with it but the vaq is a great machine! Thumbs up!

 

[JimGilmore]

Being able to look at a screen and say that it is most likely a quarter or a dime is nice. But it tends to make you lazy and often you wil think quarter and get a surprise . It happens just when you think you got it all figured out.

 

[mortarman]

I ordered my Vaquero!!! WoooHooo, doin' the happy dance!!