Compadre vs Tejon

[BeyWolf]

Hi Everybody

This is my first post on any forum.

I was going to buy a Compadre. It had the highest user rating of all detectors and seemed like the perfect machine for me.
The dealer I ordered it from was out of stock and Tesoro was behind in production so I had a nice conversation with the dealer about my plans to get a Compadre now and a Vaquero in 2012.
The dealer made me an offer I couldn't refuse, for a barely used Tejon with an extra 5.75" coil.

My question is. Can a Tejon with the 5.75" coil detect the small gold jewelry and coins as good as the Compadre?
Has anyone used both of these machines and knows from experience if the Compadre can out-hunt the Tejon for certain targets? Should I still get the Compadre?

I'm pretty confident the Tejon can do as well for finding coins, I just don't know if it is as good at finding small gold chains and earrings.
I will appreciate any and all opinions.

 

[SkiWhiz]

I give the edge to the Compadre on the smaller gold jewelry but the Tejon does very well in the jewelry category also. I will never forget the last hunt I had with my Tejon, I wanted to try something different so I had to sell the Tejon to be able to afford it..... I said to myself I just have to take the Tejon on one last hunt before it goes & believe it or not the two last hits I got with it were rings. I got a beep dug the target and got a ring and within about five or six feet away I got another beep and dug another ring, they were found out in a school ground not in the tot lot section. The Tejon is a do it all detector. It has just the perfect amount of bells & whistles all are worthwhile and not just a sales tool.

 

[slingshot]

I wanted a Tejon so bad, but I couldn't afford one and my ole' buddy Steve wouldn't send me one. So I fixed my Silver umax with a dual discrimination set-up by copying the Troy with the coin check feature, only I had mine set to where tabs break up quite noticeably. There are many ways folks have set up the dual disc on the Tejon-depending on whether they were relic, coin, or gold hunting. For coins, I set my Silver umax, as stated to where tabs noticeably broke up. Then, I would hunt in disc. mode at a low setting and whenever a signal was given, I would flip the toggle and if the signal (1. broke up-tab region, (2. went silent-nickel region, and (3 still sounded-coins. My own notch discriminator. Tne benefit was that with the tab set to break up, I found coins beneath tabs and coinspills with lots of nickels didn't hide the coinspill like some notch discriminators did. Just remember me when you get yours.

 

[Ted]

I have never used a Compadre, but The Tejon hits good on small gold like earing backs. Also bb sized and smaller objects. and it will hit on them hard and deep.

 

[BeyWolf]

Thanks for the feedback on my question and thank you slingshot for the setup tip, I will try that. This Tejon with the small coil is an awesome coin finder. It's vocabulary is bigger and better than my old Bandido.

I might still get a Compadre in the future but first i'm going to get the 12x10 Widescan coil for the Tejon to hunt some old farms.

I still look forward to any more opinions about Compadre vs Tejon.

 

[tvr]

In my opinion, the Compadre has two things it does better than the Tejon:
1) Compadre very cleanly discriminates out iron of any size while, on many pieces, the Tejon does not. The Tejon, depending on size of the iron either clicks or sounds off loudly with an echoing bonging or over shooting sound.
2) Compadre is so light that sometimes I grab the Compadre just because it is so light and easy to swing.

Both are sensitive to small gold. On some very fine link chains I've tested, I don't think there is much if any difference. Both detectors find small link sizes that many of my other detectors just do not see at all. The only hitch with detecting the small link size chains (with no pendant) is that you are at minimum discrimination (all-metal) and digging everything. Either detector can be set that way. Tejon is deeper and the dual discriminators can be set to quickly put targets into conductivity ranges that you pick. Of course the Tejon lets you readily switch coils with out having to modify it to do so.
Cheers,
tvr

P.S. I'll add a third thing the Compadre is better at in most cases, paying for it's purchase price in the least detecting time. Something to be said about the low price for a detector that just detects well with no bells and whistles.

 

[BeyWolf]

First of all I would like to thank tvr for his opinion about these two detectors. Everything he said is true. I just got a new Compadre and did some comparison tests. I tested all the typical coins and small jewelry.

The Compadre can see everything the Tejon can, but the Tejon can go about 40% to 60% deeper on most targets. Keep in mind that MOST of the good coins and jewelry are easily reached with the Compadre. (6 to 7 inches on coins)

I am really glad I got the Compadre and I expect I will use it as much or more than the Tejon.
The Compadre cost 1/4 as much and should pay for itself four times as fast. It's a lot lighter and nicer to swing. That means a lot to me since I think of myself as an "old retired guy that goes dirt fishing" and not a serious treasure hunter.

Now I can leave the 12x10 DD coil on the Tejon. Wow, I think I've got it all now unless somebody convinces me I need a detector with target ID.

 

[pelanj]

I wonder how well would the Compadre perform with a SEF 12x10 coil I have on my Silver. From what I have heard, the Compadre should be compatible with the same coils as the uMax range.

I think if the Compadre had all of the internal controls on the control box, dual discrimination and a coil connector, it would be a hard to beat detector. And it could be done relatively easily...I think
I will soon get a Compadre with a passed warranty to try it (just 3 years here).

 

[allcav]

You must remember that the Silver Circuitry is far superior to the Compadre.

 

[ToddB64]

You must remember that the Silver Circuitry is far superior to the Compadre.

Robert,

Do you think the 12 kHz Frequency of the Compadre vs the 10.6 kHz of the Silver uMax would give the Compadre some advantage for finding gold chains, rings and other gold jewelry ? Or would the Silver's superior circuitry maintain the advantage for the aforementioned targets ?

Thanks,

ToddB64

 

[slingshot]

You must remember that the Silver Circuitry is far superior to the Compadre.

What? In what way? I can't believe that a Tesoro guy would say that! The only difference I see is a slight difference in depth between my Silver umax and the Compadre. And whenever I get it to just reject the small particles of iron, it BEATS the Silver umax in iron-filled ground. What the heck are you talking about?

 

[Hombre]

You must remember that the Silver Circuitry is far superior to the Compadre.

All do respect to you allcav

The Compadre is the best Tesoro in small iron laced hunting areas, it simply, just does not have the manual control of the Silver

 

[slingshot]

Thanks for the extra info, Hombre. I got my Compadre for these areas and have not even tried or thought about going above small foil reject and thus did not know about the loss of depth. I was at one of these sites, beneath a swing set I had detected for nearly 30 years, and decided to set my Compadre to "just reject" the smallest of iron particles and found 4 nickels from the '70's that were really covered in red from the iron ore hard ground. They were only about 3" deep-but nothing else had ever found them.

 

[allcav]

I talked to Rusty about it and he agrees that the Silver's circuitry is superior to the compadre.

 

[itsmeuhear]

I also spoke to Rusty over a month ago about purchasing a Compadre and when I told him I had a Silver he also said that the Silver was a better detector.

 

[slingshot]

I talked to Rusty about it and he agrees that the Silver's circuitry is superior to the compadre.

I have both and am just gonna let this one slide by. No biggie to me. I need all the gold I can get.

 

[BeyWolf]

A Silver uMax plus the 5.75" coil might be a better machine than the Compadre but it will cost twice as much and won't be more fun to hunt with and you probably won't find or dig more stuff.

My Tejon with the small coil is a truly awesome coin and jewelry detector but for a short trip to a local spot I will grab the Compadre first because it is so light and easy to use and I don't need a pinpointer. The Compadre is easy to pick up by the middle of the shaft and wave over the hole to see if I have moved the target.

 

[fowlercharles]

Hi BeyWolf, I would say that if you got a really really good deal on a barely used Tejon with an added 5.75 "to boot", then you made a smooth move! The 5.75 can sniff out the goodies while you can still save up and sniff around for a possible really good deal on a Compadre,Compadre, new or used will be worth the wait, and not near so hard to save up for as a Tejon at full price. HH, Charlie

 

[allcav]

I just tested side by side the Silver with a 5.75 coil on it and the Comapdre with a 5.75 with a 10k gold ring. the results:
the Compadre could pick it up at just a hair under 4"
the Silver could pick it up at just a hair over 5"
Because of the we can crank the sensitivity up on the Silver, it will allow us to go deeper.

 

[slingshot]

I just tested side by side the Silver with a 5.75 coil on it and the Comapdre with a 5.75 with a 10k gold ring. the results:
the Compadre could pick it up at just a hair under 4"
the Silver could pick it up at just a hair over 5"
Because of the we can crank the sensitivity up on the Silver, it will allow us to go deeper.

OK. I got drawn in again. Was this air test- because my Compadre picked up my 10k wedding ring at 6-7" And I turned the factory preset sensitivity DOWN so as not to have so much EMI interference at some of my sites. I also found a very fine gold chain (only about an inch) WHILE discing out paperclips and bobby pins and the Silver with the same coil wouldn't pick it up in a/m mode unless I rolled it up in a ball and RUBBED it on the coil. Having said that, any reasonable user wouldn't check this signal because it would sound like a teeny piece of foil-but I was in a tot lot where all you had to do was kick back the pea gravel. I have made up my mind after this post to keep my thoughts to myself-and just say that the Compadre is a SPECIALTY detector and leave it at that.