A little background on the wife and I.......We both started detecting in 1995, my wife with the then new Tesoro Toltec ll and me with the new White's XLT. Both detectors are target ID models, but worlds apart as far as electronic design and theory. The White's is a computerized, microprocessed, menue driven, LCD screened, target ID metered detector,but easy to use with the factory set programs, BUT much more complicated to adjust or tweek the many tuning possibilities The Toltec ll on the other hand, uses an analog electronic design, knobs to make tuning adjustments and switches to change modes, plus a very good analog target ID meter. I had to learn both detectors at the same time because Sandy (my wife) was not interested in adjusting/tuning her detector, she just wanted to find treasure with it.
....My learning experience with the XLT was very rewarding in that learned a lot about detector terminology such as pre-amp gain, threshold, all-metal mode, ac sensitivity,dc sensitivity etc.Well you get the idea,pretty overwhelming for a newbie to the hobby. And...all the controls for the XLT are membrane touch pads (except the all-metal trigger switch) and menue driven, so you had to scroll thru all the options to make tuning adjustments. Sandy's Toltec ll on the other hand was easy to set up, turn on the detector with the sensitivity knob (do this with out headphones on) because of the battery test blaring audio...... and set to 7 on the dial. then flip the mode switch to all-metal and adjust threshold to a low comfortable volume level while wearing headphones, then flip the switch back to motion discriminate mode. The last step is to set discriminate knob to your desired position, for Sandy I left it at a pre-set number 3, this setting will detect nickels really good while knocking out most small foil, we were newbies after all ! She found the first gold ring (I was kinda jealous) with her Toltec, a nice little antique 14kt ring that fit her finger just fine, she really liked the Tesoro after that find.
The Toltec ll is a heavy detector, being the trooper my wife is,she continued to detect with me for several years, but after about four years the heaviness wore her down. I bought a N.O.S. original Bandido in 2001 and she tried it out, but didn't like the beep and dig approach and preferred the target ID of her Toltec. She also tried the XLT and thought it was too heavy and complicated. I started using the Toltec ll more and more since she was more involved with our two young boys at the time. and the two filter operation of the Toltec ll is what sold me on Tesoro. Long story made shorter, we still have the Toltec ll and I ended up trading off the XLT for a DFX, and that is an entirely different story.
Fast forward to the present.....we just bought a new DeLeon for Sandy to use, we are at the retirement age and hopefully things will slow down and we as a team can metal detect like we used to. The Deleon is light even with it's 8"X9" coil (2.9 lbs.). I bolted on the little 5.75 concentric coil and it is almost as light as my Bandido ll
....My learning experience with the XLT was very rewarding in that learned a lot about detector terminology such as pre-amp gain, threshold, all-metal mode, ac sensitivity,dc sensitivity etc.Well you get the idea,pretty overwhelming for a newbie to the hobby. And...all the controls for the XLT are membrane touch pads (except the all-metal trigger switch) and menue driven, so you had to scroll thru all the options to make tuning adjustments. Sandy's Toltec ll on the other hand was easy to set up, turn on the detector with the sensitivity knob (do this with out headphones on) because of the battery test blaring audio...... and set to 7 on the dial. then flip the mode switch to all-metal and adjust threshold to a low comfortable volume level while wearing headphones, then flip the switch back to motion discriminate mode. The last step is to set discriminate knob to your desired position, for Sandy I left it at a pre-set number 3, this setting will detect nickels really good while knocking out most small foil, we were newbies after all ! She found the first gold ring (I was kinda jealous) with her Toltec, a nice little antique 14kt ring that fit her finger just fine, she really liked the Tesoro after that find.
The Toltec ll is a heavy detector, being the trooper my wife is,she continued to detect with me for several years, but after about four years the heaviness wore her down. I bought a N.O.S. original Bandido in 2001 and she tried it out, but didn't like the beep and dig approach and preferred the target ID of her Toltec. She also tried the XLT and thought it was too heavy and complicated. I started using the Toltec ll more and more since she was more involved with our two young boys at the time. and the two filter operation of the Toltec ll is what sold me on Tesoro. Long story made shorter, we still have the Toltec ll and I ended up trading off the XLT for a DFX, and that is an entirely different story.
Fast forward to the present.....we just bought a new DeLeon for Sandy to use, we are at the retirement age and hopefully things will slow down and we as a team can metal detect like we used to. The Deleon is light even with it's 8"X9" coil (2.9 lbs.). I bolted on the little 5.75 concentric coil and it is almost as light as my Bandido ll
