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Tesoro Mayan
- Thread starter Gunman64
- Start date
Sven
Well-known member
Of you do a form search Monte has talked about the Inca ans Mayan a number of times.
They are as good as any Tesoro, they have average depth for machines of that era.
Probably would not buy one for the performance but, if your a collector or just want one, go for it.
I see them coming up on ebay every month now, might be the same ones changing hands or they are coming out of closests.
For the money they are now asking, your better off with a newer Compadre.
They are as good as any Tesoro, they have average depth for machines of that era.
Probably would not buy one for the performance but, if your a collector or just want one, go for it.
I see them coming up on ebay every month now, might be the same ones changing hands or they are coming out of closests.
For the money they are now asking, your better off with a newer Compadre.
The Mayan didn't have motion disc, it was VLF-TR. However it did have what was by the standards of that day a very good all metals mode, because the ground balancing system didn't vary phase directly but rather proportioned between the outputs of two demodulators of different phases and (here's the innovation..... drum roll.....) the retune button equalized the DC offsets between the two channels so that you could adjust the ground balance knob without throwing the audio threshold off. It wasn't especially "hot" (although respectable by the standards of that day), but it was easy to keep it properly ground balanced.
Sven
Well-known member
For $50 and if its in decent shape, I would grab it, they can go for double on ebay, if you didn't like it. Last one went for $132.
Anytime you can get an older Tesoro for less than $75 its "generally" a good deal.
I just looked at the listing, it looks good, you can resell the 7" coil for $50
Anytime you can get an older Tesoro for less than $75 its "generally" a good deal.
I just looked at the listing, it looks good, you can resell the 7" coil for $50
I bought my first Tesoro(original Eldorado)from a dealer in North Las Vegas back in 1987. He use to hunt gold nuggets around northern Arizona using the original Gold Bug and his wife used the Mayan and had nothing but good to say about it. I know a lot of advances have been made since then but getting the coil over the target is still the biggest hurdle
Best of luck out there and good hunting!
Randy
Best of luck out there and good hunting!Randy
Motion discrimination pretty much made VLF/TR disc obsolete. But that doesn't mean that VLF/TR disc is useless.
VLF/TR disc in the hands of someone who's mastered it, comes close to equaling a good motion discriminator which however requires almost no skill. And the former will usually beat the latter when it comes to ID'ing odd-shaped iron.
Searching a site littered with nails (for example a burned house site) a motion discrimination can be nearly useless. That's where you can take a VLF-TR discriminator, and knock out the iron. You'll probably only get 3 inches of depth on coins, but at least you can search the site! Once upon a time I had a site of that kind that I needed to search, took my CZ and my 1265. Useless. I prowled around in the closet looking for the Mayan but somewhere along the line we'd gotten rid of it. So I grabbed an (original) Gold Bug, cranked the ground balance down to zero, and then searched in static pinpoint mode. That turned it into a pretty good VLF-TR discriminator and found lots of stuff to present to the local historical society.
Many of the best detectorists nowadays are guys who started out with VLF/TR discriminators. Those old-fashioned machines made a direct connection between you and the targets, and it was very educational. Motion machines do a bunch of the processing for you "behind the curtain" but in doing so, they deprive you of knowledge you might otherwise have learned the hard way.
So, maybe every serious detectorist should own a good VLF/TR disc machine (of which the Mayan is an excellent example) and use it now and then. You'll learn stuff about dirt and targets that you won't learn any other way, and you'll occasionally dig stuff that people swing motion machines have left behind. After all of that you'll have a much better understanding of what motion machines will and won't do and that knowledge will make you more proficient in the use of motion machines.
Just in case nobody has guessed yet, I think very highly of the Mayan. Not only was it on the leading edge of VLF ground balancing, it was also on the leading edge of the ergonomics revolution that killed off the old U-handle machines.
--Dave J. (presently with FTP-Fisher, but that doesn't stop me from appreciating what other companies have done well.)
[ignore the warning below, it's just telling you that it can't display in color. Link works, I tested it.]
[AHA! now it decided it can display even though it's in B&W. Funny little forum glitches.]
http://www.silysavg.com/private_detector_network/products/vintage_ads/tesoro/images/mayan_1983.gif
VLF/TR disc in the hands of someone who's mastered it, comes close to equaling a good motion discriminator which however requires almost no skill. And the former will usually beat the latter when it comes to ID'ing odd-shaped iron.
Searching a site littered with nails (for example a burned house site) a motion discrimination can be nearly useless. That's where you can take a VLF-TR discriminator, and knock out the iron. You'll probably only get 3 inches of depth on coins, but at least you can search the site! Once upon a time I had a site of that kind that I needed to search, took my CZ and my 1265. Useless. I prowled around in the closet looking for the Mayan but somewhere along the line we'd gotten rid of it. So I grabbed an (original) Gold Bug, cranked the ground balance down to zero, and then searched in static pinpoint mode. That turned it into a pretty good VLF-TR discriminator and found lots of stuff to present to the local historical society.
Many of the best detectorists nowadays are guys who started out with VLF/TR discriminators. Those old-fashioned machines made a direct connection between you and the targets, and it was very educational. Motion machines do a bunch of the processing for you "behind the curtain" but in doing so, they deprive you of knowledge you might otherwise have learned the hard way.
So, maybe every serious detectorist should own a good VLF/TR disc machine (of which the Mayan is an excellent example) and use it now and then. You'll learn stuff about dirt and targets that you won't learn any other way, and you'll occasionally dig stuff that people swing motion machines have left behind. After all of that you'll have a much better understanding of what motion machines will and won't do and that knowledge will make you more proficient in the use of motion machines.
Just in case nobody has guessed yet, I think very highly of the Mayan. Not only was it on the leading edge of VLF ground balancing, it was also on the leading edge of the ergonomics revolution that killed off the old U-handle machines.
--Dave J. (presently with FTP-Fisher, but that doesn't stop me from appreciating what other companies have done well.)
[ignore the warning below, it's just telling you that it can't display in color. Link works, I tested it.]
[AHA! now it decided it can display even though it's in B&W. Funny little forum glitches.]
http://www.silysavg.com/private_detector_network/products/vintage_ads/tesoro/images/mayan_1983.gif
Sven
Well-known member
Dave is right when it comes to a VLF/TR non- motion machines.
I recall the Garretts I owned way back when, had some of the smoothest threshold in VLF mode and you could tell a slight change and know you had a small or deep target.
And when switching to disc mode many times you could see the target shape in your mind due to the slight variances in signal tone, duration. You could move your lips to the sound
to get a round shape.................
Think many of us oldsters can remember that and just can't find a motion machine these days to reproduce that feeling of knowing what a target is.................when ever I run a motion machine,
I feel like I am missing something. Something you just can't put your finger on. Grab an old VLF/TR and it seems like you can see everything, crystal clear......
And if your hunting for targets within the 6" from the surface and old machine may surprise you..................
I recall the Garretts I owned way back when, had some of the smoothest threshold in VLF mode and you could tell a slight change and know you had a small or deep target.
And when switching to disc mode many times you could see the target shape in your mind due to the slight variances in signal tone, duration. You could move your lips to the sound
to get a round shape.................
Think many of us oldsters can remember that and just can't find a motion machine these days to reproduce that feeling of knowing what a target is.................when ever I run a motion machine,
I feel like I am missing something. Something you just can't put your finger on. Grab an old VLF/TR and it seems like you can see everything, crystal clear......
And if your hunting for targets within the 6" from the surface and old machine may surprise you..................
I messed with one a few years ago... I mostly just bought it to see how it did compared to my newer detectors.... Yes it may have a place in someone's arsonal today, I did find some relics with it, but I never put to many hours into really getting to know it good. Depth for today's standards is on par or maybe a bit less then some other brand entry level models. I'm sure it was a super machine when it first came out. Now with that said I did have a Garret groundhog master hunter and that was a very sensitive machine and actually had good depth for an older machine, I feel like it was better then the Mayan !
yep haven't been swing that long 
but did see a nail test on youtube with a VLF/TR after this guy tested some new wiz bang machine can't remember what it was but he had a coin in with a bunch of nails and the new thing peeped now and then the old machine just went wack and I went wow I need one of those 
thanks Dave and Sven for the thoughts on these machines.
strange that this topic come up and maybe it's a sign I might have to get me one I think I want to hear the difference and lately have been really thinking about hearing what I am hearing as I go into trash mode looking for gold, I got all well most of the easy stuff and so now my bag is full of aluminium and the odd bit of gold disc is way down and hope the detecting God's see how hard I am working and surprise me every now and then
so good talk ! copy that
sorry been watching too much agents of shield 
AJ
PS another good excuse to buy another Tesoro
but did see a nail test on youtube with a VLF/TR after this guy tested some new wiz bang machine can't remember what it was but he had a coin in with a bunch of nails and the new thing peeped now and then the old machine just went wack and I went wow I need one of those thanks Dave and Sven for the thoughts on these machines.strange that this topic come up and maybe it's a sign
I might have to get me one I think I want to hear the difference and lately have been really thinking about hearing what I am hearing as I go into trash mode looking for gold, I got all well most of the easy stuff and so now my bag is full of aluminium and the odd bit of gold disc is way down and hope the detecting God's see how hard I am working and surprise me every now and then so good talk ! copy that
sorry been watching too much agents of shield AJ
PS another good excuse to buy another Tesoro
Thanks all of you for the great info, i really need to try it out for my self since you all have me curious. I picked the Mayan up today and for as old as it is looks to be in good shape. It is missing the battery door and the 8 battery holder. He was using a 9 volt battery on it and it worked! I will call Tesoro about the parts.
Sven
Well-known member
Gunman64 said:
Make sure you use the correct voltage 8-AA = 12 volts
Try Radio Shack or any other local electronics store for the battery holder. If I recall Tesoro will not sell you the parts, you need to ship the detector in for repair---maybe you'll get lucky..
It's a long 8 cell battery holder. Don't recall if its a 2x4 or 2x6 holder