Vaquero air test?

[Calnevaroy]

What should the Vaquero air test on a U.S. copper cent without super tuning and sensitivity at 9? I can get between 7" and 8" on my Bandido II uMax with the standard 8" coil and sensitivity set at 9. I watched a You Tube video where the Vaquero hit on a 12" quarter in the ground without knowing what the settings were or how difficult the ground was. I also watched a video where a Vaquero couldn't do better than 5" on a U.S. copper cent on an air test. I'm interested in the Vaquero but wonder what to expect depth-wise in an air test to start. I wouldn't have much confidence in the field if my detector struggled to respond to a 5" penny in an air test

 

[Welgund]

I own both the Vaquero and the Bandido 2 micromax and the Vaquero is the deeper of the two machines. The Vaquero is the more stable of the two when you increase the sensitivity into the boost area., in which it gains considerable depth increase. The Bandido 2 micromax loses depth considerably when you increase the discrimination. The good thing about the Bandido though is you can hunt with zero disc and still disc out a square nail so no big deal. I don't go hunting without either of them.

 

[Calnevaroy]

I own both the Vaquero and the Bandido 2 micromax and the Vaquero is the deeper of the two machines. The Vaquero is the more stable of the two when you increase the sensitivity into the boost area., in which it gains considerable depth increase. The Bandido 2 micromax loses depth considerably when you increase the discrimination. The good thing about the Bandido though is you can hunt with zero disc and still disc out a square nail so no big deal. I don't go hunting without either of them.

Thanks for the input, it's appreciated! To tell the truth, I think I'm in for a switch-back to Tesoro due to extensive testing in my test garden. Both of my high end machines failed to respond to a 1978 penny with a 2 1/2" nail lying across it with two more at different angles within an inch of the coin. This was at a depth of 3" to 4" in tough ground. My Bandido II uMax hit the penny easily. I was missing goodies near iron for how long now? Got hopelessly hooked on Tone ID. I dig everything above foil anyhow and a setting of "3" seems to knock most foil out. I'm dusting off the Bandido

 

[REVIER]

Air tests are sometimes useful to get sort of a baseline but because of EMI, WiFi, florescent lights and who knows what else you could have affecting results in and around our homes I don't believe any tests could be considered 100% scientific.
Even coin garden testing outdoors the soil and conditions can affect our detectors differently on different days like maybe after a heavy rain.
I have tested several detectors in the past and all of them went deeper out in the field than what I got in my home using several different types of coin and jewelry targets.

Soil can and will affect all detectors...depths I reached in the great soil in Kansas with good ID's won't even come close to what I am seeing and digging in the much hotter and iron filled soil I hunt in now in Birmingham Ala.

As far as the depth on the Vaquero there is a reason this thing has the reputation it does and why people say, "Hunt with a Vaq, bring a shovel".
I can tell you I rarely got super deep in this southern soil but early on I had an experience that showed me exactly what the Vaq is all about.
Using only the standard coil in disc and not supertuned I was hunting a tot lot in a park with wood chips and no mineralization.when I got a solid, repeating signal deep in those chips.
It was way deeper than I thought at first and I kept digging deeper and deeper till my Propointer finally started to pick this target up.
I was every bit of 10-12" deep when I finally found it, didn't measure it but it was several inches deeper than my Lesche is long because I stuck that in the hole and it was buried.
Nothing else was in or near the hole, I repeatedly kept checking because I could not believe what I was seeing.
The target was a tiny pocket rivet, very small and the kind you would find on an infant's pair of jeans.


5" limit on a copper cent...don't you believe that.
A good working Vaquero under normal conditions should easily hit and surpass that in air testing with one arm tied behind its back and blind in one eye...on a battery running low on juice.
My opinion only but backed up by several in the field real world observations.

 

[nenadgbeepin]

I just tested my Vaq on a US 1 cent.

On Sens 9, normal threshold level, I can get a repeatable hit at 8 inches. Bandido micromax on these settings 7.5".

Slightly supertuned, Sens 10 and Threshold turn up a 1/4 turn, it'll hit it at 10 inches. Bandido on these settings: Just over 8"
Vaquero still dead stable indoors on those settings, Bandido starting to chat a bit.

Vaquero responds very nicely to Supertuning, and still stays stable.

Hope that helps.

Nenad

 

[Calnevaroy]

I just tested my Vaq on a US 1 cent.

On Sens 9, normal threshold level, I can get a repeatable hit at 8 inches. Bandido micromax on these settings 7.5".

Slightly supertuned, Sens 10 and Threshold turn up a 1/4 turn, it'll hit it at 10 inches. Bandido on these settings: Just over 8"
Vaquero still dead stable indoors on those settings, Bandido starting to chat a bit.

Vaquero responds very nicely to Supertuning, and still stays stable.

Hope that helps.

Nenad

Thank you for your test results, it's pretty much what I thought the Vaquero might do in the air. I believe we have similar Bandido results as well. The Vaquero has a definite edge but doesn't blow away the Bandido II uMax.

 

[Calnevaroy]

Air tests are sometimes useful to get sort of a baseline but because of EMI, WiFi, florescent lights and who knows what else you could have affecting results in and around our homes I don't believe any tests could be considered 100% scientific.
Even coin garden testing outdoors the soil and conditions can affect our detectors differently on different days like maybe after a heavy rain.
I have tested several detectors in the past and all of them went deeper out in the field than what I got in my home using several different types of coin and jewelry targets.

Soil can and will affect all detectors...depths I reached in the great soil in Kansas with good ID's won't even come close to what I am seeing and digging in the much hotter and iron filled soil I hunt in now in Birmingham Ala.

As far as the depth on the Vaquero there is a reason this thing has the reputation it does and why people say, "Hunt with a Vaq, bring a shovel".
I can tell you I rarely got super deep in this southern soil but early on I had an experience that showed me exactly what the Vaq is all about.
Using only the standard coil in disc and not supertuned I was hunting a tot lot in a park with wood chips and no mineralization.when I got a solid, repeating signal deep in those chips.
It was way deeper than I thought at first and I kept digging deeper and deeper till my Propointer finally started to pick this target up.
I was every bit of 10-12" deep when I finally found it, didn't measure it but it was several inches deeper than my Lesche is long because I stuck that in the hole and it was buried.
Nothing else was in or near the hole, I repeatedly kept checking because I could not believe what I was seeing.
The target was a tiny pocket rivet, very small and the kind you would find on an infant's pair of jeans.


5" limit on a copper cent...don't you believe that.
A good working Vaquero under normal conditions should easily hit and surpass that in air testing with one arm tied behind its back and blind in one eye...on a battery running low on juice.
My opinion only but backed up by several in the field real world observations.

Thank you for the information, I enjoyed reading it. Rain in our area has affected my detector's ability dramatically. Ordinarily, the 5.75" coil on the Bandido IIuMax couldn't hit the clad dime I have buried at 6" while the standard 8" concentric coil hit it easily. In the last month or so we've had more rain than in the last several years combined. Now I can hit the 6" dime with the 5.75" coil with the coil raised a few inches above the ground. Concentrics don't seem to perform well in dry mineralized ground. I'd opt for a double D coil instead under those conditions. I'm looking forward to trying a Vaquero

 

[Welgund]

Normal settings in real world conditions you can expect about a 1 1/2 in increase in depth with the Vaquero over the Bandido 2. That being said, when you raise the disc on the Bandido you start to loose the depth it gets and will lose a deeper target whereas the Vaquero doesn't have this problem. Secondly, at least on my Vaquero once you turn the threshold to about 3 oclock, sensitivity all the way up to where it starts to chatter and back off til stable, 1\4 turn negative ground balance and yes, the depth increase does blow the Bandido 2 to the tune of 3, 4, and sometimes 5 inch jncrease

 

[Calnevaroy]

Normal settings in real world conditions you can expect about a 1 1/2 in increase in depth with the Vaquero over the Bandido 2. That being said, when you raise the disc on the Bandido you start to loose the depth it gets and will lose a deeper target whereas the Vaquero doesn't have this problem. Secondly, at least on my Vaquero once you turn the threshold to about 3 oclock, sensitivity all the way up to where it starts to chatter and back off til stable, 1\4 turn negative ground balance and yes, the depth increase does blow the Bandido 2 to the tune of 3, 4, and sometimes 5 inch jncrease

Interesting results for the Vaquero, thank you. Though I'm not in favor for running a negative ground balance, I'll have to try that someday. It appears the Vaquero runs much hotter in the boost mode and super tuning might have a greater effect upon depth than on a Bandido II uMax.

 

[kaolinwasher]

well in my bad ground the VAQ hit my 8" dime with a very good dig gable signal , that impressed me. if i could make one change on the vac it would be a real ED 180 on the disc. but its probably the most complete machine they make .

 

[atomicscott]

9-10" for me hitting the red zone on sens. Super tuned was better but IMO the disc was horribly inaccurate at that high of threshold setting.

 

[jld66]

9-10" for me hitting the red zone on sens. Super tuned was better but IMO the disc was horribly inaccurate at that high of threshold setting.

i am by means no expert. but, have played around with my vaquero on a few settings. Super tuning does knock the discrimination way off and noticed i get false/mystery signals as well. running it with normal settings is fine for me. read with ground balancing, when you put it in disc mode, it will be a bit positive. most times i will turn it just slightly negative. but, a whole 1/4 turn i imagine would put it way off. therefor eliminating its purpose, to balance. it's tit for tat with cosmic settings and i found you dig way more junk as compared to good stuff. running it normal i know what stuff disc's out at, the good tones from bad, and it is plenty deep enough for me
.

 

[Fishers Ghost]

I have an LST.
Would I gain anything with a Vaquero as a general purpose metal detector?

 

[BarberBill]

You would gain the advantages of ground balance in the Disc. mode, 1 nine volt battery and a weight loss.
BB