Vaquero first impressions

[Calif_quake]

Had a chance to play with my new Vaquero yesterday and what a difference from my MXT. My MXT is like carrying a brick by comparison. I didn't have any big issues with ground balancing but I was working a soccer field and depending on where I was on the field i would have both negative and positive signals when trying to balance and have to adjust accordingly. Is this normal? in the same area?

The other thing I noticed is when I watched Mikes videos he seemed to be able to max out the discrimination on a penny and i seem to discrimintae it out about the 2:30 position, but my penny was laying on the surface. I will have to play with it more of course and work with it but overall I am a happy camper with quality and build. It seems to be a well built machine. I was doing a side by side with my MXT and so far in what testing I have done the Vaquero can hold its own against my MXT. My only other question and one i'm not clear on, is I was turning the detector on and off because I was using two detectors in close promimity to each other. Assuming I have a proper ground balance and havent moved any of the controls and dials and havent left the search area, will i need to re balance everytime I turn the machine back on?

My only other comment is I have the sunray pinpointer mounted on my MXT. I also picked up the Garrett pro for Christmas, The Garrett seems noticeably more sensitive. I think I like that Garrett better.

 

[hatpin]

I watched the videos and he maxed out a dime a quarter not a penny, I think.

 

[Calif_quake]

uhmmm...you maybe right?.....i better watch again. come to think of it i belive you are right

 

[tailofdog]

If you are in the same area you don't need to ground balance again after turning it off.
I only get falsing if i forget to ground balance.

 

[sqwaby]

If you turn the machine off and back on without moving, you should not have to GB again, although you should recheck the GB from time to time when hunting, especially if you are covering a large area since the soil conditions can can/will change. I have hunted areas where I couldn't get what I felt was an accurate GB, so I set it at approx. mid range(1 3/4 turn), the machine ran smooth with good depth. If you hunt trashy areas, the 5.75 coil is a great option.

 

[Calif_quake]

i was on a grass field that was pretty much trash free...but I am just learning this machine

 

[POLEWAGGER]

I like to pump mine a lot in the beginning, over a large area so I can get a good average. Depending on if the change is due to natural or man induced, you may or may not need to decrease frequency of checks.
Zinc pennies usually disc out at around 2:30 depending on depth and condition. Copper pennies will sometimes disc out almost all the way, depending on condition. Older corroded copper cents seem to disc out higher. Some wheaties have made me think they're dimes.
Most dimes and quarters disc almost the way for me.
A nice addition to a new rig are some nice, fat O rings on all the potentiometer shafts. When re installing the knobs, give them a slight push while tightening. This will keep the dirt out, also making them less likely to find a new position if accidentally bumped. You will find this to be of great value after the first time you notice that you've been detecting for 20min with your sens at 11:00 because you bumped it during your last dig and didn't realize it...GRRR!!!

 

[Calif_quake]

thank you all..any help is appreciated

 

[Qball]

@ Polewagger. Where did you buy the O rings at? That sounds like a great idea.

 

[POLEWAGGER]

I always save stuff like that, so I had them on hand.
A good hardware or auto part store should be able to fix you up.
The outer diameter needs to be about the same size as the flat part of the nut, and fat enough to be squished a little, before the knob bottoms out on the shaft.
When I got my C, I figured that dirt in the pots would be the first thing to cause a failure and with no warranty + being modded, I wanted it to be trouble free for as long as possible. It's doing the job well.