Vaquero Help Please

[DigPan]

I have purchased a used Vaquero and was trying to decide if I should send it for a tune up or not. If I could get some of you Vaquero swingers to post some of your air test on different items, coins etc. I could get an idea about what the average performance should be and compare with mine. I may not need to send it for a tune up at all.

Thanks very much
Donald
South Carolina

 

[metalfun]

Congrats on the Vaq.I just bought a new one but I have never had any trouble with any used machines I have purchased.I would take her for a swing and see how it does.There are some great guys on this forum that will steer you in the right direction.Good Luck!!! You have a great detector.HH

 

[hatpin]

My air test in the house has not been great with my Vaquero. But I have dug some deep coins in the ground.I got a couple of Indin hed nickle real deep , maybe 10 inches .

 

[tvr]

Get away from high EMI areas to get repeatable air test results.

Sven's Cibola air tests pretty much matched what I get and the Vaquero should be about the same. Read the settings information for each series of tests. The settings can make a big difference in the results.

Here is the link to Sven's Cibola air tests:
Sven's Cibola air tests

 

[jld66]

if it only a year or two old and works good. i probably would not bother. when i first got my new one, i called tesoro with a few questions and one was about tune up. was told every three to four years. that was by rusty himself. so, if it is that old, i would spend the money just so i would have no doubts. thats the thing about used. by the time you buy it, send it in, pay the fifty for a check up. you are close to the cost of a new one. like i say, tripping over a dollar to pick up a dime. unless you get an extra ordinary super deal. i dont see that its worth it much buying used. anyhow, good luck with it and maybe keep us posted on it.

 

[BillF]

There's no such thing as a "tuneup" on a metal detector, at least not in the way most think of it. There just isn't anything to "tune". Sometimes they adjust the GB pot but not on a Vaquero. Theyre going to charge you $50 to look at it and pretty much do nothing.Save your money.
Air tests mean nothing except to tell you it works. You can't GB air and there are no minerals in the air. Only real time dirt scratching is going to tell how well it works.

 

[DigPan]

Thanks everyone for your info. I have used it for a few weeks now and it seems great. I was just curious how it was on the air test comparison. The machine looks new and I love it. Looking at the results that SVEN did with the Cibola, I am very well pleased. Thanks again for the replies to my question, I really appreciate them.

Donald
South Carolina

 

[WV62]

I think you may feel a little better about your machine if you were to air test yours and give your settings, the coil used, your target and your results, and then somebody out there may repeat the testing on there machine.

To be able to compare a machine like you want to do, everything needs to be the same. So I suggest using the stock coil and a clad dime for the air testing. If you use a dime for your test and somebody else uses a quarter that will not help you at all.

What you look for is numbers in the ball park, like maybe you post 8" on the dime and somebody comes back and says they get 7 or 9, I would say you are in good shape. But if you post 4" and somebody comes back with 7 to 9, you got a problem.

No way to do dirt testing, my dirt is going to be different than yours, so if I can get 5" in the ground and you get 9" in the ground all we did is test our ground, not the equipment. Our air is all the same.

The more people you get to give you numbers the better the test.

Ron in WV

 

[tabman]

Sven's chart is very well done. I use the setting #4 mostly on my Cibola and Vaquero with my Killer B Wasp Headphones with the audio limiter switched on. I can't say enough on how important it is to have a good set of headphones. Sometimes if I get into a lot of foil and can slaw I'll raise the discrimination a little above the iron discrimination setting. Even at that higher discrimination setting I haven't noticed any loss of depth. However, the slightly higher discrimination setting will mask targets a little more when working at a site that is loaded with nails. I have used both settings at the same site, so I know first hand that there is a difference in performance.

Also Sven is right on target about using a slight threshold hum when using the discrimination mode. For several good reasons, there's no meaningful loss of depth, you can use the pinpoint button without getting your ears blown off, the detector runs smoother with a better audio sound, you get better discrimination and I can tell the depth of a target better. When I hear a soft small whisper of a audio response, I'm smiling from ear to ear and digging like crazy, because there's a good chance it could be a deep silver coin.

http://www.treasurelinx.com/uploads/air_test_cibola.pdf

tabman

 

[ken ward]

The only thing the air test is good for is to see if your detector works. The best testing you can do is get out there and hunt. You will see that it is a very deep detector. It will find silver and gold. No need to send it in to be checked out. If it aint broke, don't fix it. It is a ground balance detector. You will be able to tune it to the ground you are hunting in.. Have fun with it. Let us see some pictures of your finds. Even the junk. We all like junk, just ask Tab Man... KEN,,, Ind.

 

[DigPan]

O.K. gents, here is what I did. I set the Disc. on iron, Sen. on max boost and the Thres. at 3:00 and laid the yardstick out. Here is the honest results.

Clad Dime = 13.5"
Copper Penny = 14"
Nickel = 14.5"
Clad Quarter = 15"

I then put it in All Metal Mode turned Sen. down a small amount until it stabilized and ran the test again. I lost approx. .5" with all coins.
I am very well pleased. I have had no problems when MD'ing with it. I just wanted to know if it was (without sending in for checking) in good shape and I think it is. I believe, even though the Vaq. is used, it will be a keeper.

Thanks again to everyone that has posted with help on this subject.
Donald
S.C.

 

[jld66]

nothing wrong with them results. good luck.

 

[WV62]

Even if nobody gives you their air test numbers, I would just hunt that baby. It looks strong to me.

Ron in WV

 

[chainsmoker]

Wow I need to move up. My Amigo 2 gets almost 7 inches on a clad quarter.

 

[Hombre]

Wow I need to move up. My Amigo 2 gets almost 7 inches on a clad quarter.

Mine has the same air test depth as your A2 but what it does in nail infested ground is truly amazing !

 

[chainsmoker]

I didn't mean to get down on my amigo 2 , I've found almost $30 with it in about 12 times out. That Vaquero sounds like it is performing as well as it should with those air tests. I can't wait to here how it does in the dirt.

 

[kansa54]

O.K. gents, here is what I did. I set the Disc. on iron, Sen. on max boost and the Thres. at 3:00 and laid the yardstick out. Here is the honest results.

Clad Dime = 13.5"
Copper Penny = 14"
Nickel = 14.5"
Clad Quarter = 15"

I then put it in All Metal Mode turned Sen. down a small amount until it stabilized and ran the test again. I lost approx. .5" with all coins.
I am very well pleased. I have had no problems when MD'ing with it. I just wanted to know if it was (without sending in for checking) in good shape and I think it is. I believe, even though the Vaq. is used, it will be a keeper.

Thanks again to everyone that has posted with help on this subject.
Donald
S.C.

You should be tickled pink with those numbers. My vaquero is nowhere near that.

 

[hatpin]

O.K. gents, here is what I did. I set the Disc. on iron, Sen. on max boost and the Thres. at 3:00 and laid the yardstick out. Here is the honest results.

Clad Dime = 13.5"
Copper Penny = 14"
Nickel = 14.5"
Clad Quarter = 15"

I then put it in All Metal Mode turned Sen. down a small amount until it stabilized and ran the test again. I lost approx. .5" with all coins.
I am very well pleased. I have had no problems when MD'ing with it. I just wanted to know if it was (without sending in for checking) in good shape and I think it is. I believe, even though the Vaq. is used, it will be a keeper.

Thanks again to everyone that has posted with help on this subject.
Donald
S.C.

You should be tickled pink with those numbers. My vaquero is nowhere near that.

Nor does mine. Kaloin had a video that went much deeper than mine.Honestly I dont want to dig 13 inches for coins but it sure would be nice to hear those 6 to 8 inch dimes clearly.