Gary's Metal Detecting Forum
Gary's Detecting forum => General detecting talk => Topic started by: Sharkeysend on June 17, 2016, 06:49 pm
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Hi folks
So, to the business of choosing my first detector - what to go for?! It seems to me that there's a fair bit of choice out there, even with a budget of £200. I've narrowed it down to three potential machines:
Bounty Hunter Tracker IV at £130
Garrett Ace 250 at £160
Tesoro Compadre at £185
I'm leaning towards the Compadre, mainly because from the few reviews I've seen it seems to be quite a good choice for coins and jewelry, plus it doesn't look particularly complicated ;)
With that said I wonder if I could trouble you splendid peeps for your opinions or perhaps suggestions please?
Thanks
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Any of the 3 you mentioned are a decent enough detector for learning with.In fact I`ve just added this .The Bounty Hunter is a very under rated detector and is a very good detector for the money. I think one of the lads on here used his Sons up against his more expensive detector and the Bounty Hunters recovery speed was amazingly fast .
I don`t think there is really anything that sets any of them apart from each other & I think you`d enjoy using any of the 3.
There are many detectors suitable for learning on and are pretty good choices. The Tesoro Silver Sabre 1 or 2 is another great little contender which won`t mind screw you, with umpteen settings to alter. Get used to the "basics" first . Just like the old saying....Learn to Walk before you try to Run.
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As Peter said any are a good starter machine, Tesoro would be my choice sound only no meter .
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Another vote for the Tesoro great machines
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I love researching machines, and Tesoro are very well respected. Good honest reliable machines.
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As Peter said any are a good starter machine, Tesoro would be my choice sound only no meter .
When a man without a meter and a good ear meets a man with a meter and a good ear the man without a meter will win IMHO lol
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As Peter said any are a good starter machine, Tesoro would be my choice sound only no meter .
When a man without a meter and a good ear meets a man with a meter and a good ear the man without a meter will win IMHO lol
Do you consider meters a distraction from what really matters Willy? I know there are many in your camp who favour tones.
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definitely ! people look at a meter and say mmm junk sometimes it is junk BUT often its not and THE SOUND TO A GOOD EAR will dig those
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definitely ! people look at a meter and say mmm junk sometimes it is junk BUT often its not and THE SOUND TO A GOOD EAR will dig those
Sometimes i would agree but sometimes you need a meter or you would never have an idea what you are digging , beaches are a good example .
The best target i.d. machines are the Explorer / ETrac and CTX , they have the best tones and many of them , also with their meters and their screens that have many pixels act almost like a radar screen .
Where i go you would not normally use a non metered machine though many do to their cost because of all the rubbish of all types but i can see the point in digging all to find all . It just gets very boring and tiring digging pull tabs and ring pulls and bottle tops almost all the time .
Knowing your machine is the best way to find most of the goodies available .
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There`s a Tesoro bandido 2 ,with headphones included on E bay at the moment ,on £72 with 2 days to go >> Item No. 262480705270
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All meters tell lies!! With all the different metals, alloys, sizes, shapes and attitudes to the search coil, among many others, there is no detector manufacturer that can make a 100% truthful meter!!
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There`s a Tesoro bandido 2 ,with headphones included on E bay at the moment ,on £72 with 2 days to go >> Item No. 262480705270
If the service mentioned was done by Pentecnic, it will work as a new one.
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All meters tell lies!! With all the different metals, alloys, sizes, shapes and attitudes to the search coil, among many others, there is no detector manufacturer that can make a 100% truthful meter!!
I love the hodograph on my Sorex Pro, the loops and lines are pretty accurate, however, I dig no more or less iron with the Sorex than with the Deus. I have learnt the tones of the Deus (correction - I am getting better with the tones of the Deus) and I don't have the remote, but I can tell a lot of junk these days because I am starting to tune my ears in.
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I wear my controller on my arm and only consult it occasionally, I have learnt the more info you have the better your decision. On one occasion I had an awful “scratchy-grunty” don’t dig signal, glancing at the controller the numbers are flicking between 0 and 6 then briefly 94 and back to 0 - that flick to 94 says to me investigate, and there at 10” a complete crotal bell. The detector being confused by the iron pea and scrap iron in the same hole, there have been other times when I have been rewarded by consulting the reading on a bad audio tone.
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I wear my controller on my arm and only consult it occasionally, I have learnt the more info you have the better your decision. On one occasion I had an awful “scratchy-grunty” don’t dig signal, glancing at the controller the numbers are flicking between 0 and 6 then briefly 94 and back to 0 - that flick to 94 says to me investigate, and there at 10” a complete crotal bell. The detector being confused by the iron pea and scrap iron in the same hole, there have been other times when I have been rewarded by consulting the reading on a bad audio tone.
Interesting Dev, shows how everyone is different. I recall a video by Gary where he had a dodgy signal but his Deus meter was not showing a number. He said that was a sign with Deus that it could be a hoard so he always digs it.
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My choice would be the Tesro, I have a Laser scout brilliant little detector same company love it
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One question I have about the Tesoro, does anyone know if the lifetime guarantee still applies in the UK?
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One question I have about the Tesoro, does anyone know if the lifetime guarantee still applies in the UK?
No idea but any machines with lifetime guarantees says a lot about the build quality. Don't think you get that with any other?
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There`s a Tesoro bandido 2 ,with headphones included on E bay at the moment ,on £72 with 2 days to go >> Item No. 262480705270
Hehe, now you've thrown me a curve ball! What's a Bandido 2 like? Similar to the Compadre? Better? Not as good? :-\
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Dig all signals with no meter number. If it's two way, without a digital valuation, it could still be a good target.
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There`s a Tesoro bandido 2 ,with headphones included on E bay at the moment ,on £72 with 2 days to go >> Item No. 262480705270
Hehe, now you've thrown me a curve ball! What's a Bandido 2 like? Similar to the Compadre? Better? Not as good? :-\
I`d say A tad better ,as it has a Manual Ground Balance .you can also fit a 12"x10" Widescan coil in the 5-pin uMax which this model is. its on £165 now but anything up to £200 will be a decent buying price for it.
Lifetime guarantee still aplies in the Uk ,I`m pretty sure.
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How old are these Peter? The seller regards it as vintage ! I guess that's going a bit far?
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There`s a Tesoro bandido 2 ,with headphones included on E bay at the moment ,on £72 with 2 days to go >> Item No. 262480705270
Hehe, now you've thrown me a curve ball! What's a Bandido 2 like? Similar to the Compadre? Better? Not as good? :-\
I`d say A tad better ,as it has a Manual Ground Balance .you can also fit a 12"x10" Widescan coil in the 5-pin uMax which this model is. its on £165 now but anything up to £200 will be a decent buying price for it.
Lifetime guarantee still aplies in the Uk ,I`m pretty sure.
Missed it so think it's going to have to be a Compadre when I find the right deal, unless something else comes up on ebay.
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There`s a Tesoro bandido 2 ,with headphones included on E bay at the moment ,on £72 with 2 days to go >> Item No. 262480705270
Hehe, now you've thrown me a curve ball! What's a Bandido 2 like? Similar to the Compadre? Better? Not as good? :-\
I`d say A tad better ,as it has a Manual Ground Balance .you can also fit a 12"x10" Widescan coil in the 5-pin uMax which this model is. its on £165 now but anything up to £200 will be a decent buying price for it.
Lifetime guarantee still aplies in the Uk ,I`m pretty sure.
Missed it so think it's going to have to be a Compadre when I find the right deal, unless something else comes up on ebay.
Where do you live mate?
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The audio circuit can be deeper than the meter circuit. As Gary says, up to 15% deeper. Always trust the audio over the meter.
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I have heard of several people that have arrived on a dig only to find they left the Deus control box at home or even have lost it
ALL say they seemed to find a lot more
nuff said ?
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I have heard of several people that have arrived on a dig only to find they left the Deus control box at home or even have lost it
ALL say they seemed to find a lot more
nuff said ?
I was speaking to Nigel at Regtons when I was deciding on my first machine. He said he often uses the remote to set up the program he wants to run then leaves it in the car.
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The audio circuit can be deeper than the meter circuit. As Gary says, up to 15% deeper. Always trust the audio over the meter.
To my knowledge ,Up to a certain depth the meter shows you the Discrimination value digit readout ie, your numbers. Once you reach past the discrims limit ,your out of Discrimination territory & into All metal territory ,which the Discrim can`t go as deep as, hence you lose the Digital readout numbers , and get Audio signal sound only . Thats why sometimes you might get a "good" audio target signal without any Digital readout appearing, then you know the targets probably going to be at depth ,and then its up to your ears to decide.
I assume this is relevant to the Deus too.
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There`s a Tesoro bandido 2 ,with headphones included on E bay at the moment ,on £72 with 2 days to go >> Item No. 262480705270
Hehe, now you've thrown me a curve ball! What's a Bandido 2 like? Similar to the Compadre? Better? Not as good? :-\
I`d say A tad better ,as it has a Manual Ground Balance .you can also fit a 12"x10" Widescan coil in the 5-pin uMax which this model is. its on £165 now but anything up to £200 will be a decent buying price for it.
Lifetime guarantee still aplies in the Uk ,I`m pretty sure.
Missed it so think it's going to have to be a Compadre when I find the right deal, unless something else comes up on ebay.
Where do you live mate?
Near Peterborough sir.
As it turns out after seeing a post on this very forum I thought I'd check out Regtons and contacted a top chap called Nigel. He sorted me out with a lovely bit of kit and I am now the proud owner of a Tesoro Compadre - many thanks to Nigel and the good folk at Regtons for superb service and excellent value for money! Can't praise them highly enough.
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There`s a Tesoro bandido 2 ,with headphones included on E bay at the moment ,on £72 with 2 days to go >> Item No. 262480705270
Hehe, now you've thrown me a curve ball! What's a Bandido 2 like? Similar to the Compadre? Better? Not as good? :-\
I`d say A tad better ,as it has a Manual Ground Balance .you can also fit a 12"x10" Widescan coil in the 5-pin uMax which this model is. its on £165 now but anything up to £200 will be a decent buying price for it.
Lifetime guarantee still aplies in the Uk ,I`m pretty sure.
Missed it so think it's going to have to be a Compadre when I find the right deal, unless something else comes up on ebay.
Where do you live mate?
Near Peterborough sir.
As it turns out after seeing a post on this very forum I thought I'd check out Regtons and contacted a top chap called Nigel. He sorted me out with a lovely bit of kit and I am now the proud owner of a Tesoro Compadre - many thanks to Nigel and the good folk at Regtons for superb service and excellent value for money! Can't praise them highly enough.
How funny is that, I was going to recommend you take a trip to Regtons if you were near enough. Good move mate.
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Good outcome,any problems Regtons will sort it
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Just need to find me some permissions now ;)
Cheers chaps!
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I was speaking to Nigel at Regtons when I was deciding on my first machine. He said he often uses the remote to set up the program he wants to run then leaves it in the car.
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In the car with a brace of Doberman inside...... ;)
Sharkeysend, ah, that was you, thank you for the custom.
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As it turns out after seeing a post on this very forum I thought I'd check out Regtons and contacted a top chap called Nigel. He sorted me out with a lovely bit of kit and I am now the proud owner of a Tesoro Compadre - many thanks to Nigel and the good folk at Regtons for superb service and excellent value for money! Can't praise them highly enough.
Great choice, the Compadre. Super simple to use, but quite effective. They're well made, trouble free, and have a very good disc. circuit. When you decide you want more features, Compadre is a great backup, loaner, or easy to sell. Two of my kids use Compadres and do very well with 'em.
BTW - I think someone mentioned the Bandido II... The first Bandido II was early '90s, and was a very good unit, using the larger control box. Later '90s, Tesoro came out with the Bandido II "microMAX", which used the smaller housing, like the current Tesoros use. Those later Bandido II microMAX detectors were, and still are very popular, even though Tesoro stopped making 'em in 2001... They were then replaced by my favorite Tesoro, the Eldorado...which was itself replaced by the Vaquero in 2003.