Story Archives

Often times being alone, in the military, stationed overseas, on a small tropical island, 32 miles long, can take it's toll on ones senses, but may appear on the surface as paradise for others.
But here in Guam, with the dangers of lingering ordnance left over from WW II, we limited TH'ers are left to the local parks and beaches, of which are plentiful, and packed full of Japanese tourist throughout the year.
Most recently I have received my Bandido MM, and have about four hours experience, dodging the burst of rains here during rainy season. But my clad total to date is $3.55. With pull tabs, ones favorite beverage cans, and bottle tops littering the grounds in abundance, I can only say the Discriminator settings have more than lived up to their advertised capabilities. I swing across pull tabs and bottle caps without even so much as a chirp, and coins are constantly signaling for me to pick them up!
My deepest find to date has been a clad dime at about 8 inches in highly mineralized red clay, which is about the limit of top soil on this island before you start digging into coral that lays beneath the soil, as this island is nothing more than the merging of two ancient volcanoes from centuries ago.
But the greatest thrill of all, besides the finds, are watching the eyes of children light up when you pull up a nice looking quarter, or sharing in new friendships with curious onlookers that have a sincere interest in the capabilities, and then being able to prove your magical talents right before their very eyes. Or sharing your recent finds with loved ones back home.
The Bandido MM is as light as a feather, even in this 90 degree humidity of the tropics, but the greatest contribution of this new technology to date is all the bending over I'm having to do on my mid section to pick up all these coins. Happy TH'ing!

Ed Ball
heball@iftech.net





Note form Editor: Peter Jonkman has found more than the gold coin that is shown in the BIG Tesoro Finds area, here is a list of some other great finds he has made with his Cutlass II.

- Silver Quarter Groat, Jan van Diest, Utrecht: 1322 - 1342 (?)
- Silver hammered Penny, Floris van Wevelinckhoven, 14th century
- Early example of an calculating coin from France, 14th-15th century
- Six coins from the "Three Towns" (Campen, Zwolle, Daventria), mainly from the beginning of the 16th century. These coins feature the arms of each of the three towns.
- One coin from the city of Nijmegen, last quarter 15th century
- One coin "Grootken" from the city of Groningen

Peter Jonkman
peter.jonkman@fotobank.nl


WOW!, you got to try a 4 inch coil

Hey, guys I recently purchased a 4inch concentric coil for my Tesoro Sidewinder intending to use it for nugget hunting. Well today I took it to the local high school sport complex (baseball football and track fields and bleachers) a site that I have hunted many times before but is literally covered with pulltabs. Well in about 2 hours of hunting I found 2 SILVER DIMES, a 57 and a 64, a 10k or 14k gold band and a silver ring, 10 clad dimes, 4 nickels, a clad quarter (almost silver it was 1965) and about 25 pennies. This was pretty amazing especially the silver dimes as this is a very heavily hunted area by almost everybody in town that has a detector. The 1957 dime was only about 2 inches DEEP! but surrounded by pulltabs. The 1964 dime was at about 4-5 inches and gave a very good signal. Both were found under the baseball field bleachers which are almost impossible to hunt with a large coil due to all the metal. I found these silvers by running the disc at just above 7 and the sens way down to about 5. This enabled me to hunt very close to the metal beams without getting false signals. I had always heard about using a smaller coil to go over sites but I never thought the results would be this dramatic. Also the pinpointing is super precise. I also like the small coil for maneuvering around plants and bushes. The smaller coil also forces you to hunt slower and more carefully, so this probably contributes to the finds also.
Next time DONT get a bigger coil, TRY a smaller ONE!
David Crain
crain@ozone.cass.usu.edu





I have a Tesoro Stingray which I use almost always on the beach. In dry sand the unit will pickup the thinest of gold chains or the smallest of gold charms. IT'S GREAT!! using it in salt water on wet sand the unit has a lot of chatter that you cannot get rid of. After speaking to a rep at Tesoro they informed me that to get rid of the chatter you must have the search coil in the water with at least 2 to 3 feet of water over the coil. The Stingray is a good sensitive machine but don't expect much in wet salt water sand.


Phil Alperin
alperin@ce.net


After coming very close to purchasing a Radio Shack detector I found several web sites including yours and decided to go with the Tesoro Cutlass Micro-Max. Since I'm new to treasure hunting I was a bit skeptical. My last metal detector was a 'toy' I received as a kid and found nothing but junk.

The short manual supplied with the unit led me through a quick-start and I took to the backyard. On my second dig I found a recent penny which was a thrill since I was only 20 minutes into breaking in my new Cutlass. After over an hour and only one more penny later I decided to go across town to my finacee's house which is located in a historical section of our town of 10,000. I spent the entire day there with her brother and we found 2 quarters and 23 pennies, 5 of which were wheaties (one dated 1924). Now I'm really excited and can't wait to try some other areas I've been looking into. We also uncovered what appears to be an oblong rock with a manmade hole in the top as if it were intended as a bead on a necklace. We think it's made of lead due to it's weight. Since many American Indians frequented this area of Illinois it could be something that once belonged to them. Of course, it could also be worthless junk but it sure makes for a great conversation piece.

This particular detector has only all-motion modes and lacks a pinpoint feature. I overcome this by switching to all-metal and with only slight movements I can pinpoint within an inch or two on strong targets. I can usually tell if the target is a coin by using an X pattern. If the signal has equal strength in both directions I always dig it and almost always turn up a penny or quarter. My question is will a coin turned on edge produce the same results using the X technique? Also, I usually don't dig those targets with only a chirp on descriminate stop 3 or 4 even if they're the same in both directions. Should I? They're a little harder to pinpoint and I'm afraid of leaving holes in the yard even using a wedge type dig with replacement of the sod.

Anyway, so far I'm more than pleased with my new detector. Half the fun
is planning out my future treasure hunting spots and dreaming of what I
may find. I may consider a Tinytec probe if pinpointing becomes more
difficult on deeper targets. Any thoughts?

Doug
doug444@ix.netcom.com





Just a short line to let you know I'm also a new Tesoro Metal
detector owner. Myself and a friend at work after careful research
ordered 2 Tesoro Min/Max Detectors and couldn't be happier. They are
everything the ads say they are, light deep seeking and so far I've
gotten up to 20 hours constant use on one 9 volt battery! I've managed
to find a wealth of interesting articles from old coins to old horse
shoes so far and can't wait til I have the time to really put it
through it's paces. I highly recommend the Bandito Min/Max to anyone
looking for a light deep seeking no-nonsence detector.

John
John.LeMoine@the-spa.com


I'm using a Tesoro Cutlass II for three years now and I'm quite pleased with it. Why? it is a simple, turn-on-and-go machine. It must be said that I use the Cutlass mainly on cornfields and the like.
Since I'm searching in The Netherlands, Europe, my finds are often very old. The main part of my finds consists of 17th century coins, buttons and weights. Two weeks ago, I was happy to discover a beautiful site where the metal finds were mainly 15th century. Among the finds were:
- five rare and very thin one-sided coins (Bracteats) made of a low-quality silver. These are 15th century
- a medieval lead weight
- two silver half "Leeuwengroten" (coins with a lion on the front and a cross on the back)
- Some round buckles
- a 9th century bronze brooch
At this spot many human bones have been found. I also found an iron
coffin-handle. So, as you may expect, the ground is from a 15th-century
cemetery.

Updated 5/20/96

I have an addendum on my email about the Tesoro Cutlass II. On Thursday, 17
May I found my first golden coin with it!

If you'd seen me, jumping about three metres high when I saw the coin... ;-)
The coin is a late 15th century "Gouden Rijder" (maybe "Golden Rider"
translated in English). Front side: person wearing a harness, holding a sword
high above his head and riding a horse. The diameter of the coin is about the
size of a 35mm film canister (which I use to carry my found coins)
Another find was a silver 13th century hammered coin with a bishop on the
front.
My Cutlass II always handles very well. Apart from the fact that it doesn't
have ground balance, the signals are always clear.
Peter Jonkman
peter.jonkman@fotobank.nl
(Note From Editor)
6/20/96
You can now view a gif file of Peter Jonkman's gold coin, click here





Hi, I reasearched as much as possible the different detectors available on the market in my price range and found the Tesoro Micro Max Sidewinder to be the best. I looked for several months and tried out some other brands at dealers. I have Tennis Elbow in my right arm and need the lightest possible detector available and providing good arm support. The Sidewinder fit the bill weighing about two pounds. Also, I don't need a meter, or any fancy gimmicks, just turn on and go action. Even the Bandido with ground control confused me, but I liked it's depth. So when the micro max model came out I purchased one ASAP. My first time out, in a trashy historic area, I found a Civil War button, and a penknife, and two oil lamps. All I have to do now is find a good place to hunt, if the relics are there, the Sidewinder will locate them. The only criticism I have is using all metal mode. The threshold is too loud for comfort, and I am forced to use discriminate. I will try to use all metal without headphones for an experiment.
Fred
burnisky@ix.netcom.com


I found your WEB page while browsing and felt compelled to write. A friend hooked me on metal detecting a few weeks ago but he has a Radio Shack MD ( I get the feeling that he made a big mistake ). I just bought a Silver Sabre and took my ten year old son to the park a few blocks from the house. I have never seen him so excited. In an hour we dug up over $2.00 in coins, 2 tokens, a key and a match-box car. I have never really used a metal detctor before, except for the brief time I tried my friends, but I'm more than satisfied with mine and can't wait till I can go again. When I hit the jackpot I'll E-Mail you.
Pete Darius
Calico2@ix.netcom.com





About a year ago I purchased a Tesoro Sidewinder, this was my first Detector since I had sorta quit in frustration about 8 years ago (more on this later). The first thing that impressed me with this detector was its light weight! I had been using a borrowed Garrett Master Hunter CX which left my arm and back strained after only a few hours of detecting. I have hunted for up to 8 hours straight with the Sidewinder and never felt it except for sunburn on my right hand (wear gloves on BOTH hands). The other thing I liked about the Tesoro was the Silent Search and the good discrimination it provided. Early on I was hunting public parks and ballfields that were literally covered with pulltabs and trash. By cranking discrimation up to about 6-7 I dug very few trash items but found LOTS of dimes, Pennies and Quarters down to about 5 inches. If fact the first day i used it i found 8 quarters, 6 dimes and about 40 pennies (one wheat). I was very happy, because this machine was MUCH more productive than any other machine I had ever used, no setup program that took 10 minutes to get started, no heavy hunk of iron to lug around or worry about belt mounting, just turn on and go. Later as i got more familiar with the detector, I realized that: 1 I wasnt digging many nickels and 2 I wasnt finding anything really old or silver. I then did two things, I started doing some research and started running my discrimination as low as possible (even to Min). The research payed off first, by locating sites of some old homes, I found my first silver with the sidewinder, also these sites were much less trashy, so that all targets could be dug without overturning the whole area. The first site i researched i found 3 silver coins! In fact if you have a older part of town, that should be the first place you look for silver, just get permission first and split your finds 50-50 if you have too, you can always take pictures of the finds you give away. The second site researched was a site of a farm, then a school, then a park dating from 1860. The first day there i found a indian head penny at about 8 inches with the Sidewinder running at about 3-4 disc and max sensitivity, this is still my deepest good find. That same day i found a 1920 Buffalo nickel and 6 wheat pennies, no silver yet from this site. Another site the provided a neat find was a Baseball field that was originally a farm settled in the 1870's. I found alot of nickels, clads and a few wheat cents (about $3 worth of change), I was now finding lots of nickels because i was running at 3-4 disc level instead of the 6-7 that I had when i started. I found one clad dime at about 4 inches in the outfield (at least i thought it was a clad dime it was black and almost unrecognizable) and tucked it in the pouch I use for clads and zinc pennies. Later when I got home and was sorting my finds, I realized that what i thought was a clad dime, was really a 1881 25 ore Danish coin. The size was actually smaller than a US dime by about 2mm and at first I though it was a half-dime. Careful cleaning revealed, my oldest coin find so far. My resarch took man out of town and in search of old ghost towns and mining camps, this is when i ran into my first problems with the Sidewinder. The ground balance on the Sidewinder is preset at the factory and had given me very good performance in the flatland sites I had been detecting, but as soon as I got in mineralized areas, the detector started acting unstable so that I had to turn the sens down to 2 or even less. This really affected my depth and the remedy of removing the cover to adjust the ground balance was a big hassle!!! The solution was to install an external ground balance control! (Caution!!! This will usually void you Tesoro warranty, consult with Factory of dealer before you try this, In fact with the new 96 models it is not needed!!! More later!). After talking to the factory , I found that the trim pots (potentiometers) used under the cover on the sidewinder for threshold and ground balance were both 100k 3/4 trimmers. I found a 10-turn 100k potentiometer from a electronic catalog (these can be expesive, mine was $25) But a radio shack linear taper 100k potentiomer would have probably sufficed. Anyway, this is a delicate installation since there is very little room in the Sidewinder case, so i drilled a hole in the case and attached a small project case to the top, where i put the 10-turn pot. This external ground balance has worked very well for me and has made the Sidewinder very versatile, has the mineralized ground was no longer a p problem. Such measures are no longer needed as now Tesoro makes a MicroMax Bandido which operates at the same frequency and has a external ground balance built in. If you have any interest in relic hunting, beach hunting I would recommend the Micromax Bandido rather than modifying the Sidewinder. If you will be mainly coinshooting in parks and unmineralized ground, the Sidewinder, Silver Saber, Golden Saber or Toltec will be all you need (note that none of thes models have a true external ground balance, though they all can be adjusted via trim pots). My ghost town finds have included 8 brass buttons of differnet styles, a 10k gold wedding band, .54 and .36 caliber musket balls, more than a dozen Minnie Balls, over 40 old rifle and pistol cartridges and cases, 100's of modern bullets and cases. several old mining tools, old enameled coffe pot, brass clockworkings dated 1893, A silver snuff box lid, several contract tags, Spikes and square nails of many sizes ( i collect these), a 1/4 ounce gold/copper nugget, Several buffalo nickels (for some reason the only coins I have found ghost towning so far). Anyway, this has gotten to be a long story, but I would very much recommend a Tesoro to anyone, I will be buying another one myself soon, either a Bandido MicroMax, Lobo or Diablo Micromax. Hope this has helped someone make the RIGHT decision. Happy Hunting.
David Crain
crain@ozone.cass.usu.edu