Tesoro Vaquero-anyone else

[chinchilla1]

Well I don't want to give up on my Tesoro Vaquero..but for a first MD I should have bought the pre balanced one..but I'm stuck and want to conquer this toy. I just seem to pick up so much sound and I can't yet tell differences between sounds. I'm going to join the club near Albany NY that meets in Latham, NY but I think I'm going to really embarse ME. I wish I could meet and be taught by someone who owns one you need to G balance.

[bill(de)]

Hello again Chinchilla,
I never used a Vaquero but GB is basic and since you have a 3+plus turn detector you have a little more adjustment than most detectors today.You want a neutral or slightly positive GB but for now lets try for neutral.Put the detector in all metal mode,lower threshold tone so it's just loud enough to hear a difference and don't keep it too loud.Now raise your sensitivity level to about 3/4 full.Perhaps you could try turning the GB knob about 2 full turns from 0 setting.Now sweep the ground as if your detecting so you can find a spot that has clean ground with no target hits.When you find a spot with no hits stay there and begin with a moderate speed bobbing your coil straight up and down from about a foot high to about an inch from surface and listen to the threshold sound.You want to get to a point were there is no change in the threshold sound as you bob the coil up and down.You may have to go higher than 1-1/2 turns on GB knob until you start getting a positive GB response which means the threshold tone will get louder or higher the closer you get to the ground as your bobbing.When you finally get to the point of adjusting your GB knob to get that positive response and it may be 2-3/4 turns or whatever, now slowly reduce the GB knob as your bobbing the coil until you get no change in the threshold tone at all while raising and lowering the coil.If you find that setting please remember it and most GB settings should be close to that in your area.One last thing, if you increase your sensitivity settings from that GB point you should always GB but lowering your sensitivity should be ok to leave alone.Now just flip over to discrimination mode and hunt away. Good Luck and any questions i'll be glad to help if i can. HH Bill

[rocker]

My wife uses a Vaquero and like you got pretty discouraged at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is pretty simple. Start in all metal mode. Turn the detector on with the sensitivity knob, up to 9 or 10 will do fine. With your coil next to the ground, adjust the Threshold knob up until a slight steady hum is heard. Next raise the coil about 6 to 8 inches off the ground. (You will pump it straight up and down slowly from 1 inch to 6 inches above the ground. And you need to adjust the ground balance knob as you are pumping it up and down.) As you raise the coil you will hear the threshold sound. (The object is to get the same sound going down as you have going up.) As you lower the coil one of three things will happen. 1-The threshold sound will get louder and raise in pitch. If this happens turn the ground balance knob counterclockwise. Keep turning it until you get the same sound up and down. 2- The threshold sound will get quiet, If this happens turn the ground balance knob clockwise. Keep turning it until you get the same sound up and down. 3- There is no change in the sound (you lucked out and it is balanced). The first time we used it we had to turn the ground balance knob a long ways, so just keep turning it in the direction you need to go. When you have acheived this flip it into discriminate mode and you are ready to detect. Watch the ground balance knob while you are detecting because you could bump it out of balance. And it might not hurt to double check it once in awhile while you are detecting. When I use it I can hold the detector in one hand and use my thumb to adjust the ground balance and this seems to work better than trying to use both hands to adjust it. Good luck, It is a excellent machine and I hope you get accustomed to it.

[curbsweeper]

this is from the manual. worked good for me just as followed



Adjust GROUND BALANCE for Air Test
The ground balance function for your Vaquero is a form of discrimination
that allows you to tune out the mineralization in the ground that
may mask targets or decrease the detector’s depth and sensitivity. The
GROUND BALANCE knob is on a 3 and ¾-turn potentiometer. While
the knob will turn endlessly in either direction, when the knob is at the
end of its range, a slight drag will be felt while turning.
The following procedure is for the air test only. For directions on
ground balancing your Vaquero in the field, see the “Ground Balancing
in the Field” section on page 16.
To set the GROUND BALANCE knob for the air test, turn the knob
5 turns counterclockwise and then turn the knob 2 turns clockwise. This
will make sure the GROUND BALANCE knob is just slightly above the
middle part of its range. No further turns will be needed for the air test.

Ground Balancing In The Field
Ground balancing is not a difficult procedure, but it is critical if you
desire maximum depth and stability. It is especially important if you plan
to find deep relics or prospect for gold nuggets.
No matter how or where you will be hunting, or whether you will be
hunting in the All Metal or Discriminate Mode, you must tune the
ground balance for the area that you will be hunting. If you fail to
ground balance for every site, you will not be working at the peak of
your detector's performance and may lose both depth and sensitivity.
To ground balance in the field, we will start by assuming your detector
is turned off. This will be the normal condition of your detector when
you start hunting. Ground balancing can be done at any time while you are
using the detector. It is not necessary to turn the machine off each time
that you ground balance.
Start with the controls in the following position:
1) SENSITIVITY on OFF.
2) DISCRIMINATE LEVEL clicked into the ALL METAL.
3) All other controls will be set during the ground balancing
procedure or are not applicable at this time.
Turn the detector on by rolling the SENSITIVITY knob clockwise to
about 9 or 10 on the dial. You
will hear a quick double beep
to let you know the detector is
operating. Next, adjust the
THRESHOLD knob until a
slight, steady hum is heard.
The machine is now ready to
be ground balanced. Next, find
an area that has no metal targets
in the ground, as this may
give false readings while in the
ground balance procedure.
As shown in the photos,
raise your searchcoil about 6 to
8 inches off the ground. This is
high enough so that the detector will no longer read the minerals in the
ground. While listening to the threshold sound, lower the searchcoil to
16 VAQUERO OPERATOR INSTRUCTION MANUAL
about 1 inch off the ground. As
the coil is dropped, the detector
will start to read the ground
minerals and will give you one
of three sounds: 1) The threshold
tone will get louder and
raise in pitch. This is a positive
response; 2) The threshold tone
will go quiet, followed by a
quick tone. This is called a negative
response; 3) There will be
no change in the threshold tone
as the coil is dropped. This is
the balanced response. When
you get a balanced response, the detector is telling you that it is ready to
hunt.
The positive and negative responses are easy to adjust. If you get a
positive response, turn the GROUND BALANCE knob towards the
minus sign on the face or in a counterclockwise direction. Getting a negative
response means turning the GROUND BALANCE knob towards the
plus sign on the faceplate or in a clockwise direction.
Here is an example of balancing: After setting up the detector, you
raise the coil and then push it to the ground. As the coil drops, the threshold
hum gets louder. You then turn the GROUND BALANCE knob counterclockwise
towards the minus sign. You pick up the coil and push down
again. This time you get a
slight negative response.
Turn the GROUND BALANCE
knob a little bit
towards the positive or in a
clockwise direction. When
raising and lowering the
coil, the threshold makes no
change as the coil is
dropped. At this point the
detector is balanced for the
area and is ready to hunt.
Ground balancing is a
learned skill, one that you
should practice often.
AVOID THIS! Never tilt your searchcoil when
"pumping" your detector to ground balance.
OPERATING TECHNIQUES 17