Tesoro Beeps and Blips

I found the best thing to do was spending a lot of time with the machine digging almost everything. After a few hunts, you start committing to memory the various sounds certain objects make. Hit a few tot lots so you can learn coin sounds and junk sounds and see where each of those targets discrimate out at. You'll quickly learn to distinguish between a solid, round, coin sound and an uneven, rough, junk sound. Welcome to the hobby and enjoy your Mojave. Tesoro makes awesome machines!

Just takes some time to get familiar with the various sounds.
Keep the disc as low as you can stand, 1/2 way in the iron foil section
will get rid of most nails and still hit tiny rings and most gold chains.
When you find a target turn the disc knob till it goes away then turn it
back until it beeps again. Make mental notes on where different targets
come in or go out and also how cleanly they disc out.
Rings and coins usually disc out cleanly and other junky, mixed metal
targets will pop and hiss as they are discriminated out.

You can also spend a bit of time with the disc set right before the zinc area.
Cruise around the park and dig some pennies dimes and quarters to
help get a handle on how coins sound.

Its a great little machine that can out hunt machines costing lots more.

When you get tired of digging bits of foil, muscle up and keep digging them because a good majority of gold jewelry rings up down there!!!

Can't really add all that much to the great advice already given! One thing is for sure...if you stick with the hobby long enough you'll learn to pick the good targets out of all those rejected "pop and click" sounds with that Tesoro in the same hole! Welcome to the hobby and HH!

Much great advise has been given already. But without overwhelming you, here are a couple of other tips. If you get a quick clean double target hit sound/signal...it is usually a surface or 1/2" below surface find. If you get a strong loud sound/signal and that seems large in size when sweeping the coil...it is usually a can. Or another way of checking is to lift your coil off the ground about 6-8" and the sound is still strong....it is usually a can/lid. In short, in the beginning and perhaps even longer...dig everything and you will be surprised on what you will find. At the nickel setting is where many gold rings and unfortunately flip tabs are at too. So be mindful about the temptation of discriminating the nickels out, especially if the area is not trashy/junk areas.

Keep digging and you will find the treasure!

If you are looking for a beep and dig, look towards a Deep Tech for the two tones and can set the tones to break wherever you want and you can have an iron volume if chosen to get a model with that feature.

scratch that, you already have a Tesoro, Congrats and repetition of targets and digging them will become familiar with most of your targets.Beephead would be one to ask questions to , Digger 27 also has a Mojave as well, both extremely knowledgeable folks as are others who already chimed in.

Great advice, i went out today and found some clad. I will go tomorrow and try to apply some of your suggestions. Thanks all, this forum is a huge boost for me to get out and hunt despite my sore leg muscles. The first day i hunted was two days ago and im sore cause i dug everything. Im going to the same spot tomorrow armed with more knowledge thanks guys.

Definitely gonna have some sore and shaky legs for a bit.

Who'd have thought.......treasure hunting=exercise!

I have a Teknetics T2, Tesoro Eldorado and Silver. I find even with the T2 I go back to the Tesoro's all the time, especially at my iron littered sites. It is a machine that simply works and is light enough to swing all day, it runs right along with the "big" machines for sure. I love the simplicity.

As others have said, dig it all at first. Set up a test garden for yourself and listen to the differences between the items. To put it simply, good targets sound good. Bad targets always have an odd or off sound to them, a scratch or break up when you turn 90 degrees to them. Iron crackles on the edges.
Coins sound "round" they are sweet, clean and smooth and a smaller target. I find time and time again that if I doubt a signal or hesitate while listening to the signal, it is almost always trash. There is no doubt when you are over a good target, you go over it and know you are going to dig. It takes time, but you will get there. Nothing I love more than getting a signal and telling myself "that is coming out of the ground."

I used to thumb the discrimination knob and use it to figure out what targets were and make an educated guess, this helped in the learning process analyzing sounds and settings. Now I set my discrimination where I am happy, and dig it all if it sounds good and sometimes even if it doesn't but has enough to pique my interest or if I know I am in a really trashy site and something may be trying to come through (although this tricks me a lot, especially around square nails). I make sure my ground balance is set right which really helps with the tone. I will run my discrimination low to begin with, but later on as the ear fatigue sets in will start turning the discrimination up and cherry picking more.

A book which I found useful is "Mastering the Tesoro Tejon and Vaquero Metal Detectors". Good information on settings, and applicable to most Tesoros. Good luck and have fun!

A another excellent post fish and chips.The Mojave was an excellent choice as you can change coils as long as they are the 5 pin epsilon coils. The Compadre, you cannot unless you mod it to adapt different coils. They are basically all you need without display screens, like I mentioned earlier, they should have went to a two tone high/low tone but they didn't and that is why I would suggest a Deep Tech machine and with a iron audio it can go further yet. There is also a Aka Pilgrim-47 is a new Russian made beep and dig with multi tones out on the market but no dealership or support here in the US as you will get when buying a Deep Tech. you will learn more by learning audio responses first and then if you eventually upgrade to a display screen, you will still be ahead of the game as to learn to listen to the audio and hear what the machine is telling you. I chose not to buy the Mojave but I have had many Tesoros in the past, still have a Silver Sabre II, but I am going to pick up the newly about to be released Deep Tech Vista gold gain soon for the 30 kHz frequency. Actually it is released already, just not have been available in the US yet, you can pre order it now but I am buying from Poland through a friend. Enough of that, back to Tesoro, practice listening to targets, coin targets, rings, pull tabs....get accustom to hearing the differences between them. Use your discrimination knob to cut pull tab, can slaw from the audio and then dial them back in on the coil swing where they just break back into the audio response and listen to how they sound so much different from a good target. Most people call it thumbing the knob, can't remember if Digger 27 or Monte first posted the method years ago but it works.Depending on the density of the ground you are hunting if you get a iffy signal and might think its a pull tab. locate the target in the ground using the X method and smack the ground with your spade over the target and then recheck the audio response. A pull tab will often sound slightly different than previously heard when stomped with a boot heel or tamped with a spade blade. Obviously, if your ground is compact or hard digging, the method most likely won't have favorable results for your effort. If I were to suggest one thing with prefixed ground systems of Tesoros, I would suggest running over the same areas in a less sensitivity setting once you think you've found everything there is to be found with running high sensitivity. Inaccurate ground settings combined with ultra high sensitivity settings can confuse the processor, a lower sensitivity setting some times works better but it doesn't always apply as nothing is ever carved in stone.

Something I wrote a long time ago in an effort to help a new Compadre owner and seemed to help others get an initial grasp on this new world you have entered.
Many other great tips in this thread from others, also.
http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=77822


Ahhh...learning the Tesoro language.
Like learning any new foreign language it can sound strange at first but as you hear and learn the words and start to make comparative connections in your head of targets sounds and behavior it becomes easier and easier as time goes on until one day you find it has become second nature.
The cool thing is for me the whole process was great fun along the whole way and I found a lot of great treasure as I tread along that path as each of those many hours passed.

It is true that none of really know what we are swinging over until you actually dig it but after hearing similar sounds on single targets over and over and notice certain behavior that repeats you gain confidence in your skills as they grow.

Many of us do this in many different ways, there really is no wrong way to do this hobby and each hunter finds his own path along the journey.
Some just set these things and dig everything that beeps...I did this at first and it is still the best way to learn to make those connections at first.
Some still prefer to do it this same way even after many years.
Others, like myself, prefer to avoid digging everything so we look for ways to avoid digging it all but still want to find the most treasure we can without letting those "what if" feelings bother us so bad the hobby becomes frustrating and less fun.
I am at the complete other end of the scale from the dig everything guys, digging too much trash was becoming a problem for me as the years went on so I continued to learn my tools and looked for ways to optimise my time and digging efforts to dig the least amount of trash possible but still find the most treasure while keeping those what if feelings at bay.

How to do this.
We have many different techniques and methods at our disposal.
First that one tone, there are so many different facets to that single tone and we Tesoroheads know this well...after some hours of experience listening.
I use both kinds of machines, those with screens and my Tesoros and I get great pleasure from both but in different ways...I wouldn't enjoy this hobby if I didn't have the options to use both kinds.
What I learn using one has helped me get better using the other more than you might believe.
"Just" beep and dig machines is so far away from reality it isn't funny but don't even try to explain this to those that don't understand this stuff because it will do you no good.
Curiously that kind of opinion is usually expressed by those that never held something like these in their hands or did try them for a short time but never came close to putting in any time or effort to actually understand them.
Think about it, if these things with their throwback technology is so lacking in ability compared to the modern whiz-bang tool we have now why is Tesoro still even around and why do so many hunters still own and use and continue to purchase them?
And notice we are a very loyal and rabid bunch and continue to be to this day no matter how many make fun of us.


You will read posts from owners that mention many of the same key words pertaining to that single "beep", scratchy, solid, clear and much more over and over...these are part of that language and you will come to understand and differentiate as you gain experience.

Then there is coil manipulation...we can move the coil around and over targets, rimming, raising that coil and all kinds of ways that can tell us much about target information that can help us make some pretty accurate educated guesses and better digging decisions.

The disc knob "thumbing" technique is another that is the most important to me as I do hate to waste time digging tons of trash.
I do this on every target I swing over and have for years, many do it only this way as I do and we do it over every target.
Do it this way long enough and you will become very fast and efficient at it.
We keep the disc low to get the best, loudest and most solid signal we can and thumb that knob up to not only the fade out point to figure out what targets might be as Tesoro says to do in every one of their manuals but continue past to silence and then back down while swinging over targets and listen closely to how targets "come in" instead.
More about this in this thread...
http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=149441


For the life of me we can't figure out why Tesoro never has mentioned this in any of their literature but we that have compared both ways can guarantee that this up then back down method is way more accurate....way more.
So much information can be gleaned from listening to exactly how targets come in doing it this way you might not believe me at your early stage but it is true.
I have found so much treasure this way while digging a relatively small amount of trash for years now...it is a more higher percentage way of doing it and sure, I could miss something good along the way, but my track record is surprisingly good and just the way I prefer to do it...the only way I prefer to do it nowadays.
Keep in mind the only way it is possible for me to be so successful at this technique is after putting in many, many hours learning my tools as well as I could, (which is still an ongoing process), and by digging car loads of trash along the way as I got better at it.
No pain, no gain but over time I dug less and less trash as time went on while still finding more and more great treasure.

So there are many facets to the essence of this Tesoro language, the sounds, the coil movements, the knob manipulations...use a few, use them all but make an effort to learn them and then use what you learn the best way you know how and whatever way makes best sense to you.

Be patient and it does take time to get good at any of them but what in this life doesn't?
It is not a hassle but a labor of love to learn to be proficient with these deceptively simple tools and each new thing you learn builds upon itself until before you know it you have a pretty good grasp of that language.
As I mentioned we all dig our fair share of treasure along the way even during the learning process and it usually doesn't take all that long to get pretty decent at it.
Mastering this language, who knows, I am into this 8 years now and I haven't yet and maybe never will, totally, but a little understanding in the Tesoro world goes a long way.
A very long way...just ask any of us Tesoro guys.

Just keep at it, you will see.

I want all to know i really appreciate your experiences and insights into the Tesoro unit. Truly invaluable advice. Thanks guys.

I got my start on a Silver uMax, which I regrettably sold. All I an say is it takes patience to learn and hundreds if not thousands of hours in the field. You start to get an ear for the sound and become able hear slight variations in tone. You really need a good set of headphones. I didn't realize how good I was getting with the Silver uMax until I sold it for a pure digital machine. I was back at square one of the learning curve.

With regard to thumbing the disc on a target, remember that depth decreases as disc is increased. So a good target on the very limits of detection depth will go silent as you increase the disc, giving you the false impression that it was junk. You might be shocked at what you are leaving behind if you retrace your steps and NOT thumb the disc, but just dig everything at your fixed disc setting. That was my experience anyway.

I got my Tejon recently, and Digger's advice really helped -- also what Fish n Chips wrote. And the Tejon/Vaquero book is absolutely worth the money. I love my Tejon, so happy with the sounds, and finding it much more accurate, deeper, and more effective in trashy areas.

There's not a lot of info in the official manual, unfortunately, and no official Tesoro videos. But this guy on YT has made some pretty good videos on a few Tesoro models, and even if you have a different model, he's still pretty informative about Tesoros in general.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aYUM2H_Fcs

The following is probably the best article I've read concerning the sounds your detector makes.
https://www.ahrps.org/_tipsAndTechniques/AudioTargetClassification.pdf

I think only time with the Tesoro you're using will teach you what the audio is saying. It's not really that hard to tell a good target from an iffy target so try to remember what came out of the ground when you heard that good, solid, clear, round signal.

I read a lot and watch a lot of videos on the new machines that are available. Enough so that I bought a new Etrac to help in some of the iron infested areas I hunt. This machine will take some time to learn but the Etrac has yet to beat my Tesoro beepers in the field.

What I have concluded watching videos and reading reports about new tech detectors is that they all still depend very heavily on audio response to decide to dig or not to dig. Most owners will say that at a certain depth VDI is iffy and jumpy causing the hunter to listen closely to audio to make the choice to stay or move on. People seem to spend a lot of time at a hole with the new machines trying to figure out what it all means.

Weight? the Mojave weighs 2 lbs and costs less than some coils for other machines and will find some amazing stuff. Recovery speed? Beepers don't have a problem with speed of any kind. Quality? Tesoro is top quality.

So, on a new site I'll typically grab My Shadow X2, Mojave, or other Tesoro and hit the area to determine if there's any signals producing those good solid beeps and finding keepers. You can cover a lot of area with a beeper pretty quick.

If the site has promise I'll then drag out the Etrac and start on the iron areas. The Etrac has done well in some areas and surprised me, But....even on the Etrac I'm listening to audio a lot more than depending on numbers.

So to conclude? I'm honestly through buying more detectors!! I have at last decided that if what I have won't find it? so what???

I ramble and digress to some extent and the above is of course personal and individual opinion only and your mileage may vary, but it works for me..

Would like to see how the mojave compares with stock coil? I wouldn’t expect it to hit 12” but the recovery is more of what I am interested in.


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