Vaquero settings

Joe6112 said:

New to my Vaquero, hoping to hear some advice in setting it up for relic hunting.

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The best settings that I've found for my Vaquero.

Threshold - Use a very slight audible hum on the threshold. If it's set so low that you can't hear it you will lose depth and if it's set too high you will start losing the audio modulation which helps you determine the depth and size of a target. Once you find the sweet spot, mark that location on the discrimination dial with a 'tick' mark. If you change that setting your ears will be thrown off and will have to become familiar with the new setting. A good set of headphones is a absolute must! I use Killer B Wasp headphones with the 'limiter' switch in the on position.

Sensitivity - I set mine as high as I can without the detector becoming unstable in the discriminate mode. Most of the time it's set at full sensitivity and very seldom will I have to dial it back some. Even when I do, it's still in the red. The Vaquero detectors and Cibola that I use will lose noticeable depth as the sensitivity is decreased.

Ground Balance - It's very important to have a slight negative ground balance. Too negative and the detector becomes unstable and too positive and the detector will lose depth.

Discrimination - There are '5' very important points to know and mark on the discrimination dial.

The first point is where a common iron nail just barely discriminates out. I use that setting the most because it's the most effective at unmasking good targets at nail infested sites and will hit hard on very small gold jewelry.

The second point is where a Gatorade Sports Foil Cap just barely discriminates out. Any higher and you will start to lose very tiny baby size gold rings. I use that setting when I'm digging a lot of foil caps or lots of tiny pieces of foil. If you're after small gold rings, never ever go any higher than that point.

The third point is where a modern day pull tab (square tab) just barely discriminates out. That point is very useful at newer parks that are loaded with square tabs and there are no older style beaver tail pull tabs to contend with. At that setting you can still find gold rings, but not the smaller ones that are the most numerous and overlooked.

The forth point is where the older beaver tail style pull tab just barely discriminates out. This setting can be used at older parks that are loaded them. Even at this high of a discrimination setting you can still find the larger gold rings and find plenty of silver coins. You really should never go any higher on the discrimination than this. Just dig the zinc pennies and screw caps.

The fifth point is where a modern zinc penny just barely discriminates out. I very seldom if ever use a discrimination setting that high, because all hopes of even finding large gold class rings are gone. Now, if you're not into digging a lot or can't and still want to find silver coins and modern day coins this setting may suit you.

It's best to use as little discrimination are you can, because you will lose gold rings at higher discrimination settings and you will have less masking of good targets. You really should start off detecting using the lowest discrimination setting until you see what you're up against at a particular site. At the point where nails just barely discriminate out, dig 20 targets. If I only dig 2 beaver tails and 18 modern day pull tabs, I'm going to set the discrimination at modern day pull tabs and dig the occasional beaver tail because I want to stay as much as I can in the gold ring zone.

A discrimination setting depends on the site conditions and how much a person wants to dig and give up.

Tesoro has by far the best discriminators in the business. Use them wisely.

beephead

I'm pretty comfortable using something similar to what BH wrote about in his comments. The only thing I do different (and I'm not sure why) is I try to reach a "neutral" GB level so there is no up or down difference when I am pumping the coil.

Another thing I will do ocassionally is to flip my decrim knob back to AM and re tune or double check my GB.

I will rarely use the descrim knob to see where a target gets descriminated out at, if the target tone is good, I'm digging it. I must admit, those beaver tails and square tabs make a real pretty tone....smiles.

HDD