Compadre question

[Yickityoptorus]

Took my new Compadre out for the first time yesterday. I did fairly well and even found my first two Buffalos In most areas it would really pinpoint well and allowed me to dig a lot of targets very quickly.

We got into a few areas that were extremely trashy. I thought I had already experienced trashy areas, but these seemed to bring a whole new meaning to the word. So as you would expect the detector was just beeping like crazy. So I tried to lift the coil higher and tried upping the discrim too. But it seemed no matter what, the detector would just keep going crazy. I would call it falsing, but I know that there was a ton of junk down there. I was a little surprized that I was unable to discrim more of it out. Is this normal for the Compadre?

Thanks

[SkiWhiz]

Do you have another detector to see how it acts in the same area. I had a Compadre and all it would do is chatter, no matter where I set the control. I sent it into the factory and "the man" himself (Rusty) called me on the phone and told me there was nothing wrong with it. They made a few adjustments in it and sent it back to me. Got it in the mail, tried it out and it did the same thing, all it would do was chatter. I ended up selling it to a guy in one of the Dakota's (I think North Dakota). He let me know that it arrived and told me it worked great for him. So maybe the Compadre doesn't work as good in some parts of the country as it does in others. Steve.

[sllingshot47]

Highline wires in the area? They cause this. Now you won't believe what else-BUT if there are MAGNETS like the stick on type or just fragments of a magnet they will do this to EVERY detector I have no matter what the setting.

[thepest]

the compadre has the same circut as the tesoro tiger shark.... both detectors work on a vlf 12 khz frequency..... and for the most part....the compadre has a good reputation for picking goodies out of really trashy areas.... i'm not sure what could be scrambling the signal.... i wonder if there might be copper ore in that specific area maby???
( just a thought - it's probably not the case... but i know first hand....if the battery gets low.... most tesoro's will start chiping like your ontop of the mother load.....
" slingshot47's " magnet idea is somthing that makes me curious... i think i might just try that and see what happens....
the fact that you've had succsess tells me the detector is all good.... it's a great starter/ 2ndary machine.... i think you'll out grow it soon though.... good luck

[SkiWhiz]

Originally Posted by thepest

the compadre has the same circut as the tesoro tiger shark.... both detectors work on a vlf 12 khz frequency..... and for the most part....the compadre has a good reputation for picking goodies out of really trashy areas.... i'm not sure what could be scrambling the signal.... i wonder if there might be copper ore in that specific area maby???
( just a thought - it's probably not the case... but i know first hand....if the battery gets low.... most tesoro's will start chiping like your ontop of the mother load.....
" slingshot47's " magnet idea is somthing that makes me curious... i think i might just try that and see what happens....
the fact that you've had succsess tells me the detector is all good.... it's a great starter/ 2ndary machine.... i think you'll out grow it soon though.... good luck

I have had several Tesoro's that operate at 12kHz and none of them ever had problems with interference. Now if a Compadre works for you in whatever part of the world your at you might not ever outgrow it. I think our friend TabDog would part with his eye teeth before he would his Compadre. The Compadre uses a ED 180 discrimination and will find the smallest of goodies. Steve.

[PhilB]

Sorry to hear you are having trouble with your Compadre. I've owned a couple of them and never had a minutes trouble. From your description it sounds more like electrical interference than trashy ground. Were you detecting alone or with someone else? If you were hunting with someone else was their detector having any problems? Were you in an area you had hunted with another detector previously with no problem? Were you carrying a cellphone or a GPS unit turned on? I've never had a phone interfere but when I tried to carry a GPS it drove my Fisher F70 crazy and me too until I figured it out. One thing I have found that drives most detectors crazy to the point of being almost unusable is ground that had coal ash dumped on it. Coal ash is full of metals and sounds like an almost continuous signal. If you held the detector coil at waist level and it still chattered it almost had to be electrical interference of some kind. There are many electrical devices that can interfere with metal detectors. I hope you resolve your problem quickly. I would call Tesoro and ask to talk to Rusty or another tech. Maybe they could give you some insight into what is wrong.

[Yickityoptorus]

Well I used it a bit more yesterday and I think it's just a matter of getting used to it. It performs as described in most areas. It really does pinpoint precisely. So far I really like it in easy digging areas like tot lots. If the digging conditions are easy, I can pinpoint super fast and dig a lot of holes in a short time. My deep dime and tiny object count really went up with this machine.

I'm pretty sure the problem wasn't electrical interference.
I'm still just a bit confused by the discrim. It doesn't seem able to disc Iron or steal very well. I guess the confusing thing was the lack of improvement when the discrim was turned up. Maybe it was just the soil conditions in the area combined with an exceptionally trashy site. I think it's probably ok. But I may put in a call to Tesoro anyway.

[Diggler]

Even if you put in a new battery I would try another one just in case. Sounds the same way when they start to go.

[digdug1968]

I've heard the "chattering" sound from the compadre we used this year, but it was only in certain areas on certain days. I live in NE pennsylvania, and there's bloody coal ash in every yard - It was mined here for a hundred years.......
There's ash in my own yard, but down about 9-12 inches. Anyhow, the last time the compadre was misbehaving this way..... chattering, was in my back yard....... I'd hunted it all year long with no such previous troubles, even with coal ash in the ground it worked fine. I put in a fresh battery, same problem still. But I did notice that on that particular day, the dirt was very, very dry, hadn't had rain in some time. Once we got just a touch of rain and the ground was a little moist, a day or two later, no chatter at all in the same location. Has it been dry in your area lately?

[IntoIt]

I`ll give odds its a trashy area. They are sensitive to even the tiniest piece of foil.
Around picnic tables especially.
I have a 4 inch coil that really cuts the chatter and goes pretty deep.
You might consider getting one.




Good Luck Out There.

[Diggler]

Originally Posted by IntoIt

I`ll give odds its a trashy area. They are sensitive to even the tiniest piece of foil.
Around picnic tables especially.
I have a 4 inch coil that really cuts the chatter and goes pretty deep.
You might consider getting one.




Good Luck Out There.

Four inch coil is awesome in trashy areas. EXTREMELY sensitive too. But they don't make it any longer. And nobody is letting go of the used ones. Highly recommended though.

[Yickityoptorus]

It was pretty dry at the time, and around heavily used picnic tables and bbq pits. I'm probably just not used to a sensitive detector. My other is a Tracker IV, which I do really like. Great for cleaning clad, but not highly sensitive like the Compadre. I think all is well. It's just so quick at pinpointing target after target.

[digdug1968]

The compadre is super sensitive, yes...... In a very clean of trash football field, where we found a gold pendant, we actually pinpointed and dug a staple at about 5 inches. Not one of those heavy ones..... a single staple like is used to staple papers together.

We were running in "all metal" mode. In all metal they find all metal for sure!

[SkiWhiz]

Originally Posted by Diggler

Four inch coil is awesome in trashy areas. EXTREMELY sensitive too. But they don't make it any longer. And nobody is letting go of the used ones. Highly recommended though.

Not sure if the factory is still making them or not but you can find new one easy enough, just look on the big online auction site.
.

[PhilB]

Originally Posted by SkiWhiz

Not sure if the factory is still making them or not but you can find new one easy enough, just look on the big online auction site.
.

A 4in coil is well and good but just how is he supposed to swap coils? All the Compadres I've owned have the coil hard-wired to the control box. Has Tesoro changed the Compadre and put a plug on the control box to switch coils easily?

[SkiWhiz]

Originally Posted by PhilB

A 4in coil is well and good but just how is he supposed to swap coils? All the Compadres I've owned have the coil hard-wired to the control box. Has Tesoro changed the Compadre and put a plug on the control box to switch coils easily?

I was just replying to Diggler's post saying they no longer make a 4" coil. The Compadre is hard wired to either a 5.75" or a 7" coil depending if it is a new or older model. There has been some that mod'ed the Compadre so you can change coils, I beleive the Compadre's that is made for overseas comes standard with a 8" coil. Steve.

[Diggler]

Originally Posted by SkiWhiz

Not sure if the factory is still making them or not but you can find new one easy enough, just look on the big online auction site.
.

Maybe you should tell that to the guy on TQ who has been looking for a while...

[Yickityoptorus]

Originally Posted by digdug1968

we actually pinpointed and dug a staple at about 5 inches. Not one of those heavy ones..... a single staple like is used to staple papers together.

I don't doubt it a bit. I've found bits of foil (candy wrapper and such) at 4 and 5 inches that are no bigger than an ants butt

[SkiWhiz]

Originally Posted by Diggler

Maybe you should tell that to the guy on TQ who has been looking for a while...

I don't go to TQ very often. Check your pm's Diggler I will send you the info for a new 4" uMax coil if you want to relay the message to the guy on TQ. Thanks. Steve.

[sllingshot47]

I tried to find a penny on a pair of pliers with my Silver umax-which he could do WITHOUT detecting the pliers. The closest I could get to duplicating it was with the 4" coil. So it seems to have SOME benefits as far as target masking. But it sure takes a long time to search a football field.