Newbie with a Deleon

[bigjamesinohio]

Newbie with a Deleon'

So I am relativley new to this hobby and would like to hear others opinions on the Tesoro Deleon. I picked up this detector new last year and am pretty amped about getting out and doing some digging. Any suggestions on settings or areas to search would be really helpful. I live in Ohio's snow belt! We have had snow FOREVER and it is being predicted to be a really nice weekend FINALLY!!!! is this detector good for beach hunting? Are there any good areas I should start in, I have searched some area playgrounds and enjoyed finding the kiddies lunch money! HEHEHEHe
THANK YOU for any advice

 

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[Trackerman]

I don't have one but from what I've read it's a pretty good detector. Learn it and I'm sure it will get you some real nice finds. Good luck and congrats.

 

[luvsdux]

I've found that I get very good performance and stable operation from my DeLeon by setting the sensitivity a bit below maximum. Somewhere in the 6-8 range with discrimination just above iron.
luvsdux

 

[Shortstack]

Every detector has it's own way of reacting to targets even though the handbook lists what it SHOULD be doing. Soooo, you should tune yourself into what YOUR machine is saying.

You can easily do this by making test targets and seeing how yours is reacting. What I did was take several wood paint stir sticks and apoxied different things onto them......one target per stick. I got various coins, old and new and different designs of poptops and pulltabs. Also, make one using a flat steel washer because those will often show up on the DeLeon's readout as a quarter, but if you see the numerical differences between a flat steel washer and a real quarter, that will be your key info.

When your test targets are finished, take them into your yard and find an area, using the detector, that is free of targets (good and bad) and lay your new test subjects ON THE GROUND. Air tests are worthless. You want the test items laying on the ground so that the machine will have to compensate for the ground mineral composition as it is deciphering your target piece. Begin your testing with the machine set at the average settings and you can adjust those during the test session and see what results you'll be getting then. For some reason, the zinc coated pennies from the 1980s and 90s show up as nickels. I don't know how these newer pennies will show up. I haven't been coinshooting in a good while.

If you have different sized coils for your machine, you should do these tests using each of them.......AND take note of exactly WHERE on each coil the target CENTERS for pinpointing. If the targets "center" slightly different from what the manual says it should, mark the centering point on the coil itself using some kind of indelible ink marker with a contrasting color to the coil's color.

Lastly, remember to NOT over drive the detector. In other words, do not set the sensitivity too high. Usually, that will result in loss of depth and erratic operation. This is one of he main mistakes newbies to the hobby will make in setting up their new machines. Once you get used to the way the detector sounds while you are searching, you can increase the sensitivity to the maximum usuable by increasing the setting.....take a few swings......then increase a little bit more. What you're doing is finding the point at which the response becomes unstable by making popping and scratchy sounds. At that point, back off on the sensitivity setting until the sounds become smoother again.

EDIT: One more important point. Do NOT constantly watch the readout on the detector while you're searching. That will be a bad mistake. Learn to use your EARS first and recognizing the good sounds from the bad and use the readouts as BACKUP info for confirmation. I did that at first and had to "retrain" myself in proper detecting practice by going back to my Bandido II for a while.

All of these steps will improve your detecting and if you can get the very best headphones possible to use with you machine, then you'll have an excellent package. A couple of years ago, I was fortunate enough to order a pair of RAT Phones at a time when the builder had some on hand. The gentleman only made a few at a time and would quickly sell out. I happened to time it just right and got a pair. FANTASTIC phones.