Tesoro Tiger Shark learnings

[dahut]

I have been a long time Tesoro user and a few years ago I got hold of a Tiger Shark for $375. I figured that was good deal, so I didnt pass it up. Since that time, though, my TS has been in the closet - high and dry.

Knowing it was designed on the same platform as the Bandido series, I assumed it just a wet version of those models. Wrong! This marks the first season I have tried to really use it, and I have had nothing but problems. I sent it to the factory and they returned it wth several notes to yours truly, the sum of which were that I was my own worst enemy. I rushed out to ry it today, having been wisened a little more than before ... or so I thought. Let me share a few things that I've learned.

1. The Tiger Shark ISN'T like other Tesoro detectors and can't be treated like them. That's Rule #1.

2. They say the TS is sensitive to small gold - you hear it often, right?. Well, it IS for one reason... it is sensitive as hell out of the gate! The detector fairly quivers on it's own.

I got mine back from the factory yesterday with the SENS at half span on the adjust pot - that's the factory setting. They let me know that running wide open, as I was initially, was NOT a good idea.

Once I got it back, I had to monkey with it, of course. Bad idea. Erratic behavior ensued, mostly from bumping the coil or wiggling it enough for the coil to see the cable! When I got it home, I backed it down.
If there was some sort of 'stupid paint', I'd be covered in it.

3. I found that I should NOT turn up the threshold, either. See, I figured it would 'hyper tune' like other Tesoro's, gaining a little performance edge. Wrong again, bucko! If you do that, you can't hear subtle changes in the intensity and so can't ground balance the thing! Hadda turn that one down, too.

4. I found it is helpful to turn up the audio volume near max. This doesnt have any ill reffect on the controls, but lets you hear better when the wind is blowing.

If I could refine the Tiger Shark, I would put the SENS and THRESH controls on the face. To me, this would be a help, since I like to fiddle with them. At least if did get them whacked out, I could set them back. As it is, they are sealed in the interior and once set, you cant adjust them without opening the control housing.

I finally got it back to something like normal conditions, once I got back home. For the rest of the season, I'll just leave the thing alone and try to get the stupid paint wiped off!

 

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[kevino1960]

dahut, thanks for ensuring me that I am not the only one with T/S problems. Mine squawks and squeeks at the least provocation, I have dug a jillion bobby pins! I have had mine since Christmas (of 06) and I am still learning Thanks again and Good Luck.

Kevin

 

[dahut]

dahut, thanks for assuring me that I am not the only one with T/S problems. Mine squawks and squeeks at the least provocation, I have dug a jillion bobby pins!

Well, this is re-assuring to ME. I dont really mind the squawks and chirps, I was just not sure if they should be occurring! They are non-repeating and are easy to tell, but it seems the thing will squawk if you sweep the coil too fast through the water!

As for bobby pins, I don't really mind them. They are pretty easy to discern and I dont spend too much time chasing them. I am surpised that women are still using so many of them, though.

In fact, I like to know when iron targets are there. One of the nice things about water hunting is the reduced trash, and the iron "cracklers" are tolerable.

I have come to trust the TS in its ability to discern iron with it's crackles and pops, in fact. Note I said, "discern," not discriminate. I WANT to know the iron is there. That's one of the only things about the 1280X I didnt like. It discriminated small iron completely when set at about 2-3. Below that, the Fisher would just signal normally.

Not so, the Tiger Shark - it never really likes iron, especially the small stuff. No matter what the setting is, it just crackles and pops on iron. Meanwhile, this broken signal remains repeatable, alerting me to the presence of the item. I refer to it as the "iron signal," and consider the T-Shark a two tone detector because of it.

Not long ago I found a very nice pair of nail clippers and one of those knock-off multi tools. I dug them because my Tesoro announced them as iron by crackling and popping and going on in the usual way. Sure, they wouldnt qualify for Find of the Year, but I would prefer to have them than to leave them behind. The multi-tool is now part of my detecing bag, another tool I needn't buy, because I FOUND it.

I have had mine since Christmas (of 06) and I am still learning Thanks again and Good Luck.

No sir, thank you! I appreciate your response.

 

[Sandman]

I am waiting for my Tiger Shark to come back from the factory for repair. Mine wouldn't ground balance and at times acted like a spoiled brat with whimpering and such. It never did that before. When it refused to sound off on a nickel, off it went. So till it comes back I am using the CZ20 as my back up to the Excal.

 

[dahut]

Sandman replies

...so are you saying its NOT supposed to make occasional and/or random noises?
As for the threshold, I really have to keep it low, just at the barely audible level. If I go much above that, it wont respond to ground conditions with audio swells or dropoffs as I bob the coil.

I test mine on my 14K wedding band and it blasts me out on that, so I suspect its working. And after all it just came back from the factory with a clean ticket.

I wa about to make up my mind that it does make random noises, when you say yours is "whimpering" and "acting like a spoiled brat." Would you object to trying a slightly more objective description of the problems?

 

[kevino1960]

Oh Boy, just when you start feeling confident something comes along and dashes your hope Oh well, can't wait for Sandman's explanation for this 'behavior'.

Kevin

 

[Sandman]

Ok, I will try to explain what I think is happening. I've noticed that the battery holder sometimes fails to make contact well inside. If you have one battery that is not up to spec. the TS behaves funny with noises. I once tried to use Lithium batteries and you can forget that as the voltage is different.

Tesoro hasn't contacted me yet about what is really wrong with my baby. I've noticed also that on one beach it always acted up even when the coil was held in the air. I guessed that a electrical station near by or the State Police post might have been transmitting near the same frequency. I am not sure if this is possible, but I know many detectors have trouble near the high electrical towers. When I moved farther away, things were perfect again in the noise dept. Sometimes I don't think the manufactures repair them at all but perform an exorcism.

When you turn on the TS, it should be ground balanced in all metal fast mode. Once ground balanced the threshold should be low and steady when the coil is held still near the ground. As you would slowly move the coil, the threshold would increase in volume if a change took place. When switched to Disc. mode, it should remain steady without any chirps and squawks when the coil is still. Can sound like a strangled duck I've been told. Because the TS is so sensitive, I believe it can respond to other stimulus and even pick up your coil wire if it is loose with any movement. Bad contacts near the plug will also cause this behavior. But tyring to move mine didn't produce any extra noises. If mine comes back still acting funny, well my dumb brother in law gets a new detector. He won't know the difference.

 

[dahut]

I've noticed that the battery holder sometimes fails to make contact well inside.
If you have one battery that is not up to spec, the TS behaves funny with noises.

Near as I can tell, the holder is working as intended. One bad cell can cause issues, eh? Interesting…

I've noticed also that on one beach it always acted up even when the coil was held in the air. I guessed that an electrical station near by or the State Police post might have been transmitting near the same frequency. I am not sure if this is possible, but I know many detectors have trouble near the high electrical towers. When I moved farther away, things were perfect again in the noise dept. Sometimes I don't think the manufactures repair them at all, but perform an exorcism.

I have had electrical interference cause trouble before, too. In retrospect, it could have been the culprit with my TS, as there are many nearby wires and a police/rescue station nearby. Not to mention that fact that I had everything maxed out.
If you can believe it, I had the SENS dialed to max and the threshold very high. In my case I was being stupid – I don’t think Tesoro had to fix anything except a set of battery contacts that had become corroded during a lengthy storage period.

When you turn on the TS, it should be ground balanced in all metal fast mode. Once ground balanced the threshold should be low and steady when the coil is held still near the ground. As you would slowly move the coil, the threshold would increase in volume if a change took place.

That’s the normal MO. But like I said, I gotta monkey with everything.
I had been trying to SuperTune my TS, so I had the threshold turned up too much. What I learned was that if the threshold is increased beyond the merest whimper, I can’t get the ground balance to audibly change – the volume stays the same no matter how much I bob the coil or twirl the control.

When switched to Disc. mode, it should remain steady without any chirps and squawks when the coil is still….because the TS is so sensitive, I believe it can respond to other stimulus and even pick up your coil wire if it is loose with any movement.

Well, mine operates that way. When I keep the coil still, I don’t get any noise. When I wave or wobble the coil, or bump the coil on the bottom as I sweep in the water, then I get spurious noises…the squawks and squeaks we talk about. Much of my own issues have to do with me being knob-happy and turning everything up. I’ll leave it alone for awhile and get to know it better…

 

[klopek]

Hey I want yall's opinion. I was trying to decide between the tiger shark, the beach hunter ID and the 1280x. I want to keep my money inside the USA , but I also want to discriminate out the iron for some fresh water lake and swimming holes. with that being said and all the good threads about the tiger shark should I go ahead and get it. I might end up using it moreover my seahunter mark II. I apologize for high jacking this thred but it seemed like the right spot to ask my question .

 

[dahut]

The Tiger Shark has two of the most used adjustments on the inside: the sensitivity and the threshold. Tesoro claims they are not needed that often so they are well off inside. I think it has more to do with space on the faceplate.

They could have put the SALT/NORM mode selector inside just as readily as it is truly used infrequently by most. They could have swapped that control with the SENS and done a better job of it, IMHO.

On the other hand, the Tiger Shark works well and has adequate depth. It is the only one of the three that has a dedicated SALT mode. It also has interchangeable coils - try that with any other water detector. On iron, it mostly just crackles and pops, unless you are set near zero DISC and encounter a largish chunk of ferrous trash. Even then the signal will be broekn and harsh.
I prefer that sort of response (see what I say about the 1280X below).

However the BHID gets good reviews at the marine shore by most surf pirates. It also has lights you can gawk at, and supposedly they work on iron! I suspect it is the deepest of the three, but cant prove it. I dont know that it matters too much in fresh water anyway, since things dont sink far in lake bottoms.
But there are reports of seal issues and the coil is not a weighted type, which means it wants to float when submerged. I dont have one so I cant say more. Besides, you have your SH MkII for the ocean beaches and from what I see, you are getting pretty good with it! Id stick with that.

This brings us to the 1280X and like every Fisher of the old lineage, it is a workhorse. I'd call it a standard, even a benchmark. It performs flawlessly and is built like a tank. It has a little light, too, which blinks when you get a good hit - if you like that sort of thing. All the adjustments are on the outside (are you listening, James Gifford?) and the batteries are externally attached, too, like your SH. I'd say it's somewhat deeper than the Tesoro, which is to say not much of a difference. Again, its adequate.

It discriminates well, and will simply blank on iron. This is not something I prefer, and if I had my druthers would have it react as the Tiger Shark does. But it works very well.

The only drawbacks to the 1280X are that when pole mounted, it is awkward and it is heavy. Chest mounting it on a harness will solve that, handily.

I said all that to to say this. Stick with either the Tesoro or the Fisher as first choice, the Whites second.

I got the Tesoro because of the repair reputation. I had a problem with it lately, so called the company. I got a return call from James Gifford, we talked (a great guy), and he said send it in. They made a minor repair to it and sent it back ppd. They also gently let me know that much of my problems were of my own making. With that sort of treatment on a hard use water machine, I prefer the Tesoro.

 

[SusanMN]

Here is my two cents on the BH ID vs the Tiger Shark. I owned the BH ID for a full day, and the TS for a couple of months. Here were my issues with the Beachhunter and why it was packed up fast. First, the battery lid came with a loose pin. Called Kelly Co and they said that's very common, the could have talked me through fixing it but its nothing I'd have the patience to do on a regular basis. Took it for a test run in shallow water only, since I couldn't guarantee the battery case was water tight. Second thing I hated was the fact that the earphones were extraordinarily loud and there was no volume control. Figured I'd get hearing loss every time I found something. Third, the coil wanted to pop up in the water and took additional effort to hold down. That was enough for me. Boxed it up and returned it. Bought the Tiger Shark and loved it from the beginning. Easy to set up, easy to use and well balanced, even for a weakling woman like me. IT would be nice though if it had different tones but after a while you can distinguish the good squak from the bad. Just takes some listening to it.

 

[dahut]

Tank you b-bling. A nice refreshing commentary, short and concise (something I've never been).
Ive been considering a 2nd water unit, but want one with dual fresh/salt capability. Looks like it my be back to the Excal.

 

[klopek]

I think I will hold off on a purchase until the cz-21 is released and look into it also.Anyone else thinking about this unit? Thanks Dahut for answering my comments.