Metal Detecting articles from njminerals.org

Side by Side Comparison -

Minelab Explorer XS vs. Tesoro Tejon

njminerals.org is mainly about [what else?] mineral collecting, but we have a bit of metal detecting stuff as well... this little sub-section may become larger if time allows.  Behold, Chris's Metal Detecting Page.

About the color scheme:  most of njminerals.org uses a black background.  This was meant to give the impression of being in a darkened room, making the glow of the minerals more prominent.   It would be nice to keep the whole site consistently light-on-dark, but people who surf in looking for metal detector info seem to find it odd.

What's New:

We received an email from another detectorist.  Even after reading our article, he seemed to believe the Tejon was somehow far inferior to the Minelab.  He was incredulous that our own article could be true (though true it is, and based on a carefully-conducted test).

This emailer referred to something called the "Ingo Test".

He pointed to an experiment (made using the Ingo Test) that suggested the Tesoro Tejon could find a  0.7" silver coin at no more than 4.72 inches, while the Explorer series could find the same coin at better than 7 inches.  That's about a dime-dized coin.

While the test is interesting, it fails to take into account the ionization that would occur from soil acids and water over many years.

"Study it carefully," said the emailer.

Indeed. 

Here are some things to consider:

1.) The "Ingo Test" is not a real-life test. A Tesoro Tejon was used to find a Barber dime at a measured 9.5 inches at an old house site in New Jersey.  The only other way to have known that a Barber dime was buried there would have been to use X-ray vision or clairvoyance.  Or, perhaps, to guess correctly that a Barber dime was lost in that exact spot 90 or 100 years ago......  nope, sorry, the Tejon found it at 9.5 inches, fair and square.   Well, actually, it gave a round signal (though a faint one). 

At another location, the Tesoro yielded a Barber dime at a measured 9.0 inches.  At a third location, the machine once revealed a Wheat penny at about 12 inches (even I found this hard to believe, but I measured it).  In none of these cases was the depth a result of the coin falling out of the side of the hole.  As holes were dug, sides and bottom were scanned continually with Treasure Mate probe. 

No, the photo above was not staged.  This wheat penny was indeed found at a depth of approximately 12 inches with a Tesoro Tejon and its standard coil.  This was in June, 2006, near a gigantic old tree, in the front yard of an old house that had been demolished.  No, I do not know what business a wheat penny had in being that deep. No, the deep penny didn't fall from the side of the hole.  Finally, nobody is claiming that 12 inches represents a typical depth... your mileage may vary depending on skill and conditions. The ion halo effect theory is based on very sound science.  Real-life experience also supports it.  By the way, DON'T dig holes this wide normally, unless you know for sure the property owner is OK with it (i.e., never do it in a park).  Mowers have a tendency to tear out the bigger plugs (if recent), which can mean (A.) you won't get invited back, and (B.) the whole hobby will suffer.

Even a Tiger Shark was able to find a couple of Barber dimes at 7+ inches (while detecting in the middle of a torrential downpour... waterproof units are great!), which was  well beyond its air-test range at the sensitivity I was using.  Certainly, the Explorer has found coins at impressive depths.  Nobody is contradicting the notion that the Explorer series are excellent detectors, as they should be for the price.  Please don't ever forget that our own articles are written by someone who uses and enjoys Minelab detectors.

2.)  The whole point of the multi-frequency design of the Minelab Explorer series is that it gives them optimal depth with a wider range of soil conditions.  There are indeed some soil conditions under which a single-frequency VLF detector will give a poor showing.  Of course, a detector that has manual ground balancing might not have been balanced properly by its owner....

3.)  The "Ingo Test", while interesting, still has the drawback of not being able to predict how a detector will respond to long-buried objects.  This was the very issue we remedied in our own comparison. 

4.)  Consider that friend of yours, who keeps digging iron all day.  Did you ever stop to think, maybe he digs all that iron because he knows something you don't................? 

When I set out looking for something great, I rarely find it.  When I set out to do a comparison of two metal detectors, I find something great.  This is one of the best things I've ever found.  I used to wonder how the guys in the treasure hunting magazines could nonchalantly find these great old coins during the course of their field tests, while I was struggling for months to find anything pre-1965.  I think I understand now (why I hadn't been finding anything, that is).