Beep & Dig Isn't As Simple As It Sounds

The term 'Beep & Dig" is something I hear a lot nowadays, it's usually referring to the older range of analog machines that don't have a screen or a system to "identify" what the target could potentially be. Personally I feel this term verbally dumbs down the operation of these types of detectors, almost insinuating that you simply turn them on and dig everything that beeps. To a degree this is true but if you were to dig everything that beeps then most will be digging a lot of iron. There have been claims by some people that have used Tesoro's that they dug iron all the time, this is because they weren't truly listening to the audio. Despite what some people think you can identify iron on Tesoro's even with a low discrimination setting.

Similar to the Nexus, if you're going to crank the disc so high to silence the iron then you're going to eat into the machines ability to unmask. Once again, you can't have a digital frame of mind when swinging a Tesoro, you also can't down value the fact that these machines represent the 'art' of metal detecting because you're hunting by audio alone. Tesoro's might look like a kids toy but they don't operate like one, the digital machines are far more toy like to me because they're designed to dumb down the elements of a metal detectors operation that some might find tricky - and there's nothing wrong with that.

Don't Judge A Machine By It's Cover

When you listen to the audio of a Tesoro huge amounts of people will say that there's just one tone, that point is true to a degree. But when you 'really' listen you'll start to hear that the tone holds many clues to what you're digging, be it iron, large and small, if the target is round, large medium or small and where the coil is in relation to the target and the audio you're hearing. Many that like to discredit Tesoro claiming that the discrimination level you need to have the machines set at doesn't enable good unmasking. I don't agree with this, the point that I've always tried to make is, if you can identify iron with the disc set low then the machine will still unmask well. Once again, if you want to silence all the iron for a quieter and easier hunt then your disc level is going to effect detecting potential masked targets, this is just common sense.

I like to flip this thought process over - What's The Lowest Disc Setting I Can Get Away With? this will vary from site to site but on the Thames I want the disc set so it keeps the ground 'alive' meaning that you'll still get a minor hit on some of the iron, depending how large it is.You Can't Isolate High Tones Caused By Iron Targets what I mean by this is simple, what you might interpret as a false signal, when you rotate on 'said signal' you won't be able to isolate it. On huge iron you might be able to isolate the high tone but the tone will be overdriven and distorted. When I can't isolate the high tone, this tells me straightaway that I'm dealing with iron, when identifying large iron you normally get an 'overload' response in its centre and the the audio will breakaway and distort on the outer edges. I demonstrate this a lot in my videos with both my Tesoro and Nexus machines, it occurs on all analog detectors. The coil position in relation to the target response is a great way to gain information about what's potentially under your coil. 

Tesoro Lobo SuperTraq A Weapon In The Iron

What Do Masked Targets Sound Like? to my ears masked targets have a smoothness to them with a slight distortion meshed into the audio. Despite what some might state, a masked target doesn't sound like a false signal caused by iron. When swinging over a masked target the distortion within in the audio usually occurs in the same spot which ever direction you're swinging over it. The coil position in relation to the distorted or clean audio that's coming thought will indicate a masked signal. To get this process right you need to slow down and take your time, on the Thames if I swung like crazy I would miss so many targets. Nine times out of ten on the river you don't get a really clean target response, there's nearly always something muddying it up.

Hot Rocks & Coke will have a somewhat translucent audio response combined with an indication at the end of each swing, this is because the coil won't lock on in it's centre when you're swinging over both hot rocks and coke. The coil position combined with the audio will sync up on the edge of each swing. On the river you have hundreds of hot rocks, many don't come through but some do, after some practice it's a simple procedure to identify them without even stopping to check. The audio response in combination with the coil position gives them away easily, during this process the nonferrous targets become even clearer due to the coil position and the fact the machine will lock on in the centre as opposed to firing off the outer edge.

Miniature Works Of Art

Target Size can be worked out a determined by swinging your coil over the target and pulling it backwards, forwards and to the sides. Obviously the large targets create a large foot print, the small and tiny targets don't require much movement from the coil before they fall away. Also if your machine has a pinpoint feature this can be used to check the size of the target as well, I do this a lot when I'm using my Laser Rapier 2. When you have a large target under the coil the audio will be louder and have a punch to it, shortening your swing will allow you to trace its shape. Some really small targets can clip and sound like a false signal but you'll find that these can be isolated, that's why I dig a lot of tiny targets because I understand exactly what I'm hearing. 

To conclude, "Beep & Dig" makes this kind of metal detecting sound simple and if you take that term literally you're going to be digging a lot of iron, not only with Tesoro but with any analog machine or a machine without a display. There's an art to understanding what you're hearing but between the audio and coil position the machines will tell you everything you need to know. There's reason why the old Tesoro detectors are going up in price on the secondhand market, it's because the guys and gals that have been in this game for decades know their performance in certain and specific situations. 

Pulled From The Iron With My Compadre