October 29th 2011 I ordered a Tesoro Sand Shark from Shasta County Gold prospector Supply in Anderson CA. and requested that it be shipped to me in Los Gatos CA. I was excited to receive it and carefully assembled it as per the instructions.

I had only had the detector about a week and took it out twice, found a few silver rings and coins and all of a sudden one of the headphone cups popped off and would not go back on. I called Tesoro Support and they told me to ship it to them. I shipped it without the rods, just the control housing, headphones and coil (all connected permanently) and awaited news.

I received a call from Rusty who said that somehow the person who put the headphones together forgot to install the epoxy resin they use as a filler which also helps keep the headphones connected. I had mentioned also that I was getting random blips and zzzip.. noises while detecting so he checked my coil and it failed their seal tests so they replaced the coil.

When I received the detector back, I was excited again to have my machine but quickly found that the coil had an obvious defect on the bottom.. it looked like it had been melted or improperly molded? I called Tesoro and they said for me to return it. I also noticed that this coil was terrible with black sands! I decided to keep it a few weeks and stubbornly went detecting on the weekends but the coil was acting weird so I sent it back like before.

I received the detector back in the mail this past Friday 3/23/2012 and it looked good! I put it all back together and just as I went to put the coil cover on I became disappointed once more… the damned coil is warped in such a way that the coil cover will NOT stay on.. previously the coil cover snapped very firmly onto the coils, in fact it was a real pain to remove! Now it won’t stay on.. also had a scratch when I received it.. the bottom hole seems extruded…

- Wesley

Recently I’ve had some nice luck at the beaches north of Santa Cruz. A couple weeks back I found the ring on the left, it has a ruby and looks somewhat roughed up by the sand and waves but my wife still likes it! The one in the middle I found last weekend. It was pitch black with tarnish but in good shape. The little ring at the left I found even earlier than the other two.. it was in a high sand bank in an area hard to get normally… I love my Tesoro Sand Shark and I am getting more in tune with it each time I use it!

- Click the image to see the full size picture!

I found lots of very worn and deteriorated clad coins but nothing really interesting to show..

One thing I learned that’s really helpful is that when you find a place that is producing targets, you don’t want to leave it for other places until you truly stop finding anything else there. A friend of mine named “Hoss” who is a nugget hunter, keeps going back over and again to hunt nuggets at a place where you would think it has been all hunted out.. well, he keeps finding nuggets there and he keeps going back!

The place I found this ring is kind of like that. Each time I go back I find plenty more targets to dig up and they are all older coins and relics. So – if you find a place like this, be patient hunt it slowly and thoroughly and then do it again and again until you really stop getting anything.

— Cheers and Happy Hunting!

After getting my brand new Tesoro Sand Shark in the mail, that I ordered from Shasta County Gold Prospector Supply in Anderson CA, I carefully assembled it and performed a few air tests. I was a little concerned at first with the sensitivity of the detector however after turning up the Pulse Width I was relieved and satisfied.

I waited about a week for the first opportunity to take the Sand Shark out to the Santa Cruz beaches and I was instantly able to tell that this detector is not ideal for the dry sand when there is a lot of nails and campfire trash in the area! I’ll stick to my MXT in the dry sand so I can discriminate the nails at least, otherwise I’d get quickly frustrated.

My experience in the fringe area where the beach sand was medium-dry was not so pleasant either. Although I tried to keep my swings uniform, I was getting a lot of threshold noise while passing over the little footprints in the sand. I had to concentrate much harder to listen for real target tones.

I thoroughly enjoyed metal detecting with the Sand Shark in the wet sand and just into the surf, this detector definitely seems best in the wet areas, much quieter than anywhere else on the beach. I found a few smaller targets at least 8 inches down. I even found a triangular fishing weight about a foot down.

I did however experience some strange interference at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk last Saturday night that was very frustrating. It was like a pulsing noise or sine wave and it was affecting me from near the sidewalk all the way to the surf! the area of interference was so large that I thought my detector was damaged somehow. I took the detector out somewhere else the next day and all was back to normal. Must be something at that beach! ((SEE EDIT BELOW))

It could even be some other metal detecting enthusiasts electronic tool to ward off other detectorists? lol

It’s going to take some time for me to get used to this detector and I’m not sure I’m going to like it in the dry sand where I’m going.. so ‘ll be taking my MXT with me just in case but for now I’ll hunt primarily with the Sand Shark and get acquainted with it. I was hoping that this detector would be significantly lighter than my White’s MXT however it seemed just as heavy even though I mounted the control box under the cuff.

— EDIT

Later I encountered the same interference again.. I learned that it is caused only when I upload pictures using my mobile phone! So I cannot blame my Tesoro Sand Shark or other people.. I just have to make sure to set my phone to not sync data while metal detecting!

I can’t wait to get my new Sand Shark PI detector in the mail next week!

I ordered it from the good folks at Shasta County Gold Prospector Supply in Anderson CA.

After looking at all the different Pulse Induction detectors on the internet, I decided on this one because it has more features for less price than any of the others and I have read very many 5 star reviews of this product on the forums, spoke with friends and even called Tesoro and spoke to one of their techs who helped me decide to get one with an 8″ hard-wired coil instead of the 10″ coil. I was assured that they are working on getting reliable connectors and at a later date we can send the machine back and allow interchangeable coils once again.

I have been to San Gregorio State Beach many times while metal detecting up and down highway 1 from Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay. Almost every time I stop by San Gregorio Beach I have been pleasantly distracted by the photo shoot teams who are taking photos of beautiful and barely clothed women models.

If you get a chance to try detecting this beach enjoy the sights including some interesting caves created by the waves. The rocks here have some minerals in them that give false signals to my White’s MXT

I have only found change and garbage here so far, no rings or jewelry yet. But I still stop by for obvious reasons

I’ll try to get a picture of one of the beauties next time I go If you have one send it to me and I may post it!!

- Gold Digger

Hello,

I just wanted to show you what types of treasure you can find on the beach if you get into metal detecting. Of course I didn’t include the bucket full of coins and all the trash I found.. this is the best of the best this year

Recently I was contacted by Helen who lost her ring at Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz CA. She asked me to help her find her ring and luckily it was found by a fellow metal detectorist named Anoosh who I teamed up with.

Just yesterday I met with Helen and returned her ring, now she can return to Virginia after her vacation without a sad story

Returned to Owner!

Here’s a picture of Anoosh who helped find it

Anoosh found it

Helen had told me the general area where the ring was believed to be lost. I arrived and there were already two other people metal detecting in the area so I told them why I was there and what I was looking for. After telling Anoosh where it should be, SeaBeeRon and I were getting ready and before you know it Anoosh came running back prize in hand!

Thank you Anoosh for helping find Helen’s ring! I hope you continue detecting!

P.S. The ring was platinum with a very nice and large diamond on it. it was beautiful!

-Golddigger

Just the other day I took my #58 mini highbanker to French Gulch in Redding CA. where our club Shasta Miner’s & Prospectors has a few claims. See picture below:

RDH Prospecting #58 Mini Highbanker

I didn’t get too serious this time and just sluiced about 40 minutes but I did find gold and I had fun. I’ll try it out again soon. I love this machine and it moves a lot more material than you would think! The pump is small enough that my battery will last all day without needing a recharge!

Yesterday I left early in the morning and started metal detecting at Natural Bridges park in Santa Cruz and visited various beaches all the way to Half Moon Bay. I’ll write more about that today, but let me add pictures I took during the day first:

I also got about $4.50 in change and lots of garbage, however there were a few glass bottles sticking out of the darker soil and I managed to get a very nice vintage mini 7-Up Boottle, a mini coke bottle says “Hayard CA” on the bottom and an old glass milk bottle! I really had a great day. Pictures of the bottles are added in a gallery below.

– Gold Digger

P.S. I really like Half Moon Bay for detecting! Santa Cruz is good also, most of the beaches in-between I haven’t found much at all.

I left for Santa Cruz about 11:30AM today, it was warm and sunny. I chose to use the Tesoro PIranha today over my White’s MXT since I might want to get into the wet sands (and I did). I parked near Seabright beach, I tried detecting on Seabright for a bit but just got garbage and decided to head to the main beach. I Walked to the Boardwalk, crossing the tressel bridge.

When I got there it was obvious that Spring was really starting now, there were lots of people, the rides are going, screams are heard and the beaches were a lot more full than I have seen in a while. The sights were wonderful and the sounds were slightly muffled by my headphones.  I forgot to mention that I took a risk.. lol I found a new, unopened partially buried Hershey’s Chocolate bar and ate it!! I’m lucky it wasn’t laced with LSD or something.. but I enjoyed the gift from God!

…Someone else must be hunting the beach pretty methodically as I was only able to get a few quarters, two dimes and a nickel and some pennies. I did find a broken silver-like chain bracelet but mostly garbage which would be passed over by others.. My PIranha detector forces me to dig all targets and I think that’s a great habit to get into!

…After I heard some young punk mocking me; asking if I had found “The Jackpot” yet, I did my best to keep my cool and simply replied “I’ll show you a jackpot!” lol.. and continued on my way, make of that what you will… (I was somewhat offended)

Now there were two targets that got my blood pumping and then bummed me out almost immediately but I laughed to myself.. thinking one time these WILL be gold!!…

Well, I took a drive over to “Natural Bridges” state park and detected a while but it sure got cold and windy! I found a watch (shown below) and some bullets and a dime..

I thorougly enjoyed the day, I drove back home and relaxed, feeling that wonderful way that you feel after being in the sun and the water and coming home and laying down.. it’s like heaven! feels so relaxing!

Hope you enjoy these pictures.. (click to enlarge)