Tesoro Cortes

Tesoro Cortes

Peter in England -
I would have loved this detector if it had of been deeper, I like the build quality, the low weight, simplicity of use and the digital read out telling you what it thinks is in the ground, it's quite accurate in helping you avoid the iron.

Pin pointing with this machine is a dream, really easy to get right on top of the target but could this be partly due to the fact that the targets are never deep? This machine feels natural and is quick and easy to learn just such a shame that it does not go deeper, even my Garret blows this away on depth, even on the small low conductivity stuff!

Ten years ago this detector would have been a real contender but is now left behind. Come on tesoro, update the circuitry in the Cortes to compete with some of your later machines and you would be onto a winner and justify the at the price tag.

Feb 04, 2012

0 Yes
0 No

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Cortes vs. Fisher f75

steve lemons in ringgold ga -
Like this detector a lot. As deep as the fisher f75 special edition with a much better disc. And not nearly as much chatter. Poor display--too small for my bad eyesight. Who needs target i.d. Anyway? If it gives a good audio signal you better dig. The cortes is heavier than the f5 but it's still not bad. I had to sell one of my machines so I sold the fisher. Cortes was the all around best machine.

Nov 24, 2011

8 Yes
0 No

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Cortes Tesoro fussy detector

Denis Billy in Québec city -
I have read the others comments and I can't believe it. Since I've got that machine last year I never had that much disagreement. Compare to other one even cheap one work better. The ground balance is to fussy if the ground is just a little mineralized there is nothing to set up the machine. The graph lcd write any thing but what you dig.

When it sound on a target even with discrimin any thing appear even rocks!!! I don't know if the machine is broke or it isn't good on the river side. But if the company doesn't do anything ( they suggest me to sell it and buy an other brand!!! I will have to say don't buy that machine no fun at all!!

Mar 23, 2011

9 Yes
32 No

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Tesoro Cortes

Hardy in NW Ohio -
I've owned the Tesoro Cortes for 2 months now and have used it as my main detector during that time. When I first received it via UPS the box it came in looked as though it had been through WW3. The first thing I did was I read the manual and then performed air test on it to see if it had been damaged due to rough handling.

I was getting 6.5” on a dime in Disc mode and sensitivity set on 10; a quarter came in at 8” just barely. I didn't think that was all that good especially when you hear about Tesoro's ability to go deep. So I called Tesoro and talked to one of their Tec heads and was told that detectors can go out of tune over time and that since mine was rough handled I should send it in for a tune up. So I did and it came back with a clean bill of health.

Needless to say I still got the same results on my air test after getting it back from the shop. After 2 months of heavy use I would have to say the air test where proven accurate for where I hunt in mild soil.

The machine has many good points. The quality and workmanship are the best. I found that when there's a small piece of iron and a coin in the same hole it will sound off with a good tone and show a good target at the same time showing iron on the segments scale. I found that it will give you a TDI number of what it thinks the target is and by cross checking it with the segment graph it will tell you how confident it is in what it found. If it lights up 2, 3 or 4 segments that means it's not sure. I found you still need to dig any good repeatable sound.

I also liked the fact that the All Metal mode and Disc mode where a thumb switch away. I found I liked to hunt in A/M mode and throw the switch over into Disc mode to check a target. The machine is also light and can be swung all day with little fatigue.

What I don't like about is it doesn't have pin point feature. I never thought to check before buying it to see if it had a pin point feature; I guess I just assumed a detector in that price range would have one. Let me tell you it can be a challenge to pin point. It took a lot of practice before I got any good at it.

The sensitivity setting had very little affect on its depth either in the field or during air tests. I didn't find A/M mode to be any deeper than Disc mode.

Hunting even a moderately trashy area meant swinging very - very slow with the stock coil and Sens turned way down. If you didn't you would miss most targets.

The depth read out was so inaccurate after a while I wouldn't even look at it and would just go off the strength of the sound to determine the depth. Which lead me to wonder if the depth read out is so far off how accurate can the graph and ID numbers be. I never really found the SUM feature to be of any real help in ID'ing a target.

Overall I would say in today's market it's over priced and that a fair price should be in the $350 range.

Oct 18, 2010

25 Yes
9 No

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Tesoro best machine

bill bigfoot in seattle -
I bought a tesoro silver saber..on taking out off the box and set up..I thought I'd test it out in the back yard over where the old barn was..in moments I found a 1967 morris minor pick up..not to far down..then 2 nickles, and 15 dimes, not bad, not bad at all as this would buy the gas for my newly found morris minor..geeeee what a machine.

Oct 21, 2009

3 Yes
40 No

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Fine Detector

David Mckee in Pinson, Alabama -
Bought a Tesoro Cortes december 2007, have been using it consistently 2-3 times per week from then until now (dec. 2008). The only other detector I've used is a whites 5000d (no comparison). I have dug up eveything from Indian head cents to an assortment of silver coins from a 1916 mercury dime to a 1964 quarter, numerous rings to tax tokens. Lifetime warranty unbeatable also, if you need it (me, not yet). I haven't babied this detector but I don't abuse it either.

Dec 16, 2008

26 Yes
3 No

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Great All-Around Detector

Jim H. in Ravenna Ohio -
I purchased a used Cortes off Ebay a year ago and couldn't be happier. Depth is great and the target ID is much better than the TID on my prior Ace 250. It has taken some time but I have been able to find a variety of used coils at good prices to increase the versatility of the machine. Highly recommended.

Feb 26, 2008

19 Yes
3 No

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Great Detector.

Jabbo in Central Jersey -
Love this detector. The 10 khz is great for deep gold jewelry, artifacts, and coins. It is more sensitive to small gold jewelry than my CZ-20 beach machine. The screen ID gives me plenty of info before I dig and it ID's in both modes, along with giving me target depth. It is light and well balanced, can swing it all day. I sweep fast, it reacts fast and recovery is fast too. Pinpointing is exact. The visual ID is small, but not a real problem. I like the knobs, don't like detectors that have tactile buttons and menues.

Feb 25, 2008

27 Yes
5 No

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Cortes... super disc machine!!!

Ivan in Seattle WA -
This unit hits real hard on gold rings and really dislikes iron. Reminds me of the older machines that just wouldn't put up with bottle caps. I hunt trash infested areas and this is the "go to" machine almost as deep in my area as the CZ 5.......gave up on it....really poor iron disc!!! The sum mode; really stabilizes the numeric readings and is a real advantage in the field. Try this detector ( it's a bit of a sleeper) they really don't push it that much. It's much better than my brother's Whites XLT, which he sold after I let him borrow my Cortes for a week!

Aug 27, 2007

36 Yes
3 No

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Best detector for coin/relic/cache shooting

JimF in Atlanta, GA -
Light, easy to ground balance, accurate, deep (larger coil really increases depth), lots of info, and the backlit display lets you detect in dark areas and still see whats beeping at you. Can't beat the lifetime warranty. Tesoro's customer service is absolutely the best you'll find. For the price, it just can't be beat in my mind. I liked my first one so much, I bought another one for my wife to use.

Apr 20, 2005

30 Yes
3 No

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