Tesoro DeLeon

Best Bang for your buck

Phil Trujjillo in Rapid City' SD. USA -
I have been using this dectetor since it came out a few years ago. I never even look at my older Bounty hunter anymore. I dont know what others have done to their De Leon's but the doors on mine have never come open once the batteries are installed right and closed well. This machine has found me lots if clad coins over the years if I were to guess in 350-400$ range not counting hundreds of penny's. I have pulled silver dimes at 8-9 inch range out of a park that is well hunted and still get mercury dimes from one area on a regular basis. To date I have dug 12 mecury dimes ranging from 1924 to mid 1940's one looks like it just fell out of a new roll, along with sevral silver quarters and halves. This year has been my best yet I have found 7 rings two of which were gold one with a diamond, all the rest were silver one in the same area of the park that keeps giving up the merc's at about 6" deep. I have yet to dig up any real old silver coins but living in the Black Hills of South Dakota I'm sure they too will be found. I am very happy with this unit. I would, and have recomended it to anyone who asks I guess I am very biased as it is a great machine.

Nov 13, 2007

19 Yes
0 No

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Tesoro De Leon Metal Detector

Daniel in Rochester, MN ,USA -
I bought this Tesoro De Leon detector use on the internet. I tried it for 2 days, no luck. This Tesoro De Leon doesn't seem to be silent discriminate detector(it chatters all the time)very similar to The Tesoro Cortes. Next there is no pinpoint button on this Tesoro De Leon. To pinpoint you move the toggle switch to "all-metal mode",and sweep back and forth. Next if a coin or object is near the surface of the ground or shallow depth, the Tesoro De Leon's ID reader shows arrows up,and says "Lift coil up". It does this because there is too much imformation for the De Leon to process, because the object/target is too close to the surface. Also the Tesoro De Leon has trouble breaking down with the metal poles. Also there is no backlight on the ID display,ONCE THE SUN GOES DOWN,PACK UP THIS DETECTOR,IT'S USELESS. Also the battery door compartments open up all the time,I HAD TO PUT A LARGE RUBBERBAND AROUND THE BATTERY DOORS,TO KEEP THEM CLOSED! I've gone back to using my old Tesoro Silver Sabre U-Max metal detector (audio tone amchine,with no target ID) comes with a pinpoint button,I've found more old coins & relics with my Silver Sabre than this Tesoro De Leon detector. P.S DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS TESORO DE LEON , BUY THE TESORO SILVER U-Max..

Aug 01, 2007

20 Yes
66 No

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Good machine, once you get used to it.

Mastereagle22 in Cape Girardeau, MO -
I purchased a Tesoro Deleon and received it Monday of this past week. I assembled it turned it on and went out in my front yard and was digging coins out of the ground within minutes. I have used it for a week now and I have finally gotten the hang of the machine. The TID is very accurate once you understand what the numbers mean. I have found over 200 coins, one ring, a hot wheel car, copper pipe, several pieces of aluminum and some steel. My deepest target was a piece of steel band someone had folded over and over, it was roughly the size of a half-dollar and it was dug out of the ground at 12 inches, measured with a ruler. The deepest coin was a quarter pulled out between 8 and 9 inches. I have not found any silver coins yet but all of the above items came out of my yard!

The machine is perfectly balanced. It has so far run over 18 hours on one set of batteries and I still have over half the battery strength left. Pinpointing with this detector is dead on and easy. Once you have the target in the center opening of the coil whatever you found will be right there. The machine finds iron targets without difficulty and I have so far dug half-a-dozen nails, a couple of washers, some screws and a couple of peices so rusty I couldn't tell what they were. I plan on taking this detector to a couple of civil war sites, and an old slave shack. I did go to the park for an hour and found a ton of pull-tabs and 12 pennies in an hour in an area about 20ft x 20ft. I purposely dug everything to get a feel for the detector. My only two complaints are: One no backlight, Two I don't like where the headphone jack is. Otherwise this machine is awesome!!! I have gone with a friend who has an XLT and found coins that his more expensive machine missed.

Sorry for the long review but this detector is truly awesome and Tesoro has a lifetime warranty. I will buy another detector soon and I'm pretty sure it will be a Tesoro

Apr 29, 2007

26 Yes
2 No

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DeLeon with a useful target ID

Harry Prothero in Vancouver Washington -
I have had this unit for several years and it is my grab and go machine. It's lightweight, balanced and no pin pointer is needed as the coin is always located in the small hole in the middle of the coil. The target ID can be useful and I attached the following as a guide after air tests: Small gold 20-30. Nickels 33-39. Ladys gold ring 35-41. Mens gold ring 41-54. lead bullet 58. Rifle brass 62-68. Zinc penny 66-78. Coins all 95. I started with a Tesoro Inca and I find that I often dig regardless of the Id when the sound is right. In parks, I often run with the discriminator level between foil and nickles. But when the tabs are real thick, I put the discriminator on zinc where unlike the clear tone of coins, tabs give a short chirp. Just Raise the coil 6-8 inches above the ground to Identify and eliminate aluminum cans that register at 95. I once found a clad quarter at 12 inches (it had oxidized the soil for a couple inches around). Only negatives: Not good at the beach and I hold the battery cover closed with a large rubber band. A great unit for the money though.

Apr 24, 2007

17 Yes
0 No

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Not bad

Joseph in Midwest -
I have used the DeLeon for a few months now. The target ID seems to be pretty accurate. Like all TID detectors it can be fooled sometimes but most of the time is is right on when it comes to identifying coins. It will seperate the zinc pennies from the copper and silver coins. This is great if you do not want to dig the zincs. They usually display a mid 70's reading while all the other coins will hit at 95. I like the fact that it has a toggle switch to switch to all metal mode instead of a button like some of the other Tesoro models. Pinpointing with the DeLeon is right on. Probably the easiest to use of any detector I have tried.

It seems to get good depth and the target Id seems to work decently even on deeper targets. The only thing I don't really care for is it seems to overload quite easily on shallow targets. It may only sound off with a small static or broken sound on a good target if it is real close to the surface and you have to lift your coil to get a better reading. Not really a problem if you are working slowly and listening. With the lifetime warranty and the great service that Tesoro is known for I definately plan to keep this one around.

Aug 29, 2006

20 Yes
0 No

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Good Detector for Surface Feeding

Myron in USA -
The Deleon is a good machine for surface feeding in high trash areas. That is, it?s not a particularly deep detector, but down to about 6 inches or so it?s thorough when it comes to finding coin-sized targets mixed in with trash.

But I must admit I was shocked when I tested it for depth in my coin garden. I could only get 6 to 7 inches on a silver quarter. Even at 6 inches the signal wanted to breakup. I suspect this machine would only be able to detect a dime at about 4 to 5 inches. This is about the depth of the old 1980?s VLF machines.

The TID meter is a great tool when used along with the sound. I found it awesome for identifying Wheat cents even before digging. I?d say 9 times out of 10 if it says TAB it?s a pulltab. It?s also very good on nickels and general target separation. However, it also reads large pieces of iron as "95" Silver (the reading for silver coins). This machine loves large iron.

This is probably the best pinpointing machine I?ve ever used. I pinpoint in discrimination mode with no problems. Most of the time the target will be dead center.

The Deleon comes with cheap batteries and it?s best not to even bother to load them into the machine. Go buy some quality batteries before you even start. Defective batteries really make this machine chatter and become erratic. Coil covers can also cause problems as dirt works it?s way inside.

While using this machine make sure you use good detector headphones. This will increase depth and prolong battery life.

The Deleon has its place but it?s definitely not the deepest detector on the market. But then, I?ve found that in our state most digs are less than 5 inches deep so the DeLeon is just fine. It?s easy to run so it would make a great detector for those who like to do playgrounds, parks, etc., for newer coins and jewelry. On a scale of 1 to 10 I?d give the Deleon a 7.

Apr 10, 2006

16 Yes
14 No

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Good TID detector

h in canada -
This is my first TID detector.

It runs very stable, although not as deep as a Cibola.

The downsides are: not very sensitive to small gold, even at low discrimination. Also I don't care much for the battery holders.

Mar 20, 2006

5 Yes
6 No

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Like an old shoe!

Mark in Kankakee, IL -
If there was a unit to say its like an old shoe or old trusty friend. This is the unit. Maybe like a Timex. You first put it together and you go uh uh not like my Whites or Minelab. But guess which unit drives around with me in my service van day in and day out and gets used the most. Bouncing around not really to carefull with it pull over jump out start it up and lets search at lunch any time a place looks good. Can it find Coins like 7-8 inch most allways. The deepest 10 a quarter no kidding with a little wet soil maybe more. Very, Very easy to use and not a Toy. Found rings at 5-6 inch range maybe deeper but only have found 2 with this unit. All metal mode is accurate. The visual ID once you learn it with the sound its on 90% of the time. Yes other units have more defined parameters to adjust. But not at this price for as well as it works. Just love it. Easy and very good. I have and use the top units. Like i said they may have more bells and work better with much practice. This is what i use 65% of the time its quick and easy. Only complaint is the battery doors and the coil does not like hitting rocks or trees it gives of signal but then it mite be time for new coil. Just love this unit and would say buy it now!

Feb 28, 2006

14 Yes
0 No

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Wonderful Unit..Starter to Pro!

Rich in Rocky in Rocky Mountain House, AB. Canada -
I have used a DeLeon as one of my main units since it was introduced! I have found many 'Treasures' with it over the years.
I live in Canada, and coinage here reads differently than the US coinage. However, it is soon learned and the 95 is usually accurate ID.(Tabs here are as in the US. All are the same & all over the mid scale!)
I would like to add that some of the other'Brand Names' may dig deeper on silver and copper, but do not like the metal content in the Canadian coinage as well!
Pros for me are: Light weight,packs to a small size/Versitility - all round useage/ good variety of coils/ and fair price... ( even in Canadian $$$)...
Cons as mentioned... Darn Battery cases/no pinpointer/and no Tones!... and the Backlighted feature/ does not bother me as much as some, but I sure would like 3 tones!
I may not get many votes for a helpful report,as some of the problems we have with coinage do not apply in the US... The overall feeling I get from the other reports is that it is a 'Starter' unit...Far From It!... When a unit can dig 10+ inches on silver coins... take notice!
I have had this unit in Gold Fields as well... and altho I did carry 2 additional units, Gold Machines, I did come up with a small grain of gold and neat relics from the mid 1800's! The DeLeon is not noted for being a gold unit, as there is no Ground Balance feature on the unit... Running at MIN Disc and #9 SENS ( no hot rock problem)... a BB sized nugget popped out!(psst... I was using a 4" coil)
Relics are an easy task for the Deleon as well.Small iron certainly no problem around old homestead houses/or parks... The 8x9 spider coil is perfectly matched ,and a wonder for Beach hunting especially in the water, as there is no 'Rafting' as in a solid coil.
No, I do not hunt salt water beaches so I am unable to comment...altho alkali areas have been encountered with little problem.
I would give it a true 4.5 if that ranking were available... and it should be given a Mid-range to Upper ranking as a unit!(altho starters will LOVE IT!)
If you are shopping, give it a good look!... you certainly can do worse!

Oct 30, 2005

21 Yes
0 No

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Great starter ID detector

JimF in Atlanta, GA -
The DeLeon was the first detector I purchased and it was the best decision I could have made. The target ID is accurate, no ground balancing is required (it's automatic) and it "sees" pretty deep. I've dug good solid hits at 12 inches in very hard, dry clay soil. Mine has found plenty of coins, old and new, relics, and jewelry. Although I've upgraded to the Cortes (which is awesome), I'm keeping my DeLeon. It is just a great, quick detecting trip machine and it has never failed me. I love my DeLeon. The only reason I didn't give it a fifth star is that the ID screen does not have a backlighting feature, so once the sun starts to go down, the display is unreadable. Other than that, this is a perfect machine IMHO. And that lifetime warranty can't be beat.

Apr 20, 2005

17 Yes
0 No

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