The
Cortés represents the best combination
of current and new technologies that Tesoro has to offer. When
Jack Gifford and Vince Gifford set out to create a new target
ID machine they each brought with them different experience.
Jack has over twenty-five years experience designing some of
the best analog detectors that have been on the market. Vince
brought with him a decade of computer systems experience. Together,
they have been creating new technology that gives our detectors
superior performance and keeps them easy to use. Various parts
of this technology have been finding it's way into Tesoro detectors
since the introduction of the Golden µMax. The new Cortés
represents all phases of our new microprocessor technology
combined with our tried and true analog circuits to create
a detector that has all of the high end features our customers
have asked for with user friendly Tesoro controls.
The first thing
that you will notice is the control box and battery holder
configuration. The µMax housing was just
not big enough to hold the new circuit board so we moved the
batteries down under the arm bracket and increased the size
of the box slightly. This allows us to use a 12 volt system
to work with the demands of the target ID circuitry. It also
gave us the ability to put a 2¼" speaker on the
Cortés. This will give better and louder target signals
in the field.
The Cortés'
2x16 character LCD display will catch your eye as well. This
area is the information center of the detector.
The top row is an alpha/numeric display that gives a broad
indication of your possible target. One of five different categories
are displayed. Also if the target is overdriving the circuits,
the display will tell you to lift the coil for a more accurate
reading. The alpha/numeric and bar graph section of the display
will remain blank until the coil passes over a target. After
the detectorist has decided to dig or ignore the target the
display will clear itself after six seconds of not receiving
a signal. The display works in all modes, regardless of the
discrimination setting. By clearing the display after six seconds
the user is able to tell if has passed over a new target that
may have been discriminated out. The detector may not produce
an audio signal, but the display will show a target reading.
The detectorist then has the choice to either go back and check
the target or ignore it.
The bottom half
of the display contains the real nuts and bolts information
that will help you to work the Cortés
to its fullest extent. The far right hand part of the display
is a battery level indicator. This gives an accurate measure
of your current battery level. On the far left-hand side is
the probable depth indicator. The Cortés uses the phase
shift of the target to determine the probable target and then
looks at the amplitude of the signal to determine the depth.
For example: a nickel and a quarter are in the ground and the
quarter is deeper than the nickel; if we just went off of amplitude
change, the detector may read the two targets as being the
same depth. However, the Cortés would show the quarter
as being deeper because its phase shift response is different
than that of the nickel.
In the center of
the lower display is a nine segment bar graph display. The
different segments represent the following possible
targets: iron; foil: nickel; round tab; square tab; zinc penny;
copper penny and dime; quarter; half and dollar. The graph
shows what the coil saw during the entire sweep of the coil.
The targets metal composition and orientation in the ground
can cause "smearing" or possible indication in more
than one graph segment. For example: pull tabs usually will
not respond in a single segment but give signals in two or
three segments. To help the detectorist decide on the target,
we have also included an ID Number display next to the bar
graph.
The ID Number takes
the largest part of the signal and converts it to a two digit
number. When Vince put together the scale
for the ID Number, he decided to put the most resolution in
the middle range of targets. This is the area where nickels,
pull tabs and gold rings lie. We know that iron will always
be on the low end of the scale and silver coins and jewelry
will always be on the high end. So iron targets will always
give a reading of 0 and silver will always give a reading of
95. The Cortés now gives you the ability to decide what
you want to dig. One of the hardest parts of designing detectors
is the fact that pull tabs can vary from place to place. But
a hunter working in the same area can use the ID Number to
learn the characteristics of the local pull tabs and effectively
ignore them.
For those detectorists
that prefer a notch filter discrimination, we have also added
a simple flip switch to activate either
a narrow or wide notch window. When the display is blanked,
two "N"s or three "W"s will appear on the
screen. The N will indicate a narrow notch window and will
be in the round tab and square tab portion of the graph segments.
The wide notch window will cause a W to be in the round tab,
square tab and zinc penny segments. These indications are an
easy way to check what part of the scale is being notched out.
The notch indicators will only show when there is no target
under the coil. When there is a target signal, no matter if
the target has been discriminated or not, the display will
show the information of the target.
The Sum mode is another feature to help identify targets.
While the detector is in either the Discriminate or All Metal
mode, the display shows the target information from the entire
sweep of the coil. Each time the coil passes over the target
the microprocessor generates a new target ID reading. While
this is nice for general searching, it can be confusing while
pinpointing. This is where the Sum mode becomes useful. Pushing
the springloaded switch into the Sum mode causes the detector
to start a multi-tone ID and averages all of the coil passes
over the target. The tone ID has nine different tones and relates
directly to the bar graph segments. The higher up on the graph
the target is, the higher the pitch of the audio signal. Averaging
the coil passes over the target gives the detectorist the ability
to get rid of most of the signal noise that prevents making
an accurate target identification. Here's how it works: when
the detectorist gets a target signal that he wishes to check
out, he pushes and holds the Mode switch in the Sum position.
Shortening his coil sweep to only a two or four inch sweep
he passes the coil over the target three to seven times. The
short multiple sweeps give the microprocessor the chance to
sum the passes and average them. During the sweeps the audio
ID will start at the lowest signal and will get progressively
higher in pitch until there is no more change. When this happens
the detector is giving the most accurate ID possible. Then
the user can decide if he wants to dig or ignore the target.
All of these new
features are complimented by Tesoro's easy to use controls.
No touch pads or scroll through menus. Set
the detector how you like it by adjusting the knobs on the
front of the machine. The Cortés features an On/Off
Sensitivity knob; a Discriminate Level knob; a Manual Ground
Balance knob; a Mode Switch with All Metal, Discriminate and
Sum mode settings; a Notch Width switch with Off, Narrow and
Wide settings and a Light switch to control the LCD backlight
with a High, Low, and Off positions.
The Cortés fits into a package that weighs just less
than three pounds (including the batteries!) and is covered
under Tesoro's Lifetime Warranty. The Tesoro Cortés
makes target ID easy and fun. Contact your local dealer or
the factory for more information.
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