Pinpointers. The good the bad and the ugly. Your thoughts please.

[Keith67]

Hi folks

I am sure this post will benefit many newbies not just me.

After my first weekend of digging up mother earth ( meteoric craters in some cases) it's clear I will benefit greatly from a pinpointer.  I have disregarded the Whites Bullseye II because I have read many reports on it's limitations.  The Garrett Carrot seems impressive, however, after spending a lot of cash getting started in the hobby, the Makro effort is rather tempting and more comfy on my currently shallow pocket.

Your thoughts please on the myriad of little wizard sticks that will stop me hacking out trenches instead of the tidy plugs I should be digging.

PS my research favours the Makro. Good choice or not ?

[Gary]

They all do pretty much the same job, the Garrett units are the most popular.  They also do a cheaper version of the Carrot, the pro pointer II.

Nokta / Makro have proved to be good units.

XP will have a new probe later this year.

[Keith67]

Thanks Gary, I was surprised XP hadn't put one out there.  With so many fans of their machines, and with so many people in the world who like brand loyalty, I think they have been missing a trick.

[13oots2]

A pinpointer will only help you locate an item in a hole, you should be able to pinpoint with your detector to quite a small area.

[tonto]

Surely the xp pointer will be wireless to the phone
So 200 quid + will probs be on the cards
Hope not thoug

Nick

[gc-1023]

i have the makro probe  . and to be honest it gets more tempramental each time i use it .
last night i prised  the protective cover off to check for dirt inside and sure enough maybe a gram of fine dust particles were present .i have washed it out and re-assembled ,so hopefully i will see a improvement or it can go back under warranty . if its much better i will run sealant around the joint between probe and cover .

[Keith67]

A pinpointer will only help you locate an item in a hole, you should be able to pinpoint with your detector to quite a small area.

Very true.  I keep poinpointing the coil and clearly it's the outer ring that's beeping not the centre as I'm outside the hole all too often.  I need to scan the area and centralise the coil better before I start to dig.

[13oots2]

You could try a couple of passes then switch to a 90 degree angle to the first pass, that should get you pinpointing better with the detector, try to visualise where the 2 passes intersect

[Keith67]

You could try a couple of passes then switch to a 90 degree angle to the first pass, that should get you pinpointing better with the detector, try to visualise where the 2 passes intersect

Thanks for this, it's a learning curve and I was getting a bit embarrassed on Sunday. It's important to enjoy the hobby responsibly and I'll adopt this tip for all signals on the next dig.

[13oots2]

What detector do you have? There are a few machine specific tricks to pinpointing.

[oscar6972]

Watch Gary's vids on the Deus Keith. he shows you how to get a good idea of where the target is just by withdrawing the coil until the signal stops. I use this method and have never damaged a target yet and leaves a smallish hole.

I do still prefer to use a probe once the hole is dug though as I don't like having muddy hands all over the place after you've been passing clumps of soil past the coil. A quick dib in with the carrot is much easier and cleaner!!

[Keith67]

What detector do you have? There are a few machine specific tricks to pinpointing.

As Oscar6972 suggests it's a Deus.  I have been wobbling the coil back to the front edge but still missed a few. I seemed to improve as the day went along but had a coin at the end of the day that was still in the earth on the left hand side of the hole, and it was a decent enough hole.  A friends propointer became invaluable, hence my opening this topic !

I think I need to be more careful and slow down for a few more seconds before I dig, and apply the previous advice.

[Gary]

Tighten your sweeps up mate to about 1" wide as you wiggle the coil back

[13oots2]

It is also better to dig a decent sized plug of earth to start with rather than trying to enlarge a smaller hole, that is when things start getting messy.

[Keith67]

Thanks people.  I have a small area of land where I can practice your guidance, and I will !

Just popped online to Regton and purchased a bleeping carrot.