Gary's Metal Detecting Forum
Gary's Detecting forum => General detecting talk => Topic started by: Keith67 on February 10, 2016, 02:07 am
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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 ?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Surely the xp pointer will be wireless to the phone
So 200 quid + will probs be on the cards
Hope not thoug
Nick
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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 .
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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.
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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
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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.
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What detector do you have? There are a few machine specific tricks to pinpointing.
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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!!
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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.
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Tighten your sweeps up mate to about 1" wide as you wiggle the coil back
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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.
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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.
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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.
hope you remembered your Forum discount ?
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Oh fudge !!
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just had two hours with the makro ,and it only falsed twice ;D .so looks like dust between probe and cover could be a issue to watch out for .
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just some defense for the Whites Bullseye II , its a decent pinpointer , for a good price,got mine for 50€ new.
its just not very durable ... after 15 months now its falling apart slowly - i should not have used it for digging ;)
beside that its a very sensitive pinpointer, thanks to 36khz search frequency ....
i own also a 100% fake Garret Pro Pointer .... 25 USD incl. shipping from hongkong , its working but strange - its a motion pinpointer ;) and not that sensitive as the whites ...
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just some defense for the Whites Bullseye II , its a decent pinpointer , for a good price,got mine for 50€ new.
its just not very durable ... after 15 months now its falling apart slowly - i should not have used it for digging ;)
beside that its a very sensitive pinpointer, thanks to 36khz search frequency ....
i own also a 100% fake Garret Pro Pointer .... 25 USD incl. shipping from hongkong , its working but strange - its a motion pinpointer ;) and not that sensitive as the whites ...
Well they are still selling them so they can't be that bad.
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whites trx me expensive but into third year never missed a beat, very sensitive but tip only not the whole shaft, insulation tape round speaker hole and I reckon its almost water proof.
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Hi Keith 67, having only had the Nokta pointer maybe not the best to give advice but I think the Nokta is a great bit of kit, waterproof up to 1 meter depth.
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Hi Keith 67, having only had the Nokta pointer maybe not the best to give advice but I think the Nokta is a great bit of kit, waterproof up to 1 meter depth.
Looking at all the comments I maybe should have started simple with a Bullseye II or possibly Nokta. It seems they all get it done to be honest. I plumped for the Garret Carrot and will have to soak up the expense. Now fingers crossed we ave a dig this weekend so I can try it out :)
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Hi Keith 67, having only had the Nokta pointer maybe not the best to give advice but I think the Nokta is a great bit of kit, waterproof up to 1 meter depth.
Looking at all the comments I maybe should have started simple with a Bullseye II or possibly Nokta. It seems they all get it done to be honest. I plumped for the Garret Carrot and will have to soak up the expense. Now fingers crossed we ave a dig this weekend so I can try it out :)
You've done the right thing with the carrot mate! the whites bullseye is ok, but not waterproof which to me is paramount on a pointer these days.
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Hi Keith 67, having only had the Nokta pointer maybe not the best to give advice but I think the Nokta is a great bit of kit, waterproof up to 1 meter depth.
Looking at all the comments I maybe should have started simple with a Bullseye II or possibly Nokta. It seems they all get it done to be honest. I plumped for the Garret Carrot and will have to soak up the expense. Now fingers crossed we ave a dig this weekend so I can try it out :)
You've done the right thing with the carrot mate! the whites bullseye is ok, but not waterproof which to me is paramount on a pointer these days.
You have a good point , it has been known to rain in the UK !!
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Hi Keith, I ended up getting my Deus yesterday and decided i couldnt live without a pinpointer too ::)
Before getting my Deus i had decided i wanted a carrot too but ended up deciding on a Nokta after watching hours of youtube and reading dozens of pages about pinpointers.
It should be here tomorrow and guess what? i forgot my discount too :( but at least i'm £45 better off.
I'll let you know how i get on with mine. Had money not been an issue i would have bought the carrot but this Nokta has great reviews and comes with a lot of kit (pointer, hardcase with carrying strap, holster, two nose covers, finds bag and a battery) it's waterproof to 1m, has a small led light (which you can switch off if you want) and has the same auto shut off and find me beeper just like the Garrett carrot.
Garry
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Hi Keith, I ended up getting my Deus yesterday and decided i couldnt live without a pinpointer too ::)
Before getting my Deus i had decided i wanted a carrot too but ended up deciding on a Nokta after watching hours of youtube and reading dozens of pages about pinpointers.
It should be here tomorrow and guess what? i forgot my discount too :( but at least i'm £45 better off.
I'll let you know how i get on with mine. Had money not been an issue i would have bought the carrot but this Nokta has great reviews and comes with a lot of kit (pointer, hardcase with carrying strap, holster, two nose covers, finds bag and a battery) it's waterproof to 1m, has a small led light (which you can switch off if you want) and has the same auto shut off and find me beeper just like the Garrett carrot.
Garry
I'm sure you won't regret your choice, as Gary said at the start they all get the job done. My only consolation for getting the expensive one is that my favourite colour is orange lol
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;D I used mine for a while today Keith and just realised that i would have been so much longer finding the target without it.
I'm realising that i might as well hammer the credit card and get what i need now rather than wait a while and wish i'd just got it in the first place.
Sand scoop next. ::)
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;D I used mine for a while today Keith and just realised that i would have been so much longer finding the target without it.
I'm realising that i might as well hammer the credit card and get what i need now rather than wait a while and wish i'd just got it in the first place.
Sand scoop next. ::)
Yeah to be honest mate I think there are some things you can't live without in this game, especially as a beginner. I have heard that pinpointers are not so imperative on ploughed but make the big difference on pasture and solid clay types of soil.
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Yeah i know, i used mine in a deepish hole that had about an inch of water at the bottom, thanks to the pointer i found the target in the side wall and didnt need to get my hands wet. ;D
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Yeah i know, i used mine in a deepish hole that had about an inch of water at the bottom, thanks to the pointer i found the target in the side wall and didnt need to get my hands wet. ;D
My carrot started playing up, but the supplied battery was naff and it seems okay now I have replaced it. Oscar 6972 tipped me off about the dodgy batteries.
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Of all the probes I've seen & used over the years The original black Pro-pointer Garrett was the best, many other manufacturers have jumped onto the bandwagon, all claiming to be better in some way, the carrot came out & indeed they had done it again, It has strong vibrate, excellent depth if needed, very well made, been very reliable, waterproof, most of the others have some of these traits but not all together.
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I received my xpointer today, never had a garrett carrot so can't compare the two, but just getting it out of the box and I'm Impressed with the build quality, some people have commented they can't hear me talking on the clip, others say it's fine, so I suppose it's down to what you watch it on
https://youtu.be/ZykmXCoXo6A