The New Quest Xpointer Max

[☠ Cipher]

On paper this appears to be a fairly impressive unit with the depth or range that the ProFind 35 lacks to be able to make an iron tone more effective. What feedback I’ve seen on it indicates this would equal the depth of pinpointers like TRX and Tek-Point, but with more features as depicted below. Has anyone here used one? What do you think so far? Personally the only thing that would make me think twice is that I already have powerhouse pinpointers and I’m not really looking to take on any new pinpointers that aren’t part of an ecosystem. While I’m impressed with this pinpointer on paper, I haven’t seen a full sized Quest machine that really floats my boat, particularly in light of the latest machines from the big players. 

[mh9162013]

If I was in the market for a new pinpointer, I would strongly consider this one. But it doesn't seem like it has additional range/sensitivity (or improved ratcheting) compared to the TRX, F-Pulse or Mi-4/6. So I like the other bells and whistles, but they're not enoguh to get me to switch from my F-Pulse...not based on the information we have on it so far, at least. Then there's the fact it has a built-in battery...yech.

I really like its ability to turn off the lost alarm, though.

The iron discrimination doesn't mean much to me. It'd be nice to have, but I wouldn't pay extra money for it. At least the two different sounds are distinct though, unlike the Pro-Find 35.

[CPT_GhostLight]

I like my F-Pulse for depth and my ProFind 35 for nailing tiny targets that the F-Pulse misses, but I'm real curious about the Xpointer Max, so I put it on my Christmas list. If Santa takes pity on me, I'll let you all know my impressions of it and do some comparisons between the three pinpointers I have.

[phrunt]

Interesting it's 9.5kHz most VLF pinpointers I've seen sit around the 11 to 12kHz range.  Nokta have just updated their Nokta Pointer so it doesn't mess with the Simplex I assume by changing its frequency from the 11.6 kHz it was to something else seeing the Simplex is 12kHZ, bit of a boo boo there making them so similar, the muting of the Simplex was a bit annoying whenever you wanted to use a pinpointer including my mighty Carrot AT.

9.5 should be far enough away from most detector frequencies, unless it messes with the Nox and Legend as they both have 10kHz, in single frequency it might mess with them and in multi depending on frequency weighting I guess.

It's probably not a very sensitive pinpointer to really small targets like nuggets like the TRX and Carrot AT are, I'd be interested in it if it was.

My dream of a nugget poinpointer looks some way off yet.

[PhaseTech]

I have had a play with this and I am impressed. Very loud, feels great in the hand, good depth. Only received one demo unit and two for stock, and the two stock units went out the door. My demo is out on loan. Battery meter on start up is a nice feature. 

[F350Platinum]

Just got my hands on one of these today. First impressions are that it has good build feel but time will tell. I like/don't like the built in battery, would rather have an external plug to the USB C connector, and really wish they set it up for fast charging. It's 5v, and you can't just use any charging cable, you have to use theirs. 😵

I like that you can turn the flashlight off to save battery, and the re-tune seems to be as good as Garrett, but we will see in brackish and salt water.

It's not louder than the Garrett Propointer AT. It does seem to have about an inch or more "reach" than the Propointer in air tests, doesn't interfere with the Equinox unless you are in 10kHz single frequency (it's 9.5kHz) and even then it isn't too bad. You have to get it close to the control box, something that shouldn't happen often.

I got it mostly to "Take one for the team". The discrimination feature really intrigues me, especially for multiple targets in a hole. It will save time in some instances, and get me on to the next dig quicker. Seems to work well. I'll probably do a separate write up on it after some field trials. 👍 so far so good.

[mh9162013]

42 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

It's 5v, and you can't just use any charging cable, you have to use theirs. 

So just any old USC-C won't work? Is it due to some mechanical modification they made to the USB-C cord or there's some unknown piece of electronics in their cord?

Also, how does it "closing range" or ratcheting compare with the Garrett Carrot?

[F350Platinum]

16 minutes ago, mh9162013 said:

So just any old USC-C won't work? Is it due to some mechanical modification they made to the USB-C cord or there's some unknown piece of electronics in their cord?

Also, how does it "closing range" or ratcheting compare with the Garrett Carrot?

I tried a couple of fast charging cables, and the space the USB port is in probably intentionally doesn't allow a PD charger cable to be plugged in. I imagine that is a good idea since the device is not fast charging capable.

I didn't put the ratcheting to much of a test, thus far I just know it does it. I don't want to hijack this post, so I'll do a much more comprehensive test very soon, including brackish water since that's all I have near me.

[mh9162013]

7 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

I tried a couple of fast charging cables, and the space the USB port is in probably intentionally doesn't allow a PD charger cable to be plugged in. I imagine that is a good idea since the device is not fast charging capable.

Just to clarify, any old USB-C charging cable will work, but third party "fast charging" USB-C cables won't work?

[George Kinsey]

The Quest Q30 Plus floats my boat. One of my favorites.