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A True Discriminating Pinpointer


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I'm bored and it's snowing again here. No detecting until Sunday at the earliest.  Just thinking out loud is there a reason fancy discriminating pin-pointers are not a top priority? I've often thought about if it was possible to convert a Tesoro Mojave into a pin-pointer by somehow making a coil for it kinda like sunray did and mounting the detectors guts and speaker in a different box. You could control sensitivity and discrimination easily with the knobs. I'm not sure why Minelab or another company has not taken the pin-pointer to the obvious extreme of discrimination and wireless that might even read out on the detector screen in a pinpointer mode. Is that even possible or wanted. I don't chase a lot of iron looking for a target in a hole or plug that often, but it does frustrate me occasionally. The available pin-pointers seem pretty primitive except for the wireless XP pin-pointers. Again I'm bored and it's snowing. Off the top of my head it seems like a discriminating pin-pointer would be useful.

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It is certainly not a technology issue as there are a few discriminating pinpointers out there.  But I think you answered you're own question...namely,  are you actually willing to pay the premium cost for such a pinpointer for the handful of times where it might actually make a difference?  Once you've started digging the plug, you're typically committed and seldom do people simply walk away because they realize that high tone in the headphones was really just falsing iron based on the signal from a discriminating pinpointer.  What if you pulled out the nail but you were just out of reach of the coin that was actually giving you the high tone.  In other words, how much do you trust your discriminating pinpointer such that you would fill in the hole and not pursue the target just because it was telling you the proximate target was iron?  And if you leave the nail unrecovered in the hole, how do you then check the hole to see if the nail (that you did not recover) was the sole target and not partially masking a keeper.  Basically, detector manufacturers have provided a few discriminating pinpointer choices to the level the market will bear, but it is really not a difference maker in reality despite the promise of more efficient target recovery.  I think detectorists for the most part think that it's not really worth the trip and certainly not worth paying a significant premium for so the manufacturers are not really getting a big demand signal for such a product from detectorists.

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Steve (of this site) discussed this idea and if I recall what he said correctly, he pushed one or more detecting companies hard as to the need for such a device, but had no such success.

I've thought about shortening down a Vanquish 340 with the V8 coil to make an "MIQ Pinpointer." It might work better with an Equinox 600 and 6" coil, but that'd be a bit too expensive for me to mess around with.

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16 hours ago, longbow62 said:

.... Off the top of my head it seems like a discriminating pin-pointer would be useful. ...

There are 2 discriminating pinpointers available at the moment ,:

1) QUEST XPOINTER MAX :
QUEST XPOINTER MAX (metaux-detection.fr)


2) MINELAB PROFIND 35 :
https://www.metaux-detection.fr/fr/pro-find-35-c2x30847474

 

I own both of them . I have the Profind 35 since 2 years now and I am currently testing the Quest Xpointer Max . The Profind is a very good pinpointer but I prefer the Quest.  I will post a report on the Quest soon ... 

From my standpoint I would never come back to an all metal pinpointer as the discrimination is a great help in the field for me  , especially for identifying big irons at depth ..

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For me it's a big help to have the Quest Xpointer Max. I generally use the standard Carrot but if the Carrot finds a lot of targets in a hole the Xpointer can save me time rooting around and digging more. The Xpointer is always with me now.

I have two situations where it really came through, one a thin silver ring in a hole full of iron and another a very delicate complete cufflink in a hole full of iron. I would be probably have damaged either doing more digging.

I did a pretty extensive thread on the Xpointer but look forward to your impressions. 👍 

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I’ve wondered about his myself and how difficult would it be to make a small wand type coil like the Sunray probe and shorten the shaft of any number of entry level or legacy detectors. Like a Compadre, Classic 1, even and Ace or entry level Fisher.  You could buy any of those for same or less than price of a new pinpointer and have discrimination and even VDI.  

The closest thing off the shelf I have thought of is buying the 4” coil for my F22 and making the shaft very short. There was a Tesoro Compadre made like this that is rare I believe. But a Sunray type probe would be nicer. 

I think as far as the question of would you spend the money or you are already dug the whole.  Most people probably would not but I have like 6 detectors. I’m sure some of us would have one if we had the chance or had an option to convert a cheap detector this way. Why not 🤷‍♂️

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When digging out trash pits and huts, I've used the Deus small elliptical coil (detached from the detector stem) and the remote as sort of a pinpointer on steroids to cherry pick the non-ferrous.  Someone even makes a grip handle that you can attach to a Deus coil and use it to scan the dirt piles or side walls of the pit (see below mounted on Deus 9" coil).

received_107689507865984.thumb.jpeg.abb766304445090c8dfae652b148c65e.jpeg

This works great when you are dealing with literally hundreds of nails in the dirt piles.  Just rake the dirt out and scan with the Deus coil and the remote in your pocket in speaker mode (and/or glancing at the TID screen).

I personally would use a high performing discriminating pinpointer if such a thing actually existed that could be used for all pinpointing needs.  But I am also married to the XP Deus wireless pinpointer which works great integrated with the Deus/Deus II remote, but it's pulse induction and will never be capable of doing discrimination.  The Quest Xpointer that 350 Platinum recommends is the closest thing to a high functioning discriminating pinpointer that I have seen, but there are situations where it is preferable to use the Carrot or whatever you use as your primary pinpointer because it can be less efficient to use if you only have one target in the hole due to its sensitivity and the sensitive areas on the probe.

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Hunting in cities where I live that do not allow digging plugs in parks, a descriminating pinpointer is a lifesaver. I have the ProFind 35 and XPointer Max but they perform better in an open hole due to their relatively short descriminating range, and both tend to overload in their high and max sensitivity settings, probably due to the high iron content of my soil.

I did, however, find an "old school" descriminating pinpointer that handles the job perfectly. It's called the Cache Pro Elite. Unfortunately I've gone through two of them in about a year and my third one is on it's last leg, and you can only find a few refurbished ones now at a pretty high price.

I usually use my F-Pulse to pinpoint targets to about 6-7 inches deep from the surface before probing. Then I probe for the target. After locating the target I could insert the 8" probe of the Cahe Pro, which has tip only sensitivity, and instantly tell if the target was ferrous or not without opening up the ground.

I wish someone could start making these again as it is the perfect descriminating probe/pinpointer for use in parks and highly manicured lawns and aid in making "no trace" recoveries.

 

 

Cache Pro Elite.png

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I knew about the Profind and the Quest. A buddy has a Profind, but have not noticed him using it lately. He never really bragged on it. I had assumed the Quest was similar to the Profind. I know the Sun Ray's were popular on some detectors like the Etrac, and they were based off the detector for tone and I.D.. If a wireless pinpointer could be made to work thru the detectors electronics that would be a great thing. 

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4 minutes ago, longbow62 said:

I knew about the Profind and the Quest. A buddy has a Profind, but have not noticed him using it lately. He never really bragged on it. I had assumed the Quest was similar to the Profind. I know the Sun Ray's were popular on some detectors like the Etrac, and they were based off the detector for tone and I.D.. If a wireless pinpointer could be made to work thru the detectors electronics that would be a great thing. 

The Sunray probe was awesome for the E Trac. I wish I never sold mine. Nothing like putting the probe deep in a hole and hearing the sweet sound of silver ☺️ It didn't go super deep but it helped not scratch your coin once the hole was opened up a bit.

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