Jump to content

Pinpointers


Recommended Posts

G'day,

 

I need to buy a pinpointer ... its a toss up between the Minelab Pro-find and the Garrett pinpointer. My uneducated guess right off the top of my head is that they would have the same performance.  Any advice on any possible advantages of one over the other? The advertising for the Minelab pinpointer says that it is a VLF. Is the Garrett also a VLF? Are there any PI pinpointers sold, by anyone?

 

Regards,

Rob (RKC) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Detector pro makes a PI. I bought one, but have never used it, I'm not a coin hunter. I thought it would come in handy for when a giant coil was used for nugget hunting.......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love my Garret...and its less $$ than the minelab. It will pick up on small stuff too,so should be good for gold thats a few grains and bigger. i dipped mine in that liquid plastic dip to protect against wear n tear.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

An excellent review at Link deleted since Findmall update broke all old links

I have both the Garrett Pro-Pointer http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbby_pro-pointer_main.aspx and Minelab Pro-Find http://www.minelab.com/products/consumer/accessories/pinpointer/pro-find-25 and from my perspective they are practically the same pinpointer. They are VLFs. The Minelab you can turn the sensitivity up or down but I would never use it on anything but max. I had the Garrett first and have worn the paint off it. I got the Minelab for backup and since my Garrett never dies (so far) it has only been used once when I loaned it to Chris Ralph.

I had and really liked the DetectorPro Uniprobe http://www.detectorpro.com/uniprobe.htm which is a PI probe built into what are basically Gray Ghost headphones. You switch between headphones and detector and head both in headphones. A bit more depth than the Garrett and Minelab but another cord to deal with and no choice of headphones. Not cheap either but you are getting headphones and a pinpointer.

detectorpro-uniprobe-pinpointer-in-headphones.jpg

 

DetectorPro also make the PistolProbe http://www.detectorpro.com/pistolprobe.htm but it is audio only so no good for me as I usually wear headphones.It is also rather bulky. The Garrett and Minelab units vibrate in addition to audio. I actually put a drop of glue in Garrett tiny speaker outlet to shut it up so I do not attract attention from it beeping.

The Vibraprobe http://www.treasureproducts.com/vibraprobe.html has been around a long time, is a PI unit, waterproof to 100 feet. I have no idea why I have never owned one since it has tempted me a time or two so I can't report personally on it.

White's is on the verge of introducing a new pinpointer that should be competitive with the Garrett and Minelab and may even be a PI so may want to hold off a bit unless you are in a hurry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

G'day,

 

Thanks ... very helpful!

 

But ... now I feel a little stupid. The mention above of the DetectorPro headphones reminded me that I actually have a DectectorPro Uniprobe. I bought one of those headphone detectors years ago and I must have ordered the probe at the same time. I havent seen it for years, so, if I can find it, I'll try it out in the next few days. Might save me getting one of the other brands. 

 

I bought one of the Silverdog SurfPI boards about a year ago but have not got around to soldering it up into a working detector just yet. If I can find time to put it togeather it might be worth trying with a probe. 

 

Regards,

Rob (RKC)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DetectorPro also made the Pocket Uniprobe, which was a probe on coiled cable attached to cell phone size control box. I still have one I should dig out and try compared to the other two I have. It had a very weak speaker and no vibrate function so again got put aside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

My wife and I each have a Garrett and used them since they first came out.  Mine finally died a few months ago so sent it back to Garrett for repairs.  It was long out of warranty so had to pay for shipping back and forth plus the repair charges.  It all mounted up to almost half the cost of a new one but it's working fine now.  I think the reason it died was because I was working a sledding area and got some water/ice/mud into the inner workings through the rubber on/off switch.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 years later...

I am aware that this thread is years old,but i finally got my hands on a brand new ' DetectorPro Uniprobe ' they are as i am aware not made anymore,but here in the UK not only are they ultra rare but also horrendously expensive that is when they had been stocked by just say 2 supplier.But in the last 2 days bought a brand new one and also 2 brand news coils for the PI headphones,but no shaft but as they are a common shaft setup will probably use a spare bran new Golden Mask collapsible shaft that i have laying around.

Although the coil and shaft setup can be kept in the back of the truck,it was the headphones/probe part of it that i really always wanted,i am going to have too stop buying anymore detectors and coils as i am currently upto 26 detectors and 54 coils i jest not ?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, phrunt said:

I had to look up what that was Rick, looks very unusual

detector_pro_uniprobe_1.jpg

26 detectors and 54 coils is without a doubt divorce material..... I wish you the best :laugh: I'm living on the edge with my collection.

Pretty easy to understand actually,beside the cable that goes to the pinpointer as in the picture that you posted is a connector that you screw in a audio lead that then goes to the audio socket on the detector.....you then have a switch that you run in audio mode as per normal headphone setup,when you locate a signal that you wish too pinpoint you then take the probe and flick the switch this then knocks out the uadio from the detector and all you then hear is the pinpointer sound.

Once you have heard the target through your headphones and retrieved the target then you flick back the switch into normal detecting audio mode and carry on detecting till the next target and then the same method is used to locate the target.

Rather than say having to move the headphones on one side so that you can hear the target you hear it through the headphone,also another major feature is that because its a PI probe it will give you extra depth of maybe a couple or 3 inches extra depth when locating the target.

Also another big trump card with this setup is that you can buy a rod assembly and a mono coil from the suppliers,unscrew the pinpointer from the headphones and then connect your mono coil and you then have a self contained Pulse detector all built into the headphones,they do 2 coil sizes a 8'' and a 10'' mono coil,but in the last couple of years they have stopped selling this headphone/probe setup and also the coils and rod are hard too find as well,often you can find them that someone has old stock.I have located a 8'' coil from a supplier across the pon so that is heading home to good old Blighty.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...