As A Newbie, If You Had To Choose...

collegefbfan

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Jul 3, 2018
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So, you get your detector. Let's say budget comes into play. You can only have a pinpointer or headphones. Which do you pick?
 
Pin-pointer all day long. I only wear headphones if I'm in a noisy area or if there is some kind of activity going on that I don't want to interrupt with beeping.

Don't go cheap on the pinpointer get a TRX or a Carrot. A good pinpointer makes it so much easier to pinpoint and dig a smaller hole as well as finding a dirt colored target once you have dug.
 
+1

And I'd vote for the TRX. The high-powered directional pointing is a worthy feature. It does freak out sometimes but ground balancing it by a quick button push makes it go away.

Oldest coin dug- 1927 wheatie.
 
I'd choose headphones. I hunted for years before pinpointers were invented. with a little practice you can pinpoint most objects and then find them by passing the dirt in front of the coil. Headphones make your batteries last longer, don't disturb others and allow you to hear weak signals better.
 
I'd choose headphones. I hunted for years before pinpointers were invented. with a little practice you can pinpoint most objects and then find them by passing the dirt in front of the coil. Headphones make your batteries last longer, don't disturb others and allow you to hear weak signals better.

Please don't make me choose between the two. Get a credit card and get 'em both.

EDIT: Sorry Silversmith, didn't mean to reply to your response specifically.
 
So, you get your detector. Let's say budget comes into play. You can only have a pinpointer or headphones. Which do you pick?

Grab a shovel full of dirt, mix in a single piece of 1/4" x 1/4" piece of aluminum can and then see how long it takes you to find it.
2-minutes?
5-minutes?
....did you start digging a deeper and bigger hole?
10-minutes?
15-minutes?

Nah, by now you have chucked your headset and detector against a tree and said F-udge it! :lol: Buy the pinpointer.
 
Pinpointers seem like the worst investment, they don't last but it is not fun to try find targets without a pinpointer.You really need to buy both in time but buy a decent pinpointer and get by with a cheap set of headphones until you have spare money to source a good set, if there is such a thing as spare money.....:lol:
 
If you don't mind continually picking up your plug, or parts of your plug and waving it in front of your coil, you may want to get the headphones.
My eyes don't have X-Ray vision. If there's a silver dime encrusted in hardened mud or clay, I can't see inside of it. That means more waving in front of the coil. Or just use a pinpointer, and be done.
 
Headphones can be bought for $5 and for land, they'll sound nearly as good as most factory ones...

You don't need that good of headphones for detecting, anything made for music, will more than coverer the frequency response needed from your machine..

<°)))>{
 
I'd choose headphones. I hunted for years before pinpointers were invented. with a little practice you can pinpoint most objects and then find them by passing the dirt in front of the coil. Headphones make your batteries last longer, don't disturb others and allow you to hear weak signals better.

^ This ^
 
Get the pinpointer. IMHO it's far more useful than comparably priced headphones. You won't be able to tell the difference between 10 dollar and 150 dollar headphones (on land at least)
 
Headphones can be bought for $5 and for land, they'll sound nearly as good as most factory ones...

You don't need that good of headphones for detecting, anything made for music, will more than coverer the frequency response needed from your machine..

<°)))>{
Just make sure you get a set with volume control if your detector doesn’t have one built in.
 
Yep. Like lots of other folks have said, the pinpointed is the way to go.

You can start with a used one, and that should save money for a set of the inexpensive Garrett headphones with the volume control and 1/4" plug. Almost any land based headphones with a 1/4" plug and volume control will work, like the previous posters have said. You pay extra for the rugged-ized components and whatnot. If you go easy on them, they would work okay.

I use my Garrett's when it's eleventy-six degrees out and too hot to wear the full over the ear ones. New, they are like $15. There's a guy on the auction site that sells a "school A/V department" type headphone for like $15 shipped. I have a set of those too, and they sound fine on the bench as well.
 
Pinpointer

I am SURE you have a cheap set of ear buds sitting around ( probably got one with your Phone) These will hold you by until you can save up enough clad for a decent set of Headphones.

Like jerr-Man I would even bother to hunt without a pinpointer. A pinpointer will increase your finds exponentially in the speed in which you can dig.
 
Yep. Like lots of other folks have said, the pinpointed is the way to go.

You can start with a used one, and that should save money for a set of the inexpensive Garrett headphones with the volume control and 1/4" plug. Almost any land based headphones with a 1/4" plug and volume control will work, like the previous posters have said. You pay extra for the rugged-ized components and whatnot. If you go easy on them, they would work okay.

I use my Garrett's when it's eleventy-six degrees out and too hot to wear the full over the ear ones. New, they are like $15. There's a guy on the auction site that sells a "school A/V department" type headphone for like $15 shipped. I have a set of those too, and they sound fine on the bench as well.


Which Garretts are you referring to that aren't the full over the ear ones?
 
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