Have we reached the limits of our pinpointer depths?

maxxkatt

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With the Nox 800 a really deep handheld pinpointer would be nice to overcome some of the Nox's pinpointing problems.

Would love one that went 8-10" deep and one you could discriminate between iron and non-ferrous items like the Profind-35.

but also one that you could turn off vibration to prolong battery life.

I noticed as my Profind-35 battery depletes the depth capabilities of the pinpointer decreases. For instance when my battery went from new at 9.42 volts a drop of 6.48% the depth went from 2" down to 1.25" or a 37.5 inch drop.
 
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Call me crazy but I wouldn't really want a pinpointer thats extremely sensitive or deep. Makes it more difficult to do what it was designed to do IMHO, which is zeroing in on the target once the hole is open. If it can detect a coin sized target an inch away, thats all I really need.
 
Call me crazy but I wouldn't really want a pinpointer thats extremely sensitive or deep. Makes it more difficult to do what it was designed to do IMHO, which is zeroing in on the target once the hole is open. If it can detect a coin sized target an inch away, thats all I really need.

what I was thinking a deeper one might do a better job than the nox 800 pinpoint function. Not too often, but sometimes my nox 800 pinpointing function was way off. I thought I had it centered but only to eventually find after widening the hole the target was 3" from the bottom of the coil, not in the center of the coil. Of course I would want an adjustable sensitivity so I could back it off when needed.
 
.....I thought I had it centered but only to eventually find after widening the hole the target was 3" from the bottom of the coil, not in the center of the coil. ....

That's often the result of another object masking the higher conductor. The coil is only picking up the higher conductor under the nose of the coil because there's some lower conductor under the middle or heel of the coil. You can't see that, so there's the illusion that the high tone is coming from under the middle. When you dig in that spot the coin is in the far wall. (Reverse all of that if the target is in the near wall.) A clue this is happening is a really small signal for the depth, or it can't be hit from another direction, or it shifts location when you do get it from another direction.

Another cause is just some form of human error. For a few hunts I kept noticing that I was undershooting my plugs with the hand digger. The coin was consistently in the far side of the hole or even an inch into the far wall. I slowed down and looked at what I was doing. It took me a few times to realize I was pushing my digging tool into the ground just to the right of the target as I knelt down, and then I was cutting a plug towards me that led back to that starting spot, which put the coin at the top right of the plug rather than the middle. The plug tended to be just south of the pinpoint spot. I adjusted where I start cutting the plug, make the same cutting motion, and now I'm re-centered. I do it correctly without thinking about it again.
 
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I got an el cheapo and it's nice for my sites-sometimes even invaluable! However, I would love to see a waterproof pinpointer with 360· detection good for at least 4" for shallow water snorkeling- or even diving.
 
"Have we reached the limits of our pinpointer depths?"
I don't know but I think the whites TRX is amazing. It can detect a quarter with a narrow beam of detection at 3 1/2 - 4" with a "coil" (the tip) the size of a dime.
 
You can take a smaller, full-size metal detector and cut it down into a more "hand-held" unit using a pistol grip. I've seen this done with some Tesoro and Garrett models.
 
With the Nox 800 a really deep handheld pinpointer would be nice to overcome some of the Nox's pinpointing problems.

Would love one that went 8-10" deep and one you could discriminate between iron and non-ferrous items like the Profind-35.

but also one that you could turn off vibration to prolong battery life.

I noticed as my Profind-35 battery depletes the depth capabilities of the pinpointer decreases. For instance when my battery went from new at 9.42 volts a drop of 6.48% the depth went from 2" down to 1.25" or a 37.5 inch drop.

I thought depth of detection was usually a function of coil size. For initial pinpointing with your main detector, get a Whites XLT,:D and use the trigger-engaged pinpoint mode (made even more accurate with VCO Pinpoint turned on). VCO Pinpoint causes the frequency/pitch of the audio to increase as you get closer to the target. Seems like the newer detectors ought to incorporate this kind of pinpointing circuitry in their designs; I chuckle to myself when I read of the owners of the new detector designs having to wiggle or whip their coils back and forth over a target in an effort to pinpoint. THAT's one reason I keep my Spectrum XLT. Love the VCO Pinpoint feature.
 
"Have we reached the limits of our pinpointer depths?"
I don't know but I think the whites TRX is amazing. It can detect a quarter with a narrow beam of detection at 3 1/2 - 4" with a "coil" (the tip) the size of a dime.

I agree. The TRX will locate the target most of the time. Makes for a fast and accurate way to find the target.
 
I thought depth of detection was usually a function of coil size. For initial pinpointing with your main detector, get a Whites XLT,:D and use the trigger-engaged pinpoint mode (made even more accurate with VCO Pinpoint turned on). VCO Pinpoint causes the frequency/pitch of the audio to increase as you get closer to the target. Seems like the newer detectors ought to incorporate this kind of pinpointing circuitry in their designs; I chuckle to myself when I read of the owners of the new detector designs having to wiggle or whip their coils back and forth over a target in an effort to pinpoint. THAT's one reason I keep my Spectrum XLT. Love the VCO Pinpoint feature.
I agree that it is a great feature to aid with initial pinpointing but most newer detectors do have it. All of mine do. People use the wiggle method to pinpoint in difficult conditions such as when you have a good target with iron surrounding it. Its a trick that allows you to pinpoint while still using discrimination. VCO doesn't help in that situation since its all metal.
 
With the Nox 800 a really deep handheld pinpointer would be nice to overcome some of the Nox's pinpointing problems.

Would love one that went 8-10" deep and one you could discriminate between iron and non-ferrous items like the Profind-35.

but also one that you could turn off vibration to prolong battery life.

I noticed as my Profind-35 battery depletes the depth capabilities of the pinpointer decreases. For instance when my battery went from new at 9.42 volts a drop of 6.48% the depth went from 2" down to 1.25" or a 37.5 inch drop.

Just to comment on your battery life depletion resulting in lower voltage, that happens primarily with rechargeable batteries, use a regular alkaline/HD batteries, and the voltage remains till dead
 
Just to comment on your battery life depletion resulting in lower voltage, that happens primarily with rechargeable batteries, use a regular alkaline/HD batteries, and the voltage remains till dead

It wasn't easy, but I spent $20 on a 48ct of AA batteries, just for my pinpointer using AA batteries. My Fisher F-Pulse WANTS solid alkaline batteries. I own a small fortune in rechargeable batteries, to save money, but the fact is,,,a PI pinpointer needs real guts in power.

Don't go cheap.
 
It wasn't easy, but I spent $20 on a 48ct of AA batteries, just for my pinpointer using AA batteries. My Fisher F-Pulse WANTS solid alkaline batteries. I own a small fortune in rechargeable batteries, to save money, but the fact is,,,a PI pinpointer needs real guts in power.

Don't go cheap.

Just to clarify, the F-Pulse won't work (or work well) with NiMH AA cells?
 
It for sure takes some getting used to using that larger coil.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
Just a side note. Pulse type pinpointers will not work if your detector picked up a small piece of foil. It will not see the small foil and you'll be digging and digging thinking its still deeper as your detector still is seeing it. Also these days the deeper the pinpointer can detect off the tip, the further off to the sides of the pinpointer it will also detect. You'll be chasing a a target in the hole. I would like a pinpointer that just detects off the tip and maybe 1" up the sides, no higher. People tend to need pinpointers because they can't pinpoint without some difficulty when using a DD coil. Concentric coils pinpoint almost precisely in the center. Funny only a few years ago, I caved in to using an electronic pinpointer, when one was given to me. Never needed one since I started detecting in the late 60's. Did just fine. The pinpointer that works and that I like is the one by Nokta/Makro that can convert to a diving detector with the optional coil. PulseDiver.
 
+1
Seems to be a problem for all pulse type detectors, you can find a lot of articles on the subject

I've noticed that a lot of PI detectors seem to be battery hogs. But I didn't know if it was an issue of voltage or current draw.
 
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