Pinpointing

Diggin

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2011
Messages
57
Hi, I am a new member here, and I just got into metal detecting.
Is there a better way to pinpoint? I always have to dig huge holes just to find a penny or something. I tried "X" ing the target but it is not always successful.
Should I buy a smaller coil?
 
Smaller coils help, but you might want to practise pinpointing. Just toss a coin on the ground and pinpoint it...determine where exactly the 'sweet spot' is on your coil. Then bury a coin and mark its exact spot with a stick or something and pinpoint a little more.

You could also get a pinpointer. They can detect a target from couple to several inches away so you may be able to determine the precise spot before you even have to tough the digger.

Voriax
 
i just hold down pinpoint and sweet left to right over the target from top to bottom and i get idea of the size of the target by doing that and where it is...
but this dose not work for me in trashy areas.
 
Pin pointing is a part of metal detecting and just takes a little patience and practice. Depending on which detector you have usually you just press pinpoint, sweep side to side for the loudest signal and then push forward and pull backwards until you get the loudest signal and it should be center of your coil right around where your lower shaft attaches to the coil. You can also sweep side to side and get the loudest then slowly pull the coil towards you and where the signal stops should be the tip of the coil and where you would dig. This method is called using the toe of the detector and can be done using the back of the coil or heel.

Some detectors such as the Garrett Ace requires a little detuning to pin point a little more accurately. videos below describing ace detuning pin pointing technique and using the heel and toe techniques as well.





Lay some coins out on the ground and cover them with towel and practice, within no time you will have it down and no longer be problematic for you, Good luck and happy hunting.
 
All above posts are great and I would add that you should get yourself a Garrett PP. It can detect targets nearly 2-3" deep. I typically detect in ballparks where targets are not that deep, so once I get the hit, I scan it with the PP and I know exactly where it is at thus making my plug very small!
 
Well what detector do you have?

He has a Bounty Hunter sharp shooter 2.

Ok, here's the deal on pinpointing with my cheap Quicksilver BH...a Wally World special which I think was a "second" AND which should have never left the factory to be put on a shelf and sold to anyone.

I had an extreme falsing problem on all sensitivity levels and no pinpoint button, and the stupid thing was cross-eyed!
Xing could narrow down the target to an area about the size of Rhode Island.
Not kidding, here...it was ridiculous.
Also, on a concentric coil the "sweet spot" is usually pretty much dead center of the coil.
Not on mine, however.
After tons of hours with thing, and maybe a million empty holes, I finally figured out that target center by xing was not in the center but actually about 3 inches to the left and about 1-2 inches up from where I determined the target should be.
Don't know why this is, (badly wound coil?), but after dozens of hours with thing I learned to adapt and target recovery became a little easier.

Then I got a Cen-tech pinpointer from Harbor Freight and that helped a bunch.

Months later when I got my Vaquero with it's laser-like pinpointing ability, and after my very first swing and target signal, I suddenly realized how bad that thing really was.
Eye opening, to say the least.

My point is even with all the problems with this albatross, I still managed to learn to pinpoint better and find my targets and dig way less empty holes....eventually.

Try this...

Go outside and throw a penny or other coin on the ground and cover it with a towel and mark it's position under the towel with a piece of colored tape, or something.
Or dig a small hole and throw a coin in there and cover and mark it.
Then practice your pinpointing at all different levels by raising the coil on several different passes.

Do this enough and eventually pinpointing by xing should start to become second nature.

You just need some practice, that's all.

Also get some sort of decent hand held pinpointer because that should help a lot.

HH
 
He has a Bounty Hunter sharp shooter 2.

Ok, here's the deal on pinpointing with my cheap Quicksilver BH...a Wally World special which I think was a "second" AND which should have never left the factory to be put on a shelf and sold to anyone.

I had an extreme falsing problem on all sensitivity levels and no pinpoint button, and the stupid thing was cross-eyed!
Xing could narrow down the target to an area about the size of Rhode Island.
Not kidding, here...it was ridiculous.
Also, on a concentric coil the "sweet spot" is usually pretty much dead center of the coil.
Not on mine, however.
After tons of hours with thing, and maybe a million empty holes, I finally figured out that target center by xing was not in the center but actually about 3 inches to the left and about 1-2 inches up from where I determined the target should be.
Don't know why this is, (badly wound coil?), but after dozens of hours with thing I learned to adapt and target recovery became a little easier.

Then I got a Cen-tech pinpointer from Harbor Freight and that helped a bunch.

Months later when I got my Vaquero with it's laser-like pinpointing ability, and after my very first swing and target signal, I suddenly realized how bad that thing really was.
Eye opening, to say the least.

My point is even with all the problems with this albatross, I still managed to learn to pinpoint better and find my targets and dig way less empty holes....eventually.

Try this...

Go outside and throw a penny or other coin on the ground and cover it with a towel and mark it's position under the towel with a piece of colored tape, or something.
Or dig a small hole and throw a coin in there and cover and mark it.
Then practice your pinpointing at all different levels by raising the coil on several different passes.

Do this enough and eventually pinpointing by xing should start to become second nature.

You just need some practice, that's all.

Also get some sort of decent hand held pinpointer because that should help a lot.

HH

Yeah I tried that. Thanks everybody! It worked! My MD is not too bad actually.
 
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