Puzzled - good repeatable detector signal - but no response from pinpointer

GKL · Aug 10, 2020

I wonder if anyone had something like this happen and if anyone knows why it might happen......

While detecting at a motel permission one spot I was getting a good repeatable VDI of 38 and I was thinking silver ! :lol:

but I dug a good deep plug and even dug down further but when I put my pinpointer in the hole - nothing ! :?:

I ran the detector back over the spot again and still a good signal, dug a little deeper and still no response from the pinpointer at all, that sure had me puzzled :?:

but I had to move on, figured I could always try that spot again on another day.

(and yes, I checked to make sure my pinpointer was working by pointing it at my digger) (I also checked the dirt I dug out as well as the plug)

NOTE: the above was unusual, it is not a common happening, so I don't think it is any equipment malfunction.

rob.ream258 · Aug 10, 2020

I'd guess it was really small and near the surface. Found a silver clasp that rang up 6-8 inches but was just under the grass roots. When you flipped the plug it might have been out of range......happened to me....

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

waltr · Aug 10, 2020

The times I have had this happen it was either:
The target was a larger odd shape and off to the side a ways. This fooled the detector into indicating when the target was actually under one half the coil not the center.

Other times is was a largish object quite deep.
Once I dug about two foot down before pinpointer indicated. Then found the object was greater than a foot across.

Luckily neither is common but has happened.

GKL · Aug 10, 2020

rob.ream258 said:
I'd guess it was really small and near the surface. Found a silver clasp that rang up 6-8 inches but was just under the grass roots. When you flipped the plug it might have been out of range......happened to me....

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind as I can see that happening too, the thing with this spot though is even after digging the plug and the pinpointer giving no response, the detector was still showing that same signal at the very same spot :?:

waltr said:
The times I have had this happen it was either:
The target was a larger odd shape and off to the side a ways. This fooled the detector into indicating when the target was actually under one half the coil not the center.

Other times is was a largish object quite deep.
Once I dug about two foot down before pinpointer indicated. Then found the object was greater than a foot across.

Luckily neither is common but has happened.

Thanks, also some very good points to consider as possibilities, next time I go back to that permission (and I do remember where that spot should be) I'll have to check off to the side.

I'm definitely hoping it's not your second point, as I don't think the motel would want me digging 2 feet down :laughing:

(of course I wouldn't :lol:

)

jimther · Aug 10, 2020

Gary
When you return to that hole, find the signal again, then raise your coil 4-6 inches off the ground and scan again. If you still get a signal, it’s probably LARGE and deep. Raise coil another 4-6 inches and scan again to confirm this theory.

Have you tried a much smaller coil to see what it does on this target?

Good luck.

GKL · Aug 10, 2020

jimther said:
Gary
When you return to that hole, find the signal again, then raise your coil 4-6 inches off the ground and scan again. If you still get a signal, it’s probably LARGE and deep. Raise coil another 4-6 inches and scan again to confirm this theory.

Have you tried a much smaller coil to see what it does on this target?

Good luck.

Thanks, now that you mentioned it I do remember that technique but I wish I would had thought of it then :doah:

thanks for the reminder, I'll try that before digging another hole when I get back there ! :thumbsup:

Haven't used a smaller coil, might consider getting one at some point but no hurry, pretty happy with the Nox as is

Soil Surgeon · Aug 10, 2020

I had that very same thing happen yesterday evening and there was nothing wrong with my detector or pinpointer . The ground was hard , there were roots and it was getting late . Whatever it is , it can stay there .

GKL · Aug 10, 2020

Soil Surgeon said:
I had that very same thing happen yesterday evening and there was nothing wrong with my detector or pinpointer . The ground was hard , there were roots and it was getting late .

Whatever it is , it can stay there .

well, I can surely appreciate wanting to avoid the hard ground and roots, but if it was a really good signal you could always try again another day !

My signal was a 38 so I was hoping for silver, but I remember where it's at to try again another day, just hope it doesn't turn out to be a really deep crushed can :lol:

Donut · Aug 11, 2020

Sounds like a large deep piece of iron beyond the pin pointer signal and if the pointer is on a low signal settings, mind has 4 settings.
Doug

Soil Surgeon · Aug 11, 2020

GKL said:
well, I can surely appreciate wanting to avoid the hard ground and roots, but if it was a really good signal you could always try again another day !

My signal was a 38 so I was hoping for silver, but I remember where it's at to try again another day, just hope it doesn't turn out to be a really deep crushed can

The signal was a 14 on my Nox . Not usually a good signal for me . I remember where the signal was also .Who knows maybe on some future trip there I may check it out .

GKL · Aug 11, 2020

Donut said:
Sounds like a large deep piece of iron beyond the pin pointer signal and if the pointer is on a low signal settings, mind has 4 settings.
Doug

Thanks, but since my Nox showed a VDI of 38 I would be surprised if it was iron, now it may not be silver like I hope, but wouldn't you think if not silver it more likely would be a crushed aluminum can ? ......but with as unusual results as we detectorists can occasionally get, it could surprise me and be iron :shock:

If I do later manage to recover a find from that spot I'll see about posting a pic even if it is iron !

Soil Surgeon said:
The signal was a 14 on my Nox . Not usually a good signal for me . I remember where the signal was also .Who knows maybe on some future trip there I may check it out .

Interesting, what finds do you usually get from a 14 on your Nox ?

I'll dig some 13's since 13 could be a nickel, though 13 seems to give me a whole lot more pull-tabs than nickels :lol:

but I figured 14 was one of the numbers to ignore as likely being trash, but I'm still learning more over time so I might be wrong.

Sven · Aug 11, 2020

Could have been a piece of small foil. Your detector sees it but, your pinpointer doesn't always because your pinpointer has PI circuitry.

oaktree · Aug 11, 2020

Gary - my Garrett carrot has been having similar issues - my detector will pickup a signal, I have the carrot on +3 sensitivity and nothing. Seems like when I first got the carrot, it would pickup things very easily on the +3 setting, then I could detune it from there to narrow down to the object.

I have had times the past few hunts where I have the carrot, it signals then without pressing the button at all on another sweep the signal is just gone. Pretty frustrating! Maybe I just need to send it back into Garrett to have it looked at

Hope you get your's sorted out, let me know if you find a tip that works well

GKL · Aug 11, 2020

Sven said:
Could have been a piece of small foil. Your detector sees it but, your pinpointer doesn't always because your pinpointer has PI circuitry.

Thanks, that is interesting, even if that wasn't the case with my location I'm glad to know that could be a possibility to watch out for, but with a motel being a location prone to trash drops, it very well might be the case there.

It will be interesting when I get back there again if I can find out what it actually is. (if I do find the target I will post a pic)

oaktree said:
Gary - my Garrett carrot has been having similar issues - my detector will pickup a signal, I have the carrot on +3 sensitivity and nothing. Seems like when I first got the carrot, it would pickup things very easily on the +3 setting, then I could detune it from there to narrow down to the object.

I have had times the past few hunts where I have the carrot, it signals then without pressing the button at all on another sweep the signal is just gone. Pretty frustrating! Maybe I just need to send it back into Garrett to have it looked at

Hope you get your's sorted out, let me know if you find a tip that works well

I have very occasionally had times when my carrot would beep even when holding it in the air, but it would still work to find a target. Sometimes if I think the carrot might be acting up I'll shut it off and restart it, or if I think it's been long enough I'll put in a fresh battery, I take 4 rechargeable 9volts with me.

I have read older posts where Garrett was said to have good customer service even with the carrots.

As far as the specific dig I'm referring to in this post, while the carrot would not respond when put in the hole I dug, I would point it towards my Lesche digger as a test and it would respond, so I know it was working at the time, but simply not responding in that hole.

When you mentioned tips that work well I am assuming you mean the protective tips ?

If so, I bought these in the past and they seem to be working well:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-ORANGE-Pinpointer-Cap-Tip-Protector-with-Lanyard-Fits-Garrett-Propointer-AT/223921454864

They also sell the tips by themselves if you don't want/need a lanyard:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-ORANGE-Pinpointer-Cap-Tip-Protector-Fits-Garrett-Propointer-AT-II/223925606080

It seems to me it would be hard to do, but I think I remember reading of people wearing thru the carrot tip over time so I figured it was worth a try just in case.

Pete e · Aug 11, 2020

GKL said:
Thanks, but since my Nox showed a VDI of 38 I would be surprised if it was iron, now it may not be silver like I hope, but wouldn't you think if not silver it more likely would be a crushed aluminum can ? ......but with as unusual results as we detectorists can occasionally get, it could surprise me and be iron If I do later manage to recover a find from that spot I'll see about posting a pic even if it is iron !

Interesting, what finds do you usually get from a 14 on your Nox ?

I'll dig some 13's since 13 could be a nickel, though 13 seems to give me a whole lot more pull-tabs than nickels but I figured 14 was one of the numbers to ignore as likely being trash, but I'm still learning more over time so I might be wrong.

You simply can't trust the numbers on the Nox...They are a good indication and you can play the percentages game, and say for every 100 "14" targets you dig, 99 will be rubbish, but that last one could be something good.

I know a lot of people swear by only digging certain numbers or notching out certain numbers but you will miss stuff sooner or later..

The soil has an effect on the number a target generates and this can be seen when you get an initial target of say X but once you start digging another scan shows its now a Y reading..

With regards the 38 signal, I had one the other day and it turned out to be a 12" length of crushed copper pipe and previously I ve had bigish bits of aluminium give it also, but I would still dig it!

GKL · Aug 11, 2020

Pete e said:
You simply can't trust the numbers on the Nox...They are a good indication and you can play the percentages game, and say for every 100 "14" targets you dig, 99 will be rubbish, but that last one could be something good.

I know a lot of people swear by only digging certain numbers or notching out certain numbers but you will miss stuff sooner or later..

The soil has an effect on the number a target generates and this can be seen when you get an initial target of say X but once you start digging another scan shows its now a Y reading..

With regards the 38 signal, I had one the other day and it turned out to be a 12" length of crushed copper pipe and previously I ve had bigish bits of aluminium give it also, but I would still dig it!

I agree

and have not notched out any numbers, part of my decision process as to what numbers to dig and which to skip (at least initially) is the location, if I am in a very trashy location I might only dig numbers that have a greater "possibility" of being a non-trash find, I figured I can always go back later and not be as picky with what numbers I dig, I just don't want my initial hunts to be mostly trash if I can help it :lol:

(still might be some numbers I still might avoid if it is 99% likely trash and there are better signals to spend time digging)

Understand about the potential for the soil conditions to effect readings too.

I agree about not wanting to pass up any 38 signals with the possibility of it being a great find, knowing it still might be larger trash, but you still have to try digging just to be sure :lol:

Soil Surgeon · Aug 11, 2020

GKL said:
Thanks, but since my Nox showed a VDI of 38 I would be surprised if it was iron, now it may not be silver like I hope, but wouldn't you think if not silver it more likely would be a crushed aluminum can ? ......but with as unusual results as we detectorists can occasionally get, it could surprise me and be iron If I do later manage to recover a find from that spot I'll see about posting a pic even if it is iron !

Interesting, what finds do you usually get from a 14 on your Nox ?

I'll dig some 13's since 13 could be a nickel, though 13 seems to give me a whole lot more pull-tabs than nickels but I figured 14 was one of the numbers to ignore as likely being trash, but I'm still learning more over time so I might be wrong.

14 has never given me anything good. It's almost always pulltabs or some other useless junk .12 and 13 are great nickel numbers for my machine .

GKL · Aug 11, 2020

Soil Surgeon said:
14 has never given me anything good. It's almost always pulltabs or some other useless junk .12 and 13 are great nickel numbers for my machine .

Thanks, makes me feel better about passing up the 14's when I do :lol:

While I don't notch out any numbers, there are some numbers I tend to avoid, not saying I might never dig them, but maybe only occasionally just to see what it is if there are not many better signals in the area.

Monkeys Uncle · Aug 11, 2020

Had a similar circumstance happened to me several yrs ago. Good, clear signal next to a home but no matter how much I dug...absolutely no target UNDER the coil.

Hold on...you're going to laugh.

Finally realized I was swinging the coil under a gutter's 'down spout'. Had forgotten, coils emit signals in two directions...below AND ABOVE. Anyone want a down spout?

GKL · Aug 11, 2020

Monkeys Uncle said:
Had a similar circumstance happened to me. Good, clear signal next to a home but no matter how much I dug...absolutely no target UNDER the coil.

Hold on...you're going to laugh.

Finally realized I was swinging the coil under a gutter's 'down spout'. Had forgotten, coils emit signals in two directions...below AND ABOVE. Anyone want a down spout?

I bet when you realized what was happening it was a "Duh" moment :doah:

Thanks, I definitely need to remember that, didn't think about detecting metal above the coil, not an issue with the dig I mentioned, but still good to remember for other locations :thumbsup:

Puzzled - good repeatable detector signal - but no response from pinpointer

GKL

rob.ream258

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waltr

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GKL

jimther

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GKL

Soil Surgeon

GKL

Donut

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Soil Surgeon

GKL

Sven

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oaktree

GKL

Pete e

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GKL

Soil Surgeon

GKL

Monkeys Uncle

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