An interesting re-fresh of an old post, but while I read them all, I'm only going to respond to current posts on this topic because the Pinpointer has been in production long enough to have taken care of any glitches.
For the record, I am wrapping up my 55th year of metal detecting and start my 56th this coming March. I learned how to use a detector and isolate a target
(pinpoint) early on and still do
most pinpointing with the detector in-hand. When the earlier pinpointing devices came on the market I tried them but wasn't overly impressed. Not for quite some time.
Note, too, that I have always pampered my detecting gear. I keep it clean, not muddy or dirty, and maintain that condition. I don't drop them or toss the detectors around and the same goes for their little sidekicks, the Pinpointers.
The Garrett Pro-Pointer, thanks to design, performance, and especially their marketing, pretty much rose to the level by which all other Pinpointers are compared with it. If you have a good working Garrett Pro-Pointer you will find it a comfortable fit in the hand, easy to use, and it provides adequate performance. Note the word
'If'.
After they came out I was impressed enough to make it the first hand-held Pinpointer I started keeping on my gear belt and using. It didn't last a year, and I don't use them with every find and they are always pampered. So after about 10 months I bought a 2nd Pro-Pointer. Very reliable performance, when it came on which after a few months sometimes took a few presses on the button. Again, before the year was out, it was also time to replace the Pro-Pointer that just quit on me.
I had tried a few others and the only one at the time that I liked and worked well was the White's Bullseye II. I got a new Bullseye II and Garrett Pro-Pointer, and a short time later a friend called. He was headed out of state for a few months and wanted to get a new Pinpointer as his Garrett Pro-Pointer had died. I sold him my new Pro-Pointer ... bargain priced!
On January 8th of 2015 I got a new Nokta FORS CoRe detector and Makro Pinpointer. That Makro Pointer has stayed on my gear belt for almost 5 years now and
never have I had a glitch. Other Pinpointers have come along and I check them out, but if they are uncomfortable to handle or have terrible performance or just to much tinkering required to change settings, I let them go.
Today, I own several different Pinpointers that I am using this week with all the different detectors I have on-hand from Fisher, Garrett, Makro, Nokta, Nokta/Makro, Teknetics, Tesoro, White's and XP, using them all to evaluate EMI issues between detectors and pinpointers.
In addition to my very proven Makro Pointer I have bought the following devices: A new Garrett Pro-Pointer AT w/Z-link capability, a Nokta / Makro Pulse-Dime Pinpointer, a Teknetics Tek-Point
(same as the Fisher F-Pulse) and I have two new XP MI-6 pinpointers I use with my two ORX devices.
Civil_war22 said:
You spoke to Felix as did I. Look I’ve been doing this going on 28 years, and if it’s one thing I know it’s detecting, pin pointers, and women�� he told me the same thing, acted as if I didn’t know how to use it. Had it not came in a package I would be asking for a full refund. I am however going to be sending it back in. I don’t care what he says my Garrett carrot never ever had any problems at all.
I think it should be sent it and taken care of. I have had very good service, the few times it was needed, from the FTP outfit, and I am very impressed with the feel, fit, and performance of my Tek-Point.
MCH said:
I have been using mine for 3 years now. I like the depth of detection and the point seems more sensitive than the sides of the unit. A lot of times I can pin-point with the F-Pulse before I even start digging. I did have some trouble with the spring in the cap not making good contact with the negative battery end, but just stretched the spring out some and remedied that. Also, it seems to work best with fresher batteries. When the batteries get near the end of their usefulness the unit can get quirky.
When I need another pin-pointer, or a back up, it will be a Fisher F-Pulse.
My Tek-Point is the same device but in a different colored package and I agree with you on the performance. I haven't had any issues with a spring or anything so far, and don't anticipate any.
I'll start my side-by-side testing of the Pinpointers with each of the different make and model detectors today, but just from doing some side-by-side comparisons of Pinpointer Performance on naturally located coins, the Tek-Point is hard to beat.
The MI-6 pointers work well, but I especially like them and their performance when used with my ORX units. They disable the coil and I hear them in my headphones w/o any interference .... and they do have impressive detection depth and pinpointing ability.
All the rest of them have their good and bad points, but I'd have to say the Tek-Point does provide a more noticeable edge in depth and sensitivity on targets at their fringe performance range. As of this morning it would be my 1st pick of them all if I had to make a performance decision now. The next step is to evaluate their performance without causing annoying EMI issues. I now it is one I won't part with, and I'll have it ready to use if or when my loyal Makro Pointer ever gives up.
Monte