Pinpointer to Use or Not in the Goldfields

Have a Mate who use a PP in the Goldfields, have seen them in use in the GF's on Youtube. Me with the Z, I try and pinpoint with the coil, scrape and Pinpoint with the coil again, then dig out dirt, then, kneel down and find the target.

A PP could well be of benefit in those deep holes where the target is on the side of the hole and you end up digging deeper, then wider.

My PP is not the latest ML unit the 35, I think its the 25?

Hi Peter, I've had one for years but only started using it when I got the Z. As you said, for deep holes etc. Which I seem to get a lot of with the Z.

Have only come across Garret and ML Pin Pointers, could be other better?? units:

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/14262-high-frequecy-pin-pointer/

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FALCON-MD20-METAL-DETECTOR-finds-discriminates-Gold-WATERPROOF-PROBE-/151450376869

I bought a Garrett PP to use with my minelab 5000. It drove my machine stupid off or on. It had to be about 6' away before things started to settle down. I rang a Garret agent to ask if this was normal. He's reply was, You should have bought a Garrett machine, as they go together. I now have a Minelab PP. Still plays up a bit with my 5000 when turned on. But nothing like the Garrett one. All I do is move the machine away a bit. No problems when the PP is turned off.
wombat

Hi Wombat years ago when I purchased my first (not impressed) ML PP (Mark1) a friend of a friend did an air test of the Garret PP and my Mark1 ML PP that showed the Garret was so much better ( he also had the Mark1). Of course ML now have the PP25 which I have ( Free with the Nox800) and of course their flagship model the 35.

So question if you have the ML 25 or 35 how do they compare against your Garret PP.

Peter I have now got the ML 25. I don't think it is as sensitive as the Garrett and does not pick up object at depth as well as the Garrett did. But as I said the Garrett played havoc with my ML5000.  I use to have a very early ML PP that I use to use with my ML 3500. But lost it out in the bush. This one worked well with the 3500. Not much interference at all when turned on.
I have never tried the ML 35.
wombat

Interesting, now that you have jogged my memory, I stopped using the Garret PP when using the GPX4000 as it went crazy if I had the PP on me, Off or on. I don't think it interferes with the 7000 but I will do a test on it next time out. I wear it on the back of my belt and have not observed any interference to date. but due to the fact that I dig a lot of deep holes with the 7000 it really is helpful.

Hi there.

I have the 25 only because my wife wanted to know what to get me for my birthday and that was all I could think of. It sat on my belt for more than 12 months before I started using it on a regular basis and even then I had to move the 7000 a few feet away otherwise it would interfere with it. Before the warranty expired it really started playing up. I would turn it on and place it against my reloading press and get no response. It did this intermittently. I contacted Minelab and they replaced it for me saying there had been similar issues. I was hoping they would replace it with the 35, even if I paid a little extra but they wouldn't.

The good news is the replacement pin pointer works much better than the old one and doesn't interfere with the detector. I now use it almost every time especially once the signal is out of the ground, although not at all during the past 4 months thanks to Denial Andrews.

As to the question of whether to use one or not it would depend on the type of detector/coil you are using. If you only use small coils then it would probably be a waste of money, but if you are using the 7000 or very large coils where it is hard to pinpoint a target then it will be useful. It can be especially useful for locating gold in rocks where there is no visible gold. Given the amount of tiny pieces being found now, the pin pointer needs to be almost touching the piece to give a signal. Hot rocks still set them off too.

Regards Axtyr.

they do not work on fine gold, even when there is a reasonable concentration in a container, my experience anyway and talking Minelab profind, regads Phil

Pinpointers like all other gadgets/gismo accessories, are not an essential must have Items, for on many an occasion one can/does get away with digging out their in ground target & pinpoiting it out with just their detector coil, but, through my own experiences, especially when one is using larger coils, such that of say 14 inch round or larger in size, the use of a pin-pointer, can come in very handy & for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the main purpose of a pin pointer is to precisely isolate out & pinpoint the exact position of where ones target lies, (as compared to the much broader detecting field, emitted from of ones coil), saving one a lot of unnecessary digging time, especially when using large coils, with the target response coming from down deep within a hole.
Another good reason for the precise/exact isolating/pinpointing out of ones target, is for the avoidance of damaging ones target by ones pick.
Now the use of a pin-pointer, might serve little purpose to a person who takes all/any of their gold finds to be sold to a gold refiner or for the purpose of having ones gold finds refined into a bar of gold bullion etc, but to the average detectorists searching/finding gold nuggets & who intends on selling their gold say through the net etc, or to a personal private collector, I can assure you all, that even a rare valuable coin or natural gold nugget slightly damaged (due to a pick mark etc), instead of fetching premium price, will now end up fetching well bellow gold price, or as that of a good in condition coin, worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, now becomes worthless.
Bottom line & as with all accessories, It always comes down to personal preference.

Cheers Kon.

Best pp I ever used was the coiltek pp. You had to undo the coil connection to connect it but it was extremely sensitive on very small targets and had great depth and stability. Don't know if they are still available but they were great on small targets in cap rock when you didn't want to spend all day digging fly specks. Very good on bigger deport targets, too.

granite2 wrote:Best pp I ever used was the coiltek pp. You had to undo the coil connection to connect it but it was extremely sensitive on very small targets and had great depth and stability. Don't know if they are still available but they were great on small targets in cap rock when you didn't want to spend all day digging fly specks. Very good on bigger deport targets, too.

My wife and I used the Coiltek Pinpoint Probe with the GPX-5000 when that model was released back in 2010. It's kind of strange looking back on the picture below and realizing I took that picture 10 years ago.  I think we found it fairly easy to use and I still have it sitting behind me now, ready for use.  It was/is great for deeper pieces of gold that the handheld pinpointers had no ability to find.  You had to dangle it vertically instead of waving it about with your hand.  

I just took a look on their website and couldn't see these probes at all. Unless they're a special order these days, I don't know if they're still available. The depth was pretty impressive. Although I've been scratching at a lot of iron targets in the last few years - so the mild discrimination of some of the more recent Minelab pinpointers are in my line of sight at the moment.

On another thread it was mentioned I could have problems using my Nox underwater (me, especially if out warranty and it leaks) has anybody used the item below at $145 or less.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIHL-DKxnOo

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78R4ofmPQVs

and
https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/11416-how-does-the-pi-iking-compare-to-other-scuba-detectors/

I have used Vibra.Tectors in the water at the beach and it is excellent for scuba work but lacks sensitivity to small gold chains and earrings.
used this detector for many years and it has never failed.
It is not something I would use in the gold fields. (Sounds off on iron mineralisation)

This is my oldie and the smallest solid nugg (1.2g) I can get it to detect at approx one cm.



The PI-Iking is the Chinese knock Off version of the Vibra-Tectors.
The first Chinese versions were VLF but now it sounds like they are making them PIs. If they work well then the price is good.
Although with an operating frequency of 20.28 khz makes me doubt that it is a PI unit??