PINPOINT PROBES

PINPOINT PROBES. Having purchased a pistol probe from the USA at an exorbitant price, about AU$280.00, I was keen to try it out. At Hawks Nest I found a target in caprock and we proceeded to dig it out with our hammer and Estwing gad.

Using the Pistol Probe I found it sensitive to hot ground making it very difficult to accurately locate the target. I did eventually locate the nugget, a little .7 of a grammer but only when I could get the probe very close to it, almost rubbing it.

After more testing in air and on ground I did get it to mostly ignore the cap rock but then its sensitivity wasn’t as good as it should have been.

With the target out I then tried air testing on various targets and came to this conclusion. If this is the best pinpoint probe available from the US, and from all the information I can find it is, then they are pretty much useless on gold unless the target is as big or bigger than a 10 cent coin. I don’t know about everyone else but we rarely find a nugget that big in caprock these days while little half gram bits, and smaller, and those up to a couple of grams are fairly common.

By all means use one of these U.S. probes when coin hunting but I wouldn’t bother with one for gold again.

We do have a Coiltek probe but didn’t want to be bothered changing coils and that prompted my buying the pistol probe.

If you need a pinpoint probe for gold then get a Coiltek probe. They are very sensitive and ours would have pinpointed that little .7 crumb at a distance of at least two inches and ignored the caprock. If I remember right the Coiltek probe is also a lot cheaper at around $130.

I’m not rubbishing or promoting any product just giving you the facts as I have found them.

Cheers, Jim

Hello Jim,

I sort of bulked at the idea of buying a PP probe, due to the cost factor and NOT knowing if it's suitable.
I had bought a cheap "Metal detector" on ebay, as used at airports, etc. and I found that I had the same or similar problems that you experienced. In Australia's (very) mineralised soil, any PP probe needs to be adjusted for those conditions.

I have build several PP probes, using different PI systems. Recently I build the "Blind Squirrel" by Mike Starcher, which (home) tested, shows a lot of promise. It picks up a .27 gram nugget from about 1 inch. This is much better than previous PI systems, that I had build. I don't know, how it will perform in minerailsed soil yet. But I am very happy so far with this units performance.

I will work on this some more when time permits and let you all know.

See you up them thar hills,
Frank

Found the same thing Jim. Only used it the once cause I have only had it for a couple of weeks. Didnt like the goldfield soil even in medium mineralization till it was dumbed down. It was OK however at locating larger trashy targets at depth which was the main reason I bought it. Im a DD man so pinpointing in large holes is tedious.
Cheers
Curley

Thanks for the honest feedback and saving us from alot of headaches. Too bad at your expense. The pulse induction Pistol Probe maybe still good in loose soils instead of caprock. BUT as you said, no good on very small nuggets regardless, even in an air test.

As I gather, this set-up is a good one to have then:

Granite wrote, "We do have a Coiltek probe but didn’t want to be bothered changing coils and that prompted my buying the pistol probe."
http://www.coiltek.com.au/accessories.htm
SWITCHING BLOCK Item # MO2 To avoid changing coils, Coiltek has a ‘two way’ adapter to allow switching between your search coil and your probe coil. Easily attaches to the detector stem.
PRICE: $125.00

Also there must be a way to secure the CoilTek Probe on the shaft so it is no dangling-hanging down?

http://www.coiltek.com.au/goldsearchcoils.htm
COILTEK 1X8 INCH PINPOINT PROBE (25X200MM) Item # PIN1 Damaging a nugget while digging it out can serious reduce its value. Don’t damage those valuable nuggets. This probe allows you to locate and pinpoint your target accurately in the hole.
PRICE: $137.00

http://coiltekmanufacturing.com.au/coiltek-specs.htm#one
COIL TYPE Pinpoint Probe
SHAPE CYLINDRICAL
>>>LENGTH 8" (200mm) or 20" (500mm)<<<
WIDTH 1" (25mm)
COLOUR WHITE
CONFIGURATION MONO
WEIGHT (AV.) 292 gm or 356 gm
CABLE LENGTH (AV.) 2 metres
WATER RESISTANT YES
WATER PROOF YES
PLASTIC TYPE PVC
APPLICABLE DETECTOR SD / GP / GPX SERIES

Hi Beer Beeper

"Also there must be a way to secure the CoilTek Probe on the shaft so it is no dangling-hanging down?"

Why would you leave it attached all the time? If you were to use a switch block, then why not just attach the probe to the block and then change the switch position, and when finished change the switch position back to the normal coil and detach the probe.

Personally I would not use a switch block but if I did that is how I would use it.

cheers dave

Real good idea Dave!

A person could also use that same system of yours with using a 5x10" Mono[CT Joey or NF] or 6" round CT GS Mono(I would not use a 5x10" DD[CT Joey or Commander] because a DD is not hot around the rim of the coil for pinpointing in a hole like a Mono is) with a short lower stem, instead of a CT 1x 8"or20" probe.

Or use a single knob 2.2 lb. Tesoro Compadre with the stock 5.75" Concentric(Mono) coil with the shaft set to the shortest length.
http://www.tesoro.com/product/detectors/compadre/

What kind of probe does Jonathan Porter use with the 3" or 4" knob on the end I see in one of his videos??

I will add the Garrett Pro-Pointer. How is this one, any good on bad ground, and also on small nuggets??
http://www.garrett.com/hobby/hbby_pro-pointer_key.htm

Hi Beer Beeper

"What kind of probe does Jonathan Porter use with the 3" or 4" knob on the end I see in one of his videos??"

I think it is one of the "old fasion" Coiltek pin point probes.

Re: JPs pinpointer - I think it's an older Coiltek probe.

I like the Coiltek probes although I just keep my 6" CT coil handy since it's lighter and easier to carry flat in a pack. To speed up recovery, I use a Garrett Pro Pointer. I find that the vibration and audio response make it easier for me to determine size and proximity. It prevents pick-strike and its also less sensitive to interference. I think Garrett have made a winner here and it's easy to use and pass to another detectorist to use. The Pro Pointer is Pulse Induction and seems to be self adjusting based on nearby EMI.


Garrett Pro Pointer with minimal sized targets (subgram nuggets around 0.3 of a gram)


Garrett Pro Pointer in use


Coiltek 6" Sniper Coil (mono) can be used as a pinpointer.


Coiltek Pinpointer Probe - current available version

Hi all. I am personally using the Garrett pro pointer and boy does it work well. I have not used any others so this is my experience based on using the Garrett. It will vibrate and sound off on bits down to .3g or so. It has a sweep blade along the shaft that you can use to scrape your tailings looking for your target. On larger objects it will detect around at the tip around 6 inches or so and a little less along the side. It will not interfere with the minelab detectors when switched on and is impervious to EMI and ground mineralization. I use it when digging large holes as everyone knows how difficult it is to pinpoint with a largish mono coil.


Chris.

Hi Chris, as you are using one tell me, how deep will the Garrett pin point pro detect a .3 nugget? I have heard they cannot detect anything that small until rubbed on the end.
I would also like to hear from other using these probes. It is my understanding that are not designed for detecting small targets but rather for finding coins.

Cheers, Jim

Jim. Just tested it on a flattish .3g bit and could get 1/2 an inch from the tip and slightly more from the sweep blade on the side. I also tried a chunky .3g bit and it picked it up about 5 mm from the tip and was a little better on the side. I also tried a couple of sub .1g chunky bits and it picked them up OK just touching the tip and the sweep blade on the side. Also tried on a silver mug and was getting a reading from 6 inches or so.

You are right in the purpose it was designed for and that was for bigger targets like coins. A lot of coin hunters use it to minimize turf damage when digging in parks etc. A lot of us are using it for pinpointing those deeper larger targets that are so hard to pinpoint with a largish coil of 14 inch or more. I have used to save me a lot of digging when widening holes out to try and find something that has been in the wall all along.

Chris.

Jim ,

Just got back from three weeks detecting in WA. I did not bother to get my pistol grip pinpointer out of my bag once, as it of is as much use, as tits too a bull. It is the second one I have bought, thinkinhg it must be better than the first one from the uSA I got last year. I can put 2 cm of dirt over a small nugget and loose it .

They are JUNK.

Cheers,

Jigalong.

hi anyone used or had anything to do with the whites pin pointers ??
http://whiteselectronics.com/bullseye-ii-pinpointer.html

No I have not tried the Whites? I heard someone shortened up and cut down the shaft of a Tesoro Silver Umax(with 4" coil) and Compadre(with 5.75" coil). Also a Gold Bug(-2?)(probably the 3"x6" coil) and used them for a pinpointer for gold nuggets. This come off of another Forum:

"There are so many votes for the Garrett ProPointer! I have a Detector Pro Pistol Probe and really like it for high conductive coins, it does work great, I heard it is deeper than the Garrett and on my test gets about 5 inches on a US nickle, it works very good for coin sized objects BUT it is bulky and I have heard people did not like it for gold nuggets. For smaller than coin sized, low conductive nuggets and gold earings they have poor performance in depth I think. My 2 cents.

Anyone tried the Treasure Products, Vibra-Tector 730, Pulse Induction Metal Detector with a 4" hand held coil for either coins or gold??
http://www.treasureproducts.com/vibratector.html

And a NEW 2" one. Vibra-Quatic 2 Pulse Induction:
http://www.treasureproducts./vibraquatic.html "

Hi Granite, all...

May I add another chapter to the Pistol Probe.

I made an offer to Granite to buy his Pistol Probe.

He shipped it off to me and I was all excites to use it with my Etrac.

I am about to list it again for sale on EBay.

Reason

As the Etrac runs of multiple frequency's I find the detector interferes with the probe.

A mate has a X Terra 70 and his probe runs steady buy near the Etrac its a shocker.

I have to turn the Etrac off to use the probe.

I still think the Pistol Probe is a beauty, just not on small gold or while using an ETrac

madmax800

Last week I bought the garrett pinpoint probe. It centres targets (when in range) saves time and energy by allowing you to dig the smallest possible hole, it picks up targets in the side of holes, once more saving time and energy. It is sensitive to some rocks, but does not go beserk as with a metal target. The holster is not the best, I glued some thick material around the inside bottom of the holster so the probe won't slip through the bottom, I also use a reinforced strip of velcro from the top rear of the holster over the end of the probe to the holster front. probe can't now be pushed up out of the holster. It's worth $235.

Regards to all.

I have not bothered with pinpoint probes because all of the ones I've heard of have the signal coming out from both the sides and underneath the probe at the tip. A logical ppprobe would be one that only has the signal coming out of one direction. What a concept

I have a Sunray probe X1 attached to my Sovereign GT, It only reads a signal from the tip.

John

madmax800 wrote:I have a Sunray probe X1 attached to my Sovereign GT, It only reads a signal from the tip.

John

Is the transmit going one way? Is it hand held? They all read from the tip! But what I'm saying is that the transmission only goes in one direction.

Apparently Coiltek had a probe that had the transmission going straight only, but it wasn't hans held and they replaced the prodyct with one that transmitted both ways. Stuff that, might as well just get the 6" coiltek, that way you have a coil as well! Seriously, some of the things manufacturers come up with... you can tell they never lifted a detector in their life.

A good pinpointer would be one where its signal only goes in one direction - downwards. And not something that you have to plug in, or any rubbish like that. Otherwise why bother, just use cancel mode.