getting to the point

bowwinkles

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Nov 3, 2012
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The early years when everyone had to divide and search to find that elusive dirt colored treasure in that carefully dug plug, usually ended up in a pile of vegetation and soil that no where resembled what was dug. Even with careful management the patch ended up looking bad. Very early on I invested in a pin pointer that was put out by Tinytec. This was a wonderful little tool which could give me a 2.5 inch look into the soil. It also had a very well designed small pointed shaft which could easily be probed into the soil plug to locate the find. This tool also had a switch which allowed for it to be carried probe up which turned it off and saved battery life. Once aimed down it was right back on to take on the task of locating the find. I used this sweet little pointer until I had wore the tip off to the point I had to stop. This process happened several times and would send it in to have it refurbished. I also kept my eyes open to new stuff on the market and along came the police baton sized Vibra Probe. I fell for the hype and tried one. This massive stick failed miserably because of its size and large blunt probe. I also did not like the “vibrate only” feature. My back up Tinytec came out of hibernation and the search for a possible replacement commenced.

First came the Pistol Probe, which is another massive probe which proved to have some impressive depth capabilities but failed because of size, shoddy construction (control cover door), on button that was nearly impossible to activate and mainly a large blunt probe that again tore up the plug. This purchase was followed by the Minelab Pro-find which proved to have good depth and acceptable function but the speaker always managed to end up under my hand and could not be heard. It also has that large blunt end. Not wanting to give up on this mission I acquired one of the new just released Nokta RS pointers. It has some what less depth than the Minelab but a very nice sound and deluxe switch setup. The RS also has that blunt probe which is just not acceptable. My final miss-adventure took me down the Garret path. I need not say a thing about this device because of its popularity. It falls behind the Minelab and RS as far as depth and it also has that blunt probe tip.

Now to the end of this mission, do the manufactures poke around here to maybe get some trend ideas as to how to improve their product line? Could they maybe make a pin pointer that is in the RS, Minelab, or Garret size that has a somewhat smaller pointed probe end that incorporates a replaceable wear cover. Other features should be a depth capability minimum of 3 inches, a speaker that is waterproof and loud enough for old ears. When the vibrate feature is on you do not have to guess that it is working. The tip up to turn off feature is also a nice feature to keep from the constant pushing the on/off switch which everyone here knows causes major issues with today’s crop of probes. Two versions of the same probe could be done, with one waterproofed for the beach crowd and a water resistant version for us land lovers.

Everyone call your contacts and let’s try to move the manufactures product line into a more user friendly product, which will better fit our needs. Your thoughts.
 

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Jason in Enid

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My thoughts: Manufacturers don't care what we want. They design and produce items then tell us we want them and we buy them because it's what's available.

Welcome to the forum!
 

Rawhide

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Run this through google translate and put it in Chinese.
 

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bowwinkles

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I think that Garrett or Minelab would wake up and pay attention if they received 20+ requests for particular upgrades to one of their products. If you do it in a positive manner and have them take those ideas to their engineers and just say "we would like to see a pin pointer with a narrow probe with a replaceable wear tip" or "please incorporate a tip up switch to your next model" or what ever positive changes you would like to see. Then you will see change and it would be because of user support and not what ever they want to feed you.
 

Jason in Enid

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Thousands asked for a lightweight version of the E-Trac. They gave us something even heavier!
 

dewcon4414

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A little like GM used to be.... you get what we make. Have you ever seen the mods people do to the Xcal?? They been doing this since the machines came out several years ago.... you think no one complained? The industry keep plugging along.... we have better coils, headphones, TIDs and yes we have PPers.... way better than the beep and dig many started out on. These designed arent cheap and this really isnt a huge market. Be honest..... how many cringed at the CTX price? They are going to have to see a willingness to pony up our hard earned cash.

Dew
 

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bowwinkles

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Seems like Minelab just started a new HQ. here recently, This might be a good time to try. If they don't move then Garrett has an address. If just one would come out with a unit that better fits the needs and the users here rave about it, believe me the industry will pay attention. Dollars are becoming to hard to get hold of now. The last big improvement in the Garrett Pro caused a stir and it appears that Minelab basically followed. That can happen again if we make it happen.
 

Sandman

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Craftsman, Tru temper and others make great screw drivers that a lot of experienced guys use to probe and then pop the coins out. If the coin is deeper than a few inches and I am in grass I leave it most times rather than damage the ground. At a lot of parks you could get a ticket for being seen with a Lesche or shovel. If you must use a pinpointer you should learn your craft better or move on to tournnament Bass Fishing.
 

Jason in Enid

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If you must use a pinpointer you should learn your craft better or move on to tournnament Bass Fishing.

This is one of those rare times when I must disagree with Sandman. Pinpointers are excellent tools. They actually save needless digging by giving you a much more accurate target location than just the detector coil. Co-located targets, and targets on angle can throw off the coil's pinpointing. Rather than widening the entire hole you can only widen one small area. They are also great for helping to reduce target damage. If nothing else, they speed target recovery.

Not all turf hunts are done in manicured parks. It is completely acceptable to dig holes (even big ones) in many locations.
 

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bowwinkles

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"TIME IS THE ONLY THING YOU NEVER GET BACK, WHY WASTE IT SWINGING A DETECTOR THAT ISN'T UP TO THE TASK."

This bit of wit from your post says a lot. It is about the same message I was talking about as far as having a better product to better serve our addiction. With you it is your base detector with others it is a combination of a great detector and also a great pin pointer. Go ahead and use your mechanical probes but please realize there are a bunch of us that really do enjoy our pin pointers and find the short recovery times a major plus. This thread is just about trying to make that small product a little better.
 

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