Tesoro treasure mate pinpointer???

mastereagle22

Silver Member
May 15, 2007
4,909
31
Southeast Missouri
Detector(s) used
E-trac, Explorer II, Xterra30, Whites Prizm IV
I too would appreciate any feedback on this topic. I just bought a Vibraprobe 570 that will not work NEAR my Explorer. So I guess it's either buy another Bullseye II (my 12th) or go with something else.
 

luvsdux

Bronze Member
May 16, 2007
1,767
690
Lewiston, Idaho
Detector(s) used
Multiple Tesoros and Whites
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I've used and do use an older White's Bullseye, a Merlin, a Sunray DX-1 on my MXT, and the Treasure mate. They all do a pretty fair job of what pinpointer is supposed to do, but I like the Sunray and the Treasure mate the best. The reason is they both have a noticeably better reach, just enough that to me they are a bit more useful. The Treasure Mate takes a bit of fussing to tune it, but is very sensitive to small metal and as it's not connected to the main detector like the Sunray, you can use it with any detector. On the other hand, I've had to go back and retrieve it a time or two when I'd forget to pick it up which can never happen with the Sunray on the MXT. Some post they never use a pinpointer, but I find that most of the time they speed up my recovery when the object is small, especially if it has taken on the color of the soil and also when the target is just inside the wall of the hole where you can't check it with the coil on the main detector. Just recently I did a quick hunt on a wood chip tot lot where the chips just under the surface were very wet. I found 15 pennies about half of which I would have had the devil of a time finding as the wet chips matched the older pennies in color very closely. The really shiny ones weren't much of a problem and the quarter and nickel I detected showed up very well, but boy, those older pennies were darn near invisible. As to the Treasure Mate warranty, I've haven't had to use it so can't offer much there.
HH
BB
 

GaryL

Jr. Member
Jan 20, 2008
21
0
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Tiger Shark, Toltec II, GTI 2500
I have and use the Treasure Mate PP, It is one great hand held PP. Easy to use, good depth if you need it, can be a little fussy on set up then great to go.

Life time warranty, well built and the 9V battery last a long, long time!!

Good Hunting!!

GaryL ....
cowboy.gif
 

OP
OP
John (Ma)

John (Ma)

Silver Member
Jul 12, 2007
3,637
8
Western Massachusetts
Detector(s) used
Minelab Excal 1000, Tesoro Silver Umax, Tiger Shark and Whites MXT.
Great feedback and very appreciated, I think the treasure mate is a winner and the sunray is a strong consideration, too. thanks again and any other input would be great. :occasion14:
 

mastereagle22

Silver Member
May 15, 2007
4,909
31
Southeast Missouri
Detector(s) used
E-trac, Explorer II, Xterra30, Whites Prizm IV
I can tell you a little about the Sunray since I have one on my Explorer. If anything the Sunray is too powerful and sensitive. I use the Sunray to get me in the general vicinity of the target and then the Bullseye to get really close. I have scratched a few coins using the Sunray which is why I like to use the smaller pinpointer to "finetune" my search.

Sunray makes a great product!!!
 

johnnycat

Bronze Member
Aug 19, 2007
1,510
309
Mechanicsville, VA
Detector(s) used
Legend
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
mastereagle22 said:
I can tell you a little about the Sunray since I have one on my Explorer. If anything the Sunray is too powerful and sensitive. I use the Sunray to get me in the general vicinity of the target and then the Bullseye to get really close. I have scratched a few coins using the Sunray which is why I like to use the smaller pinpointer to "finetune" my search.

Sunray makes a great product!!!

I too like the Sunray but, as was discussed it is detector specific which is a bummer if you have different makes of machines. That's why I have been pondering a Treasure Mate. With my MXT I can detune the Sunray to pinpoint just with the tip. Sorry about going in a different direction Lost at sea
 

Captn SE

Silver Member
Apr 1, 2007
2,774
13
Southern CA
Detector(s) used
Minelab Explorer SE; X-1 Target Probe; Pro Coil, 6x8 SEF, Coiltek Platypus Elliptical, Sunray X8, Expl. 1050 coils
I use the Sunray to get me in the general vicinity of the target and then the Bullseye to get really close. I have scratched a few coins using the Sunray which is why I like to use the smaller pinpointer to "finetune" my search.

Larry, if you're using your Sunray X-1 and push the pinpoint button on your Explorer, you will be able to pinpoint right to the tip of the Sunray probe, which is the size of a quarter. Not sure how much finer you want to get. If you don't use the pinpoint feature while you're using the probe, then yes, it is a lot less "finetuned".

HH,
CAPTN SE
Dan
 

Silver Fox

Sr. Member
Dec 8, 2007
485
5
New York City, USA
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter Land Star
luvsdux said:
[snip]Some post they never use a pinpointer, but I find that most of the time they speed up my recovery when the object is small, especially if it has taken on the color of the soil and also when the target is just inside the wall of the hole where you can't check it with the coil on the main detector.[snip]
HH
BB
I've always looked at pinpointers from a distance. I've retrieved thousands of objects because I used to do something I rarely see nowadays: pinpointing! Now you see (in videos, for example) detectorists get a signal, some crisscrossing, and down they go on their knees, make a big hole, move the dirt aside, and use a pinpointer. Sometimes a pinpointer doesn't help right off and they either widen the hole or scoop out more dirt and then the pinpointer again, and sometimes again and again. I kid you not, see the THing videos at YouTube.

The coil on my Teknetics Mark I Ltd was solid and I always wanted to replace it with a spider coil so that I could stick my probe right through the center opening. But truth be told. After I pinpointed the target by minimizing the signal to smack dab in the center of the coil, after moving the coil aside I could see a ghost image of the coil that lasted just enough for me to see the center spot and I almost always hit the (shallow) target. And when it was a ring, laying flat, I could spear it! Yeah, I know, what about targets that were on edge? They were still in the center of the circle that I would sometimes draw with the tip of my probe which helped if I didn't hit the target right off within the circle. Sometimes a little digging was necessary but not always.

Now I have a spider coil but I don't put my probe through the center like I wished I could have done in the past and that's because I now can see the area in the center.

Slow down, guys and gals. Spend a few more seconds minimizing your signal to almost minimum and chances are that you'll wind up using your pinpointer less and less.

SF
 

mastereagle22

Silver Member
May 15, 2007
4,909
31
Southeast Missouri
Detector(s) used
E-trac, Explorer II, Xterra30, Whites Prizm IV
The MAIN reason I use a pinpointer is to keep from scratching my find. 90-95% of the time my find is in the plug or in the whole I have made. And I have scratched more than one good find.

If it is supposed to be silver then I make my plug and then use the pinpointer, not my digging tool.

That's just me though.
 

Silver Fox

Sr. Member
Dec 8, 2007
485
5
New York City, USA
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter Land Star
mastereagle22 said:
The MAIN reason I use a pinpointer is to keep from scratching my find. 90-95% of the time my find is in the plug or in the whole I have made. And I have scratched more than one good find.

If it is supposed to be silver then I make my plug and then use the pinpointer, not my digging tool.

That's just me though.
Of course one has to be careful when retrieving what one hopes will be a valuable keeper. All silver coins are valuable and keepers even if it's only for your satisfaction. I understand your concern and your reason for using a pinpointer and, harmlessly, you're being as cautious as you can be.

BUT, I removed thousands of coins from the ground without harming them and without using a pinpointer. That's because I did harm my first coins when I used a metal probe. I learned real fast and eventually made my own probes from fiberglass fishing probes. The soil in L.A. and in NYC parks allows such a probe to be used and I understand that there are soils where such a probe would be useless and you have to resort to using a pinpointer. I'm not putting its need down. But I'm always thinking park grounds and not relic hunting.

But nowadays, new detectorists (and a lot of older detectorists) have not had anyone to teach them how to retrieve targets without a pinpointer or making big holes. I'm glad that I did learn and I always felt good about retrieving without making a large hole and using my probes. While I haven't had to retrieve a deep target deeper than 5"-6" inches I may find myself in the future having to do so and maybe wishing I had a pinpointer.

SF
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top