Best Hand-Held Probe-Pinpointer?

[Ryan6060]

Whats the best value hand held pinpointer available? Any suggestions?

 

[Ron B]

Hello Ryan!
I see you use an Ace 250 so, the SunRay Inlign is out.

If I were buying a less expensive hand held probe today, my money would go to Vibra-Probe 570
Street price is around $120 and the unit is suppose to be worth every penny. I believe someone on board has a used one for sale?

Another way to go is DeTectorPro's Uni-Probe. I have one of these and it is a powerful little tool.
Not only is it a probe but also a headset. In other words, you can toggle between your detector and the probe whenever you need to. The unit is compatible with most detectors out there and uses a single nine volt battery. Unlike most probes, this is a true Pulse Induction unit and you can even buy coils for it to make yourself a full size detector! I'm not sure of doing that however as I think the design lends itself better as a probe. Street price on these is around $315. You'll see them used in the $225 range.

Here's a link to Detector Depot; they have both and more.

http://www.detectordepot.com/metal_detector_probes.htm

I hope this info helps!
GRB

 

[baspinall]

Vibra-probe would get my vote.

 

[Ryan6060]

I was looking at the Vibra-Tector 570 or the White's Bullseye II Pinpointer- anybody own one or the other and wanna give me a review lol?

Is the Vibra Tector 730 better than the 570? Its only 25$ more expensive... anybody have a 730?

 

[Ryan6060]

Thanks for all the help/advice! This forum has been hugely helpful for me!

 

[Patrol]

Sun Ray does make an inline for the ACE 250 but it cost as much as the metal detector does.

 

[Ron B]

I believe the Model 730 is designed more for underwater use?
You ain't planning on drowning that Ace 250 are you?

GRB

 

[Ron B]

Hey DayDream,
You are absolutely right! I did not know that.
I just looked it up and it's selling for $179.95.
I would choose the SunRay product anyday over the others (except for maybe the UniProbe)
as I have one on my SE and would not MD without it.

GRB

 

[godisnum1]

mastereagle22 just purchased a Vibraprobe 570, but unfortunately it isn't working will with his particular detector... since he may need to get a different one; you might just be able to help him out by buying his!
Here's the thread that he mentioned it...
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,151529.0/topicseen.html

I, on the other hand, *LOVE* my Vibraprobe 570! I think it was probably the best choice I could've made.... 8)

Bran <><

 

[Foiled Again]

Greetings:

Avoid the White's Bullseye probe. I am on the third one in 3 years. They all failed within the first season. It helps if you put higher quality toggle switches in them. You can get a bit more time out of them doing that but soon they have intermittent failure and you have to bang them on something to get them going again. The switches I put in mine cost about $9.00 each. Cheaper switches fail a lot sooner.

The Bullseye has another irritating characteristic as well. It acts differently as the batteries wear down or with cheaper batteries. With higher end batteries (Duracell, Eveready) it has a habit of going off while you are looking in the hole if it has been switched on too long. Friend told me it is something about capacitors having to discharge when they get fully charged. Something like that (I know zip about electronics). When that happens you think you found the target but it is just the probe discharging the stored power. If you use cheaper batteries or the good ones lose some of their charge, the problem is much less. I always buy cheap batteries now and avoid that happening.

On the plus side, they only cost around $50.00 most of the year.
Looking for a different probe myself rather than putting more money into the 3 Bullseyes I have now. Will be watching this thread to see what the you all think of this issue. Can't afford the inline probes this year. Getting an SE soon and the inline probe for it next year.

Good Hunting

Foiled Again

 

[mastereagle22]

Mind if I chime in? I now have a BullsEye II, a Bullseye 120mm, a Vibraprobe 570 and a Sunray for my Explorer. I may have some useful input........nah probably not.

1. Bullseye II/120: Awesome peice of equipment if it wasn't broken 90% of the time. I have litterally had 5 of the IIs and 6 of the 120s. The plastic housing is thin at the the top and one drop and they're done. Also the switch goes bad almost immediately. I did take measures to prevent this on my daughters II and so far it seems to be working. I took the unit apart and hot-glued the speaker opening so no dirt can get in. Then I ran a bead of hot glue around the inside where the pieces go together. The good news is that every time it has broken I simply mailed it in and sent $6.50 and was sent a new one. But having used this option 10 times now it seems that I could practically bought another pinpointer with that money. Sorry Whites but if you would stop using the crappy micro switch and beef up the case you would have ALL of my money for buying pinpointers. Because of all the issues that Whites KNOWS about but will NOT address I have to give the BE line a 55-60%

2. Vibraprobe 570: LOVE this one with two exceptions. One, no light. Two it causes my EX II to false. I have contacted the company about it and they have tried to help me figure this one out but nothing I do makes the situation any better. I can use it with my Deleon and my daughter's 1100 with no problems. I will say that the customer service was TOP NOTCH!!! They responded quickly and the only thing they didn't do was offer a refund which I wouldn't expect since there is nothing wrong with the pinpointer it just won't work with my Explorer II. I would have NO hesitation in buying a VB, they make good stuff!!!! I also love the holster. Even though I cannot use this one with the Explorer II and it has no light this is a solid piece of equipment. Well built, water proof, a little bulky, great holster, I give this a 90-95% ( if I could get it to work with my Explorer it would get a 99%, no light looses it 1 point)

3. The Sunray is well what can I say, a Sunray. It connects inline to the coil on my machine and it doesn't weigh too much. I find that it is sometimes too sensitive and some times it is awkward to use. The good news is that it uses your detectors electronics so if you are using a VDI machine it will tell you whatever your detector would normally tell you about the target. I have had a little problem with my Sunray being noisy once I get the Sens above 20 on my machine but if I turn it back down it works rather well. I can also tell you that I got an AWESOME deal on my Sunray from Golden Roy Boy and paid only about half what one normally costs. If you can afford a Sunray I would give it a 96-98 rating ( it also would benefit from a light wich would earn it an extra point from me. I night hunt a LOT)

So there you have it. If I can help in any way I would love to. I may sell the VB 570 but hate to take a loss since I have litterally only used it in 5 holes to try to ID the target. I have to turn the EX II off to use the thing so this isn't working out to well for me. I may just give it to my daughter.

I have also built 3 pinpointers because I love to tinker. I used a little wizard not to bad, and then two other types of stud finder type devices. I find they lack the durability and sensitivy needed for the serious detector.

I would NEVER hunt without a pinpointing probe.

 

[godisnum1]

Wow ME... that was, by FAR, the greatest writeup I've seen for a pinpointer(s)!!!

I'm trying hard to push a section dedicated to pinpointers! If one of the Mod's will finally acknowledge it, I'd love for you to repost that under the section so others will be more informed. I agreed with your assessment of the Vibraprobe, as I've had the same issue somewhat with my detector (White's IDX Pro) and causing it to false. Normally, I've just secured the holster to my belt on the left back side so it's completely away from my detector... but I think I'm going to end up securing it to my pack strap, on the upper front left of my chest. So that should keep my VP out of the way. I was also thinking of securing it to my upper back, so I could pull it out like a Katana. *shrugs* We'll see I guess...

Bran <><

 

[UncleVinnys]

Check this out.
It's a probe and a pin-pointer in one, which will save you a LOT of digging.

http://www.kellycodetectors.com/vibra/CP200probe.htm

CP-200 Electronic Coin & Cache Probe
An Electronic/Discriminating Probe for All Detector Users

 

[lockman209]

I have the Bullseye 120mm and the Bullseye II. I have had 0 problems with either of these. The 120mm I have had since they first come out. I love both. I was just able to get out & try the Bullseye II and so far 0 problems.

 

[RONC(OR)]

tiny tec is a great pinpointer

 

[N.J.THer]

Nothing new but I'll add my two cents.

I've only used the White's Bullseye and the Sunray DX-1.

I like the White's when it is working but I broke two before I realized it was the unit and not me. Sent both back to White's to be replaced free of charge and have not used either one since getting them back.

Instead I spend a little more cash and purchased the Sunray which I love. I can pinpoint with VDI and depth read outs. Granted I seem to get the wrong depth read outs but after awhile I figured out how to calculate it in my head for the correct depth. For me the probe seems to read that the target is deeper then it actually is.

I love the Sunray and keep the White's as back ups or one that I can lend out to others I'm hunting with.

Good luck with your decision.

NJ

 

[UncleVinnys]

Yeah, I have the BullsEye too, and I figured right away
you have to protect it from the dirt and mud that is inevitable.

Here ya go - - been working fine since I keep it covered.

UV

 

[rmptr]

I've heard good things about the Tiny tek.
HH

 

[Colonial Copper Zeus]

I was looking at the Vibra-Tector 570 or the White's Bullseye II Pinpointer- anybody own one or the other and wanna give me a review lol?

Is the Vibra Tector 730 better than the 570? Its only 25$ more expensive... anybody have a 730?

I have a brand new whites probe for sale 140 mm Bullseye.$ 75.00
Chris

 

[Goldiver]

I have had my VibraProbe for over a year now and I love it. It is very well built and rugged. Where it really shines is river hunting in shallow water when I get a signal with my detector I can dunk the Vibraprobe right in the water locate the object with the probe and fish it out with my fingers. The bottom is very rocky where I hunt. I also really like it for those targets that pin point off center with the detector. Usually the target is sitting at an angle and throwing off your pinpoint, in that case you can probe around in the sides of the hole with the Vibraprobe to locate it. One great example was the seated liberty 1853 dime I recovered recently. I dug down deep and got no target so probed into the sides of the hole with the Vibraprobe about 3 to 4 inches and located the dime sitting at about a 45 degree angle. Without the hand held probe I might have given up on the hole and left the dime there for someone else to find.

I hope you find one you like,
Steve