Pro pointer knock off?

[Jimmi]

I'm wasting alot of time digging around searching for my targets. I want to get a pro pointer to cut down on waste time and to keep my plugs neater. But I really don't feel like putting out another $130 ...I just bought my detector not all that long ago. Is there any knock off version that is cheaper and works decent?

 

[gsxraddict]

What do you mean you lime the iron stuff? is it supposed to be like?

Take something iron you found that you like that's small. I'll bet it's not as small as a nail. Bury both of them a few inches and adjust the discrimination on your machine until it blocks out the nail and picks up what you like.

I'd try that. Then I'd get a harbor freight pinpointer until you can afford a good one.

 

[dennco2000]

Can you post some pictures of the nails Garrett PP580 is what I use... although its my first PP I beat the he11 out of it above and below water.

 

[Jimmi]

I guess I should have specified when I say nails , I don't mean a 2 inch skinny thing.. I mean 4 Inch barn nails, bolts , farm equipment washers n bolts.. I've recycled tons. Of them. These were ones I dug out of my yard in a couple of hours



Farms were everywhere around here.. So these sorts of nails and bolts are everywhere ...

 

[Jimmi]

And yes like, not lime

 

[Sager8130]

I have the Bounty Hunter pin pointer and it works pretty well except for one thing. The sensitivity is very, well...sensitive. You have to constantly adjust the knob and it can be extremely frustrating when trying to locate a hard to find target. It also will go off sometimes if you hold it to tightly. To it's credit, it is pretty durable and being caked in dirt won't hurt it. When I have a target and the ground is soft enough I will stick the probe right into the ground before digging a plug to see if I can narrow it down even further. It's usually priced at about $60 on Amazon but it goes on sale sometimes. If you didn't have to constantly mess with the knob it would be worth $60 but with the way it is they should sell it for $30.

 

[BryanM362]

I guess I should have specified when I say nails , I don't mean a 2 inch skinny thing.. I mean 4 Inch barn nails, bolts , farm equipment washers n bolts.. I've recycled tons. Of them. These were ones I dug out of my yard in a couple of hours

View attachment 786437

Farms were everywhere around here.. So these sorts of nails and bolts are everywhere ...

Wow, those are some nails on steroids! I dug a nut and bolt today, similar to the first one, near your thumb. It rang up as something much higher than iron, can't remember exactly, but I discrim out iron, and it tricked me into digging it. So, even the AT Pro with discrim turned up gets trciked by the larger, deeper, iron.

Those are kind of cute, you should decorate with them....

 

[Jimmi]

Sager, that does sound frustrating : / . I'd probably get mad and fling it... Lol . But the bonus is you can crud it up and it don't break. $60 isn't bad either.
Bryan, I'll give em to you to decorate with.. Lol.. Hang em off the Xmas tree or something

 

[dennco2000]

Holy cow! I was just kidding but truthfully those are impressive trinkets. You go girl!

 

[DurkaDigger]

I had similar problems digging those types of targets with my new AT Pro. I have found being relatively new that its part of the learning curve. If you will call most of the sponsors they will give you a better price than they have listed. Garret has a minimum advertise price that they must follow to be a dealer. They can give you a promo code to help out. You could prob get it for 100-115. I think mine was $115 shipped. But I got my ATP for $505 also new. I did a lot of calling and searching forums.

As for digging those targets and getting higher values. A guy on the friendly metal detecting forum gave me a lot of good advice. First see if the signal is consistent ( number not all over), check it from different sides, and pick the coil higher off the ground. I have found that cans and flat iron pieces will register with my coil almost a foot off the ground. That is a good sign it is a big target. The only down side about not digging those are it could be a highly unlikely silver cache.

One more word of wisdom. I didn't wear gloves either. I found out a good reason why I should. I was cutting through roots and have come to realize those roots were poison oak! There were no plants showing on the ground yet as we are just coming out of winter here in AL, but I got it just the same! Now I am covered in it... I also have read about others cutting themselves to the point of stitches not wearing them. I suggest some light weight tight fitting so you can still feel things. I have police search gloves I used at work that work really well if you are interested in that. I know that's a little off topic but I felt with you being new I was share my new mistakes too.

 

[hunter_46356]

I guess I should have specified when I say nails , I don't mean a 2 inch skinny thing.. I mean 4 Inch barn nails, bolts , farm equipment washers n bolts.. I've recycled tons. Of them. These were ones I dug out of my yard in a couple of hours

View attachment 786437

Farms were everywhere around here.. So these sorts of nails and bolts are everywhere ...

LMAO You need a pin pointer to find those nails in a hole........

 

[Jimmi]

Well not for all of them... Lol

 

[Silver Simon]

I'd probably get mad and fling it... Lol . But the bonus is you can crud it up and it don't break.

Whatever PP you decide to go with, it would be wise to invest in some Plasti-Dip from Home Depot etc. to coat the tip of the PP, to help protect it. Also, if there is a speaker hole, some electrical tape on it will help keep crud out!

 

[pennyfarmer]

Where I hunt usually each hole has multiple signals and or multiple Items . So my problem is getting a signal on the high end of my ace 250 , but I end up chasing after a nail buried 8 inches.. And somehow lose the signal for the thing I was after. Or the signal hops . Why is that? I get a solid signal on the high end .. Make my plug ... Then after I pull it, the signal hops over 5 inches.. Make a new plug .. And it hops again.. Lol I give up at that point.
If you get a good pro pointer, do you stick it in the ground before you even make a plug?

Jumping signals sounds like Hot Rocks to me. They are usually a problem with cheaper machines. They are crazy because it depends how they are laying what signal they give you. Turn it on its side and no signal, lay it flat and get a coin tone 3 out of 5 swings. They move around the hole. Often joke about them being a herd of buffalo nickles or runny liberty quarter.

Hot Rocks suck.

 

[Jimmi]

Ya know what , that makes sense.. I got slag n coal everywhere. I'll get strong signals sometimes on the high end of the scale.. I'll dig .. And they totally vanish

 

[DetectorMike]

Where I hunt usually each hole has multiple signals and or multiple Items . So my problem is getting a signal on the high end of my ace 250 , but I end up chasing after a nail buried 8 inches.. And somehow lose the signal for the thing I was after. Or the signal hops . Why is that? I get a solid signal on the high end .. Make my plug ... Then after I pull it, the signal hops over 5 inches.. Make a new plug .. And it hops again.. Lol I give up at that point.
If you get a good pro pointer, do you stick it in the ground before you even make a plug?

What do you have your sensitivity set on? You sound like you are chasing ghost signals because your running to high of a sensitivity but I have a Ace 350 and only used it 3 weeks before I bought the Garrett Pro Pointer it helps so much and there are plenty of YouTube videos to show you how to use it but its so easy ill explain a little after you pinpoint with your machine get out your Pro pointer and tap it around the ground and try to get a signal and if you do the louder and more steady it gets that's where the object is but if not dig a small plug and stick it in the hole to try to locate it and once you know which way it is dug it up. I'm telling you the Pro Pointer is worth the money. Try turning your sensitivity down a bit running it about half way and try that you will get less ghost and jumpy signals. Hope that helps

 

[Jimmi]

I run the sensitivity one notch above midway.. Don't really want to run it much lower cause then it seems to miss the deeper relics.. After I dig one plug and it jumps.... I'm going to have to just not chase it

 

[Frankn]

I'm wasting alot of time digging around searching for my targets. I want to get a pro pointer to cut down on waste time and to keep my plugs neater. But I really don't feel like putting out another $130 ...I just bought my detector not all that long ago. Is there any knock off version that is cheaper and works decent?

Here;s the real info. There is a video on T Net that compares the $16 Cen Tec from Harbor Freight with the $160 Garrett Propointer. Guess what? They both pick up a dime at 1/2 ". But the Cen Tec has a sensitivy adjustment knob, the pro does not. The Cen Tec turns off by itself , You have to turn off the pro or it eats batteries. Now it is true that the pro has a better ergonomic shape, but this shape also makes it hard to mod and fix. I have a Cen Tec that I have used for 2 years and it still works like new. It is true that the on switch is touchy on the Cen Tec while there have been board problems on the pro. I have added a bright blue LED that lights when it finds the target. A point to remember is that you don't want to have a pinpointer that is to sensitive or it will sound off anywhere in the hole.
Hope this helps. Frank...


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[DetectorMike]

Here;s the real info. There is a video on T Net that compares the $16 Cen Tec from Harbor Freight with the $160 Garrett Propointer. Guess what? They both pick up a dime at 1/2 ". But the Cen Tec has a sensitivy adjustment knob, the pro does not. The Cen Tec turns off by itself , You have to turn off the pro or it eats batteries. Now it is true that the pro has a better ergonomic shape, but this shape also makes it hard to mod and fix. I have a Cen Tec that I have used for 2 years and it still works like new. It is true that the on switch is touchy on the Cen Tec while there have been board problems on the pro. I have added a bright blue LED that lights when it finds the target. A point to remember is that you don't want to have a pinpointer that is to sensitive or it will sound off anywhere in the hole.
Hope this helps. Frank...

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=787914"/>
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The Garrett Pro Pointer has a built in feature that will automatically adjust the sensitivity to low so it will only pick up the target when it's right up on it.

 

[SusanMN]

Here;s the real info. There is a video on T Net that compares the $16 Cen Tec from Harbor Freight with the $160 Garrett Propointer. Guess what? They both pick up a dime at 1/2 ". But the Cen Tec has a sensitivy adjustment knob, the pro does not. The Cen Tec turns off by itself , You have to turn off the pro or it eats batteries. Now it is true that the pro has a better ergonomic shape, but this shape also makes it hard to mod and fix. I have a Cen Tec that I have used for 2 years and it still works like new. It is true that the on switch is touchy on the Cen Tec while there have been board problems on the pro. I have added a bright blue LED that lights when it finds the target. A point to remember is that you don't want to have a pinpointer that is to sensitive or it will sound off anywhere in the hole.
Hope this helps. Frank...

View attachment 787914
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I had the Centec, and the Bullseye and the Automax before I got the Propointer. So I did a head to head test of all four using nails in the studs of my thick plaster walls as the target. The Propointer was the only one of the four that could find the stud. In fact, after it found the exact spot where a nail was and I marked it, the other three didnt even sound when they were place on the marked spot. That was four years ago, never an issue with the Propointer and its still going strong. As to the battery in it, I use alkaline and it lasts nearly the whole summer of hunting.

 

[Jimmi]

I had the Centec, and the Bullseye and the Automax before I got the Propointer. So I did a head to head test of all four using nails in the studs of my thick plaster walls as the target. The Propointer was the only one of the four that could find the stud. In fact, after it found the exact spot where a nail was and I marked it, the other three didnt even sound when they were place on the marked spot. That was four years ago, never an issue with the Propointer and its still going strong. As to the battery in it, I use alkaline and it lasts nearly the whole summer of hunting.

Well that kinda sums it up right there... You used em all and compared them against each other .. Ya don't get any more sound advice than that. Thanks. I'm gonna wait and save for the propointer. Thanks all for your replies