Pin Pointer

[kelly spann]

I have been looking for a good pin pointer for awhile that was not to expensive and worked good, anyway I was off today and thought I would walk around in our local Harbor Freight Tools store and they had a pin pointer ( well small metal detector actually ). It only cost $15.00 bucks and I thought what the heck I'll give it a try for that price. It's about 11 or 12 inches long with a nylon pouch that hooks on your belt. It has a sensitivity adjustment knob and a built in light. I went to the local park to try it out and was amazed how well it worked. My holes were smaller and less digging for sure. The built in light worked great when it got late in the evening. It lit up the hole great. It has about a 7 or 8 in. probe that is water proof. I checked its depth with a coin and it was 5 to 6 inches. Pretty good I guess. Don't know how that compares to the more expensive pin pointers So if anyone is looking for a inexpensive pin pointer and a Harbor Freight tools store around close, give it a try, I was impressed. It's made by Cen-Tech. Hope this helps someone who dosen't have alot of money to spend or someone who does!!! Happy Hunting.

 

[CoinShooter777]

Been looking at the same pinpointer for awhile now, already have bounty hunter pinpointer, but want this one for a backup...Just ordered one hopefully it will be in soon. That testing to 5 to 6 inch's that was air testing? HH

 

[Ed in SoDak]

I have a Falcon MD-10. It was $175 bucks! But the wand is separate and can be made into a "cane" that will really reach down into deep crevices or creek bottoms. It's also intended as a prospecting detector and will sound off on very small pieces of gold or other metal. It's very durable, I actually dig a bit or move dirt around using the probe. It's range on a coin is maybe one or two inches tops.

Do you find that 5 inches depth is really a help? If it has some sort of signal strength or distance indicator, maybe, but merely knowing something is 5 inches away in any direction in a hole is not necessarily what I'd call pinpointing.

My Falcon is either quiet or full volume, not much inbetween. My main detector will sound on the target in the hole, but the pinpointer is silent till I'm on top of it, which can be frustrating- where the heck is it?? More depth might indeed be nice, but it also needs to be able to indicate the direction of the signal to put the sensitivity to best use inside a deep hole.

But for 15 bucks, why not gamble a bit? I won't go digging without mine, though my wife has no problem finding her targets with no pinpointer at all.

-Ed

 

[kelly spann]

Hey Coinshooter 777, Yeah that was an air test. In the ground it was about 3 inches or so. Still pretty good though for what I need. Its right on so far. It lets me know if its on the side of the hole or in the bottom. It has great direction. The depth is a great help to let me know weather to keep digging or to stop. Well worth the 15 dollars and if I break it for some reason I won't feel to bad just run get another. Take care.

 

[kelly spann]

Ed in SoDak ,No it tells me exactly where it is,no guessing. It tells me if its on the side of the hole or in the bottom, or an inch over. To me thats pin pointing not makeing my hole bigger, just what a pin pointer is suppose to do. I'm happy! Take care.

 

[Ed in SoDak]

Thanks for the info, sounds like a sweet deal. Wish we had a Harbor Freight near here!
-Ed

 

[LLew retired 2009]

I got on line at Harbor Freight and can't find this pin pointer. any help out their?

 

[L'il BoyBloo]

[size=large]Hey Llew, try going to harbourfreight.com and in the search box at the top left, type 'detector' - came up with several interesting results, including a $7 (!) p/pointer - great for my 5 yr old to play with and get an interest in the hobby!!
good hunting!![/size]

 

[TABAGO]

go to harbor freight look for the search box type Metal detector a a new page will come up Metal Detector
Cen-Tech
97245-1VGA

$14.99



that is the item number and price a very good deal I have one an use it all the time an prefer it over my green bounty hunter detector,, all so i mite add that my first one went bunkers, i called harbor fright an they replaced it free of charge an told me to keep the bad one all so their service is very good and I recommend them
the url is,, [size=x-large]http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=metal+detector&Submit=Go[/size]

 

[roseon3rd]

I have one of these and have had it since last November and I've used it alot. Personally I like it. It does was a pin-pointer should do which is find what's in the hole. My Cen-Tech doesn't have but about 3/4 of an inch of range on coins but big metal beeps in at 2 1/2 inches. That's fine with me. When it beeps, I want to know that I'm right on the object. There is a sensitivity knob which allows for less and more resulting in obviously more or less depth. Now,I'll be honest,I've had to repair my Cen-Tech on 3 occasions. The push button activation switch wires seem to break off very easily. (I'm not sure if it's because I'm rough with it or what) But I've re-soldered them and put a spot of hot glue on them to minimize movement. Hopefully I won't have any more problems with it. For $12.00 to $15.00 it's a good deal. IMHO
Curt

 

[nomad]

hello kelly-im new to the forum and metal detecting and thought it might put some excitement into my life.anyway i see you are happy with the centech metal detector i just bought a bh ultra mag and have not even tested it yet but it sounds like i'll be needing a pinpointer.im reading mixed feedback about some of the pinpointers good and bad and i cant see spending $50 or $100 on one if i can get one that will do the job for $15.can you tell me does the centech have an audible alarm or does that vibrate?does it get louder as you get closer to your target?will it detect the diference between aluminum or say silver or does it just hit on everything metal?have you ever used one of the better pinpointers before to compare the performance between them?i would appreciate your feedback-thanks

 

[#1RAMROD]

I have this same pin pointer but haven't used is much yet, but just testing it I like it.

For those that like to tinker with things her is a place to look if you want to tinker with this pointer.

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=21525

 

[silversmith]

I've had one of these for about 6 mos. Works great as is but, You can take it apart, remove the light, take a sharp knife and cut out the light hole extension. You can then mount a small, thin double pole single throw switch in the hole. Drill a new hole in the front cover and epoxy the light in. JUST BE CAREFUL that where you mount it so that you close the unit up again. Now take the wire off of the buzzer (red) and run it to the middle pin on the switch. Add a 3300 ohm 1/4 watt resistor to one of the other 2 pins on the switch. Hook the other end of the resistor to the Led, Now I used another resistor from remaining switch pin (68 ohms) and ran it to the buzzer. The buzzer is just too loud stock and runs down the battery quicker than with the resistor. Run the other side of the Led to the black wire on the buzzer. You may have to reverese the light wires if it doesn't light.
Whatcha got? Well you don't have a needless light that constantly runs down the battery. You can switch between the buzzer and the light when detecting. (The Led now functions like the buzzer.....it comes on when you you're detecting and get a target.) It's hard to hear the buzzer wearing head phones, especially in a noisey envirement. You can switch the polarity (reverese the wires) to the Led if you get no light.
Hey, do this mod on your own watch! I like mine, but I'm not responsible for what you do!

 

[twalton]

I used one of those Cen-Tech Pointers until the end piece fell out. Some epoxy put it back on and I used it quite a bit more, maybe a year til it just wore out. The switch gave out and the battery contacts got loose. Made my $15 back many times over tho. So another dirt fisher on this site gave me the heads up on Tiny-Tec probes. This is one tough pin pointer/probe. The end is pointed and hard as nails - really well designed for probing in dirt and tot-lot grind. Very good sensitivity too, and it has a setting for automatic-off in case I forget to switch it off and kill a new battery. Have used it for about two years now and it shows no signs of wear or abuse. In fact I bought a used unit from Fee-Bay for back-up just in case, but it's collecting dust in the closet. That's my two cents worth anyway. ( Don't tell the government or they'll want 30% of it!)

 

[marcomo]

I checked its depth with a coin and it was 5 to 6 inches. Pretty good I guess. Don't know how that compares to the more expensive pin pointers So if anyone is looking for a inexpensive pin pointer and a Harbor Freight tools store around close, give it a try, I was impressed. It's made by Cen-Tech. Hope this helps someone who dosen't have alot of money to spend or someone who does!!! Happy Hunting.

You're getting 5 to 6 inches on a coin with a Cen-Tech?????

I understand that these are made in China where quality control isn't always the best, so I can understand if there could be some variances from unit to unit. But 5 to 6 inches? Maybe you're using a 2 inch long Chinese "footlong" ruler!

I've had two Cen-Techs and their depth on a coin was a fraction of that.

I understand that putting out $127 for a pinpointer isn't in a lot of people's budget, and for $15 the Cen-Tech is a decent value. I got one for $12 when I had a Harbor Freight 15% off coupon that they send out periodically when you're on their mailing list.

But if you can afford it, Garrett's Propointer is to the Cen-Tech like a Rolls-Royce is to a Yugo. The difference is night and day. And you'll probably go through quite a few Cen-Techs before your Propointer would give out.

But if you can find one of those super-charged 6 inch depth Cen-Tech's, stick with it. The Propointer only gets an honest 2-3 inches on a coin.

 

[wasp]

I also have a Cen-Tech which I purchased at our local Harbor Freight for $15.00. I get a signal at about 3/4 to 1 1/4 inch depending on the coin or if there is more than one coin and the sensitivity setting on the probe. Of course the depth is better on certain junk metals such as large junk or aluminum. 5 or 6 inches depth on a coin is phenominal.

Personally, I like the shorter depth range of my probes. I already know that there is a coin or coin-like object at 5 or 6 inches by using my Time Ranger. Now I want to know precisely where it is by using my Cen-Tech or Bounty Hunter probe as I dig and get close to it. I really like the tapered probe end on the Bounty Hunter because, when in soft ground, I can follow into the hole that I made with my screwdriver probe to see if I hit a rock or the coin. With a probe that signals at 5 or 6 inches, the object that I hit with the screwdriver could still be a rock and the coin could be anywhere in a 5 to 6 inch radius! That's not exactly what I would call "pinpointing".

If you have a Cen-Tech that signals at 5 or 6 inches you may want to put it back in the box and preserve it as a very rare collectors item. Must be super-charged as Marcomo pointed out!