pinpointing made easy

[still looking 52]

I used to have trouble pinpointing targets until I discovered this simple and accurate method. All you need is a golf tee,the brighter the better. After you get clean signal from left to right narrow your swing down to were your only moving the coil about two inches from side to side over the target, place the tee in the ground,now move your position to the side of the tee,or you might say 90 degrees, now just move coil over tee again,narrowing the swing path down to about two inches,move the tee to this position,now your right over the target.you don't even have to use the pinpoint mode,just stay in the same hunting mode,this also keeps you from picking up signals from the all metal mode which can throw you off. It really works,one last advantage is it makes your batteries last longer,I can about 40 hours on my f5.

 

[Coin Rescue Inc]

Sounds reasonable.
All summer I used my 5" coil and that Pinpoints so well I can nail it down pretty close. By pinpointing the coil to the spot where the the depth is the smallest number. One I have the coil directly over the target I can verify the ID number one last time to verify I pin pointed over the correct target in trashy areas.
This fall I tried my 11" coil after the F75 upgrade. Boy what a difference and like learning all over again. I did ok though. Just wider holes. LOL

 

[mudpuppy]

Lovin' It! I am a HUGE proponent of developing a very SPEEDY pinpointing and target retrieval method...This is a subject that is not spoken a about a whole lot, so I applaud you for bringing it up!

I believe a person can compress a learning curve based upon how fast they can get on a target, know what is from the audio alone... the size, configuration and depth, all by the tones/modulated audio...If a fellow commits to pulling as many targets as possible in the fastest WAY possible, then you have actually compressed the learning curve...pulling 200+ targets in a few hours, when it would take somebody else a few days to cover the same ground and pull the same targets...based upon the volumn of targets you haul, you should find 10X as much and should be at least twice as proficient as somebody who has not dug that much no matter how long they've been doing this...initial ping to pouch in 10sec is what I try to do..probably running a 15sec average...although clad stacks really help the average if a guy can find them...

Of course this skill is best learned by using nothing but a screwdriver and not any other kind of digger, or hand held pinpointer, or even the PP button on the rig...and is best learned in a clad heavy environment, targets from surface to 4"...One would not want to quick broom like this for deep silver in a yard or woods setting, but this skill does cross over and is helpful in that realm...On a modern football field or sports complex, a guy can flat out fly....

The main format of quick brooming is to go with a mid-light sens, as many tones as your rig has, low disc, no notch, not look at the screen, not kneeling down, just ping, stoop and stab..again, a guy has to really want to do this bad, be sensitive to really harvesting as fast as possible and not dinking around wasting time or energy, looking at the find, etc...a real run and gun clean out session...comes in super handy when a window of opportunity opens up in a key location for a very short time...like at the front entrance to the local HS on an early Sunday morn...you gotta get in there and sweep it fast and leave no trace or dig any hole and be gone..

You will wear out a screwdriver in short order, and need to carry a spare...I cannot hunt without the screwdriver...even on deep signals, a guy pokes it into the ground on top of the ping, and then saws a little hole around it the size of your fist with a cheap lock blade knife, and uses it like a little handle to pull out the very small plug, like pulling the top off a pumpkin.......thats it...theres no other way to pull massive targets in the shortest time without focusing and practicing just a bit with a screwdriver..If a guy has all the time in the world on a site close to home..no big deal...pinpoint however you wish, and dig how you want, no need to go this stupid route...but if you want a lot of targets fast, develop a style for speedy pinpointing and target retrieval...REVIER has a few great youtube vids out there on how he does it with the traditional digger and hand held PP that you should be comfortable with and appreciate...I guess screwdrivers are probably best for clad and jewelry guys like me sweeping modern active parks where a shovel is bad news....
Mud

 

[Coin Rescue Inc]

Mud,
I think you are just trying to scare other forum members from hunting in your home town !You cleaned it out. Nothing left to find! lol

Ps- I ordered a brass probe yesterday for plucking coins. Long story.

 

[detectingMO]

I dont use tees but visually do this Xing method quite a bit on the nice two way signals.

 

[GroundScanner]

When I first starting metal detecting , I just X the target. And I still do it. It's fast and very accurate. When I use the 5" coil , it's so small I just dig , no need to pin point with 5" coil. GS

 

[MarkCZ]

"SL52" is using the 11" DD coil, so the tee marks the first line of the center bar of the coil, then by rotating around 90 degree's you form a second line, or center point of the detection field. With a concentric coil the X'ing finds the center of the cone shape detection field, but with the extra long detection filed of the 11" DD coil the ground marker helps to find the center of the longer detection field.
The golf tee doesn't mark the actual pinpoint, but rather just a line, so the second pinpoint will be inline with the tee, but it may be a few inches from the tee.

I believe he started out with this concept by using two sticks, then he refined it down to the single golf tee! plus he's an avid golfer so I'm sure later on he'll come up with a good use for a golf club and metal detecting LoL!

Mark

 

[WV62]

I also like to stay in disc mode as much as possible, so for the PP I like to short stoke and pull the coil back until I lose the the target, then push forward until the nose of the coil picks up the target again. It is not as accurate as some other methods but it is pretty fast and pretty close. If I have a problem target I will use all metal PP, and detune to narrow it down or I will use the depth numbers for center.

I don't use a screw driver but I don't see how anybody could hunt without an ice pick.LOL I lost my ice pick a couple of years back and I bought several at the local stores but none were like my old one. I got on a auction sight and found a guy had 5 of the old timers up for sale, I got them all. At one time I used the ice pick to retrieve the coins but now it is used more like the golf tees.

Ron in WV

 

[Coin Rescue Inc]

Ordered one Sunday

 

[woodchiphustler]

In 1985 two clowns got the local University shut down to detectors because they dug crazy holes not knowing how to pinpoint. Allot of folks angry over that. Also digging holes in the summer kills the grass know matter how neat the plug.

 

[MarkCZ]

In 1985 two clowns got the local University shut down to detectors because they dug crazy holes not knowing how to pinpoint. Allot of folks angry over that. Also digging holes in the summer kills the grass know matter how neat the plug.

Well, according to conditions it may kill the grass, but in most cases it turns it brown from shock like when plants get transplanted, which it still looks bad for three or four days.

But, now the topic is turning into retrieving targets rather than pinpointing, good pinpointing does reduce the need for exploratory surgery to find a target.
There our several retrieval methods that should be used in different locations,
Public wooded areas, shovels can sometimes be used!
Private land with permission to use whatever!
Other places may require "Popping" without digging at all!
Most common places digging a plug is the most common!

Mark

 

[still looking 52]

Best example of this golf tee method was back in early summer my brother and I were detecting in this open amp theater , I noticed he had given up on this one target after digging several plugs so I went over the target area with this pinpoint method, about 3 to 4 inches from were he thought the target was I found a cladd quarter right under my pinpoint. My brother known on here as wv62 is a skilled experience detector so he knows what he's doing. I like using the 11dd coil over the smaller coils so I can cover more ground in a shorter period of time but pinpointing is harder with the larger coil, until I found this new method,now its easy.

 

[WV62]

Best example of this golf tee method was back in early summer my brother and I were detecting in this open amp theater , I noticed he had given up on this one target after digging several plugs so I went over the target area with this pinpoint method, about 3 to 4 inches from were he thought the target was I found a cladd quarter right under my pinpoint. My brother known on here as wv62 is a skilled experience detector so he knows what he's doing.

Goodness Gracious, you had to bring that one up, I was hoping to forget that one forever.

Brother Ron in WV

 

[mudpuppy]

Hey 52! I run that 11"dd and have absolutely no problem pinpointing either! Even in a massive coin spill or a target mixed in with lot of junk...trick is to NOT use the PP button at all!

Everybody here is probably getting tired of me talking about my 'Hopcoil' PP method, but I'll lay it on you on account of you may appreciate it....

I gently but brisky jig the coil a few inches off the dirt over a target, (like a drummer tapping out a lively beat) so the signal is essentially going straight down and not side to side..as I tap, I am rotating 90 degrees, still tapping all the while....the strength of the returning pings lets a guy know right when the target is under the sweet spot of the coil...I dont think the coil is moving up and down more than 1-2" per tap, probably a 3-4 tap per second perambator......all a guy has to do is look at the ground where the pings are coming from, stoop over, lay your rig down, and stab the target, (left hand) quickly ream out a hole right over the top of it, (both hands) in a harikari 'X' pattern, then stab your finger (left) down into the hole, retouch the target with the driver, maybe wiggle a little dirt off the top so you can feel it with your finger, tip the target on edge with the screwdiver (that is now in the right hand) and pinch the coin between your finger and driver, and then extract the target straight up...then, as a guy commences to stand, he picks up the rig, steps on the hole, all the while pocketing the coin, and moves on...so its not a "Coin Pop" technique, more of a 'pinch and pull'...Its so fast, it looks like a guy is merely stooping down to grab a piece of litter or surface something...on the deeper targets, a guy simply drops down on one knee, so it looks like a guy is genuflecting!...never both...anyway, all movements are very fluid and with a purpose, and it is not a tiresome way to hunt either...very relaxing with an overall good body workout...plus, nobody ever sees a shovel, or a kneepad, or anything that looks like a guy is 'digging in the field or park'......If I ever get down your way, which is not out of the question, I'll show you...
Mud

 

[Spider-F5]

interesting topic and thanks SL52 for bringing it up. I'm new to the F5/11DD and found it a bit cumbersum to try and pinpoint in the beginning. i found myself wanting to use the pinpoint feature and would get very aggravated by it. as mentioned, i tried the sweeping method and felt more at ease with it but never got it perfected. once i researched the F5 machine here on the forum i got a bit better at it. shortly after that i purchased a Compadre for the wife and after using it a few times, i don't think i can pin point any other way besides sweeping.

HH<Spider

BTW: Mud, you should do a tutorial vid on that 'Hopcoil' PP method" of yours.

 

[GO VA]

First post here. I use a scratch awl (Lowes $4.59) as a recovery tool 100% of the time in the local parks, it seems to go through the dirt a little easier than a screwdriver for me and is smaller. Just make sure you round the tip before use with a file or grinder. I also never use the pinpoint on my F-75, I do the wiggle back to the toe of the 11 inch DD coil which I use everywhere I can depending in trash, then a couple quick stabs/probes with the awl and rarely have to use the pinpointer to get a better read on the target. My recovery method is almost identical to what mudpuppy described and is very fast and easy. This is good to about 4 inches in south central Va. clay if it is a little damp and 2-3 if not. The parks where I live allow detecting but no digging at all so I never carry anything but pinpointer and the awl. I have had the parks and rec people come out and watch what I do several times and they have never ever had a problem with damage to regular park areas or even the sports fields and have told me the kids playing soccer and lacrosse tear up the areas much more than what I do. Something a little bigger may be a little easier but in certain places smaller and doing minimal damage is best for all if we don't want to see detecting banned for everyone.

 

[jbow]

I was at a local park one day and a 20something and his chubby little wife came in all excited wanting to know about relics at the park. They seemed to think they were going to swing and start digging buckles and gold. We gave them a bit of a short answer and they commenced to swing and dig... OH, did I mention that the wifey was carrying a full size shovel? They dug a few big holes, moving fast and were gone in less than an hour. I was back there a couple of weeks later and made my best attempt to fix the remains of a very bad hole that had been dug and refilled with no care whatsoever. There was only so much I could do. Then there are the people who hunt in the woods and feel absolutely no need to refill ANY hole or carry away any trash they dig. I hope you are not them... I have a habit of leaving EVERY place I hunt in better shape than when I got there. In the woods I not only refill holes but put the leaves or pinestraw back as best I can and unless it is a dump I pick up litter.
There are many wrong ways to do a thing but usually only one right way.

As for pinpointing... I've just never had a problem with it. If I can I use the 90 degree swing, and visually mark the point. If I can only get a one way signal I try to back off until I get the signal just under the tip of the coil, that usually works too. In summer, if it's dry or hot I still sometimes use my hand digger but a three sided plug will still make a brown ring in the grass but you can cut a slit and then widen it until you can get your probe in there. I'm glad I got a Uni-Probe before they stopped making them, it is awesome. I have a K-Bar but hesitate to carry it into a public park for fear of being arrested, but it would be the best tool sometimes. I do have a coin probe and a popper but don't use them much but I don't hunt nice parks much either.

J

 

[kt]

This thread needs example videos badly. Especially for the 11 inch DD coils.

 

[mudpuppy]

You are right KT...a video of speedy and accurate pinpointing/target recovery would be a game changer for a lot of people that would add to their hunting satisfaction/amounts immensely...I do not have the gear or I would attempt one...

FTP should produce one showing these alternate methods... if not for this reason than in an effort to protect the Sport from dopes with big shovels in public parks...I would suspect most 'future' users will be relegated to shallow and fast hunting of newer dirt, where FTP products already have a huge technological advantage and a trowel or even a hand held PP are not needed...thats where the market is going, all the first generation users got all the good old deep stuff!
Mud

 

[MarkCZ]

Okay. when the weather breaks I'll get with my brother Greg (Julio) and work on a video!

Mark