Need pinpointing help

[donsports]

I just spent three days at the DIV event in VA. Hot ground... Had had a heck of a time pinpointing my Xterra 70, with the standard coil and the 10.5 DD. I have about 40 hours on the machine now and still can't pinpoint it. I've done a search and followed the tips, to no avail. In 18 years of detecting, I have never had a problem, with a lot less that 40 hours on any new machine that I got. Very frustrating, I could use all the help that I can get...Thanks...By the way, the machine would just turn off i mid-swing, happened about 10-15 times over the three days. Do I have a bad machine?

 

[Crocket]

I haven't heard of anyone having the problem you are experiencing or the machine shutting down like that. I would have it ck out buy
Mine Lab sounds like something wrong. Maybe call them first.Have you tried retuning to the Factory Per Set.

 

[khouse]

Pinpoint button pushed. Go left and right past the target and the 70 will detune automatically. Find the center left and right then pull the coil toward you. When the tone stops the target is between the Minelab sticker and the edge of the coil in the 12 o'clock position. Or if your using a big shovel pinpoint in the disc mode. Find the center of the beep then turn 90 degrees and find the center of the beep. Then in your mind find where the two lines intersect.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Hi Donsports.
I hear you on the pinpointing problem. That is something that drove me to despair till I learned how to pinpoint with it. Don't give the pinpointing graphic too much credence as it will only tell you that you have a target under the inner coil somewhere. Khouse is right. The 70 will auto detune, which should help a lot. I use the X-Terra 30, which doesn't seem to have this function, so I can give you a couple of other tips that help.
You can manually detune the detector. To do this, you can simply just raise the coil an inch or so, while in pinpoint.Or if you have gone over your target in pinpoint, while holding the coil centred over the target, press the pinpoint button twice more. these will shrink the target down to a couple of inches.
The second technique that I use (mostly) is to go over the target in pinpoint. Once I think that I have it centred, I slide the coil towards myself till I lose the Signal, then push it back till I just pick it up again, then wiggle it side to side which helps in telling me the exact location of the target. (At the 12 o'clock position of the inner coil.)
As to your detector shutting down, it is only a minor problem with the springs in the battery compartment compressing a smidgen too much, causing a contact break. It's easily remedied via several choices. You can send it back to Minelab to fix, which a few of us have done. You can try a different brand of battery, which some have also down (some brands a slightly different lengths) or if you trust yourself, you can VERY gently tease the springs out a little bit. I and a number of other folk on the forum have had this happen to us. Very annoying when you don't know what is going on, but once solved, you'll enjoy a great little detector.
Good luck.
Mick Evans.

 

[donsports]

Thanks for the tips, I'll give them a try...

 

[khouse]

Ditto on the visual circle pinpoint meter. Don't look at it - just use your ears for the strongest pinpoint tone. I don't look at the depth meter either. Your ears will tell you. Besides each arrow is between 1 and 2 inches. (manual says it) So which is it? So 4 arrows means a target is between 4 and 8 inches deep. I can get that close without a meter.