Question for the old timers

[robert roy]

Many of you have probably been MDing for years. I notice some of the metal detectors out there have no pinpoint mechanism; one has to X the target.
Were all the older detectors like this? When did they start adding a pinpoint button? Does it really add that much more to the cost of a machine to do so?
RR

 

[JB(MS)]

No idea when the first detector with a pinpoint button was made but the retune button, or switch, on detectors that had that feature could be used to pinpoint with by retuning to the target. The first VLF I used that had the retune feature was a VLF/TR Garrett Groundhog in 1977 or 78, but it wasn't the first to have that feature. I got my first detector in December of 1969 but until the Garrett I only used BFO's and TR's that didn't have any means of retuning them. Monte can probably give you an exact answer as he goes aways farther back than I do.

 

[tabdog]

The Tesoro metal detectors I've used respond so fast that their is on need

for a pin pointer, in my opinion.

I use the all metal feature as a search and ID aid.

I already know where it is. Why waste time and effort?

Happy Hunting<

 

[SNOWY]

RR, I've been detecting since the late 70's ( 1970's !!! )

And I recall my Bounty Hunter BFO, it had no pinpoint mode, ~ and had a signal as wide as Texas !
Pinpointing was not easy at all...


As Tabdog says the Tesoros retune rate is so quick, pinpointing is a breeze !

 

[robert roy]

Hummmm. Interesting.
I asked because a couple people have told me it took them forever to get the Xing down to recover the target.
Both indicated three to four weeks of constantly MDing and Xing. That seems a bit long to me so I have to wonder if thats the learning curve for most people
useing a Detector without pinpoint for the first time.
RR

 

[Hightone]

The Tesoro's retune rate is so fast, you really don't have to make an X. Just go forward and backward while swinging from side to side and you will get a mental picture of where the "beep" appears solid and strong. This is what makes Tesoro's so good that they don't require a PP button. The PP button is used to put the mode into all metal. Some use a tone that gets louder as it gets directly over the target, then there is VCO that uses a pitch variance.

I was able to PP quite accurately after about 15 minutes of playing with a coin I placed 2" into the ground. Tesoro's makes it easy, probably the easiest.

 

[tabdog]

Hay Rob,

I had one that cost $220 and no pin point.
Looked kind of like a muffler.

The response was so slow that the target
would respond and a little later, the sound
would come out.....

I tried to estimate where the sound would
be if it were to respond when it was over
the target. Really I just dug a lot of big
holes.

Got a green one and it was just as slow.
But it had a pin pointer and depth gauge.
I spent more money on this one.

But even with the clunky pin pointer, it was
hard to pin point. Depth gauge didn't help much.

When I got my first Tesoro, that was all history.
Got rid of the other two and bought 10 Tesoro's.
Still have 4.

Like I said, the response is so fast, there is no
need for a pin pointer.

The all metal works great and is for hunting and
IDing the target.

If you learn to listen to it, you won't need any
display or depth gauge or pin pointer.

If you know where it is, why use a pin pointer.
It's just a waste of time. That's unless your
objective is to play with a useless pin pointer.

Happy Hunting,

 

[slingshot]

Tabdog's on the money. I won a speed hunt at a club event. I was in the third and final field while the others were still trying to pinpoint in the first field. Many came over and asked if I quit-the huntmaster told them I had won first place! Finally, second place came in 15 minutes later. I had a pinpoint button-I just never bothered to use it. As tabdog said "if you know where it is why bother? Basically, you just look at the center of the coil as you're sweeping and when the sound comes, you freeze your eyes on that spot on the ground. I've pinpointed on the return sweep. It's great for competition hunts.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

These older units were non motion.I remember one guy at Kirtland AFB that was using a BH Red Baron one of the first fast sweep units we all hated the way it pinpointed.When you go in a pinpoint mode on most units its a non motion TR mode.Yes they pinpointed better because they were always in a non motion mode.

 

[Wayne/TX]

Yep, pinpointing is hard for some folks because they haven't yet learned
how to watch the center of the coil, instead their eyes keep following the
coil w/o focusing on the center and ground when they hear the target. Practice
is the key. Good Luck to all..!
..W

 

[Steve(MS)]

The old BFO"s and TR's were non-motion so in a sense they were easier to get a pinpoint than modern motion detectors just using the motion mode, actually that doesn't hold true for all motion detectors as some pinpoint well without using the pinpoint mode.

 

[sandman256]

The newer detectors are motion machines were you must move the coil for it to respond. The older TR detectors in the seventies were fast pinpointers and I wish they had true non motion All metal modes now. The trouble with people now learning to pinpoint is they don't know where the sweet spot is on the coil. Mostly it is in the center and sometimes it is faster to nail it down just off the inner edge. Double D coils like on the Minelabs you can pinpoint just off the front tip or rear and never have to press the button.