I never Use One!
In this article we are going to look at one of the most popular accessories when metal detecting, a Pinpointer. I have been metal detecting for many years and I can honestly say that I have never used one and probably never will, to me it’s something else you have to carry (I would rather carry a water bottle) and instead of speeding up your metal detecting it can slow it down! But this is just my view on it, and I know most detectorists find them very useful and believe it helps find a target quicker. So how do you find a target? Especially a small target?
Find a Target
I’m going to show you how to find your target and find it fast without using a Pinpointer. The one thing I’ve found with all my years of experience metal detecting is you want to find your target quickly and then move on to the next one. I have attached a short video of the process, I was out on Sunday morning and took this video, now I was holding my phone with one hand and so I was one handed to do the rest, also there is no sound as I had my headphones on, it doesn’t matter though as it shows the basic method.
Out of the Hole?
First, determine if your target is in the plug or still in the hole? A quick scan with the search head shows where the target is. So, if the target is out of the hole in the plug (spoil) now place your metal detector on the ground with the search coil near to the soil where the target is hidden, next take a big handful of soil and scan it near to the coil, if there is no signal put the soil back in the hole and grab another handful, repeat this until you get a signal. Now you have the target in your hand, tip half the soil into your other hand and scan over the coil, after a couple of scans you will see the target appear in the small handful of soil. Easy! With a bit of practice, you will become fast at this technique. I challenge anyone with a Pinpointer, I will always find the target faster than they do! 😊
Easy to Use
The great thing with Pinpointers is there isn’t any setup and very little adjustments, unlike a metal detector they do not have sensitivity or discrimination controls. Simply turn it on and it is ready to start detecting those difficult to find small targets. When the Pinpointer detects metal it gives an audio signal and vibrates to let you know something is close to the probe. For technical information on how a metal detector works visit this link – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_detector