Bucket Lister
Bronze Member
- Dec 20, 2023
- 1,213
- 2,198
- Detector(s) used
- XP Dēus II
XP MI-6
XP WSA II-XL
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
Something about pinpointing targets is eluding me.
When I started detecting early this past spring, I used the "swing, turn 90°, swing again" method.
Even when I was digging LARGE (greater than 9"Ø) holes, the target would often wind up 6"-9" away from where I thought it would be. Some of my 9" holes turned into minor archeological excavations!
Beginning of July (I think) I started playing around with the pinpointer function on the remote.
This thing is tricky; one thing I learned is that it doesn't differentiate horizontal from vertical, which can throw you off considerably if you're not paying close attention to how you're moving the coil. Yeah, I know... closer is closer--direction doesn't matter.
By August, I was trying both methods--sometimes alternating, and sometimes using both on the same hole/target with different results. Swinging in 2 directions would pinpoint it one place, then using the function would put it 6" away. Actual location could be either or neither. I've even tried expanding swinging in 2 directions to swinging in 3 directions to try to locate targets better--no difference.
Whichever method I'm using, sometimes it seems like the target signal is reflected off of something; other times I lose a (sometimes quite strong) signal entirely.
Is it me, a lack of experience, or just a quirk of the technology?
The reason it matters to me is that I'm trying to reduce the footprint of my holes; smaller footprint = less work and less mess to turf = more holes/targets per hour of swinging. I'd like (eventually) to be able to use only my garden trowel when/where feasible.
As others have noted in other threads, judging depth can be trickier than horizontal location, and that can also complicate recovery. Normally, this isn't an issue for me, but on occasion, when I just can't find the target, I wind up "pinpointing" several times--often chasing different targets once the hole is open.
When I started detecting early this past spring, I used the "swing, turn 90°, swing again" method.
Even when I was digging LARGE (greater than 9"Ø) holes, the target would often wind up 6"-9" away from where I thought it would be. Some of my 9" holes turned into minor archeological excavations!
Beginning of July (I think) I started playing around with the pinpointer function on the remote.
This thing is tricky; one thing I learned is that it doesn't differentiate horizontal from vertical, which can throw you off considerably if you're not paying close attention to how you're moving the coil. Yeah, I know... closer is closer--direction doesn't matter.
By August, I was trying both methods--sometimes alternating, and sometimes using both on the same hole/target with different results. Swinging in 2 directions would pinpoint it one place, then using the function would put it 6" away. Actual location could be either or neither. I've even tried expanding swinging in 2 directions to swinging in 3 directions to try to locate targets better--no difference.
Whichever method I'm using, sometimes it seems like the target signal is reflected off of something; other times I lose a (sometimes quite strong) signal entirely.
Is it me, a lack of experience, or just a quirk of the technology?
The reason it matters to me is that I'm trying to reduce the footprint of my holes; smaller footprint = less work and less mess to turf = more holes/targets per hour of swinging. I'd like (eventually) to be able to use only my garden trowel when/where feasible.
As others have noted in other threads, judging depth can be trickier than horizontal location, and that can also complicate recovery. Normally, this isn't an issue for me, but on occasion, when I just can't find the target, I wind up "pinpointing" several times--often chasing different targets once the hole is open.
