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Vanquish 540 Pinpointing Technique Advice

bringinthecat

New Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2013
Messages
4
Just upgraded recently from a ~$100 detector to the 540. I'm still a noob - have been detecting about a year. My trips tend to be very short (but frequent) due to various personal circumstances.

First time out with the vanquish I dug a lot of trash, but had no problem pulling up my finds.

Second time out I dug 4 holes and popped trash out of two and clad out of two. (Yay!)

Yesterday I dug at least 4 ghost holes, and pulled trash out of a couple of poorly dug holes where I had to go over almost as much as a coil width from where I had thought the target was. (I also found a shallow giant piece of crumpled aluminum siding that screamed loudly in the mid-upper 30s - thought I was going to pull up silver!)

For the ghost holes, I maybe could have found it by digging deeper (I think I'm still not used to being able to get deep signals - I didn't consider that at the time) or widening the hole further, but it just seemed like I had no idea where the target really was and I wasn't willing to gouge up the area further.

To be clear, I'm 100% sure the fault is mine - I almost feel like I'm thinking too hard about it when I'm pinpointing and throwing myself off.

I'd love some tips to better understand where the sweet spot is on the coil (and related technique) for the built-in pinpointer, but also would love to hear tips for getting better at the wiggle/sweep/X technique. This is the V8 coil - I'm always hunting in trash.


Thanks!
 
Good targets worth keeping give a good, solid signal and pinpoint precisely.
Give your self time. Something about you and that 540 will begin to click once you put in enough time with it. Be sure to use headphones of some type if it did not come with headphones.
 
I'm a relative noob, but two things I've learned through hard knocks might help.

1. If you get a "screaming loud" signal, and you don't find the target on/near the surface or less than 3" down, it's probably a large piece of trash and the big signal it was throwing fooled you on location and, yes, it can be several inches from where you pinpointed.

2. A good, repeatable signal may very well be deeper than you think, especially if you've upgraded to a better machine. I know I had to get used to regularly hitting 10" coins with the Deus II.
 
In addition to the other tips here. I would add that make sure you swing the coil from left to right over your target several times. Per the Vanquish manual "this calibrates the pinpoint function for more accurate audio responses".

Then once you're satisfied move 90 degrees relative to the target while holding the coil in place and swing some more until you get the loudest tone. Right below the coil attachment point to the shaft is where I dig. Release the PP button and swing your coil using very short strokes. You should hear your target. I rarely miss my target using this method.

Lastly when moving the coil away from the target the pinpoint tone should drop off sharply for small objects in all directions. Larger objects will continue to produce a tone across several inches or more. This tells me that it's not a coin or jewelry sized item. When I dig targets like this I often dig up large targets that are mostly junk like pieces of metal siding, piping, tiles etc but always hope it's a relic of some sort. You can't know for sure unless you dig.

Also keep in mind that the depth gauge on these metal detectors is calibrated for smaller coin and jewelry sized objects. Large objects that are deep 8 to 10 inches can show up on your depth gauge to be just a couple of inches down. Conversely, really small targets that are just under the surface can produce faint signals that show up as being really deep.

Practice practice practice. Take the time to listen to what the machine is telling you. Best of luck!
 
As my opinion only, the pin pointer on the 540 is weakest feature of the machine. I have a 540, love it, but the pin pointer leaves a lot to be desired. I seemed to do well digging about six inches or so behind the center of the coil to find my target.
 
I have the 440 and was wondering where exactly the pinpoint feature is telling the target is.
They could do a better job of explaining this. I am to new at this to be giving advice.
 
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I have the 440 and was wondering where exactly the pinpoint feature is telling the target is.
They could do a better job of explaining this. I am to new at this to be giving advice.

It's the button in the centre bottom. You have to push and hold it pressed with your thumb while you 'pin point'.
 
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