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About the eBay GP Pointers....

Hilux

New Member
Joined
May 5, 2022
Messages
27
Location
Australia, west coast
I'm a new coin and artefact targetter

I bought a $25 GP Pointer from eBay and I'm impressed with its performance (as far as a novice can be...).

It detects from a distance of about 60mm with the response ramping up reasonably linearly until the target touches the tip of the pointer.


I've dropped my GP Pointer dozens of times, I use it as a digging tool generally abuse it and it's going strong.

The name brand units seem to be $200.

Am I missing out on anything by using this cheap pointer?
 

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You must have got a better one? My friend just got one and it needs to be touching metal. And even then it sometimes doesn't work. They are trying to get a refund and the manufacturer said it isn't really for small metal and wants a video of it detecting a car.
 
I had one for about a year and for the money I was pretty impressed. Then I made the mistake of cleaning it with a wet cloth. That killed it! Then I got a Garrett carrot . It is definitely better but for the price the GP is still a bargain.
 
I had 2. One worked pretty well, would get a quarter at about 1 1/2 inch, but after a few months it started acting odd. Think it was moisture from cleaning. The replacement GP pointing wouldn't alert on a quarter at 1 inch.

I ended up buying a Fisher F-Pulse. I've got 2 1/2 years on it now and it has really made a big difference in quickly finding targets in the hole. The cheap pinpointers work, but a quality pinpointer will be the best upgrade you ever make.
 
You must have got a better one? My friend just got one and it needs to be touching metal. And even then it sometimes doesn't work. They are trying to get a refund and the manufacturer said it isn't really for small metal and wants a video of it detecting a car.

Maybe I was lucky.

Sometimes I end up chasing really small targets, I can't see the with my eyes but the GP Pointer locates them. When this happens I end up using the pointer to push the grit around in my palm until I can spot the target.
 
I had 2. One worked pretty well, would get a quarter at about 1 1/2 inch, but after a few months it started acting odd. Think it was moisture from cleaning. The replacement GP pointing wouldn't alert on a quarter at 1 inch.

I ended up buying a Fisher F-Pulse. I've got 2 1/2 years on it now and it has really made a big difference in quickly finding targets in the hole. The cheap pinpointers work, but a quality pinpointer will be the best upgrade you ever make.


I've seen some people say they have had sensitivity problems and that it was because the coil was not fully inserted into the nose tube.

I can see moisture killing it. I think I'll open it up and give the board some conformal coating to protect it, keeping it away from the buzzer, the vibrator motor and thw switch.


Edit - I disassembled it and coated the board with conformal coating.

The board quality seems fine, soldering is good.

The part numbers on the 8 and 14 pin SO package ICs appear to have been obscured to prevent copying.

The back side of the PCB just has the power switch, a piezo buzzer and a vibrator motor.
 

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I bought one a year ago but got out once in a big rain last spring & we all got soaked LOL - me & Simplex was OK but the $20 Pinpointer quit. The next day I opened it & spray WD40 into the power switch and it started working. I had trouble pushing the coil into the nose tube but finally got it. Its working just find all these months. It sounds out a coin in about an inch up to 1-1/2 inches & wish it was 2 or 3 inches but...




The 9 volt battery lasts a long time but suddenly quit, new battery fixed that. Last week the detector sounded out on something out of the hole but the pinpointer didn't sound out, grabbed a handful of dirt & nothing on the pinpointer but detector saw it? finally seen a piece of 10 gauge copper wire only 1/4" long. It is something that the pinpointer didn't see it but Simplex did...
 
Recently my trusty VibraProbe quit working and I decided to get a GP just to get me going again. Not bad at all. I preformed the YouTube mod of attaching a piece of foil tape to the shaft just out of beeping range and am now getting 2 inches to target. Now saving up for one that I can immerse in water. Sticking to land hunting for now with the GP.


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I tried the YouTube mod of attaching a piece of metal to the shaft but no different but I will try the foil tape, thanx Scalz
 
I had one for about 10 minutes, then it was back in the box and on it's way to be returned. I was less than impressed with the GP pointer. Personal preference comes into play as well, but the GP pointer I purchased had some serious issues. Enough that I didnt want to chance getting a replacement. Good to hear some work as advertised.
 
I understand people trying to save money and being frugal, but In the long run just buying a quality product to begin with is going to save you time and money.

I am not rich by any means, but I would rather save up and purchase a quality product to begin with ( not necessarily metal detecting related ) and not have to hassle with worring about it breaking, not working to begin with and having to return it.

Im the guy at the $6.50 a gallon gas station just so I dont have to hassle with all the traffic at the cheap stations and homeless harrassing me, I got tired of that real quick. :neo:
 
I bought one a year ago but got out once in a big rain last spring & we all got soaked LOL - me & Simplex was OK but the $20 Pinpointer quit. The next day I opened it & spray WD40 into the power switch and it started working. I had trouble pushing the coil into the nose tube but finally got it. Its working just find all these months. It sounds out a coin in about an inch up to 1-1/2 inches & wish it was 2 or 3 inches but...




The 9 volt battery lasts a long time but suddenly quit, new battery fixed that. Last week the detector sounded out on something out of the hole but the pinpointer didn't sound out, grabbed a handful of dirt & nothing on the pinpointer but detector saw it? finally seen a piece of 10 gauge copper wire only 1/4" long. It is something that the pinpointer didn't see it but Simplex did...

I must be lucky that mine works out to about 60mm, it depends a bit on the target size.

Today I spent 5 minutes scrapping around in a hole to find a bit of oxidised tin foil about 3mm x 5mm. It seems to find the small stuff ok.
 
I preformed the YouTube mod of attaching a piece of foil tape to the shaft just out of beeping range and am now getting 2 inches to target.

Cheers - I think I'll try the same.

I've just ordered a second one so I have one for a partner to use with my old Aldi budget detector.
 
I'm on my second cheapo pinpointer and I'm done with them. I've had the second one for a month now and I almost flung it across the field this morning I was so irritated with it.

I'll just have to suck it up and buy a Garrett or a Nokta.
 
I'm on my second cheapo pinpointer and I'm done with them. I've had the second one for a month now and I almost flung it across the field this morning I was so irritated with it.

I'll just have to suck it up and buy a Garrett or a Nokta.

Also consider the Fisher F-Pulse, Teknetics Tek-Point (same pinpointer, different color). Sturdy, water proof, great sensitivity and instead of a 9V it uses AA batteries which tend to be less expensive and last longer.
 
I think getting a good working cheapie is the luck of the draw.
I bought one from Ebay for $18 and by all my testing it appears that I got a good one.
I compared it to the freebee that I got from Fisher with my F4, and it is as good as it is on the side of the probe and much better off the tip.
 
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