I used one a lot way back when. The trick is you have to know where the point is first. That sounds silly but actually it's not. You get near the corner then use the dip needle to find buried treasure. They really work quit well once you got the hang of it.
Fast forward a few years, the new electronic "pin finders" come out but are expensive and I wouldn't buy one until the price came down (dumb idea) of course that didn't happen and I finally bought one and learned that I couldn't work with out it. Last time my pin finder broke I just packed up all me gear drove to a friends office and borrowed his spare until mine was fixed. All of my control now has a magnetic signature so point ties etc. are not necessary, just wave your magic wand near where the control is and bang, there it is. It is really amazing how our work patterns have changed over the years to fit the technology that has grown up around us. I still know how to do it the old way, but who would want to.
T.W.
I used one when I first started surveying. Very frustrating. I still have one.
We used one when I was a neophyte. When it worked and you found something you puffed out your chest and pretended you were hot stuff. When it didn't you strung together expletives at a loud volume. It often worked better if you knew there was something located where you were looking...
