A thought struck me today while I was surveying with my GPS network rover with bipod and Ranger. I had my typical array of "stuff" - tool belt with mason's hammer, screwdriver, 6' folding rule, roll flagging, nails, my big machete, 100' roll-up tape on a shoulder strap, pin flags and roll flagging. In clothes pockets, I had a field book and my trusty compass.
I was on foot and about a quarter of a mile from my truck at the end of a county road and decided to trace the quarter section line fence back to the north and then come back down the county road to my truck. As it turned out, I needed my Schonstedt a few times. Some of the corners were easily found by kicking (gently-I have broken a big toe by not being gentle!) around the fence corners and bends, but other corners were elusive and now I need to go back with the Schonstedt.
My question is this: does anyone out there use a Pinpointer? As far as size goes, I could just stick it in my cargo pants pocket or mount the holster on my already-getting-heavy tool belt. It would beat nothing and probably save going back to a corner or three later. If I know that I am within a few feet of a pipe or pin, it seems that a Pinpointer would be an ideal pocket companion in lieu of the the Schonstedt. Does someone make a mini magnetic locator? How well will a Pinpointer work?
Here is a link from a metal detector site that offers some advice. Who has a Pinpointer and how do you like it?
Harold,
There was a post on here a while back about using a pin pointer.
On another note, if your tool belt is getting heavy, you might consider adding some suspenders to help with the weight. It will help with your hips. I have heard some guys, not just in our profession, talking about hip pain caused by nerve damaged by wearing heavy tool belts.
Have you tried the new pistol grip Schonstedt? It works pretty good for what you are talking about. It's not as good as the GA-52Cx model, but I have both in the truck, and use both.
I bought mine a few years ago from Matthew Filus here on the board, and it works pretty darn good. He told me it had a loose connection in it, and it does act a little funny at times, but a gentle tap on the side fixes it. I need to take it apart and see if I can see anything obvious, or if I need to send it in.
Harold,
FWIW, there are free apps for smartphones for a "magnetic locator". While they won't replace your schondstedt(SP?), some folks have posted they will work in a pinch.
edit: I should have followed your link first. I'm not familiar with a pin pointer. They're not cheap, either!
Harold - I do use a pin pointer. It is a Whites Bullseye TRX and it is very light. It has a range of about 6-8" so it is not the best tool for a wide area search or deeply buried monuments. One of the best uses is searching under fences or near other metal sources of interference. You can limit the range in variable increments down to about 1" with the push of a button. So you can excavate below a metal fence and tune the fence out searching for a buried monument.
They detect all metals so they are less useful in a trashy environment where you will find tin foil and other trash.
Aren't those designed to ignore the things we surveyors are looking for?
I wondered the same thing. It would be really cool if there was a model that was a mini ferrous detector.
> In clothes pockets, I had a field book and my trusty compass.
Did you try using your compass by holding it horizontal and watching for something ferrous to pull the needle or card as it passes nearby? In a pinch, I've found it to be a trick that works pretty well.
Maybe Schonstedt should market a prism pole...
The pin pointers generally are designed to pick up all metal objects - Ferrous and non-ferrous.
My dad just bought this garret pin pointer. I quickly took a look at it yesterday. It seemed fairly rugged and definitely picked up the tailgate of the truck.
It can be set for different sensitivities and can be audio only, Audio and vibrate, or just vibrate.
Garret Pinpointer
LINK EDITED
I will play around with it this weekend, testing it out on some buried re-bar and pipes to see how deep it will detect that sort of stuff.
Since this one is waterproof to 10 feet, I think we will be detecting the bedrock crevices for gold nuggets this summer.
That is how we did it before metal detector were standard issue. I have one of the old magnetic locators in the obsolete storage area. It is about 4" X X" x 2" and uses the same principle as Kent with his compass. It works but the metal detector is quite an advancement.
> That is how we did it before metal detector were standard issue. I have one of the old magnetic locators in the obsolete storage area. It is about 4" X X" x 2" and uses the same principle as Kent with his compass. It works but the metal detector is quite an advancement.
And the other verse that goes along with that is I'm never getting the damn dipneedle out again! 🙂
Amen
Without using or downloading any apps, I just tried the compass utility and it seem to work if you have patience and in a pinch.
Pin-pointers are like anything else. They come in various grades. I have a middle of the road that I carry around when sniffing Corners. It's very useful up against fence posts. I hold it about a tenth away from the post and circle around it. That little bugger sings when over the pin. That being said it wouldn't replace a decent pin finder...
They're not as expensive as I thought, I was looking at the kit price for $949. The pinpointer is affordable at $125.
Wow, Kent
This is funny. We see how technology make progress by leaps and bounds and yet older technology is still useful.
I'll bet there are a lot of old-timers on here that remember dip needles.
Wow, Kent
Yes, but the poster didn't have an aqualocater dip needle on him. He had a compass.
A compass isn't good for sweeping a large area, but if you have it nailed down within about three feet and the marker isn't very deep, you should be able to find the marker.
In a pinch, I've used my Suunto compass to find 60d nails.
Harold
Have you ever thought of using an industrial (Survey) Wagon 2' x 4'.
Carlton
Disdain for the dip needle? The occasional use of mine brings back fond memories of surveying with my Dad! At age 5 or 6, that was a magical black box that found treasure. For production work, its not the best choice but there are times when it will beat the big yellow tube. My dip needle resides in a protected spot in my truck just in case.
Me. "What's the difference?"
T.C. Carroll "It's the difference between right and wrong!"
Harold,
You'll find what you want here.
Biggest problem is that this site will also give you "the metal detecting bug".
The kids got me a White's Coinmaster detectors for Christmas. Once all this rain stops, I'm going to wear that sucker out!!