Which Pin Finder?

I use one of those

hey mister is that a gun

I like the portability as it fits nicely in the pouch of my vest. And it comes with a holster, but I don't use that.

The drawback is I'm 6'2" and you have to bend over a bit more than my belly likes, in order to get near the ground. Not a big deal, but sometimes it's annoying

for us - its the schondstedt-
my first metal detector was the black box magnetic dip needle- dont even rembember what they are called - must be getting old:-P

I am very pleased with the Subsurface Model ML-1M that I have been using for about 5 years. My old Schoenstadt served me well, lasting about 20 years with a rebuild in there sometime. I think the Subsurface was a huge improvement in both ergonomics and the ability to find things, but I have not compared it to the newer Schoenstadts.

Then there are the 'other' brands. I too will be curious about the comments on those.

KS

and whatever one you get, they are all good for digging around in the dirt looking for rods... according to our crews;-)

I used a Schonstedt for years, then it went bad, so I swithced to a Subsurface, because it was less expensive and I was trying to start a business on a budget. I have to say, I think the schonstedts are more sensitive (better at pin-pointing) and just better at locating iron, in general. When my Subsurface broke a few months ago, I borrowed a schonstedt (hadn't used one in a couple of years), and it seemed like a nice improvement. I offered to buy the used Schonstedt, but was denied ...

One thing I can tell you, though. I sent both the older model Schonstedt in for repair, and the older model Subsurface in for repair, to their respective factories, and Subsurface fixed it for free (even though it was way out of warrenty) while Schonstedt sent mine back as "unrepairable" ... so take that into account.

RA-

Tiz an Aqua Valve Finder in the 50/60s http://www.aqualocator.com/features.php

Cheers

Derek

The Chrisnik "Houndog" is good. It has a setting for locating pins next to metal fences. In that setting it only identifies the vertical magnetic field directly above a corner pin. It also has the normal setting for locating any magnetic field irregardless of orientation.

The Chrisnik site claims this is a "new" locator. Actually it was on the market for quite a few years under the name "magnawand". Chrisnik apparently obtained the marketing rights and introduced it as a new product.

I've used one for about 12 years and am very happy with it.

That's a cool video on the ChrisNic webpage. Does it really work that well near fences?

I also have had a MagnaWand for a few years now, very good locator, HOWEVER, I feel that the Schonstedt reaction times are faster, I find, I must slow down my sweep to get that first blip, honing in on the magnetic signature after that works just fine.

The MagnaWand / HoundDog is built tough and very compact, LED as well as audio indicators and as mentioned above the ability to weed out all BUT the vertical signatures is very nice.

SHG

yep - that's it! thanks Derek

Yes it does, that looked like a live undoctered video of the locator in actual use. As I said below, at least with mine I need to slow down my sweep speed a bit due to what I am calling a slow reaction in the signal processing, but the technology is pretty cool, not only around fences, but other scarp steel too.

Maybe mine just needs tuning??

SHG

It works fantabulous next to barbed wire fences that have magnetic fields in the horizontal direction. However it does pick up vertical readings when next to metal fence posts, hogwire and chainlink or other metal fence material that have a vertical flux component. It still very helpful in those situations, but may give false positive signals. Tilting the unit often helps in deciphering the configuration of the magnetic field and deciphering the false positive readings.

Irregardless, it has saved me a ton of shovel work by pointing to pins located next to many types of metal fencing.

I highly recommend it.

I have tried several, and my favorite (by far) is the Schonstedt GA-92XTd.

When possible, I prefer to work alone...the holster fits on a tool-belt just like a machete...one less thing to carry.

In my experience, the Schonstedts seem to detect iron a little better than other brands.

It doesn't take long to decipher different beeps (barbed wire vs. rebar).

Expensive, but worth it.

BTW, Ford.

I've got a CST 102. It works ok, but I find myself wishing for a Schonstedt. With it set close to the lower end of the scale, it still gives a full signal 5 feet away from cars, power pole ground rods, telephone boxes, etc. It makes it tough finding anything close to them. The Schonstedt would give a different tone, enough to find a pin 3 of 4 tenths away from the telephone box. This one has an "erase" feature setting the scale back to 0 when close to those items, but it will start wailing again real quick. The false readings while waving it are really annoying, as it picks up my pocket knife, belt buckle, steel shanks in my boots. I swear the Schonstedt had a different tone and duration for the false stuff, making those things much easier to ignore.

> I've got a CST 102. It works ok, but I find myself wishing for a Schonstedt. With it set close to the lower end of the scale, it still gives a full signal 5 feet away from cars, power pole ground rods, telephone boxes, etc. It makes it tough finding anything close to them. The Schonstedt would give a different tone, enough to find a pin 3 of 4 tenths away from the telephone box. This one has an "erase" feature setting the scale back to 0 when close to those items, but it will start wailing again real quick. The false readings while waving it are really annoying, as it picks up my pocket knife, belt buckle, steel shanks in my boots. I swear the Schonstedt had a different tone and duration for the false stuff, making those things much easier to ignore.

I used to have a CST 102 but it went bad so I traded it in for a Schoenstadt. Mistake, wish I had my CST back.

I remember your posts about going solo a while back. How are you making out?
Best of luck to you.
BTW...I also have a CST 102...liked it at first...seemed hi-tech compared to the simplicity of the Schonstedt. However, I quickly discovered the problems you mentioned.

> I remember your posts about going solo a while back. How are you making out?
> Best of luck to you.
> BTW...I also have a CST 102...liked it at first...seemed hi-tech compared to the simplicity of the Schonstedt. However, I quickly discovered the problems you mentioned.

I'm not exactly solo yet, no robot, but I've been in the field lately about 2 days a week. In June, I subcontracted for another firm to locate wetlands at a small airport, which was about 2.5 weeks of field time. That has really helped out.

I spent time in April and May working for a friend of mine that farms, cutting and bailing hay and straw, and also building a barn. He also is a former party chief and coworker. In turn for the farming work, he helps me out when needed.

Overall, I feel pretty good about the workflow at the moment.

I would go with either the classic Schoenstedt or the Subsurface. Either of those will serve you well. I have a subsurface and it does a really good job of finding rebars and pipes around other metal. I loaned it to myself this week for work and it found a pipe next to a chain-line fence post with no problem. It raised in pitch then fell again as I swept over the pipe. This was less than 2" from the fence post.

I loaned the subsurface to myself because my work locator is a pistol grip schoenstedt which is useless. It has a bad connection because the only way to get it to work is to shake it but it only works for a few seconds. It has too many moving parts.

I have been watching for a magic locator for a long time. One that gives REAL time scans, on a little screen, of the underground shapes. AND metal detects. She aint here yet....But I dream!

However, I will say, that no matter what brand you buy, be sure it is working right. They are just a little like cars. You can go to the brand new car lot, drive 10 cars, of the SAME make and model, and some will drive a little better than others.

Having said that, I love my old schonstedt. GA 52x Dad lost his old GA52, and I loaned him mine. I have not seen it for 2 yrs now.

I have a 92, pistol. I like it's portability. Don't like how it probes thick grass, and you have to lean over. Also, I wish it were louder.

So, I say keep comparing. And, sometimes one is better than the other, of the SAME brand, make and model.

N