Minelab Pro-find 35 a good upgrade?

[Pugwash117]

I have recently moved up from a Garrett EuroAce to an Equinox 600 and loving it. Great piece of kit and lots of learning and experience to work on! For a pinpointer I have been using the Nokta waterproof pointer, and am now thinking of getting the Minelab Pro-find 35.

Do you wise folk think the Pro-find 35 a good move? I have found the Nokta stays a little quiet until you get close up to target, and I like the idea of the iron discrimination of the 35, even if it sounds like you need to be close to the target to hear the difference.

I'm working in quite trashy and highly mineralised ground at the moment, and thinking the Minelab 35 is where I want to go.
Thanks for any insights!

[Blackadder43]

In days of old we used to grab a handfull of earth and wave it over the coil that was laying next to you, and kept doing this till we isolated the target

In my opinion i would save your money and put it towards maybe the small 6 inch coil that is a wonderfull tool for iron/trashy areas
It is so accurate that your holes will be tiny and your finds will 90% be in those holes

Your pinpointer in my opinion doesnt need to know whether its iron or not, it just needs to beep when in the vicinity of your find....

You are 2/3 rds of the way to buying a 6 inch coil by staying with your Nokta pinpointer

Up to you though

[Buriedbytime&dust]

...I really don't see the point of an iron indicator as on the Minelab Pro Finds...It only works close to the target in which case the removal of a another trowel full of dirt would have exposed the target anyway???

I bought a 35 straight away when they were released, but was disappointed with it and sold it within a few weeks.

It falsed constantly, and as mentioned above, the iron ID (a big selling point) is not very effective. Also, I found the tinny tones far too loud and had to tape up the speaker, though that could be a plus point for you, if you found the Nokta too quiet.

Overall, I really couldn't recommend them.

[niceguyfrankie]

...I really don't see the point of an iron indicator as on the Minelab Pro Finds...It only works close to the target in which case the removal of a another trowel full of dirt would have exposed the target anyway???

I bought a 35 straight away when they were released, but was disappointed with it and sold it within a few weeks.

It falsed constantly, and as mentioned above, the iron ID (a big selling point) is not very effective. Also, I found the tinny tones far too loud and had to tape up the speaker, though that could be a plus point for you, if you found the Nokta too quiet.

Overall, I really couldn't recommend them.

totally agree, disappointed as it does false and is very sporadic on the iron ID which was the selling point.

[Ladybird66]

I think a lot of these new versions can be a bit ‘gimmicky’.

I know I’m not what you’d call a hardened detectorist and have had a couple of 3-4 month breaks when I couldn’t get out but my trusty Jasper has stayed the course through thick and thin.
We’ve been together for about 9 years and I’ve never been let down once. Fine tuned it when it was all the rage and I get good clear tones from as far as 4 inches in the soil. Have to admit when it’s that far off it’s always iron.
Save your money I say

p.s. I’d love one of those 6in coils though !

[fred]

I like the 35 even more that I have learned how to exploit it's foibles. It is a pretty essential piece of kit if you have either Nox because some of the targets that it can pick up are too small for some pinpointers. Some of the faults that people complain about may actually be features though. My revised review explains the falsing on maximum power, and when holding it on its side, and how to deal with it.


viewtopic.php?f=256&t=98910


I have come across a problem though. When new the sound was very loud indeed but now it is fairly muffled. It was previously so loud that it interfered with foghorns in the Channel and caused consternation in jets flying overhead. Even in its muffled state I can still hear it but I have no idea what has changed. My mate's one has done exactly the same. I have had the works out of the case and it is deafening so somehow the noise can no longer escape from the case. I've tried flushing out any caked mud in the speaker hole but to no avail. Any suggestions very welcome.

[Buriedbytime&dust]

I like the 35 even more that I have learned how to exploit it's foibles. It is a pretty essential piece of kit if you have either Nox because some of the targets that it can pick up are too small for some pinpointers. Some of the faults that people complain about may actually be features though. My revised review explains the falsing on maximum power, and when holding it on its side, and how to deal with it.

The 35 I had wasn't any more sensitive than the pointers I currently use (I won't name them, lest the delete button may be pressed ). I can easily imagine the £20 knock-off pointers failing on the very small targets you mention though.

[mrix]

Off topic replies removed, this forum is specifically for the discussion of the Pro-find pinpointers.
Thanks all
mrix

[Arch Stanton]

I have the pro find 35. I had to send my first back to minelab for falsing constantly, but they were brilliant and sent me a new one + baseball cap and finds bag for the trouble, even before I'd sent the old one back! The new one is far better and only rarely falses. To be honest I ignore the iron ID function, it is only accurate up close and I usually know what it is by then anyway! I thought this would be a far more useful function but it's just not. I like that it's waterproof and can be dunked in a bucket of water to clean and I also like the four or five power levels to really zoom in on the target. The sound is too loud for me, and only have it on vibrate, which is more than loud and powerful enough to think the frackers have moved in! The build quality feels great but it could do with a ridge on the probe end to help with scraping through the soil. Overall I'm happy with mine, but I'm sure there's plenty that can do the same job for far less money. Don't let the iron ID function persuade you like it did me - I would never bother with it again! Happy hunting.

[Pugwash117]

Thanks for all the responses, and looks like I've now put the Minelab Pro-find 35 on hold for a while. Quite a long while.

[Ches]

I like the 35 even more that I have learned how to exploit it's foibles. It is a pretty essential piece of kit if you have either Nox because some of the targets that it can pick up are too small for some pinpointers. Some of the faults that people complain about may actually be features though. My revised review explains the falsing on maximum power, and when holding it on its side, and how to deal with it.


viewtopic.php?f=256&t=98910


I have come across a problem though. When new the sound was very loud indeed but now it is fairly muffled. It was previously so loud that it interfered with foghorns in the Channel and caused consternation in jets flying overhead. Even in its muffled state I can still hear it but I have no idea what has changed. My mate's one has done exactly the same. I have had the works out of the case and it is deafening so somehow the noise can no longer escape from the case. I've tried flushing out any caked mud in the speaker hole but to no avail. Any suggestions very welcome.

Quick question Fred as I feel I would like to try the 35 out. If you had to choose between this and the Orange one what would you now choose especially as you have had a chance to give it a thorough work out

[Junior]

Anyone knows if the falsing/ cracking issues are sorted as thinking on getting a 35 is the ferrous reaction a gimmick or could u rely on it to a high degree ?...cheers

[fred]

I bought a 35 straight away when they were released, but was disappointed with it and sold it within a few weeks.

It falsed constantly, and as mentioned above, the iron ID (a big selling point) is not very effective. Also, I found the tinny tones far too loud and had to tape up the speaker, though that could be a plus point for you, if you found the Nokta too quiet.

Overall, I really couldn't recommend them.

As said before I retuned my first one too but eventually worked out that it's supposed to be run with the sensitivity set in the mid sensitivity range, at which point it is perfectly stable and behaves just like any other pinpointer.

I agree that the iron ID is mostly a waste of time although it did once keep me motivated to recover a Roman silver ingot at a stupid depth because it seemed to be insisting that it definitely wasn't iron. It is also sensitive enough to find every non ferrous fragment that can find with a Nox, which many pinpointers can't.

There is a review of mine about it knocking about somewhere on the accessories forum under pinpointers and the comments have some tips derived from experience.