Fisher F-Pulse / Teknetics Tek-Point Pointer Performance

[GoldenKiwi]

Hi, I have a Tek-Point which I purchased April 2019, which is very impressive in both engineering quality and performance, and a great piece of kit!!

I understand reading online that a revamped version 2, labelled "New & Improved" was released around 2022 which removed Turbo start-up mode, removed LED adjustability, and made a change to prevent lockup if overloaded on start-up.

I've noticed on Youtube at least one video showing 4 1/2" on a penny (!!) , which compares to about 3 1/8th in earlier Version 1 generation videos.

Has anyone compared the two versions and can confirm that there are indeed performance improvements, and if I should reasonably expect higher performance from this new Version 2 model?
My specific interest is to locate smaller gold pieces, not pennys!

Cheers!

[ivconic]

I also mentioned F-Pulse in a couple of threads.
I've had it since 2022.
I don't know what version it is.
But I am delighted with the performance.
It has become a constant and irreplaceable tool in my searches.
Our friend Carl is the author of that pinpointer, I think he has the most to say about it.

[Carl-NC]

There have been several firmware updates. Rev4 in 2021 removed the Turbo modes. There should not be much (or any) difference in performance between versions, I don't think that part of the code was ever changed. I have heard that a few people have gotten unusual depths with the TekPoint, sometimes beyond what I believe to be possible. In my experience in looking at several hundred units in the factory, I never saw more than 1/4" variation. The TekPoint/F-Pulse are not well-suited to detecting tiny (sub-gram) nuggets. The best pinpointer I've seen so far for that task is the White's TRX and it's only good, not great.

[ivconic]

I did this 10 months ago.
Sens is not at maximum I think:

[ivconic]

Bad batteries, I forgot when I put them in the PP.

[ivconic]

[GoldenKiwi]

Many thanks Ivconic, much appreciated. Looking at yours the performance seems similar to mine.. I will try and do some measurements. I've purchased and await some US coins so I can compare mine with some of the US youtube videos too. Thankyou!

[ivconic]

[GoldenKiwi]

There have been several firmware updates. Rev4 in 2021 removed the Turbo modes. There should not be much (or any) difference in performance between versions, I don't think that part of the code was ever changed. I have heard that a few people have gotten unusual depths with the TekPoint, sometimes beyond what I believe to be possible. In my experience in looking at several hundred units in the factory, I never saw more than 1/4" variation. The TekPoint/F-Pulse are not well-suited to detecting tiny (sub-gram) nuggets. The best pinpointer I've seen so far for that task is the White's TRX and it's only good, not great.

Hi Carl, many thanks for the quick response, details and confirming expectations.

I probably should have qualified what I meant by "smaller gold pieces".
I have a few bits on the desk and quickly tested my Tek-point this afternoon. I could easily detect a 0.289g piece (Alluvial flake, flat). I could not detect a 0.092g piece. I'm happy with that!
The distance was pretty good with the 0.289g although naturally much less if on edge.

Coincidently I just picked up a NEW in-box TRX locally in Australia for ~US$100 on Facebook market place, a lucky find! I haven't tested it yet but plan to compare.

In regards to the Tek-point, I assume the 2500pps with 4% frequency shift offset is varying the PPS, ie 2450-2550pps or similar. Is this the case? Can you confirm if it starts lower (after the double deep) and cycles higher. I haven't tried to measure it.

Also, is the 15uS sample delay always fixed, or does it similarly vary across the offset range?

Obviously what I'm trying to understand is if any particular Frequency Shift setting is in theory better due to higher pps, and if there is any related variance in sample delay.

Cheers!

[Carl-NC]

Frequency increases with offset. Theoretically a higher frequency will help but this is such a slight change I doubt you will notice any difference.

In the last firmware the Sensitivity setting changes the TX pulse width & pulse delay:

Sens=1 Width=30us Delay=12us
Sens=2 Width=50us Delay=12us
Sens=3 Width=60us Delay=9us

In earlier versions this might have been different.

[ivconic]

Dunno around gold nuggets and similar targets... but for coins the F-Pulse is a "killer".
And that is my favorite and most common finding.
In the first video you can see a test on a very thin medieval silver coin (which is slightly damaged).
The F-Pulse sees that coin even better than a decent majority of low-range and mid-range commercial detectors.
Such thin silver coins are otherwise a very difficult target.

[Detectorist#1]

Hi GoldenKiwi,
My question - you wont to buy pinpointer for small nuggets (grain size) or you wont to assembly the pinpointer with these capabilities? If you want to buy - Only TRX type is your's solution. If you want to assembly very sensitive pinpointer for grain size nuggets, use attached schematics. One grain target is surely discovered at 1" distance but the project is not simple for DIY assembly.

[Mario-j23]

I have two questions about TekPoint.
1 . Does the pinpointer have ground balance? In the video, Ivconic adjusts to the brick or reduces the sensitivity so that it does not detect it.
2. How to check if the software is ver.2 (maybe by serial number?)
For the same price I can buy XP mi-6.

[ivconic]

"...In the video, Ivconic adjusts to the brick or reduces the sensitivity so that it does not detect it..."

But at the same moment the pinpointer detects the coin under the brick very well.
How do you interpret that?
Did I reduce the sensitivity?
...
F-Pulse price is in range 145-160e and MI6 is 200e and has similar and slightly weaker performance.
Not that I would be unhappy if I had MI6 as well. I had MI4. And MI6 on the test.

[GoldenKiwi]

Hi GoldenKiwi,
My question - you wont to buy pinpointer for small nuggets (grain size) or you wont to assembly the pinpointer with these capabilities? If you want to buy - Only TRX type is your's solution. If you want to assembly very sensitive pinpointer for grain size nuggets, use attached schematics. One grain target is surely discovered at 1" distance but the project is not simple for DIY assembly.

Hi Detectorist#1, good question for me to consider. Initially to buy a pinpointer, but yes perhaps I will build one day. I did begin to build a PIC based one a few years ago whoch was working on the bench, but something that unfortunately wasn't developed or finished. The performance you achieve sounds amazing, I've gone and read the thread thanks!

Grain size is smaller than I'm *currently* interested in. The Tek-point performed Ok the other day for a 0.289gram (4.45grain) piece, from memory about 15mm. I'll check again in the weekend and compare to the TRX.