Got my new TRX today to replace the dead Nokta pinpointer, courtesy of Goldsearch Oz. It's a very nice unit, much thought has gone into the design of the TRX over the Pro-find and Propointer, and the performance from intial tests also shows it has significant depth abilties over the the other main players.
There were a few complaints about how flush the "on" button sits on the side of the unit, but personally I find falls directly under your thumb everytime you pick it up, so no issues there - certainly easier to find than the closely spaced buttons on the Pro-find. Another gripe with my other pinpointers has also been addressed, no fiddly small speaker holes to get jammed up with dirt or clay, the opening is quite large, and should be easy to keep clean, or to clean out.
One of the best features by far is being able to run both AA and 9v batteries, much easier on the pocket, and always have a plentiful supply of AA's around.
Thought has also gone into the holster, rather than being a cheap floppy units like supplied with other pinpointers, it has a stiff sheath that holds its form vs the frustrating times I have trying to find the opening on the others, especially in the dark. The rear of the holster has a belt strap secured by a snap lock button and velcro to hold it in place, no matter what width of belt you are using (no more feeding the belt through the holster). Finally, a lanyard loop is included at the top to secure your pinpointer to.
Provided is an adapter tray for the AA batteries, plus a spacer for the 9volt battery option. The lanyard loop is something that the other major manufacturers should have picked up on ages ago, a simple design addition that should be mandatory on all pinpointers - I already having mine tethered up and ready to go.
Performance wise on initial air testing, the pro-find gets about 7cm on a 50c coin, whilst the TRX gets 11cm on the same coin. Maximum depth on the Pro-find on any coin seems to be around the 7cm mark, whereas with the TRX, 6.5-7cm is the minimum distance on the smaller coins. Maximium depth for the TRX is right on the money at around 11-12cm.
Testing on a 0.34 gram nugget will only be achievable at 0.5cm on the Pro-find, the TRX gets 2cm. A 2.38 gram nugget gets 2.5cm on the Pro-find, whereas the TRX gets it at 6.5cm.
Please do remember this was done in my workshop, so it won't be 100% accurate, whereas in-ground testing will be more truthful.
If there was one criticism that I could make on the TRX, it's to do with the LED light. It is no where near as bright as found on the profind nor nokta pinpointers. It seems to magnify an internal LED vs the actual LED being protruding from the unit, so I am guessing it is set up like this due the outer casing being replaceable, and maybe for better waterproofing. I'll give it a run tonight to see if it bothers me, or I'll just run with a headlamp in future.