AtPro target detection at depth

[wayne007]

A general question about recognizing targets at depth. I have relatively good luck finding shallow targets on the beach while in pro mode with iron discriminator at 10, yet I'm having difficulty identifying real targets at depth on beaches with scrape iron. My question is really basic, If you have a target which on the surface would ID as say 75, how should the ATPro detect it at depth say 8"? Would you get a weak tone with the ID measuring 75 or a weak tone without an ID? I get a lot of hits which appear to be iron (0-10) ID yet I get a weak tone at higher frequencies which may be due to sweeping induced false targets. There is so much Iron bits that digging each hit is a bit laborious. I'm trying to understand if the ID really works at depth or should I just dig all iron sounding hits.

Appreciate any advice you can provide.

Wayne

 

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[redcobra8u]

Wayne, I turn up discrimination to 38 first of all. I dig every signal from there because I don't like missing anything. 10k can bounce around in the 40's as well as gold with iron targets in the same hole. In my experience, passing faint signals has not produced as many successful hunts as digging everything. Full disclosure, I use an excal II in the wet sands so the ATP is strictly a dry sand machine for me.

Good luck.

 

[flgliderpilot]

A general question about recognizing targets at depth. I have relatively good luck finding shallow targets on the beach while in pro mode with iron discriminator at 10, yet I'm having difficulty identifying real targets at depth on beaches with scrape iron. My question is really basic, If you have a target which on the surface would ID as say 75, how should the ATPro detect it at depth say 8"? Would you get a weak tone with the ID measuring 75 or a weak tone without an ID? I get a lot of hits which appear to be iron (0-10) ID yet I get a weak tone at higher frequencies which may be due to sweeping induced false targets. There is so much Iron bits that digging each hit is a bit laborious. I'm trying to understand if the ID really works at depth or should I just dig all iron sounding hits.

Appreciate any advice you can provide.

Wayne

I found that hunting in wet sand or water with my AT Pro, that corroded targets will sometimes lower the target id number. Last night I dug a penny which rang up as a pull tab. When I pulled it out, it was a black corroded penny.

I've hunted in the water and found that Quarters gave a loud but usually not a clean tone. Usually a high tone but bouncing between high and iron or having that kerplunk sound like a penny or bottle cap.

My method of hunting with the AT Pro in the water or wet sand was to dig everything which had high or mid tone even if it had the iron edges surrounding it. The only time I would not dig a target was if it was a solid iron hit (no mid or high), OR it bounced all over the place from 0 to 80. If it bounced that much it was usually a bit of rust.

I the dry sand, target ID is solid and reliable assuming you have ground balanced correctly. In that case I avoid a solid 55 (pull tab) or 45 (foil cap). However, dry sand is only dry on top... so deep targets which are laying in deep damp sand and especially old corroded targets may drag the ID number down a bit.

I hunt ONLY in pro zero so I can hear everything the machine is telling me.

 

[wayne007]

Wayne, I turn up discrimination to 38 first of all. I dig every signal from there because I don't like missing anything. 10k can bounce around in the 40's as well as gold with iron targets in the same hole. In my experience, passing faint signals has not produced as many successful hunts as digging everything. Full disclosure, I use an excal II in the wet sands so the ATP is strictly a dry sand machine for me.

Good luck.

Thanks that helps. Do you do find that the target ID is reliable? I get a lot of hits that are 0-15 and then 60's. After I dig them up its usually rusted slag. i'm curious if a real target in the 60's would register in the 60's at depth, or would i just get a tone in the mid range.

 

[redcobra8u]

Thanks that helps. Do you do find that the target ID is reliable? I get a lot of hits that are 0-15 and then 60's. After I dig them up its usually rusted slag. i'm curious if a real target in the 60's would register in the 60's at depth, or would i just get a tone in the mid range.

I doubt a real target would register 0-15 then pop up into the 60's at depth. If it's a solid target, it should register higher if you move the coil over it quicker. I usually scape about 4-6 in off with my scoop to see if the signal gets better. If it's still bouncing, it's trash.

 

[A2coins]

I will turn on iron audio to check the target if its iron you will know Gold will usually be a consitant beep iron will be scratchy

 

[s.c.shooter]

I usually dig if its a strong repeatable signal

 

[flgliderpilot]

Deep and corroded targets usually drop in numbers not go up.

 

[tony curnick]

Try this and it will make you dig every target you get....take a silver coin and place it flat on the ground... You should get between 75 and 90....now balance the coin on it side and wave the coil...you will get a way lower target response that is broken with nulls...this really puts a spanner in the works...

 

[jcobb]

The numbers vdi on the at pro will bounce around on deep targets on the beach. Your best bet you be to listen to the tones it's giving. Go low and slow, I found gold in Galveston TX with my pro

 

[flgliderpilot]

Try this and it will make you dig every target you get....take a silver coin and place it flat on the ground... You should get between 75 and 90....now balance the coin on it side and wave the coil...you will get a way lower target response that is broken with nulls...this really puts a spanner in the works...

True, but coins and rings don't usually settle on end. Of course if they are in a rock crevice anything could happen.

 

[vince76]

You can also try this method. When u are not sure about the ID try first to pinpoint the object and then swing again over it so the garrett has more info. With the 8.5x11 coil i have a lot of false signals. With the 8x5 is more easier.

 

[lookindown]

Try this and it will make you dig every target you get....take a silver coin and place it flat on the ground... You should get between 75 and 90....now balance the coin on it side and wave the coil...you will get a way lower target response that is broken with nulls...this really puts a spanner in the works...

I just tried an air test with my AT...it reads a nickel, dime and quarter at the same numbers no matter what angle I wave it under the coil...it doesn't pick it up at the same depth holding the coin on edge but the numbers read exactly the same.

 

[vince76]

Strange, nickels on my AtPro are between 50-56

 

[wayne007]

You can also try this method. When u are not sure about the ID try first to pinpoint the object and then swing again over it so the garrett has more info. With the 8.5x11 coil i have a lot of false signals. With the 8x5 is more easier.

I thought pinpointing would be the solution yet on these iron targets which ring as iron and have repeatable rings in the 60's I can't seem to get anything on pinpointing. I don't know if its the beach environment but pinpointing only seems to work on non-ferrous targets. Are you able to pinpoint iron?

 

[Normsel]

I rarely look at my vdi, I go by sound. I may glance at the vdi to confirm what I already know. To me it's all about sound and makes little difference in what mode I am in. To me the key is also ground balance. If you're ground balanced properly you get results. However there has to be a target to get a sound...lol

I moved to S. MS a year ago and the beaches here don't give up much since Katrina. Also they don't have the traffic the beaches in FL and AL have because those are tourist areas.

I don't get the $6 to $12 per day in clad like i did in S. IL parks and soccer fields. Here in S. MS at the beaches and in the parks I consider a good day $1.50 - $3.00 in clad and hopefully a ring every 5 -10 hunts.

 

[wayne007]

I thought pinpointing would be the solution yet on these iron targets which ring as iron and have repeatable rings in the 60's I can't seem to get anything on pinpointing. I don't know if its the beach environment but pinpointing only seems to work on non-ferrous targets. Are you able to pinpoint iron?

So I did a small experiment separately burying a quarter, dime, nickel, and a penny at 8". I did this is wet beach sand (surf), damp sand, and dry sand. In dry sand everything recorded properly. In damp sand I got intermittent results. Each coin had an ID well below the expected ID (i.e. Quarters reading 53-60). On the wet surf sand all targets would not ID and would ring near the low 40s or into the iron. I tested Iron at the surface and it would pinpoint but at depth they wouldn't.

So I'm guessing that ID really only works in dry sand and hits in the 40's could be anything. Pinpointing works to a degree yet on the beach the results are intermittent, I think that relying on ID in wet sand is a loser. Consistent advice has been if you get a hit dig it. My problem on beaches like Wabasso is that there are so many fragments of iron, I get a weak hit and dig down only to find a fragment .2 x .2". A lot of work and little frustrating.

 

[flgliderpilot]

So I did a small experiment separately burying a quarter, dime, nickel, and a penny at 8". I did this is wet beach sand (surf), damp sand, and dry sand. In dry sand everything recorded properly. In damp sand I got intermittent results. Each coin had an ID well below the expected ID (i.e. Quarters reading 53-60). On the wet surf sand all targets would not ID and would ring near the low 40s or into the iron. I tested Iron at the surface and it would pinpoint but at depth they wouldn't.

So I'm guessing that ID really only works in dry sand and hits in the 40's could be anything. Pinpointing works to a degree yet on the beach the results are intermittent, I think that relying on ID in wet sand is a loser. Consistent advice has been if you get a hit dig it. My problem on beaches like Wabasso is that there are so many fragments of iron, I get a weak hit and dig down only to find a fragment .2 x .2". A lot of work and little frustrating.

It's not as bad so you think... just dig anything with a mid tone and up, even if the mid tone bounces between iron and mid tone. Yeah quarters will sound like gold or maybe have a hint of iron in the bounce, but you should be digging nearly everything anyway.

I'm betting the iron fragments read much lower than 53... probably between zero and 30. I've had some iron flakes which bounced between zero and 83 with a very irregular, faint, broken tone. A bounce that wide and broken is clearly junk. Most good targets were a strong repeatable tone tone with an occasional (but not wild) bounce.

I did a lot of salt water hunting with my AT Pro and found gold and silver, plenty of coins and keys. Just learn how it behaves in the salt water and adapt. Gold always came up with a solid loud and clear mid tone.

 

[lookindown]

Strange, nickels on my AtPro are between 50-56

Sorry, I didn't mean nickels, dimes and quarters read one number...I meant that nickels read 52 whether flat or on edge...dimes read 81 flat or edge and quarters read 87 flat or edgewise.

 

[fongu]

I go by tone more than the digital numbers myself. Sometimes it's foil and sometimes it's gold. When I first got my At/Pro it picked an 18K ring out of a group of targets that were all over the place, but I heard the little pip and it was deep and my only 18K ring came out of nearly a dozen different targets. When a chain is spread out, it will go all over the place from mid tone to high and sometimes silver chains sound scratchy. Pro zero with no discrimination in the water is my favorite way to hunt, but have to use 35-40 discrimination on land. Slowing down my swing on my coil to a crawl has cherry picked some targets that were obscured by other trash items.