MX Sport or AT Pro for Fresh Water, Campsites

[northwoods]

Looking for some practical experience for those that have some time on both of these machines.

I have used a White's DFX300 with multiple coils for about 5 years. I really like it and have found some nice silver coins and a little jewelry with it. I've been doing a lot of research looking to add a 2nd machine to add some flexibility to get into some fresh water up to 5 feet deep. I primarily coin and ring shoot in fresh water areas, campsites, old homesteads and moderately junked up areas. I do like the Whites that I have, but I am not partial. Just looking for some discussion from people that have actually used both of these or the MX Sport a fair amount. I would only be using in salt water, salt beaches very infrequently.

Here is what I have gathered so far:
AT Pro Adv: Cheaper by about $200, coil does not float like the MX Sport, more coil options, easy to use

MX Sport Adv: Many people say it runs deeper in many situations for coins, rings and it discriminates out metal from good targets significantly better - this is a huge advantage for me, as many of the campsites that I hunt have been used since about 1900. Backlit display. More tones, if you like that...

Thanks Much!

 

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[Patriot 1776]

AT-PRO no Question

 

[Tpmetal]

I actually say mx sport. I have been so impressed with mine. Though I have little experience with at pro. from my experience the sport hunts deeper, was pulling tiny brass tack nails over 10 inchs. the screeen is back lit and easy to read and navigate. and the separation is unreal, even with the stock coil. the smaller dd coil separation is supposed to be better which blows my mind. I found us military button with a nail corroded right to it, still rang up solid repeatable no guessing if it was a good target. And you get whites customer service, legendary. You will not be disappointed with it.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Call "Heads" when you flip the coin!

 

[Tpmetal]

Forgot to add that I got like 40 hours out of one set of batteries, and that frequency choice allows me to hunt damn near directly under power lines

 

[MackDog]

Never used the sport, but my At Pro does great in the water. Remember you dig all targets but iron in the water. This is where the pulltabs turn out to be gold rings. Also digging in water is harder and has less targets. The Pro will work fine for all your needs and has by far more coil options. I use the Whites V3i as my primary land detector so I would never doubt the quality of a White's machine. Happy hunting and enjoy

 

[migrider56]

I have used my mx sport on the beach in Florida with no problems with sensitivity up to seven in the water and 8 and 9 in wet sand and dry sand. I tried the three coils, Stock, 6x10 and 9 in concentric 950 and they all performed with no problems. Works well in fresh water and land. I don't have experience with AT pro my friend use it in fresh water and on land with no problems and said that you have to turn sensitivity down on salt water beach in water and you lose some depth. My Mx sport has had the most recent updates.

 

[☠ Cipher]

The MX Sport reminds me of my F75 LTD. It is a deep high gain machine. I was torn between the AT Pro, Gold, or MX Sport. I chose the MX when I saw a good deal on slightly used at $550. The only thing I don't like about it, and it does truly bother me, is that it is flimsy where the coil meets the thin bottom rod. If you stand the machine upright it will wobble around with very little effort. I couldn't even think of leaving it standing upright by itself like my F75. It would fall over because it is so top heavy (well constructed upper 3/4) but so flimsy at the very bottom. The bottom shaft is outrageously thin for such a heavy machine. I plan to fix this issue myself in the near future since inexplicably Whites meant it to be this way apparently. Other than that I have no doubt it's a better performer than the AT Pro, but also much more complex.

 

[☠ Cipher]

To add to my earlier post, in hindsight I was a bit hard on this machine in my description of the lower end of it. I had an issue with the washers being too fat and soft which caused most of the issue I described. I do believe the bottom end could and should be constructed more like the way an etrac is, but it should nonetheless hold up just fine. Just don't make the mistake of leaving the machine standing upright on its own as you can with lighter machines. It needs to lean or lay flat.

 

[DiggerinVA]

First off, just to be clear I think Whites missed the mark with the MX sport. The MXT ALL Pro is a great machine and the MX Sport is a step back from it with only the addition of waterproofing. Is the Sport deeper than the ATPro? Maybe a little, but very little and I believe the tone ID is better at depth on the ATP. Is the Sport faster? Heck no! The Garrett seperates way better in heavy trash. If you want the fastest and the deepest and waterproof....buy the AT Gold. Deeper than either of the other two and still great speed and separation....plus it comes with the 5x8 which is better for trashy sites and water hunting. But if you are reading this and thinking about any of these machines, I would strongly suggest waiting a month and checking out the AT Max.

 

[☠ Cipher]

I'm not sure what machines DiggerinVA has been using, but the MX Sport is deeper than the AT Pro by a couple of inches. That's a lot in our world. The ATP is also very poor in iron compared to the sport. It's piss poor compared to the First Texas machines. ID at depth, still goes to the Sport. The AT Pro doesn't belong on the same shelf as the Sport. The AT Max is on par with the Sport out of the box in terms of depth, but still not good in iron compared to the Sport and First Texas machines.