3 quick questions about my new ATpro

[allgold]

1. In your own opinion is it a good machine?


2. Is it any good at prospecting gold?


3. Is it normal to pick up a lot of junk in the beginning?

 

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[Terry Soloman]

1. In your own opinion is it a good machine?
2. Is it any good at prospecting gold?
3. Is it normal to pick up a lot of junk in the beginning?

1) Yes. It is a good VLF machine for dry conditions and shallow fresh water.
2) No. Absolutely not. (Tesoro Lobo SuperTRAQ / Whites GMT / Fisher Goldbug II)
3) Yes.

 

[triplehooked]

Wow.... calling Garrett's latest and greatest a possible piece of junk! You got steel ones man!!
I'm surprised you haven't been grilled yet. I cannot say anything about the AT Pro's prospecting potential other than I've heard it does well with gold jewelry at the beach...I have no clue as to it's prospecting possibilities. I will say that I've owned two MXT's. The MXT is a good all around machine and is based off of the GMT, which is a prospecting machine. It also has an actual prospecting mode, which I never used except to see how hot the ground was. But it also has the coin and relic mode. Built like a tank, balanced, but simple. Unfortunately, if you are after the gold shiny stuff, you are going to dig some trash. Those pop tops can drive you nuts. I have been considering the AT Pro as I mainly hunt beaches in the summer and the water proof feature would be nice. I have another machine in mind for the deeper stuff in spring and fall, but that's another thread. Check out the head to head comparison section, I'm sure these two are in there.... Maybe that's where this thread needs to go... Best of luck!

 

[zincmaster]

the at is a great coin machine and far from junk, i hope garrett reads ur post and tells you to keep it.

 

[joeman]

the at is a great coin machine and far from junk, i hope garrett reads ur post and tells you to keep it.

Wha? Did I miss something here? I see nothing about anyone saying the machine is 'Junk'... I do see the OP asking if 'picking up Junk' is normal at first. Was a Post removed or something?

Anyway, Yeah... I love my AT! It's NOT a perfect machine (no machine is..), but being able to use it on Land and Submerge it under water is a HUGE advantage over many, if not 'most' other machines and you just CANNOT beat the price! As of July (apparently) the NEW units had a couple of upgrades (new longer upper Cuff Extension and Cam-Lock system..). I think they may have been tweaked recently too, cause I tried a NEW one a few weeks ago and it seems to be picking up our 'weird coins' somewhat better than mine. Also, the AT PRO goes DEEP! I'm 'constantly' AMAZED at how incredibly deep it will pick up small targets, ESPECIALLY Silver and Copper/Brass. I've also been able to pick up LARGE targets so deep that I just got tired of digging.. (curiosity got the best of me).

IF the $600.00 price tag (you can get it for $500.00 if you look around) is too much, then I'd suggest the Fisher F2 package @ $219.00.

 

[Dano Sverige]

1. In your own opinion is it a good machine?


2. Is it any good at prospecting gold?


3. Is it normal to pick up a lot of junk in the beginning?

Umm...well it's your machine. Can't really tell you how it performs mate can we? (couldn't resist)
It's a decent machine as a "starter" but as Terry says...there's a lot better. Especially for gold.

Our American friends seem to have gotten hold of the wrong end of the stick as is usual.

 

[luvsdux]

I don't see where anyone posted it as "junk". Just suggested that some gold detectors are a better choice for prospecting.
luvsdux

 

[allgold]

I did edit my post. I made the comment that I hope I didn't buy a junk detector, and some people flew off the handle saying that I called the ATpro "junk". In all, I'm very happy with my ATpro and would highly recommend it.

 

[Lakemonster]

1. It is the best digital detector I have owned. But that should be taken with a grain of salt as I have not owned a higher end machine.

2. At least with the stock DD coil...... no. I air tested a 2.5 mm nugget and get a reading at only 2". I would be curious if a sniper coil would improve things.

3. Yes it will find junk... and in truth, at the beginning, you should be finding and digging junk, and then as you learn the VDI you can notch your junk out.

On a side note. I have used this in saltwater. I was surprised how well it did. If you ground balance often its very manageable.... for single freq VLF.

The big selling point of the AT is that you can dunk it, get it muddy and hunt in a hurricane.

 

[allgold]

Being waterproof is the best feature. I've been using it in some rivers and it great to know that if it got dunked on accident, it will be okay. I don't know about going 10 feet under water with it. LOL , I wouldn't push it to the limit. Have to admit that I learn something new every time I use it. MDing all comes down to the fact that it is more of a art than a science. I totally agree that for a multipurpose detector it's awesome. Garrett's tech support is also great. Very Happy