Upgraded to AT Pro

CladGrabber

Sr. Member
Oct 10, 2013
453
192
Tulsa Ok
Detector(s) used
AT PRO...Equinox 800...garrett carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
After a productive year hunting with the ace350 my lovely wife of 13yrs upgraded me to the At pro spring special for our anniversary.
A special shoutout to Tim Garton
Metal Detector Sales of SWMO
417-414-8622 store
417-831-4285 fax
417-849-1017 cell
www.treasurechief.com he went above and beyond to make it happen.
After watching videos and a quick spin around the backyard in pro mode I realize there's going to a learning curve.
Any beginner at pro settings for coins/jewelry would be most appreciated LoL.
Happy Hunting to all!
 

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RobRieman

Silver Member
Nov 12, 2012
3,282
1,915
Cincinnati Ohio
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
White's V3i / Minelab E-trac
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Pro Zero, disc at around 30, don't notch out anything, Max sensitivity if not too chatty or EMI present. Make sure you ground balance the machine correctly. Good luck!
 

OP
OP
CladGrabber

CladGrabber

Sr. Member
Oct 10, 2013
453
192
Tulsa Ok
Detector(s) used
AT PRO...Equinox 800...garrett carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks Rob
 

Normsel

Bronze Member
Sep 10, 2012
1,191
813
D'Iberville MS
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
E-Trac
Equinox 800
Equinox 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
After a productive year hunting with the ace350 my lovely wife of 13yrs upgraded me to the At pro spring special for our anniversary.
A special shoutout to Tim Garton
Metal Detector Sales of SWMO
417-414-8622 store
417-831-4285 fax
417-849-1017 cell
Metal Detectors | Treasure Chief | Springfield, MO he went above and beyond to make it happen.
After watching videos and a quick spin around the backyard in pro mode I realize there's going to a learning curve.
Any beginner at pro settings for coins/jewelry would be most appreciated LoL.
Happy Hunting to all!

To get good with it and I mean really good it takes about 200 hours and it will sing to you no matter what mode you have it. I was frustrated at 1st but after about 10 hours I was ok with it and after 50 I liked it. Once i had 100 hours I thought I couldn't get any better but was surprised as heck after i went back to hunted areas when I had over 200 hours on it. I learned every lil sound i think the detector can make and it paid off. My best month was $134 and 5 rings. I paid for my ATP in 5 months of hunting. In my estimation I don't think there is a better detector on the market for the price.

Pro Zero is good but I would experiment with all of them until I was comfy with it.
 

OP
OP
CladGrabber

CladGrabber

Sr. Member
Oct 10, 2013
453
192
Tulsa Ok
Detector(s) used
AT PRO...Equinox 800...garrett carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I'm mostly a coin shooter but will gladly take rings/jewelry if the coil passes over them:) I was thinking I would start in pro coin mode then notch discrim as necessary as all the sounds/chatter may be overwhelming at first. I know it's said you will lose depth by discriminating but I'm just looking to get over some solid signals till I learn the machine. Hope to take her for a spin this afternoon after work *watching the clock* tic toc :D
 

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OP
CladGrabber

CladGrabber

Sr. Member
Oct 10, 2013
453
192
Tulsa Ok
Detector(s) used
AT PRO...Equinox 800...garrett carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Ok allow me to throw another question out there...auto or manual ground balance? My soil is fairly nuetral.
 

fella

Bronze Member
Oct 24, 2012
1,805
853
Wisc
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Auto then adjust manually if needed/desired.
 

OP
OP
CladGrabber

CladGrabber

Sr. Member
Oct 10, 2013
453
192
Tulsa Ok
Detector(s) used
AT PRO...Equinox 800...garrett carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Ok great, thanks.
 

Jeremy S

Hero Member
Feb 27, 2012
515
343
God's Country
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
Garret Ace 250, AT Pro, Garret Pro Pointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Hunt an area in auto ground balance, usually balances to 70-80 for me. Once you have thoroughly hunted the area, do it again but manually lower the ground balance 8 or 10. Sometimes this helps make the deeper high conductivity items like copper and silver stand out more. It can also throw off the ID a little bit.

I have really hunted the yard around my century old house pretty hard in the last year. Last weekend I finally tried lowering the ground balance around 10 and swinging very low and slow. I found a target that was an intermittent 85 signal, maybe every other swing I would get a tone. Around 6 inches down next to a nail was a silver quarter standing vertically on end. I also pulled out a 1929 wheat penny and a 1920 buffalo nickle that I had previously missed as well, they were over 6" and in close proximity to iron. I cleaned out a lot of trash and the easy targets before, then tweaked my settings (Pro Mode, ground balance -10 and full sensitivity) went back and found the hard to find stuff.

2014-05-23 08.15.18.jpg

Good luck and enjoy your new toy!
 

chopperdog

Jr. Member
May 18, 2014
30
9
Indianapolis, IN
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT PRO / Minelab X-Terra 705 /Minelab 505 / XP Deus / Makro Racer 2
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Congrats on the AT Pro, IMHO, the best machine out there for the money, and better than many costing much more. --- Run it in the PRO ZERO mode, wide open, no disc. (NEVER in the 'Standard" mode, no more Avon Lady) --- I leave IRON AUDIO on.(Iron is your friend)--indicates human habitation at one time or another. Teach yourself to listen for the high tone, (if you're wanting coins) I don't care about nickels, and start digging #'s at about 80 (dimes, and copper pennies)or higher. I pretty much only dig 80 to about 95, but it can vary a little. ---- The AT PRO has sounds that are compatible for my brain / ears, (unlike some of the other brand detectors) - and I have no problem doing this, takes a little practice, but I believe any disc diminishes performance. ---Use the headphones, if you get brain overload, shut one side off, then switch to other ear after a while, eventually, you will be able to run both with having a brain fit. -- Repeatable signal a must----as are fairly consistent #'s ----- Ask, but don't beg for the repeatable high tone, repeatable #,---- If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is, raise the coil about 6" off the ground, still getting a strong signal? -if so, not a coin, most likely an aluminum can or big iron. Much more, but those are the basics, --- I use the NEL Sharpshooter 5.5x9.5 DD coil. If you can afford it, (about $125.00) it is worth the money. Good Luck & HH ----One more thing, Ground balance every 5 / 10 minutes, and after doing a Auto GB, manually lower the GB # by 5 to 10 digits. -- Not necessary to do, but will give you a bit more depth.
 

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CladGrabber

CladGrabber

Sr. Member
Oct 10, 2013
453
192
Tulsa Ok
Detector(s) used
AT PRO...Equinox 800...garrett carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks chopper lots of good info.
 

fella

Bronze Member
Oct 24, 2012
1,805
853
Wisc
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Be careful with some of the "advice" you are getting! Some is personal preference, some just bad!

Head over the Garrett section of the forum for more info on your ATP. Watch out there too. Not all info is correct! (Hard to believe on an internet forum I know)

The ATP isn't complicated & it's pretty simple to learn. But you do need to take the time!
 

RustyGold

Gold Member
Aug 16, 2013
9,372
10,901
Southern California
Detector(s) used
XP Deus I & II
Xterra Pro
Primary Interest:
Other
Yep! Like others have said, Pro-Zero-Mode!
I took my ATP into the back yard and got a solid hit that ID'd at 80
and was a 1948 Silver Dime at 4-6"... Then instantly got another nice
tone that rang up high around 70 and it was a 1-30 R.G.P. 14K
size 9 ring!
Out of all of the detectors I own, the AT Pro has found the most valuable items!
Best of luck with your new detector!
 

GranvilleATPro

Full Member
Apr 4, 2014
103
59
Lafayette Indiana
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro
Garrett ACE 350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Why IA if at 0 disc? Regardless whether IA is on at 0 disc, your gonna hear the iron without IA.
Run the machine for your conditions, follow the leader will only confuse things. What works for me in my area may not work for you. And as far as adjusting GB down, I have yet to see any controlled tests, or tech papers from Garrett that confirms this.
 

Jeremy S

Hero Member
Feb 27, 2012
515
343
God's Country
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
Garret Ace 250, AT Pro, Garret Pro Pointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Be careful with some of the "advice" you are getting! Some is personal preference, some just bad!

Head over the Garrett section of the forum for more info on your ATP. Watch out there too. Not all info is correct! (Hard to believe on an internet forum I know)

The ATP isn't complicated & it's pretty simple to learn. But you do need to take the time!


Just what bad advice are you referring to?
 

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CladGrabber

CladGrabber

Sr. Member
Oct 10, 2013
453
192
Tulsa Ok
Detector(s) used
AT PRO...Equinox 800...garrett carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
1st hunt with the pro at the local park....
Auto gb often, sensitivity all the way up, ran in pro zero and pro coin with iron at 35....2 quarter, 4 dimes,3 nickles,18 copper memorial and a few zincolns.
Started out digging some scratchy signals that 99% of the time was junk,then decided to dig only solid signals.
I'm kind of in the semi-frustrated stage because I was killing it with the 350.
With that said I know the pro will shine when I get more time on it.
Thank everyone for their input and don't worry I have read the manual and watched the dvd about 4times so any sketchy advice I take with a grain of salt.
HH all!
 

gleaner1

Silver Member
Feb 1, 2009
4,491
1,023
Gateway to the 1000 Islands
Detector(s) used
Sometime(s)
Primary Interest:
Other
Atpro is not designed to run IA ON in the iron trash, it becomes too "busy". IA is okay in the clean spots, but its intent is mostly for double checking iron on occasion as needed. I would never recommend to run it all the time unless the area was super clean of iron trash. Most iron sounds low tone without IA, but the rusty crown caps can be ID'd for certain with a quick flick of the IA button.
 

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RobRieman

Silver Member
Nov 12, 2012
3,282
1,915
Cincinnati Ohio
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
White's V3i / Minelab E-trac
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Atpro is not designed to run IA ON in the iron trash, it becomes too "busy". IA is okay in the clean spots, but its intent is mostly for double checking iron on occasion as needed. I would never recommend to run it all the time unless the area was super clean of iron trash. Most iron sounds low tone without IA, but the rusty crown caps can be ID'd for certain with a quick flick of the IA button.

Exactly. IA is only designed to check for iron content in a questionable target like a bottle cap. Turn it on, listen for the grunt, and turn it off. When you get good at it you won't even need it.
 

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CladGrabber

CladGrabber

Sr. Member
Oct 10, 2013
453
192
Tulsa Ok
Detector(s) used
AT PRO...Equinox 800...garrett carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The solid signals are beautiful on it and with the pro audio and faster recovery speed in addition to the 5x8 coil theres no doubt its finding targets that the 350 would have missed. It's the scratchy signals that I haven't got my head wrapped around yet.
 

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