AT Pro tips

Pro mode, zero discrimination. Set sensitivity as high as possible and ground balance as per manual. Sweep slow and listen for faint signals. There isn't too many tricks to it. It's simple but effective.
 

Sounds like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I run zero disc in pro mode. Just need to turn up the sensitivity it sounds like. I've been running 2 notches from the top. Any beach tips?
 

Ground balance...ground balance... ground balance. Ground balance in dry sand, again in wet sand and again in the water. Adjust sensitivity down to stable. May be only 2 or 3 bars in the water. You will still get some falsing but a good target will still sound off strong and repeatable. I hunt salt beaches in the summer quiet often with the AT Pro.
 

I went last Saturday when Sandy was hitting the Outer Banks. Ran sensitivity at 4 notches below full and a GB of 8. Ran quiet.
 

Your question is not a specific atpro question you understand, its a general question for vlf machines generally speaking. No amount of gb tweaking will pull that deep silver dime out of a trash filled park, and you wont miss a deep silver dime if your gb is off a bit from dead nuts gb. If you want to pull deep silver, hit the private lawns or old forgotten parks with your sense set at max. For beginners, a slightly off gb setting is not as bad as a bad sense setting, or a bad choice of scrim.

Having said all this crap, just remember the gb setting is the easiest setting. It is dictated by the ground, so you have no choice in the matter at the end of the day. Read your owners manual for specific instructions as to how to gb your machine. Once you learn it, you will agree, even a caveman can do it.
 

The AT Pro has automatic and manual GB. I do the auto GB. Just making sure I'm not missing anything. Sounds like I do need to turn up my sensitivity though. Thanks for the good info. Big big help!
 

You will learn more about your metal detector in one hour in your test garden, then 10 hours in the field. Why? Because you will learn how a particular object will sound on your metal detector in real conditions in your dirt at home. And.......once you learn your your metal detector with your known targets in your own dirt, you can easily see how another detector will work in your own dirt. Having someone tell you that brand X detector gets 10 inches on a quarter means nothing to you, as it just depends on the type of dirt the target is being detected in. The common misconception that that someone will tell you about their metal detector is that it gets 10 inches on a dime. Well, that all depends on type of soil, mineralization of soil, humidity in soil, orientation of target to soil, size of dime, silver or clad dime, oxidation on dime coil size, detector settings and so on. etc. What might be important to you is how deep that dime will read in YOUR soil. And depth alone shouldn't be the #1 reason for buying a detector either. Target separation is important also, especially in junky areas. A larger coil with added depth will actually work against you in a lot of these circumstances. Having the ability to ground balance a metal detector is also important, especially if it can be ground balanced to salt water. OK....enough of the confusing stuff.

Setting up a test garden is quite simple.....find a piece of dirt in your own back yard, or a small area in a park or off the beaten path where someone is not likely to metal detect. If you don't own a house, a relative or friend will probably let you use their property. You are not ruining anything for that matter. Grab some clad coins, some silver coins, copper coins, common and beaver tail pull tabs and some nails. These will be your known targets which will be planted with known depths. But before you bury anything, grab your AT pro in pro mode, zero discrimination and remove all junk from the areas to be used as a test bed. All cleaned up? Great!

Next, bury various targets at various depths, with the least amount of damage to the grass. Get a ruler and measure the actual (preferred) depth of your targets. make sure the target is laying horizontal. Fill in the hole. PLEASE make a detailed drawing of your test garden and make spare copies. Our memory will fail us over time. That test garden is built to teach you how the metal detector works at a KNOWN target, not a guessed one.

You can refer to this garden every time you buy a new coil, think there is something wrong with your metal detector, experimenting with super tuning your metal detector for low or high conductivity targets (gold or silver) or just comparing different brands.

Below is my own test garden at home, with all information written in the 1" x 2" board, for simplicity. When using the test garden, I just line up the ends of the 1" x 2" with a mark on the fire pit brick and a shallow penny at the far end. But, you can do things differently, get creative and go in a different direction. Once complete, spend some time with your AT Pro in that new test garden.. Listen to the audio in Pro and Standard Mode. Look at the digital numbers for each target. Try different swing speeds, at different heights. start remembering the common patterns. see if the guy across town who brags that his detector can get 20" in the dirt on a dime is really being honest.

You will really feel confident with your AT Pro the next time you get out in the field. Good luck and I hope some great targets come your way.

testgarden2.jpg
 

Thanks for the garden help. I've been wanting to make one of those. I've heard they are a huge source of real world info. I definitely need to get to work on making one.
 

John I looked at your picture and I have something similar I can do in my backyard. I may be copying your style. Lol! Thanks again.
 

Well done John !:hello2:
There is much to gained from a test garden! I like the idea of a stick with marked reference. Brilliant idea! :) When I redo mine this summer I will include a stick as I have forgotten where and what exactly everything is.
Good hunting :)



John-Edmonton said:
You will learn more about your metal detector in one hour in your test garden, then 10 hours in the field.
Click to expand...
 

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