AT Pro VDI

OP
OP
Sheppie22

Sheppie22

Full Member
Jun 9, 2011
133
139
Milford, Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac,
Garrett AT Pro
Garrett AT Max
Minelab Equinox 800 and 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Starting a thread to purposely bash a product and get everyone in a uproar. Not my intention here at all.
 

Tedyoh

Bronze Member
Apr 13, 2013
1,566
1,619
N.E. Ohio
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, NOX 600, XP Deus II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
There may have been trash under it - I've never had that problem, actually just dug a silver quarter at 10", no number on the vdi but a whispered a high tone.
 

signal_line

Silver Member
Nov 14, 2011
3,601
1,835
Detector(s) used
XP Deus
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
My take on this is when I get wrong ID numbers it's because it needs ground balancing. I know people must be tired of hearing it, but you cannot assume you are on clean ground if you have any iron discrimination on. You will think you are on clean ground because you can't hear it but the iron is being discriminated and you end up with the wrong ground balance. And there are times on damp sand the auto balance just doesn't work right. In this case use manual and only lift the coil an inch or two when pumping. Sometimes even less. Another option in the difficult conditions is to bury a target and manually ground balance to the best response. When the gb is wrong, you will not get the best depth or accurate ID numbers and even interference will be worse. BTW, a clad quarter should be about 87 or 88 so that tells me your balance is wrong.
 

wetfly

Full Member
Aug 8, 2012
235
163
Excellent theory and well put explanation! Gonna spend tomorrow messing around with balancing!
I am so guilty of "balancing " as you said with some iron discrimination already there lol! Thanks for that lil tidbit!
 

OP
OP
Sheppie22

Sheppie22

Full Member
Jun 9, 2011
133
139
Milford, Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac,
Garrett AT Pro
Garrett AT Max
Minelab Equinox 800 and 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
My take on this is when I get wrong ID numbers it's because it needs ground balancing. I know people must be tired of hearing it, but you cannot assume you are on clean ground if you have any iron discrimination on. You will think you are on clean ground because you can't hear it but the iron is being discriminated and you end up with the wrong ground balance. And there are times on damp sand the auto balance just doesn't work right. In this case use manual and only lift the coil an inch or two when pumping. Sometimes even less. Another option in the difficult conditions is to bury a target and manually ground balance to the best response. When the gb is wrong, you will not get the best depth or accurate ID numbers and even interference will be worse. BTW, a clad quarter should be about 87 or 88 so that tells me your balance is wrong.
Thanks for the reply. This makes alot of sense. Not used to having to deal with this on the Etrac. I really like the way the AT Pro operates. I just have to learn its nuisances.
 

bzbadger

Bronze Member
Jun 25, 2013
1,130
818
Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter QD II, Garrett Ace 150 & 350, Fisher ID Excel, Fisher coinstrike, Fisher Cz6, Fisher Gemini II, Garrett AT Pro, Garrett GTI 1500,Teknetiks omega 8000, Nokta Fors Gold
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I tell u what, I see so many theories on how to get this signal or how to balance that..if you guys want the official site to where people post their numbers from targets/finds and get a true number sheet to go by from hundreds of people posting PM me and I'll give u the link. I can't post it here since it breaks forum rules to post from another site. I swear some of the advice ppl give I think they're either suffering from fever or overmedicated

Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Tapatalk
 

Diggin-N-Dumps

Gold Member
Sep 9, 2009
6,046
3,781
Fort Worth,Texas
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030 / AT PRO / Etrac w/ NEL
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Its because its Metal Detecting....Soils are different...coils are different...People are different..Signals can be different

I hunt with a guy that runs an Etrac, and he gets a constant sweet Quarter signal 10" deep, and it turns out to be rusty bolt...it happens
 

OP
OP
Sheppie22

Sheppie22

Full Member
Jun 9, 2011
133
139
Milford, Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac,
Garrett AT Pro
Garrett AT Max
Minelab Equinox 800 and 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Ok Folks, Here we go. Took the AT Pro out this morning and went to an area where I know the ground is real clean. No junk and no mineralization. Ground balanced very carefully and then buried a clad dime at 7 inches. Here's what I got. In pro zero at full sensitivity with iron audio off I got a faint low iron grunt. Turning iron audio on I would get a constant deep sounding mid tone with vdi numbers jumping all over. I would occasionally see it jump into the mid 70's but still a mid tone. I then switched over to standard coin mode hand it would occasionally hit loud and high tone as long as the coil was scrubbing the ground. I am very confused here. I have read all over the net that the way to hunt is in pro zero mode with iron audio off. I am afraid that if I hunt this way I will miss deep coins. I am a very experienced hunter. Been doing this since 1978. New to this machine though. Please help. And no, this is not a bait.
 

Silversurfer79

Full Member
Dec 24, 2013
146
113
Southern, MN
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Garrett Propointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Interesting! I was out this morning and dug up a nice merc at 8 inches and it sounded off with a beautiful high tone. Ground balance was 82 and I backed it down to 75, running in pro zero with sensitivity maxed and disc at 32. This is also with the stock coil. I hit a Rosie the other day at 10 inches and all I got was a high tone from one direction. Could your coil be bad?
 

OP
OP
Sheppie22

Sheppie22

Full Member
Jun 9, 2011
133
139
Milford, Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac,
Garrett AT Pro
Garrett AT Max
Minelab Equinox 800 and 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Thanks. What is the purpose of backing down the gb. I have read other post where people are saying that you must be properly ground balanced to get correct vdi numbers.
 

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
Ok Folks, Here we go. Took the AT Pro out this morning and went to an area where I know the ground is real clean. No junk and no mineralization. Ground balanced very carefully and then buried a clad dime at 7 inches. Here's what I got. In pro zero at full sensitivity with iron audio off I got a faint low iron grunt. Turning iron audio on I would get a constant deep sounding mid tone with vdi numbers jumping all over. I would occasionally see it jump into the mid 70's but still a mid tone. I then switched over to standard coin mode hand it would occasionally hit loud and high tone as long as the coil was scrubbing the ground. I am very confused here. I have read all over the net that the way to hunt is in pro zero mode with iron audio off. I am afraid that if I hunt this way I will miss deep coins. I am a very experienced hunter. Been doing this since 1978. New to this machine though. Please help. And no, this is not a bait.

A coin freshly buried deep in soil is nothing the same as one that took 20 years to get that deep.
You cannot rate depth or VDI readings by trying this experiment. Way too many factors involved to try figure it out.
 

bottlecap

Hero Member
Feb 22, 2014
580
296
West Metro, Mn
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I have also experienced this, just happened to me tonight, I have found that it helps to do a small 4 inch sweep over your beep then usually the low fart tones go away, either way I guess I am digging a target in the 80's. I could be wrong but I also think part of it has to do with the quarters orientation to your coil, one of the trickiest signals I have ever had was a quarter that was on end.
 

OP
OP
Sheppie22

Sheppie22

Full Member
Jun 9, 2011
133
139
Milford, Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac,
Garrett AT Pro
Garrett AT Max
Minelab Equinox 800 and 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
My problem is that even though this is a freshly buried coin since I only received a low iron grunt in pro zero I would have passed right over this coin thinking that it was iron. Freshly buried or not it just seems strange to me that I would receive a iron grunt on a 7 inch dime in pro zero mode with iron audio off. Maybe I'm wrong. Educate me.
 

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
I would say the grunt your hearing is from a small piece of iron or trash in the ground and it's not seeing the freshly buried dime at 7" at all.
 

OP
OP
Sheppie22

Sheppie22

Full Member
Jun 9, 2011
133
139
Milford, Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac,
Garrett AT Pro
Garrett AT Max
Minelab Equinox 800 and 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Checked the ground before I buried it and totally clean. Iron grunt pinpointed directly in the center of the plug. Like I said earlier when I switched iron audio on I would get a mid tone with vdi jumping around and occasionally hitting 75. In standard coin mode I would get a high tone if I scrubbed the coil right over the ground.
 

fella

Bronze Member
Oct 24, 2012
1,805
853
Wisc
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Stop worrying about what fresh buried coins do or don't do. Or how they bloody air test or what ever other arbitrary test you want to throw at it. Get out and dig some real targets and learn the thing if you're really interested.

Still smells like bait to me!
 

OP
OP
Sheppie22

Sheppie22

Full Member
Jun 9, 2011
133
139
Milford, Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac,
Garrett AT Pro
Garrett AT Max
Minelab Equinox 800 and 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Stop worrying about what fresh buried coins do or don't do. Or how they bloody air test or what ever other arbitrary test you want to throw at it. Get out and dig some real targets and learn the thing if you're really interested.

Still smells like bait to me!
l think I will do just that. Sorry to bother you.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top