How has the AT Pro performed in salt and freshwater?

[ATProAdam]

I am getting an upgrade from Ace 250 to AT Pro and wanted some input on people's experience with it in saltwater, at beaches or lakes. Thanks.

 

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[goldluvr]

My at pro works great in the salt water here in miami just back off on the sensitivity 1 or 2 bars no chatter as people call it, just as good as dry sand.

 

[mr helton]

I use mine in freshwater (don't live by any oceans) an it works great. I can often run on max sensitivity in my river.

 

[ron lord]

AT PRO sucks in salt water, I live in Naples Fl. A T PRO losses 50 to 60 per sent of it's depth in salt water. some dealers won't sell the A T PRO in Fla. because of this. Owe by the way I own an A T PRO. And it's for sell $400. It's good for land and fresh water but ,keep it out of salt water.

 

[adamBomb]

I live in wilmington nc. I see tons of guys on the beach with the AT pro, but its only dry sand. I have yet to see one on the wetsand near the water. It could work but given the number of dry sand at pro hunters I have seen I doubt it. I saw the same thing in NJ when I was there this summer. I do not own the device though and have never tried it. This is just what I have noticed when I am out detecting. I think it can work on some low mineralized salt beaches from what I have read on here but if you want a saltwater machine do not get the at pro.

 

[ATProAdam]

AT PRO sucks in salt water, I live in Naples Fl. A T PRO losses 50 to 60 per sent of it's depth in salt water. some dealers won't sell the A T PRO in Fla. because of this. Owe by the way I own an A T PRO. And it's for sell $400. It's good for land and fresh water but ,keep it out of salt water.

Man they sell for $600 down here and online. $400 seems like a good deal. I see a lot of other responses with people satisfied with the salt water searches because of the manual ground balance. But thanks so much for your info.

 

[MiamiFox]

Mine works fine in the salt water here in Miami

 

[madforclad]

Here on the Atlantic Coast, not bad on dry sand but falses like crazy as soon as you hit the damp/wet salt sand. Great for freshwater lakes/beaches here.

 

[GatorBoy]

Hey Adam ultimately it depends on the mineral content where are you are detecting.
For the most part mine works flawlessly here on the Treasure Coast the east coast of Florida... But it can change within just a few feet and then change again.
Black sand or other areas that have a lot of rotted plant matter give it fits... But even then if you know real well how to deal with that you can do good I know I have.
I've found a ton of good stuff in wet salt water sand with mine.
One thing I've noticed is a lot of people assuming that the machine is malfunctioning is only because they arent doing something correctly.

 

[GatorBoy]

Small Old silver found by me in wet salt water sand with an AT pro.. On Florida's east coast

 

[Auriemma]

AT Pro works fine in the salt on southern NJ. Just make sure your Ground Balance is right... and keep checking it.

And do not scrub the sand underwater while swinging... that can cause falses.

 

[ATProAdam]

Sounds good, thanks for the input. I want to go hit the NC coast this fall with my wife and do some detecting. I have an AT Pro now and she has my old Ace 250 which is still in new condition. I know the Ace can be used but it's harder, I seen a few vids on YouTube with so go people using the 250. Thanks a lot.

 

[GatorBoy]

Best of luck to you both and great job getting the wife into the hobby

 

[lookindown]

Mine works good on the Florida beaches ...wet sand and in the water.

 

[L.I.Digga]

The At pro was my first detector,I really liked mine until i started hitting the saltwater beaches.Long story short sold it and bought an Xcall...Great detector for dirt fishing and fresh water...In the salt it is so noisy that you gotta turn the sensitivity way down and well that defeats the whole purpose....

Sent from my LG-LS980 using TreasureNet

 

[GatorBoy]

The Xcal is great for the beach.. Not really good for anything else but diving and the beach.
Like so many have stated before your post its not really the salt that makes a problem it's the minerals in the sand in your area.

 

[lookindown]

Mine runs stable at 5or 6 bars sensitivity in the salt. In wet sand tests at the beach it was about two inches shallower than the CZ21, so that is still pretty deep...all beaches are different but mine has worked well on both Florida coasts at many different beaches. Not as good as an Excal or CZ21 but definitely usable.

 

[GatorBoy]

That brings up a point.. Call me lazy or someone who just likes to work smarter rather than harder ...whatever... But depth isn't really something I want to be a big issue when I'm hunting a beach.
I go about it in what I think is a completely different way looking at a much bigger picture playing the entire coastline and Mother Nature in a game of.. "Which beach is best".. Most of my best finds are because of this and not very deep at all.

 

[Boatlode]

I use PI at the beach, but I have seen quite a few AT Pros, so they must work well.

 

[Sandancer]

On Cape Cod my experience has been that the AT Pro does not work in salt water or on the wet salt sand. It goes berserk unless the sensitivity is set so low that it is not effective. However, on the dry salt sand it is a totally different animal. It is superb. On dry land it is superb. In fresh water it is superb. On wet non salt sand it is superb. The wet salt is it's only weak point.