400i or AT pro?

[EastCoastmetal]

Hello, I am thinking of buying a 400i but from what I have been able to read online etc, the 400 isnt good for salt water beaches etc. Now I dont plan to go any deeper then like 2 feet max and the 400i coil is water proof but i know the electronics is not.

Will the 400 work in salt water under 2 feet or do I just get the AT pro?

I really cant afford the AT pro at the moment but can afford to get the 400i , should I wait or will the 400i actually work on salt water beaches?

Thanks!

 

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[Showtime2385]

Wait till you can afford the At-Pro you wont regret it.

 

[DiggerinVA]

Neither of those machines are going to work well in salt water or wet sand......dry sand either will do fine. No single frequency detector is going to do well in those conditions. You will need multi frequency or pulse induction. Examples are: Minelab Sovereign, etrac, ctx, safari, excal......fisher CZ's.....and pulse induction are: Sand Shark, Infinium, ATX, TDI, etc.....
If you are serious about beach hunting the Sand Shark is the cheapest route and is waterproof.....I love the Sovereign GT on the beach though!

 

[EastCoastmetal]

ok thanks.

So maybe I should just really bite the bullet and go for the ATX !

How does the ATX stack up against the Sovereign GT ?

Started at $400 ish now over $3000 ish lol , but whats the point of a lesser machine if you just going to walk over and miss gold etc.

I guess I need to start selling off some of my junk .....

 

[John-Edmonton]

ok thanks.

So maybe I should just really bite the bullet and go for the ATX !

How does the ATX stack up against the Sovereign GT ?


Started at $400 ish now over $3000 ish lol , but whats the point of a lesser machine if you just going to walk over and miss gold etc.

I guess I need to start selling off some of my junk .....

The AT Pro is probably your best fit for you at the moment. Water proof, excellent ID/tone quality, nice depth. Depending on your salt concentrations where you hunt and how you set it up, it might just be OK for you. Here's a video:

Garrett Video "AT Pro Saltwater Use Tips "

Switching to the ATX takes you to a new level, which might not be suited to your hunting styles at the moment. You lose your discrimination capabilities like the ACE 400 or AT Pro. Running a PI like the ATX will get you the deepest search pattern by far.......especially as the salt and/or mineralization increases. The ATX is extremely sensitive. I have dug dimes at 15", but that was at a selective spot. The ATX will beep on ALL targets. Even bits of wire and also tiny match head size pieces of gold. In a trashy area like a park or school, the ATX sounds off like a machine gun, picking up bits of iron disced out by other detectors. If you are new to metal detecting, don'y get a PI. unless you are prepared to dig thousands of targets, or, hunt areas with few targets but either deep coins and/or gold is known to exist.



Learn a VLF detector very well first, then take a look at other machines available on the market to fulfill your hunting requirements. Also, keep in mind, that any particular make/brand does not "do it all" so as a result, many hunters own more then one detector.

Good luck with your search. FYI, both the AT Pro and ACE 400 International do well on Canadian clad.

 

[DiggerinVA]

If beach hunting is your main objective....there is no doubt I would go with a used Sovereign GT or an Excal if you want waterproof.

 

[DiggerinVA]

By the way.....there is a nice Sovereign GT for sale on this forum right now. The Excalibur II can be bought for less than $1500, a good deal cheaper than an ATX and more suited for beach hunting. I like the ATX but if I lived closer to the ocean it would not be my first choice. It is almost like those Minelab beach machine "sniff out" the good stuff on the beach! My second target I ever dug at the OBX with my Sovereign was a 14k ring.......dumb luck? Maybe....but a few pulltabs was the only real "trash" I dug all week. And digging iron is not a problem with the Minelabs.

 

[EastCoastmetal]

Beach hunting wont be my main objective, but most likely will be 50 percent of it or more. I most likely will end up getting the AT pro since its about all i can afford, maybe i will get lucky and find something worth enough to pay for a ATX or some other beach detector. Or maybe i will find that the AT pro is all I need/want.

 

[DiggerinVA]

The AT pro gets a lot of mixed reviews but I personally think it is a great machine and it is a true "jack of all trades" so to speak. Very versatile and quite able to make some great finds.....several of my best finds were made with the AT pro. It does struggle on beaches with high amounts of black sand like the OBX. But you may get lucky and find enough good stuff to buy a Sand Shark in just a short time. Stick with the PRO MODE and leave the standard mode alone.....it is a whole different machine in the pro mode. Good Luck!

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

ok thanks.

So maybe I should just really bite the bullet and go for the ATX !

How does the ATX stack up against the Sovereign GT ?

Started at $400 ish now over $3000 ish lol , but whats the point of a lesser machine if you just going to walk over and miss gold etc.

I guess I need to start selling off some of my junk .....

This is what happens to me when I go car shopping. lol

 

[banjonyc]

I almost exclusively hunt salt water beaches near me in NYC. I have the AT Pro, Whites Beach Hunter ID 300 and I am awaiting arrival for my Excalibur 2 any day now. The AT Pro is just so awful in Salt Water. It falses constantly, and is incredibly unstable. (I love the pro for dry sand and land). If you even touch the sand with the AT Pro it will false. If you bring it into the water, it will false unless you turn the sensitivity down to almost nothing. My ID 300 on the other hand is a rock. It never falses and you can even skim the sand with the coil and it will not false. (Skimming can give you a little extra depth) I love the 300 and you can get a brand new one for about 925.00. Once I get my Excalibur I will sell my whites. The AT Pro is a great little machine and a nice land hunter too. It is also extremely light which is nice, but salt water/wet sand...I don't love...my 2 cents

 

[Greastart]

John,
Thanks for posting this video! I'm in southern Baja right now. Have little MD experience and my AT Pro was going crazy over wet salt sand. Have never hunted any sort of salt sand beach (wet or dry) and was very discouraged on my first outing. Today is a work day, but tomorrow I'll try some or all of the suggestions made here.

Grease

 

[rick67]

This is what happens to me when I go car shopping. lol

Ain't that the truth.