A good detector that runs QUIET....until you actualy get a good target?

[marco]

About two years ago I bought the Ace 250 after not having a detector since I was about 14...Im mid 40's now. I had fun with the Ace, no problems...a big pile of clad, but no old silver. A few months ago I upgraded to the ATPro. Seems like a pretty good detector and my pile of clad and a few rings is growing...BUT...I'm getting pretty tired of hearing chatter and chirps pretty much every single swing, no matter where I go...no matter what mode or frequency. Weeding thru the chatter for the repeatable signals is obviously what its all about....when I get a repeatable I double check it with Iron Audio, then see what Ive got. But I just cant help but wonder...is there another brand...or specific model...that will give me a nice, quiet detecting experience...and then ONLY sound off when I hit a target within my Disc settings? Ive read some pretty conflicting statements here about which detector is better for this or that...everyone has preferences. I just want to be able to stop off at an old park after work...swing away for 30-45 minutes, and relax. I can afford a machine in the $500-$700 range...and in that range what I really want is something that gives me the chance to pull some old silver or gold...but not have to listen to a chattering bird in my ear.

 

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[Lanny in AB]

This may or may not be the case, but is your sensitivity turned way up? (Is you sensitivity adjustable?) If so, it will make your detector very noisy. If you can adjust it, try turning the sensitivity down. Are you near electrical interference? Maybe your detector can't be adjusted for that. Can you ground balance your machine? If not, that could also make it noisy.

For coin hunting, I have a Minlab X-Terra 705 that hunts like a dream, and I can make it run noisy, or quiet, depending on how I adjust it. If I have the sensitivity turned way up in non-trashy ground it chatters away like a flock of parrots arguing in the jungle, but it sure finds the deep, small stuff that way. The X-Terra is awfully close to the price range you've specified as well. (Moreover, my wife uses it to hunt for nuggets right beside me while I'm out chasing nuggets with my Minelab 5000.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[marco]

Thanks for the post. I do have adjustable sens...I rarely have it over about 50%...the Atpro has bars so i cant set a specific number. I dont think I've ever run it full blast. Just today i was in the middle of a very big soccer field...disc setting just for dimes and above...low sens....and every single swing gave me a chirp or two. Maybe thats just the nature of the beast with middle range detectors....or...is it? I can ignore the chirps and sputters and wait for the repeatable signals...but how am I to weed out faint deep signals when im listening to half a dozen chirps every two swings? Are minelabs silent when set up right? Is ANY good detector silent when set up right? 2 months and I havent seen one silver coin yet...and Im hitting parks that have been around 50+ years.

 

[marco]

Oh.....and I can and do ground balance...every time.
Its not that the Atpro is so chatterboxy I cant even use it.....my pile of coins grows every time I go out...but...I really am curious if there are any other detectors that have a specific reputation for running quiet....and respectably deep.
Under $1,000.

 

[gleaner1]

Is your iron audio turned off? I would try pro mode, custom, notch out everything but the top two or three bars. Iron audio OFF. Sense at no more than three bars. Set iron scrim to max (40). Now this will be pretty quiet until you hit something that is a good target.

 

[marco]

Thanks for the replies. I run with Iron Audio off....and just use it to check signals before I dig. I have gone out 2 times since that last post, and I learned something....Some Parks Are Terrible!....and Some Are Great! Im not talking about the finds....just the complete trash saturation in some parks can be so bad...even with disc pretty high I still have a squawky machine...its just overload. On the flip side...I found a schoolyard full of clad ( no silver yet)...where I can finaly run in stock jewelry mode and pretty much walk in silence until I hit a real target. There's no real trash! 2 hours and every hole was a coin...not one single pull-tab....I found my training ground.
Question if anyone with an AT reads this....Will I lose depth with high disc? Will staying in pro mode help depth if I go high disc?

 

[gleaner1]

Dont worry about losing depth with high disc, you run high disc when the site dictates high disc. Run low sense in the trash to increase number of finds. Sounds crazy, right?

 

[marco]

I guess after I get my fill of my quiet, easy spot...I should go back to trash park and go high disc low sens. I was already setting disc at around penny and up(or higher) and sens no higher than half...and with that I could still barely go 2 feet without 4-5 chirps. I hate to disc out the gold range. Nowdays one gold ring would pay a good percentage of my AT.

 

[gleaner1]

marco, set disc lower, sense higher, use iron audio, get your mind off quiet and embrace the cacophony, and get yer tectin mojo goin full bore and fill that pouch with some good finds.

 

[Sandman]

I have used the AT PRO enough to get to know it pretty well and now I won't use it anymore. It just doesn't have what it takes to be a detector you want to not waste time with. I have lots of experience with many machines and brands but the higher end Minelabs. I really do very well with two land detectors and these are the Tejon and Sov GT. Both have pros and cons but both lack meters which lie anyway. Both are rock solid quiet till you get over a target within your disc settings. I can wave the coils in the air and there are no chirps. I can whip the coils through thick grass and there are no chirps but they respond to coins over a foot in the ground I balance in.

I have a hard time deciding which one of the two I will use. AT Pro now just hangs on a wall without batteries. It can't make any noise that way and it has been back to Garrett a few times.

 

[sniffer]

you also have to remember, if you set your discrimination to high you WILL miss targets. I don't know if there are any detectors that run quiet until you hit a target. I like the back ground hum. with the etrac it will go silent when you cross over iron. thing that I'm getting at is, if you want to find the good stuff, you'll have to put up with some noise.
swing it one way and you get a faint chirp, swing it back and nothing, swing it back and you get a chirp, well, I'm going to be digging because the good find could be sitting next to a piece of junk.

 

[HuntNdig]

Thanks for the replies. I run with Iron Audio off....and just use it to check signals before I dig. I have gone out 2 times since that last post, and I learned something....Some Parks Are Terrible!....and Some Are Great! Im not talking about the finds....just the complete trash saturation in some parks can be so bad...even with disc pretty high I still have a squawky machine...its just overload. On the flip side...I found a schoolyard full of clad ( no silver yet)...where I can finaly run in stock jewelry mode and pretty much walk in silence until I hit a real target. There's no real trash! 2 hours and every hole was a coin...not one single pull-tab....I found my training ground.
Question if anyone with an AT reads this....Will I lose depth with high disc? Will staying in pro mode help depth if I go high disc?

I know what you mean, of course my detector is ALOT cheaper but watch this! Jump to 4:30 and watch the next 30 seconds or so! This was me detecting a lot where a hoarder lived!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Something you might consider....The Minelab Sovereign GT has a setting called "Silent Search". YOu set your settings like you nomally would, then switch to silent search, you will not hear any of the normal background noise, but will hear any solid signal....It is a great feature of the Minelab Sov GT, I have tested it hundreds of times and yet to see it miss a target in silent search that it saw in normal search....

 

[marco]

I watched that video...and Man that sure was close to what I get if I dont run disc high and sens low at the big park by me. Pure trash saturation.
I have posted a few threads on different subjects lately..and the answer to a few of my somewhat different questions seem to end up coming back to one detector...Minelab Sovereign. I know this is off topic....but I cant help but wonder if the E-trac is that much better than the sovereign performance wise....as in...will they BOTH sound off to the same deep dime in bad soil with Iron nearby? One giving you a readout...the other just making its own tones for you to decipher?

 

[Smudge]

Marco,

$500-$700? If you don't need a screen, take a look at the Tesoro Golden uMax. It sells for less than $500.00. It's also really lightweight (so your arm won't get tired) and runs off of 1 9-volt battery (lasts a long time).

You can play around with notch discrimination on it and find the right setting. It really helps you to knock out a lot of trash (but not all of it by any means). This way you can spend your time digging better targets and it is a multi-tone detector to boot. So once you have your settings in place, you don't need a screen anymore. Just dig those solid signals!

Yes, I'm a Tesoro fan. They make this hobby fun and that sounds like something you're looking for.

And if you're worried about weather, they sell a rain/dust cover for the control box for about $15.

 

[Coin Digger]

Have no experience with the AT Pro, but has been my experience that every detector that I've used can be noisy if I swing to fast.
Maybe you just need to slow your sweep speed and give your machine time to think.

 

[LaTxHunter]

Try the Tesoro machines. I have a Pantera that I am about to have to get fixed that was very quiet until you hit something good. I also had a Golden Sabre that was quiet as well.

The Fishers go a tad deeper but chatter.

 

[RW]

If you want quiet do not consider the Etrac. I immediately thought Tesoro when reading your original post. I love the Golden but the Silver is even quieter. Of course you can't go wrong with the SovGT like everyone is suggesting either. Try out a cheap, used Tesoro uMax and sell it for what you paid if you don't like it. But I bet you will keep it!

 

[gmanlight]

Does your ATP false when you tap the coil or change direction.
Thy had problems with this. You might sent it in.

The Gold Bug Pro / G2 are very quiet machines .
I sometimes wave it over my boot to make sure its on.
I can run max Sensitivity 95% of the time.
Very easy to use and great in iron.

 

[yonglee]

I had similar problem with GTI1500 and Bounty Hunter. I switched to Minlab Explorer SE.
With iron out, it is all quiet even with max sensitivity. It is an expensive machine($1100 new)
but I think it is well worth the money. The machine also penetrates deep.