Advice on proper settings for AT Pro in wet saltwater sand

[Chad1978]

Hi there. I went to New Smyrna Beach today with my Garrett AT Pro and was getting false signals all the time. It was displaying 39-42(iron) on almost every swing,. I tried to decrease the false signals by doing an auto ground discrimination to 13 and then to drop the sensitivity down 2 notches form the highest level. Was still getting false signals. Any advice on the best settings to use in saltwater soaked sand or in saltwater with the AT Pro. I have heard stories that this detector, while able to detect in all environment, is not the best detector for beach hunting.

thanks in advance for any advice on proper settings or best practices.

 

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[DirtsUp]

I haven't had time to use mine yet, but the user book states how to sit the At Pro up for salt water use. I think it said some-where about 20 with the ground-balance...Good Luck

 

[Chad1978]

I tried auto tuning the ground balance and it stopped at 13, but still had constant signals in the 39ish range. I did try to increase the ground balance and had the same result. I guess ti just takes practice learning to distinguish false from real hits...

 

[signal]

You have to drop it down much more than two bars from max. When I hunt the beach I hunt two bars from max, in the DRY sand. The wet requires tuning down the sensitivity quite a bit, as well as ground balance. And its still not that great, as its a single frequency VLF machine.

 

[tcornel]

13 to 14 sounds about right in the wet salt sand. Sensitivity usually about 3 bars from top depending............

Even then the depth is limited. That is the only reason my ATP got relegated to backup status to the ctx.

 

[Terry Soloman]

It Is NOT a saltwater machine. It is like any other single frequency VLF - you have to drop the sensitivity to almost zero, and cut your depth to about 1/3 of what you can expect in the dry sand. Get a Tesoro Sand Shark for wet work!

 

[FragFox]

Thanks for posting and your comments. I thought the Pro was capable of wet beaches. Good to know when I upgrade!

 

[SouthFLdigger]

I took out my Teknetics G2 (V 4.0) with the 11 DD coil, as i always do on the beach here in Miami Beach. This weekend the water salinity level was particularly high. I began as i usually do by ground balancing on the soaking salty wet sand, most of the goodies here come from the water or wet sand after sand has been eroded away. Even at a Ground phase of 0.0 on my G2, it would go off on pockets of buildup salt mineralization. Although it remained quiet it would false on salt mineral buildup constantly. I found a pull tab buried the tab down to 6" and the G2 would not see it running at 100% gain!. Tried it in all metal and it would see it but noisy, now this is usually not the case down here, the G2 works pretty well half the days, but some days salt content is too high even for the G2. I got fed up and brought out the CZ-20 and as expected it went deep no matter the salt. My G2 air tests 12-13" with a repeatable whisper on a nickel at 100% gain 39 disc, same results as the dry sand. The AT-Pro is a VLF machine like the G2, and while it can ground balance to salt it will have very limited depth when salinity is high. When salinity is low or normal, depth is decent at about 6-7 inches on a quarter in wet salty sand for the AT-Pro. This however is only half what the AT-Pro can do in dry sand, and for the beach depth rules!

 

[Auriemma]

Custom: PRO mode
DISC 35
GB it (NJ beach is like 10) and keep checking it
IRON AUDIO your choice
SENS low enough to stop chatter
Dig everything over 40.

It's been said that the ATPro isn't a saltwater machine, it's not. But that doesn't mean it won't work. It truly depends on the beach/water conditions or your area.

FYI... I never had to drop my sensitivity lower than 4-5 bars at the worst. I stilled pulled out a bobby pin at 6 inches. So, yes. It will work.

HH

 

[JSMITH]

I have used my AT Pro on the beaches up here in washington state with good success. I usually run mine in Pro Custom mode, iron disc 35, auto GB in a target free area (important), sensitivity two bars down from max is where it usually settles down and quits chattering. Work parallel to the waters edge and ground balance agian everytime you move towards or away from the water. Never have had any issues finding the good stuff. HH!

 

[nathan104]

For salt beach hunting with the at pro would the 5x8 coil be good or best to use the regular larger coil?

 

[JSMITH]

For salt beach hunting with the at pro would the 5x8 coil be good or best to use the regular larger coil?

The size of coil best suited for the beach would be dependent on the amount of trash present in my opinion. The large stock coil and smaller 5x8 are both DD coils so they function the same in respect to being on a saltwater beach.
More trash=smaller coil
Less trash=larger coil

 

[Auriemma]

More trash=smaller coil
Less trash=larger coil

That about covers it. You can use the 5x8 anywhere, but you just cover less ground.

 

[signal_line]

Bury a test target and tune to it (manual ground balance) for the best response. You can even try to hold the coil up an inch or two. Many people cringe at the thought of reducing the sensitivity level. It doesn't take nearly as much depth off a good target as one would think. Try it.

 

[cudamark]

For salt beach hunting with the at pro would the 5x8 coil be good or best to use the regular larger coil?

Use the biggest coil you can. Coverage is important in such a huge area to search.