At pro depth issues

[RobRieman]

Send it in Eureka! with a note explaining exactly what you have going on and that it is intermittent. I would bet they just replace the board and send it back brand new. It is not worth their time trying to troubleshoot cold solder joints and such, they just replace the whole board as they make them in such quantity that they are very inexpensive.

 

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[Fletch88]

Is your ground hot? Where does the machine GB at? I've seen ground where an Etrac struggles on 5-6" targets.

 

[diggininms]

Is your ground hot? Where does the machine GB at? I've seen ground where an Etrac struggles on 5-6" targets.

How do you tell hot ground? My at pro gbs at about 80 and my t2 gb at anywhere from high 50s to 70.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

How do you tell hot ground? My at pro gbs at about 80 and my t2 gb at anywhere from high 50s to 70.

thats about out where my numbers are in Texas..75-80s. When I went to Florida..they dropped to the low 20s

 

[MackDog]

thats about out where my numbers are in Texas..75-80s. When I went to Florida..they dropped to the low 20s

Here in Spokane GB is88-96 and Pro has no problem with it

 

[diggininms]

Im in mississippi

 

[pgfhgs]

I am in the camp of those who like their AT Pro, Iron audio, pro mode, and time on the machine. What I have found is when in trashy area's you must have headphones on. you can hear the high tones when Iron is masking the goodies. Using the tone and the target id I can tell a dime, quarter, copper penny, and zinc penny. I have had many finds in the 6" to 8" range. Sometimes I think people forget the AT Pro is a good value medium grade machine. Its not a $1,500.00 MD nor was it supposed to be.

 

[MackDog]

When I go detecting with other club members we all use the At Pro. When I get a good signal (deep) they all come by and check it out. Almost always they can hear and detect it with their machines, the problem is they don't find it on their own. This is what the problem is technique, go slow and methodical. Let your machine translate every signal. You also get better deeper signals in less trashy or target rich areas. Sometimes I get 2 or 3 signals in an area and only one is good. Sometimes you have to dig the trash signals to be able to pinpoint the deeper signal. Another thing is sometimes the depth reading on you detector is not always 100% right. If it sounds good dig down a couple of extra inches, I'm totally amazed at how many good finds I get from other peoples holes. I had a good 80-90 (usually a deep indian head) signal saying 8 inches. I started to dig and I pulled out someones fresh cut 6" plug, stuck my pinpointed in and nothing. I dug out another inch tried the pointer again and got a good read dug another inch and found a 1903 Indian Head XF.

 

[MackDog]

I am in the camp of those who like their AT Pro, Iron audio, pro mode, and time on the machine. What I have found is when in trashy area's you must have headphones on. you can hear the high tones when Iron is masking the goodies. Using the tone and the target id I can tell a dime, quarter, copper penny, and zinc penny. I have had many finds in the 6" to 8" range. Sometimes I think people forget the AT Pro is a good value medium grade machine. Its not a $1,500.00 MD nor was it supposed to be.

The At Pro in the hands of someone who can use it right will almost always out do an expensive machine in the hands of some one who doesn't know thier machine. I have a 12 inch screw driver to hunt parks and my At Pro sometimes pushes that so I don't know need a deeper machine.

 

[bzbadger]

I wonder if quality has gone down because my machine is two years old, I don't have these problems. My machine goes deep with no issues and I even decided to use a Nel coil however I started finding targets at 18" and I got tired real quick of digging that deep for a penny or dime.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

The At Pro in the hands of someone who can use it right will almost always out do an expensive machine in the hands of some one who doesn't know thier machine. I have a 12 inch screw driver to hunt parks and my At Pro sometimes pushes that so I don't know need a deeper machine.

exactly, which is glad I started off with a cheaper machine..alot of people think the best machine out there is the easiest to use


you can have a 500hp car but if you don't know how to shift gears...your shiii out of luck

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

I wonder if quality has gone down because my machine is two years old, I don't have these problems. My machine goes deep with no issues and I even decided to use a Nel coil however I started finding targets at 18" and I got tired real quick of digging that deep for a penny or dime.

Lol...after about the 3rd 18" target..it's time for a break.

Do you get clean numbers at that depth using a nel coil?

 

[bzbadger]

Was getting consistent numbers. Found a pea sized lead shot at 18" on a marshy beach assumed it was shotgun lead but was super deep in a wet mineralized sandy area

 

[MackDog]

Was getting consistent numbers. Found a pea sized lead shot at 18" on a marshy beach assumed it was shotgun lead but was super deep in a wet mineralized sandy area

which Nel are you using?

 

[Pointman]

When I had the AT Pro, I purchased the 5 x 8" coil about 6 months after using it. The coil wouldn't pick my Sampson up past 10 inches. I called Garrett and they replaced the coil and told me to keep the old one. We tried placing the coil on another machine and it wouldn't work either.

 

[bzbadger]

I use the Nel hunter coil and I got so tired of finding stuff that was too deep to dig because the depth meter goes to 10" well you don't know how far past 10" the target is and just like a real badger I am tenacious and refuse to stop digging till I get the target so I thought id make a smart change in coils and bought the Nel sharpshooter which is like the 5x8 but only in size..this little monster had me digging up 12" or more. Yes you can turn down the sensitivity but these coils still will ring on deep targets but wont display so that's another problem. Seriously I feel bad complaining about finding too deep of targets when there are others that cant find a dime off the tip of the coil. I've gone back to the regular 5x8 DD and only when I'm going to a fished out area ir if I want to mess with ppl in our club with their Deus or 3030's do I bring out the Nel coils and purposely walk behind them and yank targets. I'll run my Garrett with a Nel coil against any of the supposed big boys any day. I found a denim pants rivet over a foot deep with my 5x8 other day so I've no clue what others issues are, wish I could help

 

[MackDog]

In Spokane we don't have a lot of pre 1880 history so there's not much really deep stuff. I know my Nel Storm will go deep but I think the best thing is it covers so much area. If there's metal near the edge it will respond, it's like detecting with a garbage can lid. Once you get a signal you have to center it to determine if it's good.

 

[littlewheaty]

Lmao!! I just cant believe the depths you guys are reporting for such small targets. Im not saying you guys are lying, I just have to see it to believe it. Then again i have never used a nel coil either, so that could be why i have a hard time believing it . I can only recall a couple videos of people using nel coils and they were testing in new gardens, so I cant put much stock in that. I think i am gonna check the coils out though before i decide on upgrading to another machine. I have the 6x9 concentric and the 4 inch sniper now. Wish i would of got the 5x8 instead but the detector shop i been buying from strongly recommended the 6x9 so i got it. Hes the one that pushed the pro on me too. Lol me being new to the hobby and wanting a detector really bad i just took his word for it. I usually dont make purchases like that but for some reason i did and im not totally unhappy with the machine i just wish i would of did some research first.
I got the machine and started hunting everyday all day and a lot of times in to the night. Which i like night hunting a lot better. I was mainly hunting my yards but i would go off to a couple old parks and a older school just to change it up. I thought i learned the machine for the most part pretty quick. I could pinpoint and id a target id say after about 40 50 hrs of use. I was to the point i felt confident with it. I know there's still things to learn about detecting in general though since i only been doing this almost a year now.
I noticed after while i wasnt finding anything over four inches and thought something wasnt right. So i did some reading and watching videos. Thats what led me to this site. I lurked on here a while before ever signing up lol, and glad i did. I have got some very good information off tnet. So i finally decided to post my problem because i couldnt find anything directly related to my situation and their were a lot of mixed reviews about the machine. After posting i believe it was MUD that said do an air test. Air test?? Everything I read about air test said pretty much their worthless. I have done an airtest in the beginning but that was mainly to hear the different sounds of targets.
So I did it with a ruler to get an exact number. I couldnt hit a quarter a six inches. So I called garrett and told them about the problem of not finding anything over 4 inches. They told me to do an air test, I told them i did and the numbers. He said yeah its not right send it in. So I did and got it back less than 7 days. I did an air test when i got it back and i could hit a quarter at 10 inches. I had to swing it just right though, if i swung it too slow or too fast it wouldnt hit. Overall it was better than it was when i sent it off. Now i just need to go out and see if I can get the coil over some deep targets while i wait for my test garden to mature.
Im still not sure about ground balance and emi. I get a ground balance 83 to 86 here at most my sites. Which seems high from what i have heard about missouri. Even garrett told me, he thought i should be in the 70s for this area. At my moms farm i am in the 70s, everywhere else im in the upper 80s which dont make sense to me. The only thought i have is maybe im getting interference. The other areas i hunt have lots of wifi signals. I bet one spot i hunt has 70 are more wifi signals in the air, but garrett told me wifi shouldnt cause emi. He told me that they never had any problems reported with emi on the at pro, in the world. So i havent figured out why i have such a high ground balance number. Upper 80s is what i hear people in high mineralized soil get and here in missouri i hear we dont have high mineralized soil.
Sorry for for such a long post. I hate reading long post and usually dont make it threw them lol. I just dont have anything to compare too and after having one problem with the machine i question it now. I enjoy the hobby but to truly enjoy it i have to be 100 percent sure my machine is functioning properly. Like digging rivets 18 inches deep lol. I think i need a hunting buddy or try another brand of machine to truly know if the machine is ok. Anyways i said enough and thanks for everyones replies to this thread!

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

hey littlewheaty . I do think the machines vary from each other. My hunting buddy and I both used ATP around each other and would call to come check a hole with the other machine...mainly to brag we got a target..lol

but I noticed his numbers were slighty off on most targets..it would still read good. But the numbers were off

now I've never dug a rivet at 18" I use the 5x8 and have pulled tiny targets around 10-12 max..usually if I'm digging deeper than that..I know it's something big

 

[littlewheaty]

hey littlewheaty . I do think the machines vary from each other. My hunting buddy and I both used ATP around each other and would call to come check a hole with the other machine...mainly to brag we got a target..lol

but I noticed his numbers were slighty off on most targets..it would still read good. But the numbers were off

now I've never dug a rivet at 18" I use the 5x8 and have pulled tiny targets around 10-12 max..usually if I'm digging deeper than that..I know it's something big

My bad i got that confused with the pea size lead shot. Yeah i agree with the numbers being different. Cant remember what mackdog said a indian head penny read on his but mine reads like a 76 if its not to deep.
For some reason i wanna stay loyal to garrett but after reading so many reviews and having one problem i think i have to try another machine