AT Pro issues?

[boss driver]

Looking for some help here. Just moved from a BH Platinum to my new AT Pro. Bought it brand new so no "used" unknowns. Issue: won't hit a clad dime beyond about 5-6 inches in my test bed. A quarter won't hit beyond about 10". Took it out to some old closed down housing, expected to hit lots of coins but didn't have much luck. In fact, I dug a quarter at about 5 inches but the detector was trying to talk me out of digging the target from the start. I know it takes awhile to learn a new machine...this was only my third outing with it, but the issue with the test bed dime and the quarter looking like a trashy target have me concerned. Currently running the 8.5 x 11 DD. Any inputs from Pro owners?

 

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[wecoyote]

Things I've learned with my AT Pro,
1) manual ground balance with as low a GB number possible.
2) Pro zero mode
3) Sens 1 or 2 down from max (or lower if your ground is noisy)
4) iron disc about 25 to 30 (unless you are wanting Iron targets then set to 0)
5) get the 5X8 coil. Lighter and can separate targets better than the 8.5X11
6) learn the tones, trash usually has odd sounds at the start and end of the target.
7) practice, practice, practice..

 

[PullTabProphet]

wecoyote nailed it as far as the ATPro is concerned. Consider what he posted above as your basic operators manual/Starting point.

I found the 5x8 coil much easier to learn the machine on as well. As far as your depth issues, if the above settings don't help then maybe put a call in to Garrett and see what they have to say. They are a very customer service oriented company.

Good luck.

 

[Sandman]

Those depths might be the max where you live. Not all detectors are built equal, even of the same brand. Wecoyote gave good advice, especially about the smaller coil. I have no confidence in my ATP. On a side note-those iffy tones might be a coin on edge or a ring.

 

[RobRieman]

Those numbers sound good to me on a new test bed with the ATPro. That's about all I get hunting with mine.

 

[gleaner1]

Clad dimes should air test to 6" or more with big dd max sense, I will try mine again soon. How long has the clad been buried in test bed? Clad quarter at 10" is awfully good. Clad dimes are small and not the greatest conductors. If you freshly bury a clad dime 3" deep in dry soil, atpro has a very hard time finding it, I dont know why but that's the way they are. Double check your gb. It is impossible to gb to the "lowest number possible". You just gb the machine to the number that is dictated by the soil you are on.

 

[boss driver]

Thanks all. Strapped the 5x8 on. Loses a little depth but will run the next hunt with it. Currently in England so the local coins are tricky to learn as we'll. any further tips appreciated.

 

[opee]

I use pro zero mode. Ground balance and manually set 4 or 5 below. This seems to work best for me.

 

[signal]

make sure you have not notched out any range with the notch disc, if you notched out the dime area that would explain it

 

[DiggerinVA]

If you want to hit quarters much over 10 inches......10 TRUE INCHES....I advise you get another machine. Probably a PI machine!

 

[barrywk]

funny you should say that diggerinva....just a few hours ago i pulled a penny from ten inches...A TRUE TEN INCHES from the middle of some woods in heavy clay...dont know how it got that that deep,but i got a great signal on it and dug and dug until the signal was out of the hole....unfortunatly it was completely toasted...PS...with my ATPRO...lol

 

[barrywk]

OH...by the way...that was with the 5 x 8 coil

 

[bigfish313]

I just bought my AT Pro 5 days ago. Had it out about 5 times so far and haven't found much. I did find my first silver ring with it yesterday but the ring was barely below the surface.
I was wondering about how deep this AT Pro would go, so I did some testing. I was in Pro Coin mode with the stock coil the whole time.
Air test: Dime 6" Quarter 7" Silver half 7" and Silver Dollar 7". Yard test: I pounded a 2" diameter PVC pipe 6" deep into the ground and removed the plug. Measured the hole again at 6" with a ruler and dropped in a quarter. My brand new AT Pro could not find it in Pro coin mode or any other mode I tried.

 

[Jeremy S]

Deeper old coins won't give you a solid # or ID, especially if there is iron or other junk in the soil. I have dug many deep pennies that were well over 8", most of them were iffy signals that would bounce around from the 60s to low 80s. Last summer I found a signal that was all over the place, but swinging the coil low and slow in one spot would sometimes get a repeatable high tone with a VDI in the 80s. Iron audio grunted like crazy. I dug it and several inches down was a 35' Washington quarter standing on end but I also found several nails in the same hole.

Use headphones if you already aren't. They help you hear the faint high tones of deeper objects. Sometimes on really deep coins you will get a faint high tone but no VDI numbers.

I typically run mine in Pro: Zero, nothing discriminated out, iron disc at 30, and sensitivity adjusted based on the amount of targets/trash/....

10" is a stretch for a coin with the AT Pro in my experience. It could probably detect a coin that deep, but I doubt it would give a nice sweet high tone or VDI number, the tones and ID would be much lower and broken up.

 

[DiggerinVA]

Ground matrix makes a huge difference in the atp's depth dept. I dug a U.S. cartridge plate at 14 measured inches with the ATpro last year....but it was iding it as foil.

 

[DiggerGal]

I had the same issue with the ATP. After spending time with it and embracing Iron Audio, it helped tremendously. While out swinging the coil, I guess at what the target is before I dig and I am now at about 90% right on. I'm still newer to the hobby but every time out I learn a little more about the targets and the machines language.
I have heard both pos. and neg. on the Iron Audio, but for me it really helps discern the targets. Good luck!

 

[gleaner1]

I had the same issue with the ATP. After spending time with it and embracing Iron Audio, it helped tremendously. While out swinging the coil, I guess at what the target is before I dig and I am now at about 90% right on. I'm still newer to the hobby but every time out I learn a little more about the targets and the machines language.
I have heard both pos. and neg. on the Iron Audio, but for me it really helps discern the targets. Good luck!

After four seasons with atpro, believe me, Iron Audio (IA) is the exact opposite of what you want to use if you want to id targets by audio. If you want to id targets by audio, run pro mode, zero iron scrim, notch everything in, IA OFF. That way, you get TRUE audio id on everything. Iron sounds low, gold, lead, foil, aluminum, brass, and the like will sound mid, and copper and silver will sound high pitch. When you turn iron audio ON, ALL TARGETS ABOVE THE IRON SCRIM NUMBER up to 40 WILL SOUND MID TONE. Any iron targets below the iron scrim number will sound like iron with the enhanced audio scratchy sounds. For example, if you have your iron scrim set to forty, and IA ON, it will sorta act normal, but a lot more talky on iron. If you have your iron scrim set to forty, that negates ever even needing IA to begin with. Now, if you have your iron scrim number set to say 20, IA ON, all the iron between 20 and 40 will sound mid tone, which is absurd, it should sound low tone, right? It's iron. If you set iron scrim to zero and IA on, ALL IRON WILL SOUND MID TONE, which is ludicrous, and the machine becomes essentially worthless. That is why Garrett tells us not to use IA in the trash. So I can't understand how IA helps anybody at all. IA is just a gimmicky thing to help newbs id rusty bottle caps, but these are much easier to identify WITHOUT IA once you get weened off it. You should never hunt with IA on all the time. It is designed only to help id certain iron, specifically round iron, which tends to fool vlf machines by popping high pitch. With atpro, nails and rusty can bits and such never pop high and are rock solid low tone all the time, even with sense cranked max 8. If you learn atpro without IA, you will be a much, much better atpro user.

 

[DiggerGal]

Hmmmm. Interesting. I guess I discern pitch differently (I am a musician).
Interesting point and well received! I hunt in Pro coin with discrim at 35 with IA. So on my next outing I will hunt in Pro 0 with IA off.
My confusion lies with the knowledge or distinguishing multiple targets in the same plug area. I'm waiting for the dual tones but to no avail that are separate or irratic. I guess the IA helps me discern the absolute from the scrap, however, I want to be great at this, without the dependencies of gimmicks. It really helped me with the bottle caps lol! I would be just fine not digging another one unless of course it was the laced cork of a Louis XIV in gold! Lol

 

[boss driver]

Thanks again for inputs. Spent my last hunt in pro 0. Iron disc set at 35. Dug a lot of trash but think it's somewhat necessary to learn what it's telling me and become comfortable not digging something. Found a King George III half penny at 8 inches with the 8x11.5 coil. Was iffy but got enough high tone hits to go ahead and dig.

 

[Jeremy S]

I retrieve a lot of trash. Sometimes getting that trash out of the way un-masks better targets. Some of my best finds had non-repeatable iffy signals