At pro

[units40]

What settings do people use to try to eliminate trash, like beer tops or old pop tabs... Just got the pro last week. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I mostly hunt at parks and beaches.

 

[Sapper724]

81 should be a copper penny, not a pull tab. 60 should be tabs

 

[lookindown]

I just had my AT Pro out last night. I am still learning as well. I had it at Pro/Coin, Descrim. at 40, sensitivity at 3 bars, make sure you ground balance it. I went to two different parks and one GB setting was at 50 and the other was at 70.

Also, I am learning the number, 78 would be bottle cap, 81 is a pull tab, (so is a dime on my machine) the numbers will jump around and 81 comes up as well.

Before I started I took out my own change to see the readings. I only dug those numbers all 90's and 50's in case of gold. If you dig 50's you will get some junk.

Good Luck

A pull tab should never read 81 unless it was a silver pull tab. Tabs read between 50 and 60. 81 is a dime or copper penny. 87 is a quarter. Do an air test and see if you get these same numbers.

 

[MiamiFox]

A pull tab should never read 81 unless it was a silver pull tab. Tabs read between 50 and 60. 81 is a dime or copper penny. 87 is a quarter. Do an air test and see if you get these same numbers.

Lookindown is right, tabs read between 50 and 60 and that's where I found my first gold last week.

Also, I now only use Pro mode with Iron audio on and have learned to hear that little grunt or ruff sound just before and after you pass over a bottle cap.

At home try putting a cap and a quarter on the ground a foot or two apart then close your eyes and just listen to the sounds, it helped me a lot.

 

[sandy shoes]

my AT pro reads Indian heads at 62- pennies at 76- dimes 81- quarters 86- gold rings 52 to 55- pull tabs 51 -53 nickels at 53-55 -silver at 86-90 i use freq 1 on fields and freq 4 on salt beaches and sens set three bars down from max. iron disk at 40 in pro coin mode. if i have a bouncy reading hit iron audio on it is normally foil or a bottle cap. i hope this helps .

 

[Prestigitation Digger]

I have an At Pro as well, I took it to the beach and park so far. It is hard to get use to the numbers jumping around (even if it is a coin)
I use the standard / coin mode with the dec. set at 40. and Iron off. I have done testing with coins, caps, and tabs. It is hard to figure out what is good vs. junk. I have watched tones of Youtube video on the At Pro. it is like they have a different machine then what I have.
The good thing is if there is metal in the ground it will pick it up. I was digging alot of gum foil at the beach. I hit the elem. button on that number and it keep beeping. When I went over foil. I read something that said it takes about 100 hrs. to figure out the good and bad sounds.

I have detected for years with the Whites Surfmaster PI, if there is metal it picks it up. I wanted a new machine to discriminate.
I have about 10 hrs on the AT PRO, so maybe 90 hrs I will be a pro.

100 hours to figure the sounds out? its all about how consistent the tone is with out a lot of break up on the tones edges and the number range being very small and consistent. don't be afraid to turn the sensitivity down too. this will help keep small coin tones sharper near a lot of trash. and those people frustrated with digging trash...it helps to clear an area of trash to find the good stuff. you will never clear a area of land in one visit. believe it or not but the soil moves around a lot after rain and especially after a winter thaw if you have inclement weather in your area. this soil movement may move objects to provide a better signal. overall patience and practice will grant you treasure!

 

[Cutaplug]

I always run the AT Pro with only iron and the 1st notch discriminated out. Then you can choose by the audio tone and numbers what you want to dig or not dig. If looking for gold rings and jewelry dig all from around 42 up. If only coins just dig the nickel signals and coins signals. You'll get used to the signals eventually and can easily distinguish trash from a good target. It comes with practice but always use PRO mode and listen to the audio signals.

 

[Harvo]

I had to send my AT PRO back to Garrett, the housing broke were the screw holds it to the handle. Is this a common issue? I just got the AT PRO a month ago.
I think I go it that way. The first time I used it the housing was loose, but I forgot to tighten it when I got home. Finally this weekend I discovered it was not loose but broke. Hopefully, I will get it back soon.

 

[marh415]

I agree that aluminum can get irritating as hell, but bottle caps have a distinct sound if you listen close enough in Pro mode. Lay one on the ground next to a coin and swing over the two of them! Good luck!

 

[bzbadger]

There is a site that shows the VDI #s for the ATP and is updated by the guy who maintains it from ppl who send in their target and the number it showed. I'd pit the site on here but I think it would violate the rules here. If you want it please PM me and I will gladly send you either the site or the list.

Get your facts first, then distort them as you please-Mark Twain

 

[Harvo]

I know this sounds dumb, but I never used the headphones. I just got my At Pro a month ago. Now I will. My AT Pro does not make the grunt sound as clear as it does when you are using the headphones. If you lay out coins rings and bottle caps, you can really tell the difference. I am going to have to get ear buds, I hate the big headphones. It is getting fixed now, but I am marking my spots for when I get it back.

 

[Jeremy S]

I found a deep 1918 wheat penny in my yard last night that had a bouncy signal from the high 50s to the 70s, depending on the angle of my coil swinging. I agree with the VDI numbers that others get, but old deep coins will never be a 100% ID like with the newer clad that is just a few inches deep. Very rarely do I find a coin deeper than 8" that has a good repeatable signal and ID. The easy silver was cherry picked years ago, whats left will be deep and a challenge.

If you discriminate too much you will miss the deep silver.


In newer parks I have been forced to discriminate though, especially when there is a ton of can slaw.

 

[Vladio]

I think I got my ATP down pretty well. First, regardless of what mode, once an object gets to a certain depth the machine won't read/sound like it normally does. Put a wheatie on the ground and swing back and forth as u lift the coil. At some height it'll go from a nice clean signal to sounding like trash. i skipped over good objects cause, at the depth the object was, it sounded different and not like what a penny, nickel, dime... Usually does. Standard mode help this out a little but pro mode give more info. I find that a good object - coins, rings... Usually give a signal that's more consistent. I took a wheatie, new clad penny, nickel, dime, bottle cap and pull tab and buried them in my yard at about 5-6" and go out and practice. There's no substitute for practicing! My coins give me a signal that rarely varies by more than 2-3 on the readout. I can now tell the difference between a clad and wheat penny. The lay of the object effects the reading too. A penny standing on edge will read different than one laying flat. There's just no easy way. Like I mentioned, practice makes it easier. My son would get pissed but has really gotten better with the test patch I made. You can make it however you like. Bury a penny along with a nail or a nickel with a pull tab. It's really easy to do and gives u something to do when u have a little spare time but not enough for a full-blown outing.

Also, I like to circle around a signal 360* while swinging. If the tone and number stay consistent, it's usually a good item. If, while I'm circling, it varies between a good signal to trash. A lot of times it's trash. Again, sometimes it might be good but in a precarious lay.

Unfortunately, there's no simple "Rule of thumb" that makes it easy. Find a good spot in your yard and bury a bunch of stuff (I did mine in a line about 18" apart) and practice.

Good luck!

 

[toe2short]

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My brother just purchased one. I set it up and took it on a hunt site that I go to all the time with my Safari. I found four coins, nothing to brag about, good machine. They had a great DVD that came with it. It was an hour long, they tell you and show you how to set discriminations. If I were you I would hunt on zero until you get the feel of it. I really liked it.

 

[bzbadger]

I agree with perses, guys the cool trick to make your ATP and dirt eating monster is to auto ground balance and the manually drop it by 5s until it starts to chatter then go back up some until its clear enough. By doing so it makes the targets scream in the ground. Like if you know that at 8-10" you are stretching to get a consistent signal then the GB tuning as I said will give you just that. I've been able to make targets that wouldn't show on the screen actually show by using the little trick. I've found targets measured at 18" using this.

Get your facts first, then distort them as you please-Mark Twain

 

[units40]

How do you manually ground balance the at pro.

 

[bzbadger]

Ok Units...first auto GB it and once that's done just push the GB button once then use the toggle button above it to raise or lower the GB, you want to lower it 5 then push the GB button again. Keep doing this till you hear chatter start and then go back and raise your numbers back up 5. Always hit the GB button when you're done to lock it in. Its no joke we've tested it and I've used it to find deep stuff. I found a little pea sized lead fishing sinker over a foot deep.

Get your facts first, then distort them as you please-Mark Twain

 

[units40]

Cool thanks for the help

 

[Vladio]

My 8yr old MD'ing lover and me hit up an old church today with the ATP. Found a '39 Nickel at a measured 10.5". But ATP's don't have much depth.

 

[Vladio]

I agree with perses, guys the cool trick to make your ATP and dirt eating monster is to auto ground balance and the manually drop it by 5s until it starts to chatter then go back up some until its clear enough. By doing so it makes the targets scream in the ground. Like if you know that at 8-10" you are stretching to get a consistent signal then the GB tuning as I said will give you just that. I've been able to make targets that wouldn't show on the screen actually show by using the little trick. I've found targets measured at 18" using this.

Get your facts first, then distort them as you please-Mark Twain

I experimented with this tonight and you're right. I got an 84 auto balancing then lowered it to 70. It added 1.75" to my depth without any "chatter" from minerals. With the big DD coil, I was hitting a solid tone at about 14" on a 1900 half dollar. Thanks!