Garrett Acer 250 thinking of changing

[Bluedogcards]

Hi all. been using a Acer 250 pretty good but been having a hard time with trash, it gives me a good tome but digging up crap steel, been looking at the At Pro, i know some of you all have used it. thoughts on what you think.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[pencil5757]

Get the AT Pro I have both and love both of them but the AT Pro has sounds that will let you learn the different good/bad targets plus much more!

 

[PaDirtDigger]

Pencil in what Pencil said... I have both as well. Well, i guess my son has the 250 now, haha...
I really like my Pro, with the price and all. And you wont have a hard time learning it either...

 

[bigfoot1]

what they said !!have a 350 loaner and a pro...no comparison

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

The AT Pro has better discrimination, and the target ID numbers and DD coil will help with trash.

Wayne

Metal Detector Sales Rental | Treasure Hunting | Metal Detecting Stuff

 

[digger460]

Newbie here with new AT PRO. Easy to learn. Like a lot of members say, get the 5 X 8 coil. Super at finding coins and silver. HH

 

[ohiochris]

The AT pro is a good detector and a nice upgrade but how long have you had the ace 250 and how often do you use it ? Dont take this wrong or be offended , but your complaints about the ace 250 sorta sound like newby frustration that we have all been through at some point. It takes a long time to fully learn a new detector and the tricks of how to read what they are telling you.

 

[Bluedogcards]

The AT pro is a good detector and a nice upgrade but how long have you had the ace 250 and how often do you use it ? Dont take this wrong or be offended , but your complaints about the ace 250 sorta sound like newby frustration that we have all been through at some point. It takes a long time to fully learn a new detector and the tricks of how to read what they are telling you.

I see your point had the 250 thinking 3 years now, i don't get alot of hours in using it but i try to get out when i can. if i were to add it up maybe 50 hours a year i am somewhat tone death but able to tell the diff in a good tone. or i think i am. I have put the diff coins down to see what the tone sounds like even silver and gold, , and only digging the good tones, i must be missing something cause i get alot of trash and that is expected, i got an old park that i hit and found an old home stead house that was taken down and made in to a park it is in the low income part of town and drug area, but i get left alone when am there so no trouble being there. i have watched the you tube videos on the 250 to see if am missing something, i just think a numbered system will be better.

 

[bigfoot1]

its sounds like you may REALLY like the 5x8 coil.our supporting vendors will work with you on that.It is so light and the balance is sooo good with that trash coil that I can hunt all day with no soreness.Learn your atpro in pro mode from day one.standard mode,while still a step up from 250,is like putting a restrictor on a hot rod.

atp is a sound machine in pro mode.you can soon tell what and how deep your targets are.Bottle caps in pro mode are effectively a done deal.onne will trick you ocassionally but you almost hve to laugh and tip your hat to it.

recomended setting to start out at a trashy park....pro mode...zero...iron descrim set to 40..one bar below max sensitivity..pump ground balance on a clean spot,then lower the number it settles on by 5

good luck and let us know how it goes !!!

 

[Bluedogcards]

I just thought instead of getting a new unit what if i changed to a better search coil , am still have the stock one that came with the unit

 

[bigfoot1]

then you will be running a new coil with the same electronics.a dd upgrade on a 250 is viable but it wont dramatically change performance.It will better seperate signals in trash but will not improve target id.the opposite may actually be the case as is often true when machine is tuned to concentric coil.concentric coils(like you have)are deeper but see less area at depth.

Personally if you want to step up,your gonna need a more capable,faster recovery and higher id capability machine.a new coil does none of these things for you.good luck on whatever you decide !!

 

[Bluedogcards]

then you will be running a new coil with the same electronics.a dd upgrade on a 250 is viable but it wont dramatically change performance.It will better seperate signals in trash but will not improve target id.the opposite may actually be the case as is often true when machine is tuned to concentric coil.concentric coils(like you have)are deeper but see less area at depth.

Personally if you want to step up,your gonna need a more capable,faster recovery and higher id capability machine.a new coil does none of these things for you.good luck on whatever you decide !!

Thanks Bigfoot for the advise, pretty much somes it up, i will be getting a new unit for next year, since winter is a pond us no need for it now, plus gives me time to save the AT Pro is kinda of costly

 

[ohiochris]

I see your point had the 250 thinking 3 years now, i don't get alot of hours in using it but i try to get out when i can. if i were to add it up maybe 50 hours a year i am somewhat tone death but able to tell the diff in a good tone. or i think i am. I have put the diff coins down to see what the tone sounds like even silver and gold, , and only digging the good tones, i must be missing something cause i get alot of trash and that is expected, i got an old park that i hit and found an old home stead house that was taken down and made in to a park it is in the low income part of town and drug area, but i get left alone when am there so no trouble being there. i have watched the you tube videos on the 250 to see if am missing something, i just think a numbered system will be better.

A numbered system is more accurate and does help. But with the 250 there are a bunch of tricks we use to help weed out junk targets , most of them are difficult to describe in writing and are something you just pick up as you go. But there is a size trick I can mention , if you get a good signal and it seems large you just lift the coil up 4 to 6 inches over the target and if its still sounding off its probably a can or larger than coin size object. Many times there is also a slight difference in the tone when a target is junk , its not as clear....a little scratchy or dull sounding , maybe not consistent , this can mean its not a good target. There are other tricks but they are mostly easier learned than taught.

From what I have heard the double D coil helps a lot with the ace 250. I havent used the double D on the ace but going by how well it works on the AT pro I am a believer. I did however buy a sniper coil for the 250 , the small round one , and it made a world of difference. One I put it on the detector I never took it off , I even hunted large areas with it. I accepted that I would get less depth with the small coil but the way it seperated targets and more accurately identified them I was happy. I still got 4 to 6 inches in depth in normal soil usually so as a coin hunter it wasnt a problem for me.

An AT pro is definately a step up in a lot of ways if you can afford one , but you still have to put in the time and learn all the little tricks and shortcuts to avoid digging the junk. If you do wind up getting an ATP you should seriously consider getting a 5x8 coil , the get a little less depth than the stock coil but they make a world of difference in determining good targets from trash and help you locate the target a lot easier.

 

[kayden]

Get the AT Pro & you can hunt the water & hunt during the rain without any worries!

 

[rick67]

That's a 12" lesche digger in the whole I pulled that buckle from.
I think 5x8 is the way to go. The stock coil feels like your swinging an anchor.

 

[Kodiak43351]

No one has mentioned the at gold yet. I have the pro, gold and had the ace 350. My go to machine is the at gold. I'm a relic and old home site hunter so I don't coin shoot parks and places like that. I do find coins though and the majority are civil war era or earlier. The gold performs well in the relic areas I hunt. Don't get me wrong the pro is a great machine but for what I do the gold is the best tool I have. Good luck and I hope you can afford a pro or maybe even the gold. Oh yea you can get the gold wet also.

 

[Bluedogcards]

No one has mentioned the at gold yet. I have the pro, gold and had the ace 350. My go to machine is the at gold. I'm a relic and old home site hunter so I don't coin shoot parks and places like that. I do find coins though and the majority are civil war era or earlier. The gold performs well in the relic areas I hunt. Don't get me wrong the pro is a great machine but for what I do the gold is the best tool I have. Good luck and I hope you can afford a pro or maybe even the gold. Oh yea you can get the gold wet also.

Good thought really have not looked at other brands , i jusy find what i can old parks got some homesteads in my area swimming areas when the water is down. at some point would like to really got in to this and do some traveling over night stays