Help is making some decisions ...

[agentic]

Help in making some decisions ... Coils/ ATP vs GTI2500 & AT Gold

Hello, I have been reading up on some of the threads and would like your advise / recommendations.

I currently own an ACE250 with the standard coil and I use it mainly for dry beach hunting since it is not a fantastic unit to detect in the surf.

Should I be looking into getting a Pro-pointer, upgrading to the 8.5" x 11" DD Proformance coil to help find things faster and deeper? Currently, it takes me 10 seconds to 3 minutes to find my targets which are normally between 4 to 8" in the sand. Have not found any non-trash targets deeper than 8" so far. If this is a good recommendation, any of the sponsors like to PM me a quote of the two items including the cover for the coil? Or suggest otherwise?

Other than than, I am a little curious between the AT Pro and the GTI 2500. While the ATP will be good for surf hunting, what does the GTI provide over the ATP that it cannot do? Might be looking at another unit to either do the surfs and underwater (What about the Sea Hunter II) if possible.

Hope to hear some valuable comments and feedback from the seasoned guys here.
With much thanks!

 

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[christo000]

Hello, I have been reading up on some of the threads and would like your advise / recommendations.

I currently own an ACE250 with the standard coil and I use it mainly for dry beach hunting since it is not a fantastic unit to detect in the surf.

Should I be looking into getting a Pro-pointer, upgrading to the 8.5" x 11" DD Proformance coil to help find things faster and deeper? Currently, it takes me 10 seconds to 3 minutes to find my targets which are normally between 4 to 8" in the sand. Have not found any non-trash targets deeper than 8" so far. If this is a good recommendation, any of the sponsors like to PM me a quote of the two items including the cover for the coil? Or suggest otherwise?

Other than than, I am a little curious between the AT Pro and the GTI 2500. While the ATP will be good for surf hunting, what does the GTI provide over the ATP that it cannot do? Might be looking at another unit to either do the surfs and underwater (What about the Sea Hunter II) if possible.

Hope to hear some valuable comments and feedback from the seasoned guys here.
With much thanks!

Ok lets go down ur line of questions a propointer does save an s load of time & it will help if u have dug ur plug & still dont c the target dig more then bang u just hit that nice coin jewlery ect,so they can not only help in the finding of items but help u in Long run,coils yes the dd coil will or should go a little deeper it is bigger & being the dd it does separate trash very well , but if it were me in ur shoes it would b a toss up for me sounds like ur doin very well pinpointing etc & u know ur detector well
Now as of the atp verse gti thats something honestly I cant b much of any help yes i have used atp but not gti, im sure someone will chime in soon for u on that the atp has alot of advantages waterproof 10',very light,high res iron disc is awesome so when u do get to know it ull b cherry pickin in notime. What I really like is if ur not goin to salt water beaches diving everyday, but do want that idea of if u want to go in the water go ahead its great anyways hope it helps alittle HH

 

[agentic]

Ok lets go down ur line of questions a propointer does save an s load of time & it will help if u have dug ur plug & still dont c the target dig more then bang u just hit that nice coin jewlery ect,so they can not only help in the finding of items but help u in Long run,coils yes the dd coil will or should go a little deeper it is bigger & being the dd it does separate trash very well , but if it were me in ur shoes it would b a toss up for me sounds like ur doin very well pinpointing etc & u know ur detector well
Now as of the atp verse gti thats something honestly I cant b much of any help yes i have used atp but not gti, im sure someone will chime in soon for u on that the atp has alot of advantages waterproof 10',very light,high res iron disc is awesome so when u do get to know it ull b cherry pickin in notime. What I really like is if ur not goin to salt water beaches diving everyday, but do want that idea of if u want to go in the water go ahead its great anyways hope it helps alittle HH

Thanks Christo000, looks like the pro-pointer is worth the investment. While for the coil, I do know that it is only compatible for the ACE250 and not the ATP or GTI. That I guess is a decision I have to make when ordering them.

I do hope someone who has used both the ATP and GTI2500 can shed some light other than the waterproofing of the ATP.
On a side note, I hardly hear anyone using the AT Gold. any reasons why?

 

[JRMan]

I agree about the Pro Pointer. It sure makes it easy to find those tiny illusive items in the sand. Your 10 seconds to 3 min. should go to 10 seconds to 1 min.

 

[agentic]

Thanks JRman.. Guess the pro-pointer is in. Now is to consider the coil and also wait for more feedback on the ATP and GTI 2500. Maybe I should change my topic header..

I do know that for now, I am ruling out the Sea Hunter II. Not too many dive-able wrecks around here that the Sea Hunter II will be fully utilized.

 

[rks1949]

agentic,if I was in the market for a setup,I would buy the ATP and the pro pointer. The 8.5 X11 DD coil that comes on the ATP is no slouch (may be even better at covering large areas of the beach)depends on how trashy the beach is. Then I would get the 5X8DD coil as a second option. I have never used a GTI 2500,so I can't say if it's better,or not.

 

[John-Edmonton]

I would suggest the Pro-Pointer. Smaller holes = "GOOD PR" .........More targets per hr. vs. no Pro Pointer

 

[agentic]

agentic,if I was in the market for a setup,I would buy the ATP and the pro pointer. The 8.5 X11 DD coil that comes on the ATP is no slouch (may be even better at covering large areas of the beach)depends on how trashy the beach is. Then I would get the 5X8DD coil as a second option. I have never used a GTI 2500,so I can't say if it's better,or not.

Thanks Rks1949, I'll look into the ATP. Do you by any chance know the difference between ATP and AT Gold?

 

[agentic]

I would suggest the Pro-Pointer. Smaller holes = "GOOD PR" .........More targets per hr. vs. no Pro Pointer

John, ordered it on Amazon.. Hopefully be getting it by July. Right now Singapore is engulfed by haze (smog) from the 182 fires burning on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia and makes any attempt to MD in this condition as crazy.

 

[rks1949]

Thanks Rks1949, I'll look into the ATP. Do you by any chance know the difference between ATP and AT Gold?

The gold runs at a higher freq,kHz,than the ATP. That allows it to find smaller targets at greater depth. It is made for gold prospecting,but this doesn't mean it won't hunt everything else,it will. Here's a link to their web/site,and you can compare the features of both models! Garrett Hobby Division

 

[Produce Guy]

I would not take out my Ace 250 without my pro-pointer.

 

[knightsquad]

I'm kind of lost on this thread..
I very rarely use my pointer on the beach..
Almost any decent sand scoop has such a wide mouth
that one scoop at a well pin pointed target gets the target
usually first scoop or at least second scoop doesn't it?
Surely a 4"-8" target should be scooped up very fast
with a decent scoop especially in dry sand..
What are you using to retrieve your targets Agent?


Pete

 

[rks1949]

I'm kind of lost on this thread..
I very rarely use my pointer on the beach..
Almost any decent sand scoop has such a wide mouth
that one scoop at a well pin pointed target gets the target
usually first scoop or at least second scoop doesn't it?
Surely a 4"-8" target should be scooped up very fast
with a decent scoop especially in dry sand..
What are you using to retrieve your targets Agent?


Pete

Pete,I almost do the same thing on land! I run the coil over the plug then dig into the plug to find the target,checking the dirt I remove by passing it over the coil. I use my Pro pointer when I can't find the target,and it's great for that. But it comes out as a last resort!

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

OK guys, I'm the opposite. On land, the pro-pointer hits the ground before my Lesche digger. Makes for smaller holes on shallow targets.

On beach sand, I'm like Pete - don't take a pro-pointer, but I do use a big scoop. I scoop, then swing over the hole to see if the target is recovered. If not, I empty and scoop again. If the target is in the scoop, I usually just kick the scoop from the front to empty the sand, then sweep my foot to spread it out. I usually see the target, or pinpoint again to find it. Unless it is very dry sand, I seldom sift it.

Wayne

 

[rks1949]

OK guys, I'm the opposite. On land, the pro-pointer hits the ground before my Lesche digger. Makes for smaller holes on shallow targets.

On beach sand, I'm like Pete - don't take a pro-pointer, but I do use a big scoop. I scoop, then swing over the hole to see if the target is recovered. If not, I empty and scoop again. If the target is in the scoop, I usually just kick the scoop from the front to empty the sand, then sweep my foot to spread it out. I usually see the target, or pinpoint again to find it. Unless it is very dry sand, I seldom sift it.

Wayne

Good points Wayne!

 

[agentic]

The gold runs at a higher freq,kHz,than the ATP. That allows it to find smaller targets at greater depth. It is made for gold prospecting,but this doesn't mean it won't hunt everything else,it will. Here's a link to their web/site,and you can compare the features of both models! Garrett Hobby Division

Rks1949, I went through the catalog and saw the comparison, thanks for pointing out the link. The AT Pro would be better choice option than the AT Gold because the latter is unable to hunt in the surf. Though the AT Gold does run on a higher frequency with it's benefits. It will be quite rare that the Gold will be better than the Pro in my usage and environment. Thanks once again.

 

[agentic]

I'm kind of lost on this thread..
I very rarely use my pointer on the beach..
Almost any decent sand scoop has such a wide mouth
that one scoop at a well pin pointed target gets the target
usually first scoop or at least second scoop doesn't it?
Surely a 4"-8" target should be scooped up very fast
with a decent scoop especially in dry sand..
What are you using to retrieve your targets Agent?

Pete

Hi Pete,

Currently, without using the pro-pointer, 98% of the time I will find my target. It is a matter of how long it takes to find it. I guess the pro-pointer will be useful for those targets that keep eluding my digs that might be also smaller than a 5 cent coin here in Singapore.

I have thought of getting a scoop and had DIYed one out of a small plastic water scoop but it could not sieve out the sand fast enough. I went back to using a small hand shovel to dig which I find produces results in decent times. While the sand scoop seems useful, it seems big to be carrying around especially when many on-lookers do not know what your doing in the first place. The prices and shipping from the States to Singapore also ends up costing an arm and a leg. Having said that, if I do MD into the surf and in the water, I will have to consider a long handle scoop eventually. Do you guys purchase both or just use the long scoop in both areas? Recommendations?

 

[agentic]

I would not take out my Ace 250 without my pro-pointer.

I purchased the pro-pointer mainly for the difficult targets that seems to elude finding it. Otherwise, been using the ACE 250 without it with almost 98% success of finding my targets within 10 seconds to 2-3 minutes.

On the note of the Pro-Pointer, does anyone faced any problems like it keeps buzzing or going off even after you take it out from the hole and hold it in the air? Once where you have to send it back to Garrett?

 

[agentic]

Pete,I almost do the same thing on land! I run the coil over the plug then dig into the plug to find the target,checking the dirt I remove by passing it over the coil. I use my Pro pointer when I can't find the target,and it's great for that. But it comes out as a last resort!

That was my aim for the pro-pointer too. Last resort... though I do not check the dirt by passing it over the coil.

I work my target by digging the plug and putting the sand in a pile before standing back up to check with the MD if it is out or still in the hole (Depending on depth - The deeper ones). For targets that are 4" or shallower, I just use my boots to push away the sand to find the target. splitting the sand to smaller piles with my boots till I find the target.

 

[agentic]

Pro-pointer just arrived.... Now need to find an opportunity to test it out....maybe tomorrow at the beach... Wonder if there are still targets...