Help with AT Pro Pro mode

[JVA5th]

I've had my AT Pro a long time and never messed with pro mode. I always figured it too complex, but I'm told I'm going to miss a lot not learning it. The land I live on is hard to practice on as it was used heavily for years and has tons of decayed barbed wire and nails also when ground balancing it is at a 95-96. I tend to even on the simple mode have so many things ringing up I don't know what to dig and not dig. I know all the basics and setting sensitivity and ground balancing. I've read the whole user manual as well. But if anyone has any tips to have to use pro mode on this machine I'd appreciate it as I intend to start practicing with it.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Family Maps of Hinds County, Mississippi, Deluxe Edition - Grab it through Amazon!

[Treasure Hunting NM]

I have both a AT Pro and a AT MAX and I like running the pro in Pro Zero mode. I have a tendency to dig pretty much everything because the area I live in isn"t that great for locating old coins. I live in Albuquerque and hit a lot of parks and find lots of jewelry. In 6-7 months I am up to 80 rings and over $400 in change. I don"t pay a lot of attention to the VDI #s and listen more to the tone. If it is a high tone the majority of the time it is going to be jewelry or clad. You"ll notice the sounds are different in pro mode too. Once you get used to the tones you"ll be better at knowing what to dig and not to dig. Good stuff sounds like a bell ring that will knock you off your feet if the volume is higher lol

 

[Treasure Hunting NM]

Also this guy has a lot of good tips if you start going thru some of his videos. He uses a AT Pro and runs in Pro Zero and has a couple videos where he describes his setup preferences and he has found over 400 rings.

 

[U.B.]

Pro mode is not complex at all. You simply get more tones that help you identify targets. If your site is iron infested, set your discrimination at 28-35, ground balance your machine, and sweep as usual; low and slow. Lay a copper penny on the ground and listen to the tone. Then a nickel. Then a dime - then a quarter. You’ll quickly see why pro mode is the way to go. It’s a new language, but listen to it for several hours. You’ll never go back to standard mode. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[JVA5th]

My ground balance here comes up at 95ish and that mode my metal detector goes off everywhere. There is tons of nails and decayed barbed wire everywhere tons of farming activity since around 1850. I just never know when to dig and not so I feel I'm missing things.

 

[JVA5th]

Also practice a bit on pro mode yesterday before a sand storm made me have to quit. I think my smaller coil is going out as I stopped getting any hits. I factory reset the detector and it still wouldn't work. It took me unplugging it and recoiling the whole thing to get it working I think I may have bad wires in the line somewhere. I prefer the small coil over the big one as I get less chatter. So if that coil goes out I'm going to have a hard time learning pro mode here.

 

[smallfoot]

I'm with U.B., I hunt in an areas with lots of trashy iron targets too. I set mine on Pro Zero. Turn the iron disc up to about 30 and ground balance. Mine usually ground balances around here on 80-81. You have to get used to it but you can pick up non-ferrous targets in amongst the the trash. If you run with iron audio on, you'll hear all the iron but most of the trash will just be grunts. A good solid signal from multiple directions of swing will get dug. I turn the iron audio off until I get a iffy signal and on to check and see what kind of iron may be affecting the signal. I dig lots of junk but hey, relics ring in the same...
On the small coil...I got one of the super snipers to check it out. Not Sure it's any better for me. I can maybe "pinpoint" with it a little better but I do as well on trashy areas with the stock double D coil imho!

 

[BLK HOLE]

I too have both the Pro and the Max and have used nothing but Pro Zero since I got them. It does take practice and I still don't like running with zero discrimination like some guys do. I would go out sometimes not even trying to find anything but just to learn the machine. I would stake out a 10X10 area, select pro mode, run my discrimination up and sweep the area digging everything, then lower my discrimination some and re-do the area digging the next group of repeatable signals, and I would continue to repeat that until I was sweeping the area with zero discrimination. A couple hours spent practicing pays off downrange. As previously mentioned "MDing ETex with Kevin" is a great youtube channel to watch for tips with the AT Pro.

 

[JVA5th]

Okay thank you guys for the tips I really appreciate it.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

I use the Pro mode, no disc, max sensitivity and use tone, ID and experience to dig. Disclaimer, I usually dig everything in farm fields, old homes and play grounds; picnic areas I start out with no disc and adjust if necessary.

 

[GopherDaGold]

It's wise to use headphones in pro/zero mode.

 

[U.B.]

It's wise to use headphones in pro/zero mode.

Thanks for adding that Gopher. Great tip.

 

[JVA5th]

I've actually got quite used to using it in pro mode. I thought it would be hard but it really isn't. It is definitely a lot better.

 

[U.B.]

Glad you hung in, and found success. As you keep going, and keep listening, it only gets better.