is the AT PRO worth the money

thumper · Feb 20, 2012

wanting to know from users if the at pro is just another ace 250 or if it really gets deep targets

masterofdisaster · Feb 20, 2012

got one last week..took it out in the snow and detected with it.. got two clad dimes at a frozen beach, then went to the fairgrounds and got to pennys at 6 inches....i love it..great machine for the price..

John-Edmonton · Feb 20, 2012

Absolutely! It will meet and beat metal detectors costing 2 x as much PLUS it is water proof also. :hello2:

stevewa · Feb 20, 2012

Watch the video in the previous post.

Sandman · Feb 20, 2012

At first I didn't think so as I got one of the early ones. Garrett fixed it and it still seemed squirrelly. A friend bought me a new one and this is like night and day. I like it but can't say if it is deeper yet. I have to get used to not looking at the screen while wading this summer.

FCCDFEd · Feb 20, 2012

Got mine late PM on Friday 2/24. Got it out Saturday for awhile, within the first four feet of swinging my new detector bing, bing , bing, and dug a ring. Went to a tot lot picked up $1.50 clad, and today got out again picked up 2 more rings, two wheats, and about $3.00 in clad. I really like it so far, going to take some training to learn the curve, especially after using a DFX for last 5 years. Not sure If I will leave the DFX for good, but having fun with the AT Pro so far.

Thunderchild · Feb 20, 2012

I've had the AT Pro for about four months and absolutely love it. I've found a ton of cool stuff with it(CW relics silver, gold, etc). Simple to use, Remembers your setting, and goes fairly deep. Best of all you can hunt in the rain when others are at home!

Keppy · Feb 21, 2012

John-Edmonton said:
Absolutely! It will meet and beat metal detectors costing 2 x as much PLUS it is water proof also.

Oh yes John is telling you the truth here.............It will meet and beat metal detector's costing 2x as much....................

gleaner1 · Feb 21, 2012

The atpro is worth the money, but I only paid 500 for mine. Street price is too much. There are plenty of machines old and new that beat it in the depth department. The pro has good performance in iron trash, it handles it well.

Bart@Big Boys Hobbies · Feb 22, 2012

They are very HARD to beat for the $ Specially with the AT Pro Spring 2 coil special.

The 5X8 coil separates VERY well! Great depth as well!

thumper · Feb 26, 2012

Thanks everyone for the comments.....i am going to purchase a new detector in the near future and am leaning towards the at pro....i like that its waterproof to 10 ft. and by the reviews it is good at picking out good targets in trashy areas such as parks. I'm not looking for a top of the line machine...budget restraints right now....but want a decent machine. a friend has a ding...ding ace 250.....honestly it don't impress me...i'm using an old bounty hunter 2000 from radio shack and it does as good as his ace.... the last year or so all iv'e read on here and garrett forums is that the 250 is so good.....just don't want to spend 6 bills on something that doesn't do more that the 250 0r 350 except get wet. I want a screen to glance at...vdi is a cool tool i think...depth meter is a good plus....my machine don't get more than 3 or 4 inches mostly in this va. soil and neither did my friends 250...i have dug coins at 7 inches in woodchips....cans at 10...but not in soil....

Dwight S · Feb 27, 2012

thumper said:
....my machine don't get more than 3 or 4 inches mostly in this va. soil and neither did my friends 250...

I'm not going to try to discourage you from an AT Pro, I love mine. I see you are in the mountains of Virginia. Is your soil very mineralized? If it is, then you may want to think about the AT Gold or a Pulse Induction machine. Unfortunately, no VLF machine is going to go much deeper than about 4" or 5" in really hot soil, but the AT Gold is designed for Gold detection and it may work better since it's designed for hotter ground and has additional features for hot soil. John-Edmonton may be able to expand on it better than I since he's used both. Ground balancing is important to get the most out of your machine, but if the soil is really hot, then a Pulse Induction machine may be what you really need to get to those deeper targets. Check out the Garrett Infinium or a White's TDI PI machines... You'll dig more iron trash, but you'll also dig more deep (10"+) targets. Those PI machines are really popular for relic hunting in bad soils....

Jersey Hunter · Feb 27, 2012

I agree with what Dwight said in his post. Maybe you could find other detectorists in your area, see what they're using thats working for them.

George (MN) · Feb 28, 2012

I use manual ground balance, STD mode, coins prgm, iron totally rejected, sensitivity 7. Within about an hour after switching to manual ground balance I found a very tilted quater at 4", then the next loud beep was a clad dime at 7" in a park detected hundreds of times & dime probably sat there 20-30+ years as dirt is hard & somewhat mineralized.

I was amazed that the 7" dime gave a high tone every sweep & numerical ID always 8-85 range indicating dime. Deepest dime ever dug as I only dig probable coin beeps. Deepest dime that IDed properly with Ace 250 was only 4". Most detectors here only give proper ID on dime to 3 to 5 inches. Best wishes, George (MN)