Looking to upgrade!

okiematt · Mar 26, 2013

I recently purchased an F2 as my beginner detector. I enjoy the F2, but had always planned on upgrading as soon as I had the funds. Well, Uncle Sam is about to come through for me and I have narrowed my decision to the following: AT Pro or a used Etrac, Safari, Explorer SE Pro. I am primarily interested in old coins, however, I want a machine that will perform well on relics and jewelery as well. I know the Etrac is a beast on silver, but I really like the idea of going into nearby lakes for lost jewelery. Weight is not a huge concern for me. I really want something I will be happy with for at least a year...when I could possibly get the other detector I don't get this time around. Ideally, I would like to have a detector that excels at coins and jewelery and one that excels at relics. I realize all will find targets, but I also realize that you get what you pay for. I am not interested in any Fisher or Teknetics at this time. Nor am I particularly fond of Tesoro. The above detectors are what I am looking at for this purchase. Any insight would be greatly appreciated, as simply narrowing my decision to these four options was a grueling process! Thanks to all for your thoughts.

hunter_46356 · Mar 26, 2013

I was in the same boat a few weeks ago. I'm also interested in coins and relics as well as fresh water hunting. I've done a lot and I mean a lot of research. All I can say is look at the AT Pro real good. Now I don't have one ( not yet it should be here Friday) so I can't give you my experiences but just read the reviews. Can't wait to give it a swing.......and for the snow to go away. They seem to be coin magnets, and with their iron audio feature should be great for trashy areas and relic hunting. Plus it's completely water proof to 10 feet. What else can you want from a moderately priced detector. HH

okiematt · Mar 26, 2013

I too have done a great deal of research. I am leaning heavily towards the Pro. I have swung a friends a couple of times and love the iron audio. Just looking to see if anyone can sway me differently or not. Thanks for the input.

scotty544 · Mar 26, 2013

Not unless you are looking more at the Tesoro, the Tejon gets great reviews and is supposed to be a depth demon. Plus the lifetime warranty is hard to beat. I have had a Tesero silver saber for 25 years and it still performs well, just not much more than 4 inches on a dime or penny.

dieselram94 · Mar 26, 2013

The tesoro's are great especially the warranty but they do lack the lcd screen and for me that is pretty much a deal breaker unless it is to be used for underwater only...Kind of obvious right? The At-Pro is popular for a reason and I was going to go with one but I found my Minelab instead.
Welcome to the forum okiematt! :hello:

George (MN) · Mar 26, 2013

The AT Pro is the only detector I've had that can accurately (visually) ID a dime 7" deep in dry & hard dirt that is moderately mineralized. It used to be we had to pass up those deeper coins or dig everything as detectors IDed poorly at depth, just bouncing all over, or locking on to iron or silver dollar on the deeper coins. The AT Pro has solved that problem!

I was detecting a very heavily detected nearby park. Once I got the manual ground balance set properly, I soon got a very tilted quarter. Next, a loud beep reading 8" deep, the ID #s 80-85, the correct range for a dime. At 7" there was a clad dime! Many passes over the target were made & it was never wrong! The ID#s are unfortunately small , but accurate. It can even tell copper pennies (upper 70s-low 80s) from dimes. Nickels: a shallow one jumped only 52-53. Nickel had been surrounded by 5 pieces of iron!

I was only using it in super-simple STD mode, coins program, iron totally rejected (40). I only dug a very few pieces of trash & almost all were small round objects. I read it does more special magic in the Pro mode, separating closer & even getting a coin under a nail! Best wishes & HH, George (MN)

okiematt · Mar 26, 2013

So AT Pro or one of the Minelabs? Anyone have any suggestions? I am still leaning heavily towards the Pro with the 5'8" coil. I have some experience using the Pro and really liked what I "heard" and saw from it. I don't have much experience with the Minelabs other than seeing every detectorist I have hunted with using either the Etrac or the 3030. 3030 is not in my budget. Used Etrac or one of the other Minelabs I mentioned are, however. I just don't know if the added silver detecting abilities of the Minelabs outweighs the broad abilities of the Pro and the amazing price point of the Pro. This is a tough decision! And thanks for the welcome

kickit · Mar 27, 2013

okiematt said:
So AT Pro or one of the Minelabs? Anyone have any suggestions? I am still leaning heavily towards the Pro with the 5'8" coil. I have some experience using the Pro and really liked what I "heard" and saw from it. I don't have much experience with the Minelabs other than seeing every detectorist I have hunted with using either the Etrac or the 3030. 3030 is not in my budget. Used Etrac or one of the other Minelabs I mentioned are, however. I just don't know if the added silver detecting abilities of the Minelabs outweighs the broad abilities of the Pro and the amazing price point of the Pro. This is a tough decision! And thanks for the welcome

I chose the AT Pro a couple months ago and have used it in a park, ball fields, yards, a ghost town, on a salt water beach and I'm happy with the performance. When on vacation I used it six days on the beach in dry and wet sand as well as in the salt water and on day six I got some false signals so I emailed Garrett to ask their opinion, their answer was "we are mailing you a new coil to see if that corrects the problem" now to me that is the type of customer service we all expect. So, combined with the AT's performance and Garrett's product backing I am very happy with my choice!

okiematt · Mar 27, 2013

Yeah, the customer support at Garrett's is probably going to be the tipping point as I have heard nothing but wonderful things about Garrett in this regard. Thanks all.

dieselram94 · Mar 27, 2013

okiematt said:
Yeah, the customer support at Garrett's is probably going to be the tipping point as I have heard nothing but wonderful things about Garrett in this regard. Thanks all.

I am not a fan of the Ace series of detectors, but having said that everything I have read and heard so far about customer support has been top notch. Great company and many great products.

scotty544 · Mar 27, 2013

I have found Whites customer support to be top notch as well.

firemac · Mar 27, 2013

I use my etrac on wet and dry beach and the excal in the surf, but in parks and school yards etc, I pull out the at pro first, it had the stock large coil on it and I run it in pro coin with nothing notched out, met a couple of guys at a park last week and they were using the at pros with the 5x8 coils , neither one could sense a clad dime at 8-9" I had found with the etrac, ., my ATPro could still sense it but faintly, still like the at pro it's found a lot of stuff!

cudamark · Mar 28, 2013

If you plan on going into the water, the AT Pro is really your only option as the others are not waterproof. If you are just going to wade in shallow water and not get the detector wet, then the E-trac is the one to get.

reednc · Mar 28, 2013

I followed the same path last spring that you are on. I started with the F2 and upgraded to the AT pro after a couple of months. I have had good success with it. I prefer the 5x8 coil since most of the places I search are very trashy. I am sacrificing some potential depth but feel that I am gaining better target separation.

okiematt · Mar 28, 2013

Yes. I have heard many swear by the 5'8" coil. I have decided on the Pro with the 5'8". I may attempt to get an etrac or some other upgrade next summer. Thanks to everyone for their input. Much appreciated

dieselram94 · Mar 28, 2013

Good choice! Wading in water with a non waterproof model is kind of scary, step in a hole, trip over a rock and detector goes under water...Good way to ruin a great day.

elijahhenry10 · Mar 28, 2013

I've heard that the Etrac is amazing for coins, and the AT is one of the best relic machines. If you could get both, I think they would be a great hunting duo.