need ATPRO advice from you pros

[jtermz]

Thinking of getting ATPRO for secondary machine want to use mostly in park and fresh water and on occasional saltwater beach vacation I am getting mixed feelings from guys so Im throwing this out to you guys that use them I can see all the good stuff but what about the bad if any
to you guys that already saw my other post sorry just trying to get as much info as possible cost is a factor need to be under 1K already have etrac

 

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[pkb]

I like mine so much I bought a second. Keep two different coils on them. Found clad paid for most of the second one.

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

It's a great machine for your use. It can be a little noisy on some saltwater beaches that have black sand. I've used mine in Panama City and it was quiet.

Freshwater use is perfect for this detector, and it's a great land machine too.

www.metaldetectingstuff.com

 

[gallileo60]

Coil it comes with is too big..I got the smaller elliptical, and like it better..I am going to get the smaller conical, and I think I will like that even better...Will keep the sniper on my Ace 250 for up close work..The AT Pro does take some getting used to as it makes more noise than I am used to with the Ace, and the Sniper, but man it does have some depth for sure...Think you will like it once you learn it, im still getting to know mine...

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

As far as bad there are some lemons out there, there have been a bunch of guys that have had to send them back because they go crazy falsing. Still, I know they sold a lot of them so I'm sure the failure rate is probably under 1% or something. Garrett fixed the issue right away, but I still don't truly know if it's doing what it should because of the issue. However, is it worth the $400 more than the ace 150 I had? Of course!!!

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

For the record I loved my 150, but for pro mode and being waterproof I'll pay $200 for each of those, the ground balance and the rest of the functions are just gravy.

 

[Kodiak43351]

Only bad I can think of is it can be a bit front heavy with stock coil after a couple hours. I have the 5x8 and that cured that problem. It is touchy with emi if close to a house with wifi but drop sense a bit and that helps and you can change freq but that only seems to help around other detectors. It's a great machine for the money and it does a bit of everything good. It's best attribute in my opinion is how it separates in the trashy home sites and parks even with the stock coil. I would def get the 5x8 coil because it makes it a killer on good targets in trashy areas. Good luck

 

[cra61]

I "graduated" from a BH 505 (still use it now and then) to the AT Pro and have not regretted it. I have used it in the fresh water, on the sand salt water beaches, and parks finding everything from clad to bottle caps to titanium wedding bands and silver (still looking for the elusive gold). I love it and though the stock coil is heavy, it is great for the wide expanses as it covers more ground quickly and accurately. Heavier yes, but my arms are great from the gym and I occasionally switch hands to swing it. Buy it if you can.

 

[badpenny]

I own the Pro and I purchased the 5x8 coil for it because it was too heavy for this old man, I haven't taken it off since. As for noise I didn't find it to be noisy in my case. I found winding the coil wire tight to the stem and start the winding up higher up the stem cured that problem. I have found more goodies in the ground which more than paid for my machine. One item was an old diamond ring from the turn of the century, the jeweler told me he could date it by the cut of the stone, and the other find that I thought was pretty neat was an 1875 seated liberty dime. The best find was a lock which belonged to a Stagecoach mail bag that someone tried their best to get open but didn't. I didn't find the bag that it was locked too and it drives my digger who I might add is 78 years young nuts. I bust him all the time telling him that was were the money was. LOL!

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Thinking of getting ATPRO for secondary machine want to use mostly in park and fresh water and on occasional saltwater beach vacation I am getting mixed feelings from guys so Im throwing this out to you guys that use them I can see all the good stuff but what about the bad if any
to you guys that already saw my other post sorry just trying to get as much info as possible cost is a factor need to be under 1K already have etrac

Great pic for water hunting. It SMOKES in Fresh water! The Spring pack comes with both coils! Garrett AT Pro Spring Specials

 

[Tedyoh]

Only "bad" thing I can say is that I've had 3 coils take a crap on me for no reason, 2 on my 350, 1 on my ATP (my cause of the crazy falsing everyone talks about) but......I've been sent a free replacement by Garrett every single time, no questions asked......

 

[langsy]

i had the pro for 2 years ,work the saltwater beaches and in the shalows with it , the pro will not gb in the dry sand because of void of minerals, it gb in the water fine but still gets some chatter, on the dry sand if a coin is less than 2 inches in the sand my machine will double and triple beep , the vdi numbers dont change, i talked to garrett they say its working fine its just feed back but i know other machines dont do that , had problems with the screen ,face plate but garrett replaced it free , does anyone have that problem off double triple beeping on any coin less than 2 inches? it was gb in pro zero discrim 35 . tried reset , talked to garrett. no change

 

[RobRieman]

i had the pro for 2 years ,work the saltwater beaches and in the shalows with it , the pro will not gb in the dry sand because of void of minerals, it gb in the water fine but still gets some chatter, on the dry sand if a coin is less than 2 inches in the sand my machine will double and triple beep , the vdi numbers dont change, i talked to garrett they say its working fine its just feed back but i know other machines dont do that , had problems with the screen ,face plate but garrett replaced it free , does anyone have that problem off double triple beeping on any coin less than 2 inches? it was gb in pro zero discrim 35 . tried reset , talked to garrett. no change

If it won't GB what are you manually setting it at? You have to be somewhat close to being balanced or you will have all kinds of problems with chatter and VDI readings and falsing.

 

[BigWaveDave]

These are good reads, as I too am on the fence on upgrading to the pro....thanks for all your experiences.....

 

[George (MN)]

I love my AT PRO but have never used it on an ocean beach. I use STD mode, sens 7 of 8, iron disc 40. If proper manual ground balance has been done, totally rejecting iron might be OK. I haven't got a wrong visual or audio ID yet. I know a great many detectors if you have sens near max you get broken (2-3 beeps) on coins w/in 2" of surface. It is a partial overload & if it still IDs OK, no need to worry.

Try turning sens down to 3 when getting that broken ID & notice it is now solid. Best wishes, George (MN)