Took my new AT-Max out for a spin today

[Hal2k]

Well took my Max out for about 45 minutes this afternoon found 67 cents and a button. It is different from my AT-Pro and will take some getting used to the different sounds, Love the wireless head phones not tied to the detector any more. Ran in Zero with discrm set at 30 think I will enjoy more as I get use to the different tones.

Question for those that have switched from the Pro to the Max. Did any of you find the tones to be that much different and did it take you some time to adjust. So far I like the threshold adjustment, have tried the all metal mode for very short amount of time not sure about this mode but need to give it more time. There seems to be some nice features on the Max, I’m going out tomorrow with the Max again for longer hunt.

 

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[Kodiak43351]

The all metal mode has only one tone so that's probably why you didn't like it but that is a deep detector in that mode. Just use the screen to see what the numbers are. Years ago that's how you hunted in one tone and no screen. You would dial up your disc to your desired dig range. I went from a pro to the gold and didn't look back. I also had the deus and now the Max because I missed my gold so much. The standard mode on the pro was a joke to me and only used it in pro mode. Good luck

 

[Hal2k]

Same here only ran the Pro in Pro Mode, I did not have a lot of time today but look forward to having a full day tomorrow to hunt. I have a ball park I was at Saturday and the few minutes I had today also tomorrow will try a school yard I hunted about month ago that I had good luck on, found a silver ring at school yard.

When I bought the Max, I thought about the Deus but that’s was a lot of dollars for the machine I wanted (almost twice cost of the Max), somewhere down road I may get the Deus but for now I’ll stick with the Garrett. I know the Deus has a waterproof kit or something like that that fits over the unit but I would be concerned fully submerging the Deus.

 

[BigWaveDave]

Looking at getting the Max soon, so I’ll be locked in to as much info as I can read.
Good luck and happy hunting with your new toy.

 

[cactusman]

I purchased my AT Gold before my AT Pro, so the audio on the AT Max is the language I was already used to. If you're going the other way (Pro to Max) there will be more of a learning curve. But I remember after about the first 80-100 hours with my AT Gold I could hear when a zinc penny was corroded as the audio gave me that information, and a LOT more...

Once you master the language of the machine you will be amazed at not only how much you will find, but at how much the machine is telling you.

 

[Kodiak43351]

Same here only ran the Pro in Pro Mode, I did not have a lot of time today but look forward to having a full day tomorrow to hunt. I have a ball park I was at Saturday and the few minutes I had today also tomorrow will try a school yard I hunted about month ago that I had good luck on, found a silver ring at school yard.

When I bought the Max, I thought about the Deus but that’s was a lot of dollars for the machine I wanted (almost twice cost of the Max), somewhere down road I may get the Deus but for now I’ll stick with the Garrett. I know the Deus has a waterproof kit or something like that that fits over the unit but I would be concerned fully submerging the Deus.

In my opinion you did good by getting the max. I had the deus 2 years before I bought my max. Maybe it's because I did so well with the gold or I just prefer the Garrett machines but could never get comfortable with my deus. The water kit for the deus is a joke in my opinion. Sure you can do alot more with the deus but if my finds aren't stacking up to what I found with the gold then I'm not having any fun detecting. I started to lose the excited feeling I once had so it was time to order the max. I just got the max a couple weeks ago and already ordered the NEL sharpshooter for it and the excitement is back. This is just my experience and I know alot of people who love the deus and wouldn't think of using any other machine.

 

[WaterScoop]

In my opinion you did good by getting the max. I had the deus 2 years before I bought my max. Maybe it's because I did so well with the gold or I just prefer the Garrett machines but could never get comfortable with my deus. The water kit for the deus is a joke in my opinion. Sure you can do alot more with the deus but if my finds aren't stacking up to what I found with the gold then I'm not having any fun detecting. I started to lose the excited feeling I once had so it was time to order the max. I just got the max a couple weeks ago and already ordered the NEL sharpshooter for it and the excitement is back. This is just my experience and I know alot of people who love the deus and wouldn't think of using any other machine.

At the end of the day it’s the recovery of treasures that we are all after . It does not matter what type of machine you swing IF it finds “booty” for your treasure chest and YOU are happy with it.

I will tell you that the Deus is actually like owning all 3 of the AT machines (each Garret machine is a difference frequency) I love Garret for my water hunting ....Deus water hunting antenna attachment..yad yada is a joke.

I do notice that some members in our forum like to nudge others who don’t swing certain Machines and that is too bad because machines are important but not as important as the human who operates them.

I said this before and will say it again....


sure you need a sharp arrow but that’s beside the point(pun intended)


I feel that the AT Max in the hands of a skilled detectorist will prove Effective in recovery of great targets.

However that being said I do believe that the Max does have some short comings when it comes to Iron and Iron audio in all metal mode. The machine does go deeper then the AT Pro but if you hunt in a site with tons of Iron (old homesteads where old coins are deep...your Frustration will be very high.

Calabash Digger did a great analysis on his YouTube Channel that is very much worth seeing


Something to ponder...Maybe the Equinox will actually deliver more then hypebut that’s another post...

Cheers

 

[Hal2k]

I've gotten a few more hunts in with my New AT-Max for me I'm finding that in the areas I hunt in running in Zero with Disc. set at 35 is proving to be the best setting, (I ran my AT Pro in Zero with Disc. set at "0" or "30"). I have tried All Metal Mode with and without Iron audio and it's not for me yes, its deeper but in that mode, it masks to many good targets in the places I'm hunting. There are a few places that I hunt that all metal could be good feature to have but overall, it’s not for me. Over all I think the Max is going to be a good machine for me, and maybe I’ll warm up to all metal. The other thing I found is the areas I’m hunting in the Max is not chatty as some have posted. Ground balance around 80-86 and machine is very quit, couple times I threw a quarter down to make sure it was working. One thing I wanted to do was try the Max on the beach while I was visiting my daughter in Mobile AL, but time did not allow maybe will get too soon. If it was not so cold here in Alabama I would be out hunting today, at noon temp is only 22 degrees F.

One last thing to add to this post is I’m thinking of going with the Nel Sharpshooter coil after using the 5 X 8 on my AT-Pro I’m not fan of the stock coil.

Summary; I have watched Calabash Digger videos and also agree that All Metal mode is not for hunting in iron infested sites such as old home places. The AT-Max is great machine in the price range to other machines out there, the main thing to keep in mind is no detector is going to find silver coins, gold rings etc. if they are not there.

Sorry for the long post but had a few things I wanted to say about my Max and how it’s working for me.

Happy Hunting all! and Happy New Year

 

[Kodiak43351]

I would never use all metal in a trashy spot on my AT Gold and won't on the max. It needs the smaller coil and in a disc mode for it to work great. I found most of my best finds with the gold in disc one with iron to about 27 and iron audio off. The all metal mode found me some deep coins outside the trashy zone in the field. From years of plowing those spots stuff gets moved outside of the zone. All metal is definitely a great feature you just need to know when to use it. Mine is in all metal until I start hearing targets all over then I will switch to a disc mode. One more thing you will want to do is when you start hearing alot of targets and iron move back out of that zone and re-ground balance your machine on a clean spot. These Garrett's need to be re-ground balanced often or you will get falsing. I've never been as successful as I have been with the AT Gold and if the Max doesn't cut it I will get a brand new AT Gold. From the testing I have been able to do with the Max so far I don't think that's going to be a problem. The diff in freq is going to make it a better machine for those deep coppers and silvers. I swung the deus for two seasons and I still have more exp with the gold than with the deus. The Pro was the machine that got me serious into detecting but it wasn't the detector I needed for my style which is primarily relic hunting. I've used alot of machines and have owned alot as well and to this day the Gold has been my most productive. I get some hunting in this time of year but it won't get it's real test till March when my detecting hits full swing. It's -8 here today and I'm not like John and detect when it's this cold so hoping for some warmer weather soon. My Nel sharpshooter should be here soon and will only put the stock coil on if I'm looking for a cache or know stuff is real deep. The Nel tornado was a great could for the gold as well. I found a seated dime in a iron infested site with that coil and it blew my ears off with iron all around it. Nel make great coils for the Garrett machines. Well I'll quit blabbing. Good luck everyone and Happy New Year.

 

[darktower007]

I use all metal for deep targets. If in zero mode and it’s 8-10 pegged and jumping 30-80 and I go into all metal and it’s jumping say 50-80 I’ll dig.. if it goes from 06-80ish.. it’s iron normally.
I tested this many times an normally it’s a non Ferris target if they stay beyond 40ish on the low jumpy I’d scale on deep targets.

Enjoy your max!

 

[fuzzy535]

just wondering about the wireless head phones. if the ATmax has the zlink built into it, are the headphones waterproof? or is there a 2 prong jack to use water proof head phones. the brochure for the zlink system says the headphones are water resistant. do not submerge. but the Max is waterproof, so im alittle perplexed. im looking into the ATmax or PRo mostly because of its waterproof options. thanks guys

 

[Hal2k]

You Will need to purchase a set of waterproof headphones for use with the AT Max if you are planning on water hunting, The Max has a connector for screwing in the waterproof connector just like the AT Pro. The wireless headphones are water resistant for light rain. I have a pair of Grey Ghost for my AT Pro when I want to water huunt using the Max. It's hard to give up the wireless head phones after you use them. With the volume control on the Max you can control the volume of the Blue Garrett headphones, with the AT Pro and the blue phones volume was wide open all time, that was the reason I spent the extra $$ for the Grey Ghost the have volume control built iinto the headphone.

 

[Kodiak43351]

just wondering about the wireless head phones. if the ATmax has the zlink built into it, are the headphones waterproof? or is there a 2 prong jack to use water proof head phones. the brochure for the zlink system says the headphones are water resistant. do not submerge. but the Max is waterproof, so im alittle perplexed. im looking into the ATmax or PRo mostly because of its waterproof options. thanks guys

If you will take my opinion don't get the AT pro because you will end up getting the AT Max anyway. The Max has alot the pro doesn't. It's not a big jump from the AT Gold but enough to get it as well. The AT Gold and AT Max are some of the best detectors out there in my opinion. This is coming from a Deus owner. Good luck on your choice.

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

I've gotten a few more hunts in with my New AT-Max for me I'm finding that in the areas I hunt in running in Zero with Disc. set at 35 is proving to be the best setting

Great post and me to. I run 32 if the site is cleaner. The Garrett AT MAX is one deep machine machine for sure!

 

[Hal2k]

Great post and me to. I run 32 if the site is cleaner. The Garrett AT MAX is one deep machine machine for sure!

Thanks, I would like to give your site a plug, I purchased my Max from you, service was great, got my detector in about 3 days.
It's was a pleasure to do business with you.

Thank you very much

Hal

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Thanks, I would like to give your site a plug, I purchased my Max from you, service was great, got my detector in about 3 days.
It's was a pleasure to do business with you.

Thank you very much

Hal

Thanks Hal!

Running the phone and the shop gets crazy sometimes. Glad you were happy! Great choice on detector!