Trash & Treasure - 1st time out with new AT Gold

[Massieville Mike]

Just got a "new to me" AT Gold. Finds 1st time out with it.

Hunted a hillside locals here use for sled riding in the winter. 14 quarters, 8 dimes, 4 nickels, 5 copper cents and 10 zinc cents, 1 button, a junk metal cross, and 25 pieces of "trash" including 2 pull tabs. Mixed it up between all metal mode, disc 1 and disc 2 for about two hours. Nothing I found was deeper than 6" (that piece of trash "can lookin' thing). Everything was between surface and 3", with the exception of one dime and one copper cent at 4" maybe 5". The average target depth was 1 to 2 inches. The soil was not hard at all, a little moist and loamy really. I hunted the same area before and the coins I found in the past were consistently 3-6 inches deep, just this past winter/early spring. Anybody find this odd/strange? Got me wondering about the AT. I've certainly got some learning to do with it, just thought it odd that it wasn't hitting targets (maybe I should say, more targets) deeper than it was. I'm certainly not writing it off as defective after only one 2hr hunt! I've been using a Teknetics Gamma 6000, and when I first got it I thought it was defective. Turned out I just did not know how to use it properly....operator error LOL!!! I did not get an instruction manual or CD with my used AT, but I did watch Garrett's instructional videos on their website. Going to watch them again, and try some more hunting in the morning, God willing! Any advice, tips or comments are welcome and much appreciated! Thanks! HH!

 

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[joncooper1986]

i had bought at Garrett GTAx 550 new a few years back and it frustrated me to holy hell and I never found anything so i returned it. A year or so later I had the itch to get back in to the hobby so i bought a used GTAx 500 off ebay and realized that it is just a learning curve. all that jumping of target id and whatnot, just part of the monster with metal detectors I think. The AT pro is going to be my next detector; seems like it has some good features that may just take some time to learn how to use well. The important thing is that you are finding stuff and not all junk. Thats always a good sign!

 

[dirtlooter]

the all metal mode gives you the best depth, you will have to understand how to ground balance(easier than you think) and get used to the constant background noise but you can drop the sensitivity a little for that. slow down and work it those weaker signals and dig the trash to find the gold. sometimes those "flaky" signals are better than you think. A really trashy area can drive you nuts for digging up the trash.. a 43 is what I have dug two golds on, as well as a million foil and other trash. about the time I am feeling really confident what is in the ground, I get proved wrong (which can be really good when you think it is trash). it is a very good machine, just take the time to really learn it(like everyone tells you about any detector) and your confidence will grow. good hunting!