Trying to learn AT Pro

[Hunterhound]

I'm hoping this is the right forum to post these questions but I have a few questions about settings on my AT Pro and how it is affecting the signals I'm receiving. I have only detected for a couple hours on a neighboring farm so my questions come on the back of a few observations I have made while detecting. To give you and idea of the environment, the farm is rumored to be over 100 years old and the yard is fairly junky. I have encountered one noteworthy find (at least to me) which was a cast iron skillet handle about 9 inches down. The house has aluminum base trim at the base of the house all the way around. Also, due to the junky area, I'm using my 5x8" coil.

Points of note: I have read through the manual a few times and watched the video that came with my detector so I'm not going into this blind.

Question 1: Feedback in my headphones. Ground mineralization? I have noticed that even after ground balancing the unit using the auto feature, I will transition to areas of the yard where I start hearing many little blips in the headphones. Ground balancing again seems to correct most of this but I don't want to be eliminating targets by too much ground balancing. Am I assuming the source of the short erratic blips correctly? Should I only have to ground-balance one time at the site if I don't shift to a major soil consistency difference? Could this be an issue of the sensitivity of the unit being too high?

Question 2: Manual vs Auto ground balancing? I want to learn how to manually ground balance as I've heard this is the way to ensure the best results from the machine. I found while trying to manually balance the unit, I never seemed to get to a point where I wasn't hearing low or high tones; changing the range only increased the intensity of the low or high tones. Should there be a point where I don't hear anything or should I just shoot to balance to the point in the range where the low and high tones seem balanced in intensity?

Question 3: While crossing the yard, I would get periodic lower tone signals at 10" deep. Upon digging out a hole over one of the targets, my detector still picked up the target at 10". Could I be picking up a metal concentration in clay which is very common in KY or are these likely to be deep iron targets I should continue to hunt for?

Question 4: If I'm not near power lines, transformers, or other detectorists, could there be any other sources of environmental interference? If I get into this situation, can I adjust discrimination and frequency before I mess with sensitivity? I'm worried about sensitivity changes if I'm going to lose depth.

Sorry for the long post. I appreciate any advice/thoughts you guys can provide. Thanks

 

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[lookindown]

I would start in standard mode, its more stable, and less chatty than Pro mode. You have plenty of time to go to Pro mode once you get used to the machine. Back the sensitivity down until you stop getting false signals. When you get a repeatable signal every time the coil goes over a target, then you know you have a target. A false will be one random blip, here and there...most times at the end of your swing. If your overwhelmed with signals, notch out everything below a penny. Go around and dig a few coins, this will get your confidence up. You will be surprised how fast you start getting the hang of it. Some stuff you will learn from reading and some stuff you will figure out on your own...keep asking questions and good luck.

 

[Silver Simon]

Before I chime in on your questions, have you secured the coil cable at least 6" up on the shaft before wrapping it around? They say it will help reduce falsing.

Q1: I'll assume this feedback you are talking about is the chattering from false signals, and its not limited to just your headphones. As LD mentioned, this is likely a sensitivity issue. You are better off setting it to a stable level than to try and max it out for depth.

Q2: I've always used the auto ground balance. I typically balance it every 15 minutes or so, unless I'm entering a noticeably different soil type, then I do it immediately. I would recommend sticking to auto while you learn the detector more in depth. I have no plans on switching to manual, yet I have had great success.

Q3: The depth indicators on most detectors can be tricky. They make certain assumptions about the size of a target, so it is likely that a large piece of aluminum at 12", like a can, registers as a coin at 6". Should you keep digging? That's up to you and the type of things you are hunting for. I do not have experience with metal concentrations in clay, but I would guess that the decision to dig should have a lot to do with the type of sound it is making.

Q4: After GB, I test the sensitivity and make any necessary adjustments. I've never had to use the frequency adjust yet, and given you are not near any obvious sources, I doubt that would be a concern. But hey, its not that hard to test different settings and see what happens. Focus on stability with your sensitivity settings. In some cases, like mineralized soil, an increase in sensitivity actually causes a loss of depth, like turning on your high beams on a foggy night.

 

[Normsel]

1st of all lower your sensitivity and unless you're seeking relics notch out most metals. Accept 55, then notch out everything upto 75 and accept 75 -95

Never detect in full sensitivity unless you're certain there is no trash. I always detect with my sensitivity set 2 to 3 bars below max.

Manual ground balance all the time. Your deeper signals at 10" are probably cans or some other trash. Most often with the ATP if you get a really strong signal over 6" it is trash, now if you get a solid weak signal it is worth digging. Read how to manually ground balance. While pumping your detector pump up and down from 1" -12" until your tone evens out. It will howl somewhat and that is normal. You're looking a consistent sound even though it may go from low to high

Also if you're detecting close to the house you you're picking up the aluminum skirting and any aluminum scraps and nails.

You may want to change the channel if you're getting feedback in your headphones.

It will take you about 200 hours to get really good and I mean really good with your ATP. I found over $570 in clad with my ATP in less than 7 months. Once you learn it you will go by tone only because the VDI is there for confirmation of what you think it is.

Don't get disappointed keep practicing using different settings. Many guys use zero mode and I made myself a custom setting i used for my detecting.

if you're going to use the standard mode you wasted your money on the ATP.

Again, practice, practice practice

 

[Hunterhound]

I appreciate the advice guys. Thanks for taking the time to write out what you did and for bearing with me while I learn the unit. From the way you describe the settings, I believe the blips to be an issue with the sensitivity. The feedback I referred to is more of blips from the detector; it does not sound like EMI/RFI type interference. I will probably leave the unit in custom mode but will work with the notch descrim a bit as well. I haven't adjusted my iron settings or notch as of yet as I am interested in relics as well. If the sensitivity adjustments do not yield stable results, I may start descriminating until I can dig a few coins as was suggested above. That will help boost my confidence

 

[Hunterhound]

Before I chime in on your questions, have you secured the coil cable at least 6" up on the shaft before wrapping it around? They say it will help reduce falsing.

Q1: I'll assume this feedback you are talking about is the chattering from false signals, and its not limited to just your headphones. As LD mentioned, this is likely a sensitivity issue. You are better off setting it to a stable level than to try and max it out for depth.

Q2: I've always used the auto ground balance. I typically balance it every 15 minutes or so, unless I'm entering a noticeably different soil type, then I do it immediately. I would recommend sticking to auto while you learn the detector more in depth. I have no plans on switching to manual, yet I have had great success.

Q3: The depth indicators on most detectors can be tricky. They make certain assumptions about the size of a target, so it is likely that a large piece of aluminum at 12", like a can, registers as a coin at 6". Should you keep digging? That's up to you and the type of things you are hunting for. I do not have experience with metal concentrations in clay, but I would guess that the decision to dig should have a lot to do with the type of sound it is making.

Q4: After GB, I test the sensitivity and make any necessary adjustments. I've never had to use the frequency adjust yet, and given you are not near any obvious sources, I doubt that would be a concern. But hey, its not that hard to test different settings and see what happens. Focus on stability with your sensitivity settings. In some cases, like mineralized soil, an increase in sensitivity actually causes a loss of depth, like turning on your high beams on a foggy night.

I have not secured the cable before twisting. When i was reading another post, I heard someone mention there could be issues with a signal if the cable was not wrapped tightly to the shaft. Before my last attempt at hunting this site, I made some adjustments to the shaft to ensure the cable was touching the shaft all the way up. I'll have to check for the 6" point you refer to and I'll try and adjust accordingly.