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16" air test vs 12" air test

B

Beachcomber

New member
Ok I would like to know how to get one of the 16" deep air test versions of the AT Pro like John Edmonton and Keith Southern have. So far the two that I have seen and tested at the Dealers have only been the 12" Air Test version like Pyledriver's. I have already told my Garrett Dealer that as soon as he gets one of the 16" units in I will take it. But so far no luck. Now I know some of you are going to jump right in here and say air tests don't matter and that they are not valid tests of a machine and while that is partially true it isn't totally true. Whatever depth a machine air tests at is the maximum depth that machine can get under ideal circumstances. Now in the wet salt sand I would never be able to get the air test depth but in the dry sand at the beach air test depths are easily attainable so for the locations that I hunt I want that extra 4". Even if you go over onto the PI Forum and ask Eric Foster he will tell what he has always said about his PI's and that is whatever depth his PI's Air Test at that is the depth that you will get on the same target in the ground. The only machines that I have ever found that do better in the ground than they do in an air test are the multifrequency minelabs because they actually need the mineralization in the ground in order for their circuitry to operate properly. A perfect example of this is taking a Minelab to a freshly plowed field. They get almost no depth in that environment and a single frequency machine will blow them away. But as I said they are the only machines that I have ever come across that go deeper in the ground than they do in an Air Test.

So if anyone knows how to order and get one of the 16" deep air test AT Pro's please let me know as I would really like to get one.

Thanks

Beachcomber
 
What was the sample used in the test?
 
I did get 16' on an air test, with the sensitivity set at 7/8, zero discrimination, the standard coil, using a 10K gold ring, a large one at that, about one inch in diameter. As mentioned, I measured the distance, where I was getting a repeatable, with a moderate swing speed in the standard mode. If you had the same ring, ran the air test as I did, with minimal EMI interference you would get the same results. My machine is not tweaked any different then anyone else's. What you saw was what I got.

RINGTESTPICS.jpg

ATPROGRAPH.jpg
 
I never said I didn't believe you....I just said I wanted one that goes as deep as yours and Keith's. In fact I do believe you because the same thing happened when the Fisher GBSE came out. Some were very hot and others weren't. I just want one of the hot ones.

HH

Beachcomber
 
I never test with only one sample target. I have a set test package of targets that I put together years ago for detector testing so it gives me a good overall picture of what the detector can do at both the high and low conductor targets as well as large targets down to very small low conductive targets. Targets include half dollar and a heavy man's wedding ring(1/2oz 14K) down to small children's gold rings, thin engagement rings, and gold chains as well as standard modern coins. Deepest target was the Wedding ring followed closely by the half dollar. Also I was able to run the detectors that I tested so far at maximum sensitivity without falsing issues indoors in both Pro and Standard mode which was quite impressive. Just could not get them to get anywhere near 16" not matter what setting combinations we tried. Personally I really liked the detector and if I can find one of the 16" units I will be buying it. So far the only two things I didn't like while testing the AT Pro was that you need small fingers to be able to tighten the headphone and coil connectors and that the armrest is too close to the detector making it feel front heavy and putting too much pressure under the middle of my forearm. I prefer the armrest up closer to my elbow.

HH

Beachcomber
 
You don't know if the location you are testing in is as quiet electronically as the locations those other two guys tested in. This would be especially likely if you tested in a dealer's shop where there are a lot of other electronics in the area. If the dealer's shop is in a retail area then possible interference could be coming from other businesses in the area. A business 300 feet away with an automatic door opener could be blasting radar waves from the door sensor into the area. One of the nearby computers could have a noisy power supply radiating out interference, there could be more people with cell phones turned on near your dealer's shop versus those guys houses, there are so many things in one environment versus another one that could influence the results of an air test that you can't be sure you can ever get similar results. And the interference does not need to be strong enough to trigger a false beep to reduce the depth the machine will air test at. But hey it is your money and you should spend it the way you want regardless of what the rest of us think.
 
I didn't ground balance it standard mode, as it was an air test. I didn't even look at the ground balance readout either. So, it was in default mode right out of the box.
 
John-Edmonton said:
I didn't ground balance it standard mode, as it was an air test. I didn't even look at the ground balance readout either. So, it was in default mode right out of the box.
Click to expand...

Ok, the reason I ask is that with the GB turned up to 99 you can get another couple of inches maybe more depending on the size and mass of the test target which is great but it would be doubtful if you could run GB that high in the field, just an observation that is all.
 
I agree that an air test can be a good indicator or benchmark for testing if a metal detector is working or not. However EMI can make a huge difference in what a detector will air test at. I have a test rig in my workshop built for that purpose and have found a lot of sources of EMI interference that take away several inches from targets on an air test. One particular bad offender was the AC/DC converter on my travel trailer which was parked outside. Unplugging the trailer from AC power completely added a good three inches to my air tests.

This was for a detector that I built. I have no reason to think the At Pro would be any different but have not tried it yet and it is going to be a while before I can.

Jerry
 
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