AT Pro 5x8 or 8.5x11 coil?

[FrankG]

fongu,

I read someplace (I have no idea where I saw it) that you are should to do a factory reset when swapping coils. It won't hurt. What I read is that the reset forces a recalibration of the detector to the coil. I have no idea if it actually makes any difference at all but I do it myself when changing coils. I would like to think the act of powering the machine ON is all that should be required to get the machine properly initialized unless they store some undocumented configuration information we don't know about. I have swapped my coils a few times and have not experienced any pinpointing or performance issue when going back to the 5x8.

 

[Metal Magnet]

as stated previously, it's hard to beat that coil in trashy areas. i recently went back to a place that has produced a lot of silver for me. this place has been hunted extensively, but i love honing my skill in these kinds of places. anyway, i hit an incredibly trashy area near a picnic shelter. it produced wheats, merc, and barber dimes. not bad for a hunted out spot. i have also been super surprised when going back over areas. really stable, deeper, small coil.

give it a chance and i think you will really grow to love it.

 

[fongu]

I've tried everything I could think of FrankG, but it may just be me. I've been pressed for time every time I go due to personal reasons and have to continually remind myself to slow down, mentally and physically. Cleaned all the connections and put in fresh store bought batteries, reset and checked the battery compartment for moisture. I hope to take my 2500 and work the dry sand tomorrow if I get a chance to detect and carry the At/Pro as a back-up only. Between the two of them I should scare something up. HH.

 

[jd88047]

I recently prchased the AT Pro with the 2 coil option for a specific hunt. I have only used the 5x8 coil. Have no exeperience with the Stock coil. Depth is adequate. Target seperation is exceptional. Iron discrimination is exceptional. Recovery time is exceptional. On coin sized targets the machine is very accrate. I made a second purchase of the coil cover and have seen no problems with it. I hunt close to the ground as the manual suggest. I have used the coil in hard baked ground, clay soil, wood chips, dry sand, and deep loamy sod. The wiggle method is the fastest way to pin point a target. I hunt the local parks mostly but get into iron infested old homesteads also. The coil does not throw off the balance of the AT Pro. Weight is also not a problem with the coil. I can swing the AT Pro all day. I see no drawbacks of the 5x8 coil.

 

[Turak]

Well....I have both the AT Gold and AT Pro machines and love the fact the coils are interchangeable.

As to the coils...

I have 4 of the 5 available; 5 x 8 DD (stock on AT gold), 8.5 x 11 DD (stock on AT Pro), 6.5 x 9 Concentric, & 9 x 12 Concentric.

I have used all 4 coils quite a bit, mostly on sandy beaches, baseball fields, and in SUPER HIGH TRASH park and pic-nic areas.

I have found myself preferring the DD coils. Mostly because their enhanced target separation capabilities. But also due to the highly mineralized
soil in my area.

I have found a need for BOTH the 5 x 8 DD coil and the 8.5 x 11 DD coil. They both have slightly different characteristics which I find equally useful.

The 5 x 8 is definitely lighter. Makes swinging it for extended periods of time easier. But a drawback due to its size, you need to work much slower with more swings.
You also lose a little depth compared to the 8.5 x 11 DD coil. I find it VERY useful in HIGH TRASH areas to go over it with the 5 x 8 DD coil first. Picking out as much
the good targets as possible. But you also need to dig up the trash too. Getting some of the trash out of the way prepares it for the next step. After you've gone over it
with the 5 x 8 DD and picked out everything you can. Then you put on the 8.5 x 11 DD coil or the 9 x 12 Concentric coil.

The 8.5 x 11 DD coil is a little heavier, but its size means a little more area coverage and less swings overall. You definitely get more depth than the 5 x 8 DD coil and it covers a larger area.
But the larger area coverage can come at a cost in HIGH TRASH areas. The trash will definitely cause a masking effect on the good targets. Thus why it definitely helps to go
over the area with the 5 x 8 DD coil first. Then go back over it and pick out even more targets with the larger coils, especially if you did your job and removed a lot of the trash above them.

Basically if its a high trash area like a park, I tend to use both, the 5 x 8 DD first, then I will hit the area again with the 8.5 x 11 DD.

If its a baseball field or many beaches, I will go right away with the 8.5 x 11 DD because of the less trash and larger area of coverage. But if I run into too much trash, back to the 5 x 8 DD
due to its smaller area of coverage and better target separating capabilities.

Same thing with the Concentric coils. I will use the 9 x 12 Concentric coil when it is a low trash area. It has an even larger area of coverage than the 8.5 x 11 DD, so it becomes even less useful
in high trash areas. You then have to switch over to the 5 x 8 DD or the 6 x 9 Concentric and hit the area with that first. Then go back to the 9 x 12 Concentric and get the deeper targets.
The concentric coils suffer even greater masking problems due to their larger area of coverage.

Another item... as far as depth, the DD coils do a little better in highly mineralized soil, while the concentric coils due better in the low to neutral soils.

 

[greg m]

I have found in salt water in the New York area I couldn't keep the ATP quiet. it kept banging targets every foot. I had pro made all three settings in pro made . adj the sensitivity , dis to 35 , auto ground balance then manually reduced to try to keep it quiet. I felt like I was going to dig to china. I found rocks that set the unit off when they were wet. Even the atpin pointer went off. when I got home air dried them off & there wasn't any sound from the rocks. When I used my 3030 on the same water found non of the banging just good targets. On land the ATP worked great finding targets, easy ground balance.