AT Pro issues...thinking of hanging it up...

[nebraskagoldhunter]

Garrett's are very good MD, lighter than the White's.And if the silver isn't there, you not going to recover it. I have a GTI 1500 and have had my best silver year this year. GTI about 350.00 used. HH :

 

[rustydog]

Same here with no silver?? Did find other minor finds .... best small brass military button??I would want the best I can afford I guess the at pro is capable so it must be me and or I am not over silver??Good luck ,I know on the beach my ground balance is 99,black sand, that cant help with depth.I do find foil and pull tabs the good stuff must be waiting for another yr.Atleast the used market for at pro is strong.Good luck I guess we need some Tim

 

[WIHawker]

You have not had your coil over a silver coin IMO. I haven't found a silver coin the last 10 times out. Today I found 3 rosies in a 20 sqft area. 6-8 inches deep. One was just a tone no numbers. Plus I was in a park that isnt that old. Finding a silver coin was the last thing i thought i would find let alone 3 of them.

Good luck!!!

 

[Cutaplug]

I can promise you the problem is not with the AT PRO (unless it's faulty or you haven't learned to use it yet). I received one off the first shippment and found 70 silvers with it my first year. I've dug nickels at measured 91/2 inches with it and silver dimes at 7-8 inches. If you're truly unhappy with it and need to change, I would take the $800 budget and get a gently used E-trac vs any other brand. There will be plenty of them for sale now that the CTX is out.

A few things to remember when using the AT:

-Make sure to use it in Pro mode.
-Run the coil right down against the grass. Sometimes if the grass is taller I'll wear my arm out pushing the coil down into it...
-Make sure the sensitivity is cranked up. I've put probably 300 hours on the AT Pro and can remember only a few times where I lowered the sens down.
-Make sure you know how to ground balance it correctly both auto and manually.

 

[mudpuppy]

Tigermoth nailed it. Having confidence in any tool is very important...I dont think its the tool or the user in this event, its just one of those things..
Mud

 

[Stryker47]

I thought the same thing it took me 2yrs to find my first dime and I found 4 in a 10 ft area I hunted countless numbers of old houses built between 1900 - 1960 it's not always there , I just got back from visiting my family in pa I went to my great grandfathers house which I detected 2 yrs ago with my fisher F-70 I figured the pro would find something I missed but nothing not a single coin, in July I thought my machine was getting weird it wasn't ground. Bal correctly and I had to be missing something then I found 4 silver coins that month. I did learn a valuable lesson listen to the tones I had a signal that jumped from 42 all the way to the 90's but I was getting that one sweet tone every couple of passes so I dug turned out to be a 5 inch 1906 V nickel straight up and down on edge so good luck when in doubt pin point if it locks dig it HH.

 

[fuzymunky]

Just a comment. The grass is always greener LOL.

Very, very good point.

 

[fuzymunky]

You have not had your coil over a silver coin IMO. I haven't found a silver coin the last 10 times out. Today I found 3 rosies in a 20 sqft area. 6-8 inches deep. One was just a tone no numbers. Plus I was in a park that isnt that old. Finding a silver coin was the last thing i thought i would find let alone 3 of them.

Good luck!!!

What machine are you swinging?

 

[fuzymunky]

Well mate it sounds like you've got a monkey on your back and the more you try to loose it the tougher it gets,this happens to most of us and some try and ride it out and others give up or rap their detector around a tree,it sounds like you have already made up your mind and just need a bit of a nudge to go with it,having a new machine might make all the difference and regain your confidence and self astine so why not do it and treat yourself to something new,your mind has to be in the right place to be a successfull detectorist and if your not comfy with what your using that monkey will hang on tight good luck with what you decide.

Didn't mean to give the wrong impression. I used to metal detect with my dad til I left for basic training at 17. Now being medically discharged, I can't work, so I will always be detecting. I'll never give up the hobby (nor will my boys, they're so deep in in that they go out on their own now!). But being on a fixed income, I just want to make sure I'm swinging the best unit for my $$. I'm extremely uncomfortable talking about myself, but I am both book smart and street smart, so I don't mind a more 'complicated' machine.

Again, my main concern is that I'm getting the best performance for the money I spent, and I have no problem affording a DFX 300. It seems what I'm getting here is that there's 3 types of folks out there: 1 swears by Garrett, one swears by White's, and the last bunch, and there seems to be a lot of them from the reading I've done), just bash Garrett for some reason. I just read a post saying something to the effect that "That's why you won't see experienced hunters using a Garrett...because they know better"

What is that even supposed to mean?

To all who have responded here: I've added a 'like' to all of your tallys because I sincerely appreciate you taking the time out to give me your advice.

GL to all and HH

 

[coin hunter]

All machines are regulated by the FCC meaning there is only a max output power for all . Much like CB'S, wacky talks ,portable phones,etc. Some Metal detecter are more user friendly but all in all they do the same thing exccept for the hundred dollar models.Don't be surprised some of the area's that you hunted have already been hit,maybe several times.Silver coins jump out on all machines and are the easyest to find if they are there.Silver coin stopped in 1964 and if there are any left there down 6,8,10 inches or more. I have a 1500, 2500 and ATP. Found my share of silver coins but not a hord of them totaly. Rehunted some of the sites with my ATP and manage to pull 5 or so silver coins out that I missed with my other two machine.They didn't jump out, it took a little work and they were very iffy. Even found a large cent that read 76 once out of 8 passes pinpionting with VDI reading 76. GOOD LUCK !

 

[fuzymunky]

I got both brands and love both brands. I would not trade either one. They are as different as night and day. They both do what I need them to do. Depending on the area hunted, ground conditions, environment, etc. depends on which one I use. My recommmendations is not to pin your hopes on a brand specific detector. It would be helpful to let us know what settings you use. There are many variables involved. I would think if there are silver coins to be had in your area, they should be had by either brand detector you mentioned. If anyone is not finding what is there, it would be because they are not getting their coil over it. Both are capable. Compete (with your self) Don't compare - you may end up being disappointed. Happy hunting.

Sorry for not adding that. I make sure I GB over a clean area. The highest my GB has ever gotten to is 93. I switch between standard and pro modes, and that's just depending on how I feel that morning. I can normally use a sensitivity of anywhere from full, to three bars away from full. I leave the iron disc at factory and, again depending on how I feel that morning, will pop iron audio on or off.

I took a quick break in the middle of typing this and read an article that said quote: "With Grnd Bal on '0'..... the unit is much more sensitive to high conductors (copper/silver coins)..............and gold-dead. With Grnd Bal on '99'...... this unit is substantially detuned to high conductors (copper/silver coins); yet, is extremely sensitive to low conductors such as very small gold jewelry."

If this guy's article is true, could that be the reason for my problem with silver coins? This is how I GrandBal: I hold the button and gently "pump" the unit up and down ( ~6-7" up, ~1/2-1" down). What I've noticed is this: High mineral ground (which is about all we have here in CO) I will hear the low tone of the unit trying to balance, coupled with a somewhat faint high tone resembling that of a "good target" tone. Ground with little to no mineral, the low tone of the balancing only, and unit will balance to the low 90s (never seen it go over 93).

Is this my problem? If so, how do I fix it? If it was something this simple I swear I'm going to for a week straight. Would appreciate any input.

 

[Cutaplug]

Again, my main concern is that I'm getting the best performance for the money I spent, and I have no problem affording a DFX 300. It seems what I'm getting here is that there's 3 types of folks out there: 1 swears by Garrett, one swears by White's, and the last bunch, and there seems to be a lot of them from the reading I've done), just bash Garrett for some reason. I just read a post saying something to the effect that "That's why you won't see experienced hunters using a Garrett...because they know better"

What is that even supposed to mean?

GL to all and HH

I've put 300+ hours on an AT Pro and 300+ hours on a minelab etrac and a good hunting buddy uses a DFX... I can tell you from excperience and the finds that the best performance for the money would be a gently used etrac. I've doubled my silver intake this year using the etrac and actually upgraded from a hand digger to a shovel because my wrists were getting tired of digging 9" holes. I have no brand loyalty. I simply look at the data and experience of me and others, compaire signals, and make a logical desicion. I can tell you I no longer use a whites or garrett for land hunting. The AT Pro is a nice machine and the problem you're experiencing is not usual for the AT pro. If you're set on trading it off I wouldn't trade the AT Pro for a DFX...

 

[TellYaWhut]

I do know that a MD that runs at 15 kHz (like the AT-Pro) is an excellent jewelry machine....it has a frequency that is hot on gold rings. Lower frequencies are hotter on silver coins. If you prefer to stay with Garrett try an Ace 350. Detectors that run on multi frequencies (minelab) tend to take on the characteristics of the lower frequencies, thus great silver sniffers....they however do cost lots more money. and not the best in iron filled sites. Mention was made regarding the DFX, with it you can select a frequency of 3 kHz....I have a friend that is successful finding silver. Another alternative would be the CZ, Omega, XLT, or the Xterra (with low frequency coil). Hope this helps.

 

[tincanalley]

I think that maybe your GB figures are what some of your problem may be. ...well, not the figures, but your highly materialized soil. If you do some air tests, set your GB manually to the higher numbers you get while out in the field and see if silver coins lose depth. That's not exactly what you would experience in the field but it would give you a little better ideal if high GB numbers are part of the problem.

You also mentioned black sand. Is your yard of the same type of soil/minerals as where you normally detect? Maybe have someone load up a 5 gal bucket of the stuff you've been detecting in and bring it home. Remove the metal handle and try burying some coins in it and see what happens.

Of course, if the "James" area you are going to hunt has different soil conditions, this all may be a moot point

I rarely get to hunt in unhunted areas so silver is a rarity, but I did find an old school playground that had been used to Pasteur cattle after it closed, so it had never been hunted. Boy! There was a world of difference hunting there. Silver was plentiful and it was like the old guys telling about how much silver they use to find. Sadly, the playground area was quite small so it didn't take long to clean it out. I've hunted some sites that should have been silver queens, but I guess the old guys beat me to the sites years ago.

I'd suspect your high GB. One thing you can do is manually lower the GB on the ATPro. I do this often, as much as 20 points sometimes, depending on what I'm hoping to find. If it's silver, I'll lower it and if it's gold I'm looking for, I'll raise it.

I would highly advise doing as others have posted here and try detecting over a target that one of your friends has located to see if your detector can really see it in the soil conditions like their detector can. If it can't, play around with the settings (especially the GB) and see if it helps.

Good luck on your James hunt! Hope you find the mother lode.

 

[rbellow]

Try going with a buddy and hunt the same area, just not close together. No matter what he is hunting with, go over the same area if he locates a target.
Also get a feel of your detector by puting some targets on the ground 1 foot apart and run the coil over each one. The ATP is an excellent detector