Spent the last couple of days doing bench tests with the new AT Max. I was was using the 8.5" x 11" DD coil which came with the unit. The true all metal mode, as expected got excellent depth over the zero discriminate. The true all metal mode pulled out an extra 4" depth on the large gold 14K ring compared to the zero discriminate mode. Even the tiny flake of gold showed it's presence on the big coil. Very impressive. This machine is tweaked to love gold! Excellent improvement....thanks Garrett!
Even in discriminate mode, this machine is getting fantastic air depth! 9" on a Mercury dime, 9.5" smaller musket ball and again, a mighty 13" on that 14K gold ring.
This air test shows the maximum depth potential of the new AT Max. The actual depth you get where you hunt, will vary, depending on the soil conditions, the coil you use, how you set up the detector. I actually got more depth, air testing the detector in 8/8 bars sensitivity, however, the machine was getting unstable at times, so I opted to test with 7/8 bars, a more stable unit.
I used the minimal amount of threshold, in that there was no slight background noise. It you are looking for those real deep signals, turn up the threshold to a mild background audio, and dig any changes you hear with the audio. That's how to squeeze even more depth out of this detector.
I still have to do some more testing in the field. The detector has the ability to ground balance even better the the other AT Models, so I am looking forward to trying it out in some challenging alkaline lakes where I live.
Can't wait to doing some serious relic hunting along with pulling out some gold rings in some of my favorite hunting spots.
http://u.cubeupload.com/johnedmonton/ATMAXItemstested.jpg
Here is a summary of my bench testing. I was conservative with the distances. I could still hear audio beyond the shown distances, however, I chose to use the point at which the signal just started to lose it's proper audio.
http://u.cubeupload.com/johnedmonton/ATMAXItemstestedGRAP.jpg
Here is a histogram doing a visual comparison on the AT Max showing the differences in depth between zero discriminate mode and true all metal mode. Keep in mind that when hunting in the deep true all metal mode, VDI numbers still indicate the target's conductivity. Silver coins will still show a VDI in the 80's, but you wont get that high tone like hunting in the other modes.
I am looking forward to seeing how that 5" x 8" coil works on this new machine. I am guessing it will be hot on gold nuggies! And those meteorites......I bet the true all metal mode will be just the ticket!
Even in discriminate mode, this machine is getting fantastic air depth! 9" on a Mercury dime, 9.5" smaller musket ball and again, a mighty 13" on that 14K gold ring.
This air test shows the maximum depth potential of the new AT Max. The actual depth you get where you hunt, will vary, depending on the soil conditions, the coil you use, how you set up the detector. I actually got more depth, air testing the detector in 8/8 bars sensitivity, however, the machine was getting unstable at times, so I opted to test with 7/8 bars, a more stable unit.
I used the minimal amount of threshold, in that there was no slight background noise. It you are looking for those real deep signals, turn up the threshold to a mild background audio, and dig any changes you hear with the audio. That's how to squeeze even more depth out of this detector.
I still have to do some more testing in the field. The detector has the ability to ground balance even better the the other AT Models, so I am looking forward to trying it out in some challenging alkaline lakes where I live.
Can't wait to doing some serious relic hunting along with pulling out some gold rings in some of my favorite hunting spots.
http://u.cubeupload.com/johnedmonton/ATMAXItemstested.jpg
Here is a summary of my bench testing. I was conservative with the distances. I could still hear audio beyond the shown distances, however, I chose to use the point at which the signal just started to lose it's proper audio.
http://u.cubeupload.com/johnedmonton/ATMAXItemstestedGRAP.jpg
Here is a histogram doing a visual comparison on the AT Max showing the differences in depth between zero discriminate mode and true all metal mode. Keep in mind that when hunting in the deep true all metal mode, VDI numbers still indicate the target's conductivity. Silver coins will still show a VDI in the 80's, but you wont get that high tone like hunting in the other modes.
I am looking forward to seeing how that 5" x 8" coil works on this new machine. I am guessing it will be hot on gold nuggies! And those meteorites......I bet the true all metal mode will be just the ticket!