Drop my AT Pro for a White's?

[fuzymunky]

I posted this in Garrett as well for maximum exposure/advice. If I broke any rules, I sincerely apologize.

Before you guys dump 50 gallon trash cans on me, please hear me out. And just one preface, but an important one to please keep in mind: I have never ONCE sold a coin I've found in the practice of MDing. Just want to put that out there so you know I'm not just trying to maximize my coin intake. I get all the silver coinage I need from roll hunting and two family members running separate coin shops.

I keep bouncing back and forth between keeping my Garrett AT Pro, and ditching it for a White's. I had my wife bury 7 different silver coins along with a bunch of metal trash in the back yard and I found every single one of the coins (and of course the trash) with the AT. But when I go hunting with my MD club buddies who all carry White's, they run circles around my finds (Me: "Hey cool, a gold eagle button", Them: "Hey cool, $50,000 worth of coins and jewelry"). A friend of mine purposely followed a path I just went over as a joke saying, "I bet I find a button!". Well, he didn't find a button. He found a seated dime!!!. What the heck? And every single person I hunt with and/or know from our area club uses a White's as well. Why am I finding silver coins at home, buried 6 inches and deeper (and I did not watch where she buried them) yet missing the hot ticket items out in the field?

And this is the same field that I'm literally finding miniscule junk like....A STAPLE!! (Not a joke. I found one single, unused, severely rusted staple at about 4"). Buddy says to me, "If you're finding stuff as small as staples, you should be finding the coins and relics too". This is coming from the same guy who, when they emptied our city lake this spring, found over 300 silver and gold rings in......wait for it.......ONE DAY!!! Oh, and a nickel-plated derringer too.....sigh. He's coming up on 40 years of metal detecting, so needless to say I respect what he says about the staple comment.

And as far as the coil cord issue: I've tried every configuration conceivable. From plain old winding all the way up, to straight up the pipe with Velcro straps. I find zero change in performance.

But....why no coins? I can go to every single kiddie park in town and I swear, if there was enough of it I'd be a millionaire off the clad I've found. But....not one silver coin since I've purchased the unit. On the jewelry side, I've found four 14k gold items and countless .925 silver stuff. But....no silver coins. I've been a coin collector since I could use the potty all by myself (which I think was sometime last fall ). 100% honesty, I would trade every single piece of jewelry (well, maybe not the ring I sold for $700) for their weight in silver/rare coins.

I've heard soooooo much trash talking about quite honestly the entire line of Garrett machines (minus the pinpointer...which is priceless...to me at least). But then I watch 50 videos of fellas using an AT Pro and finding heaps of silver change. What gives?

I know the first thing a lot of guys are going to be inclined to say is "operator error" or "Garretts are useless" but I know my machine, and I've seen some spectacular finds with all different Garrett machines. I'm a 100% disabled veteran and since I don't work, have nothing else to do with my time but hunt.

I don't mean to mislead anyone by posting this, and I guess I should make a few clear points here: No, I'm not out there trying to use my machine as a weed eater. My coil swinging motto is "slow, smooth, and steady", and I pay close attention to making sure my swings overlap each other. No, I don't only hunt kiddie parks (as you see in this post, we were hunting an abandoned civil war maneuvering grounds). Yes, I do my research. I put six months of research into this specific location, including matching up old pictures to the existing tree lines, hills, etc, and paid plenty of visits to it before I even took my machine out there.

Add to my dilema: Were headed to the "family land" for two weeks for Thanksgiving. This land is completely virgin to MDing and I'm being completely honest here when I say (its not important to me that you believe me or not) that my wife's grandfather is a direct blood line relative of the James Boys' grandfather. This is well documented within the family. There are four areas on the family land of specific interest to me: the foundation/filled cellar of a shack that Frank would stay in while visiting, an area that both Frank and Jesse frequented (what I'm told) often while "passing through", the "James Graveyard" (that's the real name, and lots of James headstones from the 1800s, a few early 1900s), and more currently, the house where the "crazy uncle" lived (come on, every family's got one...the "crazy uncle" no one wants to talk to at family reunions...). He didn't trust banks, and buried every cent he had in his back yard (these "yards" are rather large fields...not your average fenced in city yard)....only to wind up offing himself and not telling anyone where he left his life savings.

SO...as you can see, I am faced with (what I consider to be) a rather time sensitive dilemma, in need of serious, tempered, non-biased, superior knowledge here. Keep the Garrett and bank on the silver coins found in the back yard? Or purchase and learn as much as I can about a White's (and what model in a ~$800-$900 budget?) before we leave? What to do...what to do....

Penny for your thoughts?

Fuz

 

[oneon]

While I have never used a Garrett machine I can say it will take time to learn a new machine. I would not want to be faced with the possibility of a great place to hunt with a new machine.
You might do well with a used V3I using the stock programs to start. You might also look into an MXT pro. Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

 

[Albert]

I would say if you want a Whites machine that is easy to learn and deep , the mxt pro would be my choice It comes with the 12 inch coil for deep stuff and I would also purchase the 5.3 coil for the trash. Sounds like you have some excellent places to hunt. Good luck and let us know what you find. Al

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

n/t

 

[fuzymunky]

Hahahahahaha!!!

 

[Robert2300]

You have to get to know your machine. If you get a Whites you will have to do the same thing.
I met a elderly man who used a thirthy year old basic garrett machine and he ran circles around me as well,
but he new his machine and could tell the very sutble difference in the sound of his target. I listened to
those sounds and didn't hear any diference at all. You have a very good machine. Just learn how to use it.
You'll be fine. Just my opinion.
Robert2300

 

[firstring]

I've got the V3i, I've got the At Pro. different as night as day. Both are great machines, do what I need them them to do - bring home the results. Wouldn't get rid of either one. Pin your hopes on one machine because that's what everyone is doing in my opinion could lead to dissapointment.

 

[John LA]

I want to see what these guys have to say. I am interested in what machines and why.

 

[Mxt Sniper]

I agree on the MXT Pro, with a 5.3 eclipse coil, maybe buy a larger coil for beach and field hunting. I been running mxt's for a long time, since they came out, and am on my third one now. As for the silver, good luck there, concentrate on private property for that, back in the 1970's I used to find it by the handful in schools and parks but now it is a different story. Silver is like gold nuggets, once they are gone they are gone. I concentrate on the renewable resources, jewelry hunting and take the clad coins with it, it adds up. I use a 5" exclerator dd for tot lot hunting and it works well for me.

 

[pescadore]

I will give this one a go ... I have had just about every brand of detector there is and have used an AT Pro but only for 3-4 hunts as a loaner from a friend of mine while I was in between detectors. I truly believe that expertise in the detector that you are swinging has everything to do with your success. I am a coinshooter at heart and love finding any kind of coin but love silver ones even more. I bought a Whites Prism 6T and really liked it. I purchased a 4X6 shooter coil and went to my local park that has been pounded for years and pulled 2-3 silver coins. I really believe the key to that success was the degree of separation I was getting due to the small coil. The 6T with the 4X6 DD Shooter coil is a great match. Even though I loved the 6T, I always felt like I was missing some deep silver so I bought a Minelab 705 then the Etrac, then traded for a XP Deus that I had to sell because my son needed an insulin pump. I did fairly good with all of these detectors and came to realize that each one had specific advantages over the other. I guess what I am saying is there is no magic detector that you can buy and expect to run circles around others especially those that know their machine inside and out. I have decided to go back to Whites detectors because I feel that out of all that I have tried (except the Deus was pretty good) they fit my style of hunting the best. I bought a Whites Eagle Spectrum for $200 to get me started and I will upgrade when the money is available. I don't think that the AT Pro is a bad detector but it may not be a good fit for you and I think if you want to try something else then that's okay. I do believe with my short experience with the AT Pro and based upon the experience that my friend had with it that the ID depth is limited more than other detectors I have used and that he has used. Other than that, I think its good and the fact that it's waterproof is also a big plus. If I was you and could afford it I would keep the Pro and buy a Whites machine to see if it suits you. If you give it a good try and it is not what you expected then you will always have the AT Pro to fall back on. I still have my Garrett TA 100 that I have had for around 20 years and I keep it for a backup and a loaner. It doesn't go deep but I know I can find stuff with it in a pinch. I think that Whites really makes good detectors and that someone that has experience using them will compete with any other unit. I like their stability and have had good luck with their customer service. Again this is just a preference but I plan to stay with Whites from now on. I am tired of trying to find the perfect machine. Good Luck with your decision and I hope you find lots of good stuff over Thanksgiving. Sounds like you have a lot of good place to hunt.

 

[Mike Hillis]

Fuz,
My advice is jump ship if the ship isn't taking you where you want to go. You are not married to a metal detector. If it doesn't do what you want it to do in your ground conditions, get something else that does and quit fretting over it.

The problem you are having is that the AT Pro isn't giving you a good "dig me" signal on the old coins or you are not getting your coil over the good stuff. Both of these have been an issue for folks in the past running an AT Pro. You need to know if your detector can even pickup the coins they are finding. Next time you and your White's buds get out, don't hunt. Just shadow them and get them to let you run the ATPro over any target they might think is an older or deeper coin signal before they dig it up. Find out if you are hearing them or not, and what they sound like.

Now if you are hearing them, do they sound like a good dig me target? If not, why not? Can you make them sound better by adjusting settings or sweep speed? Can you learn to recognize what they do sound like?

Now if you are hearing them, and they do sound like good dig me targets, why are you not getting your coil over them? Sweeping too fast, not enough coil overlap? Pendulum swings?

Now if you are NOT hearing them at all it is because of how you have your machine setup?, or they are just out of your reach?

Really just need to know if it is you or your detector. Sometimes it's both.

Good luck
HH
Mike

 

[pescadore]

Good Advice !!!

 

[eagle52]

Hi
I been using White's detectors for over 20 years you can't beat their target ID it is excelent I have found many silver coins using Eagle 2 SL, and XLT. This past summer I used AT pro and I found 109 silver coins oldest 1882 nickel, most of them are early 1900's
So the detector you are using I know is good for silver, I do not like the stock coil on my AT I bought 6x8 and that's what I use to hunt it is a lot lighter . I have some pics. of my finds on Canadian MD forum
Good luck
Jan

 

[Dude]

Would one of your buddies switch machines with you for one hunt? You would find out if Whites is for you and if they can find stuff with your ATPro.
If you decide to get a Whites check out the M6, it's a real coin killer. I swear it can sniff out a nickel in a bucket of pull tabs. and it's pretty good on silver.

 

[bigtim1973]

You know maybe this is a long shot but what the heck, have you considered that the frequency that your AT pro puts out through the headphones does not let you hear the fainter deeper signals due to a slight loss in hearing??? Not trying to say you cannot hear but I used to have to take hearing test due to my job and I noticed a big difference from year to year due to the equipment I had to run, that showed a loss of hearing at different higher frequencies, and over time it never got better but only the same or slightly worse. Have you tried to use one of your friends Whites detectors to see if you can actually hear the targets better through the headphones with the frequency that Whites signals sounds when it runs over a target? Maybe you should go get one of your detecting buddies and swing over a target that they know will be a coin before he digs it and then you swing your machine over the same target and see how yours react compared to his Whites. I believe that Whites makes one of the best ground tracking circuits out there. I have used garretts in the past along with other name brands and have tried to go back to them but I just always have come back to Whites for some reason. Anyways good luck and let us know how it turns out for you. If you could afford one maybe buy a used Whites and try swinging it for a while and see how it compares to your PRO when you go over the same area or borrow a friends. Good luck, Tim

 

[triplehooked]

Having owned about a dozen or so detectors my opinion would be that it all depends on what your preferences are. That is kind of a bland response, I know. But the subtle nuances of a different machine might work for you where another doesn't. Case in point, about eight months ago I finally had to try a Minelab so I purchased a Minelab SE Pro. It is a great machine and I had some very deep finds with it (no silver either, btw.) but I could not get used to the tones of the detector. I know people love this model and do very well with it, but it wasn't for me. Having owned many White's detectors I picked up a Vx3 and it fits like a diggin' glove... Why aren't you finding silver? Who knows? The AT Pro is more than capable of finding the good stuff. Maybe it's just bad luck, or maybe you would be better suited to a different detector.... That being said, have you ever used a Whites detector? Why a Whites and not Minelab, or a Fisher? They are all great detectors. Is it due to most of your hunting buddies using Whites? Things to think about before spending the money. I would second the other members suggestions and compare signals, or maybe even swap detectors for a little bit to see if you like White's tones, function, and programming platform. Best of luck in your decision!

 

[clondike clad]

I like the M6 with the 6X10 coil and the 5.3 it is a COIN KILLER and very ezy to learn.
The XL PRO is one old dog that just don't know how to stop hunting SILVER,
But you do have a very good coin hunter, but if you want to try a White take a look at the M6 to ADD with your AT PRO.

 

[C.J.M.]

great answer mike!!!!! keeping my atpro do not seem to have that problem and can detect when its rainning and everybody is trying to cover their detectors and running to their cars & trucks

 

[fuzymunky]

great answer mike!!!!! keeping my atpro do not seem to have that problem and can detect when its rainning and everybody is trying to cover their detectors and running to their cars & trucks

Made a good point. My son uses an Ace 350 and has to put it in the truck at the first hint of rain.

 

[Monte]

proven a couple of things to me as I'm in my 48th year of enjoying this sport.

1.. I have had reasonable success with some Compass, D-Tex, Fisher, Garrett, Gold Mountain, Gold Mountain Technologies, Pillar, Teknetics, Tesoro models through the years. All have provided me with some decent results in a variety of hunting conditions, but times do changes and some makes are gone, and most models have progressed from 'old styles' to the modern, more sophisticated detectors with more visual information.

2.. Through all these years, however, and since my first factory built White's unit in '68 (I started with home-built detectors in '65), I have almost always had at least one White's detector in my personal arsenal, and often ONLY a White's and several at a time.

3.. I know some competitive models can work okay, and that includes the Garrett AT Pro. But I also know I have better all-around performance with the White's models I own and use, and they reward me well.

Readers could say you need to select good potential sites, but you stated you have done a lot of research and are working older potential sites.

You don't have a seriously inferior detector, but as some have stated, it just might not be working well for you. I evaluated the AT Pro and found that it worked OK, but I also determined that it just wasn't the detector for me, nor better than (or equal to) the models I rely on.

I wouldn't say you need to shop for an $800 to $900 detector. If that's your desired budget, the excellent MXT Pro w/950 and a 6