False High Tones Around Iron - New to the AT Pro

[flysar]

Recvd my AT Pro last week, slapped the 5x8 coil on and headed to the backyard. I had already read through the manual, watched most of the videos and read a lot of forum threads in researching the ATP and while it was enroute.

I was running Pro Zero, Iron Discrim 35, all notches accepted, GB 94, used swing speeds from slow - fast. Dug a lot of nails and no coins, figured I'd practice in my yard before I dig a lot of useless holes in some one elses yard. I had been over my yard multiple times with my Xterra.

Then I moved to Pro Custom and ran Iron Discrim to 40 and notched out everything to 70, figured I'd only hear good targets. More high tones and dug a more nails, no coins. So then when I would get a high tone I would select iron audio on and get iron tones with an occasional high tone (80+). Most of these high tones were repeatable only one-way but I watched a Garrett video where they were digging deep coins with one-way tones so I think just passing on them is probably not a good idea. I also tried the same thing in Std mode and put my 8x11 coil to see if that would make any difference... nope. I dug many holes to 10" and cleared all targets according to my ATP & Pro-Pointer.

I've had a detector since 73' but recently started doing it regularly beginning with a Minelab Xterra 70 and now an AT Pro. I'm normally a quick study but also understand there is a learning curve with each detector. I figured I'd get some high tones with coin shaped items like bottle caps, washers, etc but not nails (straight, bent, fat, skinny).

Is it normal to get false high tones in high iron and/or high mineralized soil?

Any other tips or settings?

Thank you

 

[fematrailer]

No it's not. just keep on learning.

 

[grumpysrb]

ATPs, at least mine does, give a very short high tone when you run the coil over a target for the first pass. False signals are very rare. My definition of false signal is there is no target under the coil, but you get a signal that says there is. It took me, and I am still learning, months to learn my machine. It had a software problem I wasn't aware of until it became obvious. After being repaired things were back to normal. I often get a quick high tone the first pass over a target, then it changes to whatever it is. If there are two targets you may get two tones together. Sometime this can be resolved with a wiggle of the coil, changing the scan direction, or reducing the sensitivity if one is deeper than the other. Sometime you just have to dig and rescan. Had two quarters in a very close proximity today and got a funny signal. I did the wiggle to isolate one, dug, and went after the other. The ground was very dry and I got an unusual scratchy signal for both, instead of a sharp, clear signal. Some items will give you a dual tone which is normal. Bottle caps for one. The videos explained that. Not only listen to the tones, but watch the vdi numbers, and the indicator. If the vdi moves more than a couple numbers and the indicator bounces around it is probably junk. The sound, most of the time, will be a clear sharp tone for good targets. I dig odd vdi numbers with a solid tone. I have found odd items like Mexican coins and very small rings and buttons doing that. One button is posted here, "School Yard Button". Came in as a 65/66 high tone. Not something I'd normally dig, except it was a solid tone.

 

[ajaj]

Generally speaking, go low and slow, and listen carefully to the "shape" of the signal. Coins and rings are usually smoother sounding whereas irregularly shaped junk will have less smooth and continuous sounds. Only many hours with the machine can hone this skill. And there are exceptions...you will dig iron and you will miss keepers. Dig a lot in the beginning, it'll come.

aj

 

[flysar]

The high tones (80's & 90's) I'm questioning are for the most part repeatable in one direction and sometimes both ways. When I'm in Pro or Std Zero or Iron Audio there is a mix of iron tones with the high tone. When I Pin-Point I'm not sure if I'm PP the iron or the High tone so I dig a larger hole and have pulled out as many as 3 nails, covered the hole, and all tones are gone. I have experienced falsing from an unstable detector and this doesn't appear to be the same because there has always been iron in the same hole and I get tones to repeat one-way, sometimes both and even when turning 90 degrees.

I figure the high tone must have come from one of three things...

1. the iron nails which doesn't make sense.

2. combination of iron nails & high mineralized soil.

3. the machine is having problems, but I don't get high tones with all iron tones.

I'll call Garrett on Tuesday to see what they have to say and report back.

Thank you for the replies & HH

ATPs, at least mine does, give a very short high tone when you run the coil over a target for the first pass. False signals are very rare. My definition of false signal is there is no target under the coil, but you get a signal that says there is. It took me, and I am still learning, months to learn my machine. It had a software problem I wasn't aware of until it became obvious. After being repaired things were back to normal. I often get a quick high tone the first pass over a target, then it changes to whatever it is. If there are two targets you may get two tones together. Sometime this can be resolved with a wiggle of the coil, changing the scan direction, or reducing the sensitivity if one is deeper than the other. Sometime you just have to dig and rescan. Had two quarters in a very close proximity today and got a funny signal. I did the wiggle to isolate one, dug, and went after the other. The ground was very dry and I got an unusual scratchy signal for both, instead of a sharp, clear signal. Some items will give you a dual tone which is normal. Bottle caps for one. The videos explained that. Not only listen to the tones, but watch the vdi numbers, and the indicator. If the vdi moves more than a couple numbers and the indicator bounces around it is probably junk. The sound, most of the time, will be a clear sharp tone for good targets. I dig odd vdi numbers with a solid tone. I have found odd items like Mexican coins and very small rings and buttons doing that. One button is posted here, "School Yard Button". Came in as a 65/66 high tone. Not something I'd normally dig, except it was a solid tone.

 

[pax]

I would like to also . my gold does the exact same thing.

 

[knightsquad]

Grumpy,
You said
"Came in as a 65/66 high tone. Not something I'd normally dig, except it was a solid tone."

65/66 isn't something you would normally dig? Why not? That's not a bad number...

Pete

ATPs, at least mine does, give a very short high tone when you run the coil over a target for the first pass. False signals are very rare. My definition of false signal is there is no target under the coil, but you get a signal that says there is. It took me, and I am still learning, months to learn my machine. It had a software problem I wasn't aware of until it became obvious. After being repaired things were back to normal. I often get a quick high tone the first pass over a target, then it changes to whatever it is. If there are two targets you may get two tones together. Sometime this can be resolved with a wiggle of the coil, changing the scan direction, or reducing the sensitivity if one is deeper than the other. Sometime you just have to dig and rescan. Had two quarters in a very close proximity today and got a funny signal. I did the wiggle to isolate one, dug, and went after the other. The ground was very dry and I got an unusual scratchy signal for both, instead of a sharp, clear signal. Some items will give you a dual tone which is normal. Bottle caps for one. The videos explained that. Not only listen to the tones, but watch the vdi numbers, and the indicator. If the vdi moves more than a couple numbers and the indicator bounces around it is probably junk. The sound, most of the time, will be a clear sharp tone for good targets. I dig odd vdi numbers with a solid tone. I have found odd items like Mexican coins and very small rings and buttons doing that. One button is posted here, "School Yard Button". Came in as a 65/66 high tone. Not something I'd normally dig, except it was a solid tone.

 

[widebody]

[size=large]i also do not dig the mid to upper 60's. haven't dug any yet that came out good. maybe it's just a matter of time. i dig some in those numbers some times just to see what they are. junk so far. Flysar, i hope to get the chance to hear your machine next to mine. concidering some of the post you may have to return for repairs. took me almost two weeks turnaround. but Garrett got it right.

HH [/size]

 

[knightsquad]

This is from that big list someone put together on At Pro Vdi numbers.
Still not sure the reasoning for NOT digging in the 60s!
69 -- US $5 Gold Piece, Civil War Mini-Ball
68 -- 22K Gold Sovereign, Civil War Mini-Ball
67 --
66 -- Large Tungsten Ring, Pop Top, Small Charm
65 -- Large 18K Gold & Platinum Ring, 1 Gram Gold Bar
64 -- 3 nickels on top of each other!
63 -- Small Silver Earring
62 -- US $2.50 Gold Piece
61 -- Indian Head 1 Cent
60 -- Medium 9K Gold Ring

[size=large]i also do not dig the mid to upper 60's. haven't dug any yet that came out good. maybe it's just a matter of time. i dig some in those numbers some times just to see what they are. junk so far. Flysar, i hope to get the chance to hear your machine next to mine. concidering some of the post you may have to return for repairs. took me almost two weeks turnaround. but Garrett got it right.

HH [/size]

 

[petesutton]

Large iron will give good high tone

 

[widebody]

[size=large]I rest my case for most of that list. biggest thing is there was no civil war around the s.w. corner of the state of Washington. the rest is the odds of finding any of the others are very remote. can be done but very remote. as i stated tho i do dig some 60's just in case. Flysar is encountering some problems that sounded to me as though he may have a wire problem. or he's hunting nothing but nail infested parks and such.
I just remembered something i hadn't seen mentioned as a problem. a dirty coil cover. that was my last thought to look at.

HH[/size]

 

[flysar]

Removed and cleaned the coil & cover a couple of times without any improvement.

Thanks for the idea

[size=large]I rest my case for most of that list. biggest thing is there was no civil war around the s.w. corner of the state of Washington. the rest is the odds of finding any of the others are very remote. can be done but very remote. as i stated tho i do dig some 60's just in case. Flysar is encountering some problems that sounded to me as though he may have a wire problem. or he's hunting nothing but nail infested parks and such.
I just remembered something i hadn't seen mentioned as a problem. a dirty coil cover. that was my last thought to look at.

HH[/size]

 

[flysar]

Talked with Garret tech this morning (Rusty) and he said like large iron, multiple iron targets close together (vertically, laterally, or bent) will raise the conductivity to a point where you can hear & see a good tone and while iron audio will reveal iron it doesn't mean that there isn't a high conductive target present. Rusty also felt that high mineralization may compound the problem but he's not absolutely sure. So, as long as it is not an AT Pro issue I guess it's up to me to dig or not.

I'm hoping to meet up with some folks in the Portland/Vancouver area and do a side-by-side comparison with their AT Pro to rule out the possibility that the machine has a problem.

Thanks for the feedback and I'm going to keep at it with the Pro for now.

 

[William-NM]

Flysar - just a thought; do you have the 5x8 coil? It's pretty darn good at picking through trashy sites. I still get fooled sometimes when several rusty old nails with iron 'halo' gang up on me. (Who named it a 'halo' -- more of a fiendish glow!).

 

[flysar]

I have been using a 5x8 almost exclusively.

Unfortunately I didn't get an opportunity to compare my AT Pro with others this week but hopefully soon.

Flysar - just a thought; do you have the 5x8 coil? It's pretty darn good at picking through trashy sites. I still get fooled sometimes when several rusty old nails with iron 'halo' gang up on me. (Who named it a 'halo' -- more of a fiendish glow!).