Garrett AT-PRO and big iron signals questions!!

[88junior]

Guys I have been hunting a site that has large chunks of iron scattered through it, it's all usually within 4-6" of surface. My question is how can I differentiate the signals of the iron from coin targets I tried iron audio and it still gives great audio sounds and the id reads from 90-99 on the id and I'm affraid if I don't check these signal it could be a big silver 1/2 or dollar. If you guys got any advice I'd appreciate it. Also I found old steel bottle caps at this site to but I about have those figured out they sound like great targets but the id is bouncy on them and when you try to pinpoint one your pinpoint strength bar never stays consistent and locks on to them. So some of you AT veterans feel free to speak up and share your secrets! Thanks and Merry Christmas!!

 

[MikeLab]

It takes practice til you can spot the difference, but target size is a big one. Also how the tone sounds on the edges of the target. Iron will bleed around the edges like a halo effect. Also it is usually uneven and loud. There is no sharp edge like a non-ferrous target, even the faint non-ferrous are nice, short, sharp but not loud. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

How do you learn? Dig anything that even sounds iffy. Soon your ears will know. You can also lift the coil off the ground and see how far up it still detects. Iron will not sound clean from a distance and will usually drop off fast because it is not a good conductor. You can lift the coil to see how far away you can detect it. It's the small, even shape, sharp, faint sounds you look for. You can also look at the depth guage and judge what it sounds like compared to what it shows for depth. Remember you are looking for coin/ ring sized objects. Anything not in that size range is suspect. Depending on where you are locating, you might want to check them out if it is virgin ground. A city park, leave it alone.

You are very correct about the bottle caps. Sometimes they show around 80 or a little above. These used to fool me until I remembered to check with the Iron Audio. Also you need to make a wide enough sweep for the Iron Audio to work. Just a tiny wiggle over the target might sound okay even in the I.A. but widen your sweep a bit and it will be unmistakable.

 

[William-NM]

If the ground isn't too iron infested, the iron audio works well. Where I hunt, it's too trashy, so I have to pinpoint and try to determine the size. Raising the coil is also helpful - if you're still getting a signal at 8" - 12" above the soil, it's not a coin.

 

[marcomo]

Excellent advice above. Coins usually have a noticably different sound than ferrous targets. Not necessarily a solid two way signal, but enough of a coin sound to make you dig. Pay close attention to the sound and after pinpointing VDI before you dig and mentally compare what you dug to the sound you heard. Especially on iffy targets. To my mind (and ears), the descriptive audio is where the AT stands above all other detectors I've used in the past.

Also remember that the percentage of "big silver" out there - halves and dollars, is a very small fraction compared to "little silver" - dimes and quarters. Virtually every piece of silver has been in the ground close to 50 years or more. In undisturbed ground, with nothing like a tree root to stop sinkage, the odds of a shallow 90s signal being a silver half or dollar are slim to none.

 

[John-Edmonton]

Go slow in iron infested areas. When you hit a signal in the 70-80's, go at it from different directions. Use the 5" x 8" DD coil if you have it.

 

[Caretaker me]

Try to size it with the coil, scan in in many directions, you should know what size it is after a few tries

 

[DonVitoD]

Get those iron chunks out of there. They're masking the silvers.k

 

[grumpysrb]

I used my AT Pro for the first time today and have the same situation. However, I hunted the site several times with my ACE 350. I found that even tough the tones are different the ACE and ATP, in standard mode, operate the same. In standard mode like the ace you can use the pin point to determine the size of a target. While pin pointing a small Target will be a small blip, while a larger target will give a larger tone. With the AT I then go into Pro made and go over it, watching the vdi and listening to the tone. Even if the vdi give the same number as a coin the tone and size will most likely be different than a coin. With both machines,the at in standard, the coins should ring several times in sequence. Where trash like a pull tab will give a single ding.

I switch back and froth from Standard to Pro modes and back while I learn Pro mode. It has already helped me find several deep Penney's I missed with the ACE 350. Silver eludes me.

 

[Dign-nbama]

I've found if I'm closing in on a lot of iron, in pro mode raise the disc to about 30 to 35, then if you get a iffy signal switch on the iron audio, you'll hear a different sound than before, has kinda a growl with the sweet sound, that's junk, also practice pin pointing the size,, wiggle the coil and look where it starts to barely pickup and where it fades away at the back of coil as you move over it, move 90 degrees do it again, if still not sure move 90 degrees again until you've determine the size, with practice you can just about tell the size of the object...some run with iron audio on all the time,, I don't only on iffy signals to determine whether it's any good or not,,,, good luck you gotta nice machine just takes practice to get to know it...