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How To Get Maximum Depth + Performance Out Of Your AT Series ( Pro & Gold) :starwars:

John-Edmonton

Moderator
Staff member
* With the AT Pro, learn and hunt in Pro mode. It is deeper then standard mode. With the AT Gold, the all metal mode is deeper then Disc 1 or Disc 2.

* Has a place been hunted out? Go back and try again after a good rain soaking. Moist wet soil gives better sensitivity and greater depth readings for targets.

* If you get a nice high audio and a VDI in the 70's or 80's, dig it.

* The larger the coil the deeper it goes. However, too many targets under a large coil can mask a good target. If you get a slight good audio using the large coil, lift it up 2-3 inches and center the coil where the good audio was. Often times the good target will be much clearer.

* Get a coil cover and scrub the ground. Some people scan the ground inches above it...."DON'T" You can gain a couple of inches scrubbing, which is significant.

* Don't swing too fast! Just because it has a very fast "recovery speed"......doesn't mean it can always pick out that one good silver coin amongst several pieces of junk. The electronics still need to process lots of information.

"SWING TOO FAST, YOU WILL COME LAST"​

* Swinging too fast can make you a sloppy hunter. You also risk eventually cracking/breaking your coil and elephant ears from the constant banging on trees, playground equipment or concrete.

* If you are getting lots of EMI or increased mineralization which is causing erratic audio, try adjusting your discrimination first, before lowering the sensitivity. This sometimes lets the machine run smoother without losing any depth.

* If you get mixture of audio signals, scan the target from different directions. Sometimes a good target is beside or partially underneath a good target. The AT Series has a unique ability to pick out those good targets amongst the trash. Going at the target from different directions allows the AT Pro to perform even better!

* Ground balance your machine occasionally. Temperature can change, and directly affect the settings. Hunting in shade vs. sun can vary. "a 14 degree difference on a lawn area to a 35 degree difference on a parking lot." But, the mineralization can also change between areas....so again...ground balance periodically.

* To increase the depth/sensitivity to silver targets, lower the ground balanced numbers 10-20 points

* If you are hunting an area that is absolutely covered with nails, try ground balancing out a nail until it is nothing but a small amount of static. Now....all the copper & silver targets will give a loud audio response....BUT the target ID will be off.

* Build a test garden...use good & bad targets at different depths. You will soon discover that deep silver targets beyond depths of 8 or more inches begin to not sound off as a high pitch or that the VDI numbers remain in the 80's. That is very good information to know. My rule of thumb states if it's deep....it's old. Dig it! It costs you nothing.

testgarden2.jpg


* Run your battery charges at the top 1/4 fully charged, not the last 1/4 charged battery condition segment. The AT Series will run 100% until the battery runs down to a certain point. Because nobody knows exactly where that point is on their machine, don't try and find out. With the price of cheap alkalines or rechargeable "AA" batteries, you should never reach that unknown power loss point. Bring spares, or top off your recharge ables before the hunt

* Read the manual and watch the videos. Garrett has posted many videos to help with problem areas such as pin-pointing, ground balancing, iron-audio, target id, target sizing. These are just a few. Go to the link for a complete view :

Click below on either for more information.......

AT Pro: http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbby_at_pro_videos.aspx

AT Gold: http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbby_at_gold_library_videos.aspx
 
Is it normal for the AT to GB at 88 or above all the time??? It sometimes GBs at 97, and I knw there is no metal where I am GBing...

HH,
 
Mine usually ground balances mid 50s and 60s.
Has gone in the 80s at times.
 
Mine GB between 89 and 92. I guess it just depends on your location.
 
Adjusting the ground balance to increase sensitivity to high conductors sounds interesting--I'll be sure to try that on my next hunt.
 
Do you have to be in ZERO Mode to ground balance with the AT Pro? Or can you just GB in the mode that you are using?
 
Nope, you can ground balance in any mode.
 
John, if I run my AT Pro, in Pro mode zero, full sens, and the iron disc at 31, do I get more depth if I run the iron disc at zero
 
No, the depth should be the same. Adding iron disc removes some notches, which only removes the audio. Detectors which have a variable knob to adjust discrimination usually lose depth as you increase the discrimination.
 
Good post John...
 
Hi John:

My very first post and what an appropriate topic. Yes, I have watched the Garrett videos over and over again. It is a lot different when you are in the test bed. I live in North NJ and went out this evening to "play" around with my new AT Pro. This is probably my fifth or sixth time out with the machine. each time I GB and my numbers have been in the upper 80s. Today though the machine did not sound right. I was getting a lot of "feedback" when the detector was standing dead still. I GBd again and even changed frequency. Still no change. I then lowered the sensitivity and it seemed to calm down. Any ideas?

Cheers,
Augustinus430
 
Augustinus430 said:
Hi John:

My very first post and what an appropriate topic. Yes, I have watched the Garrett videos over and over again. It is a lot different when you are in the test bed. I live in North NJ and went out this evening to "play" around with my new AT Pro. This is probably my fifth or sixth time out with the machine. each time I GB and my numbers have been in the upper 80s. Today though the machine did not sound right. I was getting a lot of "feedback" when the detector was standing dead still. I GBd again and even changed frequency. Still no change. I then lowered the sensitivity and it seemed to calm down. Any ideas?

Cheers,
Augustinus430

Possible overhead or underground eletrical interference:unsure:
 
I'm new to detecting. I bought an AT PRO last year and have been out 4 or 5 times for about a total of 10 hrs. Yesterday I went out for the first time this year and I hit a target with a VDI in the 50's to 60's at about 8 inches deep. I started digging and I got to a foot deep till I hit a big flat rock and still nothing. My signal was stronger now 60's to 70's at 8 inches deep, so I dug out wider so I could fit my coil down lower. Now my hole is about 18 inches wide in all directions and 12 inches deep but the flat rock still covers the whole bottom of my hole. My VDI reading is now 77 to 82 but it still says that my target is 4-6 inches deep now. I had to stop digging but I plan to finish today or tomorrow as long as I can get the big rock out of my way. Any thoughts as to why my reading keeps going up the further down I dig? Shouldn't it stay the same reading? Thanks for any advice.
 
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