AT PRO and salt water beach

Bowzerjr

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Messages
44
Location
Cambridge, Maryland
I took my AT PRO to the beach last weekend and I was unable to search the wet sand because my AT was going haywire. I was told its because of the salt water but I don't know what to do. The AT does not have a salt water switch. :?:
 
make sure you ground balance the at pro if that doesnt help lower the sensitivity. havent taken mine to the beach yet but heard you cant really hunt at the water/beach area. gotta be either wet sand with no water or in the water.
 
The AT PRO is a decent all around detector but don't expect miracles with it... I'm sure its just fine in the freshwater but most of us who hunt salt water buy a dedicated machine for the salt,minerals and black sand... the best machine in my opinion for the wet sand is the Sovereign GT.. I'm sure others will disagree or have their favorite... anytime you have to turn the sensitivity down you are losing depth and with that loss of depth cuts down your chances to find deep silver and gold unless its a fresh drop...
 
I agree. I have them both. The At Pro and the GT. The AT Pro is out classed in the wet sand. I heard it quiets down a little bit in the water. I don't know. It is too cold to find out. Back down the sensitivity and up the discrimination. That is about all you can do. But as already stated now you are compromising depth.
 
AT Pro in wet salty sand

I have been having great success with my AT Pro at the beach. First time out, and the machine practically paid for itself by finding a gold and platinum ring.

I use the ATPro in Pro Zero mode with the iron discrimination mode turned up to 30. Ground balance every time you move location. Meaning if you go from dry sand to wet sand. or wet sand to really wet sand or into the water. In my area I have a lot of war-time mineralization, mainly chewed up shell fragments, but these tend to ring up at vdi 43, which I eliminate. Then the machine is good to go. I keep the sensitivity turned all the way up -1. Sometimes I get a little faint chatter, but the good targets always stand out.

The only time my machine goes crazy is when Nate moves too close with his Infinium PI detector.

Below are the three rings I found my first time in the wet sand with my AT Pro.
BIBIAtPro1.JPG
 
At Pro

If your beach has hot rocks, the At Pro does not handle hot rocks at all. At least not here in Honolulu, Hawaii. Also if you are in the ocean water, your ground balance will end up around a reading of 10 to 15. At this ground balance setting, you loose major depth on small gold items. While the At Pro does many thing real good including detecting dry sand. It just is not a salt water machine especally if your goal is find small gold items.
 
I can say on the beaches here on the gulf coast it works well. I turn mine all the way up in the wet. Sometimes down a notch. It has hit some nice targets in the water. I will however say mine was falsing till I sent it to Garrett and now it works like a champ with the updates. Maybe yours needs one call Garrett they can tell ya.
 
The at videos show the detector being ground balanced in the water,I would rather have a PI headhunter for the beach.:D
 
The AT Pro works great in the wet sand and salt water. Make sure you have your machine set in the Pro mode and zero discrimination then ground balance it for the area you are working in. This is not a turn on and go machine, you need to watch a few videos put out by Garrett on using this machine. Soon you will fall in love with it.........I have one and it really works great IN THE WATER, wet sand and dry sand.
 
+ 1 on Sov GT. Not only a first class beach hunter but a first class dirt hunter as well.

I was considering adding an AT Pro but haven't yet. My reading tells me that the results are mixed. This could be due to user inexperience or it could be beach conditions. For example, the Sov GT excels on East coast and Gulf beaches as well as in Europe, yet struggles on some west coast beaches. White's excellent Surf PI and Beach Hunter machines are a compromise on NJ beaches yet are among the go-to machines in New England. A talented hunter on FL's west coast has used a Tesoro Sand Shark to find more than 80 rings year to date. Bring that machine to Atlantic City and you are in for a long frustrating day. Local knowledge counts!

Best advice - if you are primarily a beach hunter or leaning towards becoming one, find out what machine works best on your beaches and buy whatever it is. If that machine is not the AT Pro, don't try to put lipstick on a pig. Bite the bullet and buy the right machine. The AT Pro is still a first class metal detector for all your other needs. If you are a casual hunter, no worries!! Set the AT Pro for best results and wait for the knowledge stream to catch up. That is, as more dedicated hunters find, use, and figure out the AT Pro, dialing it in will become common knowledge rather than a guessing game.
 
there is no doubt a pi or gt machine will outperform the at pro on the beach/wet sand conditions. the at pro was primarily for freshwater hunting but can be used to some degree in salt water. dont think he was asking which is the best detector for the beach just wanted to try to get the at pro a little more stable in those conditions.
 
I took my AT PRO to the beach last weekend and I was unable to search the wet sand because my AT was going haywire. I was told its because of the salt water but I don't know what to do. The AT does not have a salt water switch. :?:

Garrett does not advertise the AT PRO as being able to be used at saltwater beaches, but it does well in the dry sand. Salt is a mineral and so is black sand, both can vary from concentrations even within a couple feet. To effectively hunt the wet saltwater sand you need a dual freq or more frequencies like Minelabs. PI's work well but you will wear yourself out digging tiny iron. The CZ-20/21, Beach Hunter ID, Excal and Sov GT all work well in the wet sand along with the Explorers.
 
all beaches are different in the salt silinity and minerals. I have no problems here in Florida on the gulf coast works awsome in out or undrewater.
 
Used mine for about 4 hour hunt at Myrtle Beach, no problems at all. All metal, pro mode, Iron disc to 38, 6/8 sens. GB in wet sand and water at 14, Damp to dry sand 7/8 sens and GBed at around 20-40. Deepest was a quarter at water/surfs edge at 9-10 inches. PS liked just going to the resort outdoor shower and just washing the whole thing off:D
 
after you auto ground balance it kick it down a few more notches(if it auto balances at 20, manually kick it down to 15) this helps me make it run more stable and then i can keep my sensitivity run higher(notch or 2 from max)
 
Most detectors with adjustable ground balance and sensitivity controls , the AT pro is one of them , do better in salt sand if you set the ground balance to the negative and turn down the sensitivity. When setting the ground balance you get it to where you can just start to hear it when you put the coil to the ground and then back it off a little ways so you hear nothing when you put the coil to the ground ( thats what I mean when I say to the negative ). If you get it right you may hear some false signals from the salt sand but you shouldnt hear as many , anything metal should still sound off but with that setting you may not get a lot of depth.
 
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