New to the AT PRO and have a few questions

[Jhkramer]

1. How does gold typically ring up? I know what range it rings up in but will it give a consistent VDI or will it act like aluminum shards and jump around in about 10 or 15 VDI #'s? Examples of what you found and how it rang up would be appreciated here.

2. If i find a decent target maybe slightly jumpy and then turn iron audio on and get some iron chiming in, how do i tell if its a ferrous object (bottlecap) versus a good target (say Dime) with a nail very near?

3. If i take it in the water do i need to re ground balance it in the water after ground balancing on shore?

4. Should i dig signals that chime lightly ,in proportional audio, but don't register a VDI or depth? I know some say dig everything and that's not me, but do i stand a reasonably high chance (relative to metal detecting) of digging something good? How do you tell if these very light deep signals are worth digging?

5. What kind of depth can i expect from this detector say on a dime?

6. When pinpointing and i get to the highest signal what should i be referencing on the coil as bullseye? On my 250 it seemed to be just in front of the coil mount. any different with a DD coil?

[rfjuice]

1. Size of the gold piece in question determines a lot of how it will ring up. My wedding band rings as a 68-69. A smaller thin band ring I found 2 inches deep was ringing as a 51 steady.

2. Most bottle caps are consistently jumpy for me(I dig anyways). A good target beside a bad target is pretty easy with the pro. If a dime is beside a nail then you should be able to hone in on the dime by scanning slowly and from all directions.

3. I always re ground balance, it doesn't take that long.

4. Perform a simple air test with a nail. Set the nail down and slowly raise your coil until you can barely hear the nail. Repeat using whatever target you want(rings, coins, silver). You should be able to hear the difference.

5. Depends a lot on the soil. I've gotten anywhere from laying on top of the ground to 8" in the dirt. Haven't had it to the beach yet. I can't give you any depths in the sand.

6. I use the square directly in front of where the shaft attaches to the coil. Seems to work pretty well for me.

[Jhkramer]

Originally Posted by rfjuice

1. Size of the gold piece in question determines a lot of how it will ring up. My wedding band rings as a 68-69. A smaller thin band ring I found 2 inches deep was ringing as a 51 steady.

2. Most bottle caps are consistently jumpy for me(I dig anyways). A good target beside a bad target is pretty easy with the pro. If a dime is beside a nail then you should be able to hone in on the dime by scanning slowly and from all directions.

3. I always re ground balance, it doesn't take that long.

4. Perform a simple air test with a nail. Set the nail down and slowly raise your coil until you can barely hear the nail. Repeat using whatever target you want(rings, coins, silver). You should be able to hear the difference.

5. Depends a lot on the soil. I've gotten anywhere from laying on top of the ground to 8" in the dirt. Haven't had it to the beach yet. I can't give you any depths in the sand.

6. I use the square directly in front of where the shaft attaches to the coil. Seems to work pretty well for me.

So you've never had gold say hit on 55 then 61 then 53 then 59 etc. In other words they always came in clean with only a the slightest bit of VDI change?

[rfjuice]

I have only ever found 1 piece of gold and yes, it was a steady 51 maybe 1-2 vdi #'s jumpy but not a lot.

My ring I had just taken off my hand and air tested before I responded and yes it was a steady 68-69.

[Jhkramer]

Originally Posted by rfjuice

I have only ever found 1 piece of gold and yes, it was a steady 51 maybe 1-2 vdi #'s jumpy but not a lot.

My ring I had just taken off my hand and air tested before I responded and yes it was a steady 68-69.

thats what i wanted to know thanks. maybe i will wait for a signal like that instead of 1000's of shredded slaw pieces. I thought gold would ring like a pulltab which rings steady for me but wanted confirmation.

[rfjuice]

I dig everything that is repeatable from 40 and up on the AT-Pro. Most of the time I'll dig everything with vdi that jumps around 10 vdi #'s or so, especially if most of the numbers are in the 70's and 80's.

[Lightningjack]

Most of the gold rings I've found have been pretty solid..
In Pro mode coins chime in way cleaner then say a rusted bottle cap, I guess that just takes time & practice to learn the sound but there is a noticeable difference in the sound, even if the coin is next to iron it will still sound clean as you pass over it..
Have you watched the Garrett training videos, I think they explain most of what your asking..
http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbb...ro_videos.aspx

[schill13]

Gold can fall in a lot of different numbers! I look for a steady 50,51,52,53...
You will get gold & nickels.

[TwistedTig3r]

The two gold class rings I have found both rang in at 52 solid. The tones also have a "softer" sound, to me, than a target that is trash.

[rocknrolldad55]

The class ring i found last week was 14.9 grams. It rang up on my buddies AT Pro at 68-69 air testing. It rang up on my 705 at 28 which i thought was to high for gold.It was a solid hit no jumping. So dig all repeatable hit that dont jump all over . A 14k wedding band i found with my pro rang up solid 57 no jumping.

[Big Boys Hobbies]

Originally Posted by rfjuice

1. Size of the gold piece in question determines a lot of how it will ring up. My wedding band rings as a 68-69. A smaller thin band ring I found 2 inches deep was ringing as a 51 steady.

2. Most bottle caps are consistently jumpy for me(I dig anyways). A good target beside a bad target is pretty easy with the pro. If a dime is beside a nail then you should be able to hone in on the dime by scanning slowly and from all directions.

3. I always re ground balance, it doesn't take that long.

4. Perform a simple air test with a nail. Set the nail down and slowly raise your coil until you can barely hear the nail. Repeat using whatever target you want(rings, coins, silver). You should be able to hear the difference.

5. Depends a lot on the soil. I've gotten anywhere from laying on top of the ground to 8" in the dirt. Haven't had it to the beach yet. I can't give you any depths in the sand.

6. I use the square directly in front of where the shaft attaches to the coil. Seems to work pretty well for me.

Good post!

[Dark Chameleon]

I took my at pro to the beach and it was good for the dry sand but bounced around in the wet and id never touch sea water with it...ive been in light lake water and it was fine...id say an extra inch or so depth with the wet sand heling bring the tones out.

The square infront of the stems attatchment is perfect for pinpointing...with that and the garrett propointer youd be hard to miss it...but always do the 90 degree sweep..because you can see 6" on ine side then do the 90 degree and it can move down to 2"...you always need those 90 degree sweeps.

The more you notch out the less its going to go depth wise...just keep it low an slow and double check your hits....its great at silver/high clad even when notched out everything below 80 and id at max...i was still getting 6"-8" finds

The double d coil is great...but for the sake of your arm if your not hunting an arce then get the 5x8 coil, the bigger one covers ground area fast but the smaller one feels like the difference between holding an empty gas can and a full one at outstretched arms length

[flyin-lowe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSTAD...ature=youtu.be

This video has some good info on gold and silver with the AT Pro.
A little tip I came across to help with pinpointing is to get the target where you think it is right in front of the mount like you mentioned. Then slowly move the coil back towards your feet. The tone will go almost silent as the tip of the coil passes the target. You can do the same thing moving the coil forward. Once the back edge of the coil get just past the target it will go silent again. This has helped me better locate targets since I am new to my AT Pro.

[Jhkramer]

Originally Posted by flyin-lowe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSTAD...ature=youtu.be

This video has some good info on gold and silver with the AT Pro.
A little tip I came across to help with pinpointing is to get the target where you think it is right in front of the mount like you mentioned. Then slowly move the coil back towards your feet. The tone will go almost silent as the tip of the coil passes the target. You can do the same thing moving the coil forward. Once the back edge of the coil get just past the target it will go silent again. This has helped me better locate targets since I am new to my AT Pro.

very helpful thank you

[metaladdict]

I tested a small gold pendant and its vdi didnt move up or down much. Alum trash moves alot!

[rcb104]

Great questions and great answers. Had the pro for one week and this is some great info.

[Irons]

All great answers here, I can add a little too.

I have hit a tiny 14k gold ring at a solid 40. Yep that low but what caught my attention is it was a solid 40 so I scooped it.

Most small 1 to 3 gram gold rings are going to be 47 to 51. I see those numbers nice and solid and I get excited.

I found a heavy 14k mens band that rang from 51 to 73, I guess it was on its side.

The alloys in the gold make a difference in how it will sound, the buttery yellow 14k has a lot of silver in it and it will ring high, class rings and some 10k will have
a lot of copper in them and will ring up as a zinc penny.

If you are hunting Gold roll up your sleeves, it can be almost anywhere in the VDI range.

Good luck and we like pictures!!!

[Big Boys Hobbies]

Originally Posted by Irons

If you are hunting Gold roll up your sleeves, it can be almost anywhere in the VDI range.

VERY TRUE! One of my best rings was showed to be a zinc penny. I cant lie.... When I get tired I will pass over zincs, big mistake.

[DirtyRob]

5 Gold rings here. 2 small girls 10K(less than 1.5 g.) were steady 47. 2 medium ladies 10K (between 2 and 4 grams) both were 51/52. Bigger 14K(6g.) steady 57.

Note.....these steady numbers also had clean tones. No chatter or static oneither end of the swing and tone.

[sllingshot47]

The tiny Compadre that does so well on gold even jumps around or has peculiar sounds on canslaw or small foil-so the AT is not doing anything any good gold detector wouldn't do