Nel Thunder ATP help

Ricki7

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After receiving the thunder took it in the yard for trial , noticed a lot of static . Re checked the install , tight connection , my cable first wrap about 10 inchs , reset the ATP . Turned the sens down 2 clicks , running smooth , not getting any deep hits , on one shallow hit , a 1 1/2 washer 4 -5 deep , my impression was front of coil not sensitive . Not much of a trial less then a hour .
Sunday best weather yet 57 degrees , my wife and I went to her family home , built 1950 . Have hunted before , soil is perfect sandy loom easy diggin . My aim was to check coil on deep targets , dug a couple shallow targets and finally got a sketchy 70 dug deep about 10 inchs some sort of iron bar , was not going to dig a huge hole in their lawn . Soon got a 80 's hit about 5 inchs down , dug a scouts badge , now my wife was swinging in std zero. I took the opportunity to try and sway her to use pro zero , dug down to about 8 inches dropped a quarter in the hole , set the ATP to pro zero now listen honey , she swings , nothing . So I put a 5 , 10 , and penny in hole barely a sound . Noticed the sens was down 3 notches , checked hole in Std same resaults . Check on surface and was only hitting at 4-5 inchs . Went home checked with silver Q on surface same 4-5 inches sens 3 notch , with 2 notch 5-6 , about 8 inch wide open , Using pro zero
I always ran my 5/8 Garrett pro zero full sens except certain conditions , in the woods I have hit pennies at 8 inch in woods .
Well if we get another good day I'm going to do take all three coils out away from the house and compare them . I certainly did not get the great resaults I have been hearing about . ,,,,,HH
 
Ok, lets figure this out and take it step by step...Change batts firstly...You also gotta do the 'Factory Reset' protocols so the brainbox can handshake with that new coil!...I straight run my cables up the shaft not that this should matter.......

I drop sens 3 clicks nearly all the time, unless I'm in the wide open vacant deep sand.....Pro Zero or Pro Custom modes exclusively...Its a big coil, great for big open work with not a lot of multiples under it...Although, you can figure out how to use the center of it like a sniper coil of sorts...you gotta not run it hot in the trash though...Even the weather, time of day, and ambient EMI will effect a big coil...So its just taking all this into account....

Certain settings might work just fine in the Early Morning, but not worth a dman when the Sun comes up and the World gets 'noisy' later in the day...Imagine the cellphone activity flying around in the Ionosphere airwaves at 5am as opposed to 5pm?

You know at 5pm, its about 100times more active...Nobody is gonna call somebody and say: " Honeee, Bring home a loaf of bread" at 5am...
 
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Ok , fresh batts , did factory reset at the start and when noticed loss of depth.
Wrapped cable higher was recommended In a vid ? I like pro ,wife likes std so we switch . Somewhere along the line I moved sens 3 bars down . I wanted my wife to hear the proportional audio advantages in pro . Got zero response at 8 inch in hole put coins on surface , response only at 4-5 inchs . The only deep signal was large iron . Went home checking everything again , used a Q in yard for test , found full sens about 8 inch , each bar down dropped the depth 3 bars gave me only 4-5 inchs . I have not used the std coil in a long time been using the 5/8 , this is only my second time with the Nel . I'm going to test them all on a good day outside . I was using the Nel with the cover . ,,,,,HH
Just to add , Sunday about 1-2 pm overcast , great soil
 
I should say Ricki..I'm not the best here to help you..I NEVER Ground balance...I never use the Pinpoint feature either...And Im only using this rig to hunt water gold...nothing else..
 
I had the tornado briefly for my ATP when I had it and sold the tornado soon after.
All it seemed to add was weight, covered more ground i guess but didn't notice enough depth difference to make it worth keeping. But I don't recall it running like yours seems to be doing.

Never used the thunder but will be checking on your results
 
I think it's really hard to beat a stock coil,especially when finds are usually within 6 inches.I can only think of one honest 10 inch coin I dug,and I believe it was from fill dirt being added .
I hunt a lot of older homes,built from 1900 to 1930s usually.And I've used them all ,Etrac,explorers,at pros,f75ltd2...and none found anything deeper than 8 inches..But what I did find was tons of old coins and relics,within that 8 inch range,85 percent was in the 6 inch range.
I think depth is over rated,and when someone says they get 14 inches on a coin I believe them,but that would do me no good seeming there's none here that deep.
At pro with stock coil is hard to beat,just a nice machine.
 
I have used the Nel Storm on my ATP for a few months now and it works great. It is a bit larger than the thunder but I noticed about a 2 inch depth increase in air tests and in field tests. The Nel coil is a bit more noisy than stock coil but that is to be expected with a larger coil I think. I always knock it down 3 bars on sensitivity and ground balance then I run at 1-2 bars below top sensitivity during use depending on how trashy the area is. Keep in mind freshly dug coins thrown in a hole will not be picked up well by any coil on atp. Even in my test garden which is a few months old my ATP struggles to hit anything below 6 inches with any coil. The coins need to be in ground for a while to get the halo effect around them which increases the detectors ability to recognize them. I have found coins from 6-9 inches easily with Nel Storm. I think you just need to play with sensitivity and ground balance and get some hours under your belt with the new coil. I have not used that particular Nel coil but have had good luck with storm and have heard only good things about other nel coils on ATP.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
It is not my intention to trash Nel ,only to understand why as soon as I run the coil with less sens it drops depth in the air test . As far as air test vs surface ground test or test gardens , I don't have any experience to offer a opinion . The only thing I can say is that under the same conditions yesterday , that was the resault , so I was disappointed . I have watched a vid ,comparison of the thunder and Garrett stock and I'm not getting those resaults , which which were very positive for the Nel . From vid's , post , ect . I had the impression knocking the sens down would not make a big difference with depth . Sunday Iwas MDing 3 sens down not realizing that . I did get a hit 10 inchs on big iron :?:
,,,,,HH
 
Dsm , just checked the little tag said for ATP , good point , thanks .
Dragonfire have you checked to see if you lost depth by reducing sens or like me assumed I was hunting with a deep coil . :?:
,,,,,HH
 
I only reduce to ground balance like it says too then im up max sense if the area will allow it .. Cant say I have found anything deeper than with the stock but I have found more of it, that I have missed.. I do like the coil seperates really well for its size ..numbers are a bit off but the tones are still there
 
Had a used coil do that on me.

Got lucky all I had to do was give it a good cleaning. If that doesnt work, have someone else check it for you on their machine if you can. Also a call into the nel may help. I use the 5x8 coil for separation. Depth is ok. The AT Pro maxes out here at 10 inches in the city parks we have used it in. Was getting 4 and 5 inches in the open desert. Stock coil is too noisy for trashy parks here.
 
I almost hate posting this , as I'm not sure WHY. I changed over to the NRB battery and have a big improvement , still drop a little depth when I lower the sensitivity, nothing like before .The batteries I as using were from last year but never used . I had full bars with them . Thanks for the help . ,,,,,HH
 
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