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Should I go to a smaller coil

Missouri Mule

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2019
Messages
74
I am new to this hobby and plodding my way along a steep learning curve, so my questions keep piling up. After a few successful hunts where I at least was consistent in digging a coin or two, lately the harder I try to dig "good" signals the more junk I dig up. Last night I made a special effort to only dig solid signals recommended by well seasoned detectorists (using AT PRO's) on their various YouTube videos.
I set my AT PRO on standard mode, zero, discrimination set at 35. I am looking for coins primarily along the where the old boardwalks were in a town founded in the late 1800's.
I thought I was digging good targets only to find absolute junk (pop tops and old nails). I tried to select out the good targets amongst what seemed like a zillion targets.
I am sure the settings could be tweaked, or perhaps coin hunting should be set altogether different on an AT PRO.
A couple of detectorists recommended going to a smaller coil (5x8) when working in trashy area. I had thought of this before. Not having the requisite 200 posts to make a request in the wanted section, I am looking for a used 5x8 DD coil, should anyone have one for sale.
Perhaps though, I just need to tweak the settings on the system I already have. Any recommendations?
 
Yes, I have a recommendation. Don’t hunt there. Hunting amongst gobs of old nails will KILL you. Find a nice modern park and go coin hunting. Gotta crawl before you walk!
 
That sounds good. I guess I am lazy, as I am detecting only two minutes from where I live, largely for convenience. Mostly, I am trying to learn what various signals mean as I work my way up the learning curve. I guess I want to the take the illusive shortcut of not having to dig bad targets to learn their signals. As I said, I was finding coins where these old boardwalks were, though none very old. I have to slow down and learn. One detectorist suggested detecting a larger area and marking what seems to be the good targets, then go back to them to dig. By doing this, he said you will learn to skip over the poorer signals, as much better signals pop up, by comparison. Thanks again for your quick reply.
 
Dig them as you go, you'll forget what signal you had otherwise.All that flagging and stuff is time consuming and a waste of time imo.
Get the 5x8, great coil for the at pro..Dont settle for a sharpshooter or anything else, in my experience none of those coils compare to the 5x8.
I'm a coin hunter mostly..i use pro mode, iron audio up to 40 and full sensativity..The stock coil has never had a problem for me getting emi with those setti habit if you do just do a frequency shift and if that don't take it down then drop a bar of sensativity.
You got a good machine, the at pro..just go out and dig alot of high tones and leave the midtones alone unless you get a nickel signal..That is one of the easiest, cleanest hitting machines made.
 
Yes the 5by8 coil is a coin hunters pal.
If you want to coin hunt just disc out everything except the type of coin/s you want.
 
I own 11 detectors and 3 are ATPros. I use them 95% of the time and all 3 have a 5x8 coil. Only coil I use.

Here’s what I do. I only hunt in Standard Custom and Pro Custom and both have iron disc at full 40. I start in standard custom with iron audio off. When I get a good target I flip iron audio on and check the target again.

If it sounds good I switch to Pro Custom and pinpoint and dig the target.

Why? Unless I’m hunting relics I’m not interested in iron targets. In Standard Custom you hunt a larger area because the signals go down the complete area of the coil. All signals will sound the same, meaning a dime at 2” and another dime at 6” sound identical.

In Pro Custom the signal tapers inward so the search area is smaller but a dime at 2” will sound louder than a dime at 6”. Thus you can more accurately gauge how deep the target is and pinpoint more accurately.

It’s very easy once you set the modes up and get used to changing back and forth.

Also the difference between Custom and the other 2 modes is your settings in Custom stay when you turn the machine off. With the other modes you have to reset every time you turn it off. Good luck
 
I'd recommend first getting out of standard mode.
If you are looking for coins its hard to beat pro coin with iron at 40. I normally have sensitivity 2 bars down.
Some areas are just to trashy to hunt, a smaller coil will help but I think you should wait until your more confidant with the stock coil. Just keep digging trash and before you know it you are digging less trash.
 
Personally I never discriminate anything and leave iron audio on, want to hear everything and never use standard mode. Any overly rusted nail or pop can will send that thing into bing bong mode in standard. Also in Pro when I have too much discrim that thing will cut out and pop like you had too much beer and White Castle the night before and drives me insane. I let my ears do the discriminating, once you dug a few coins, as soon as you get the coil over one you will know it before you even dig. Find some totters or kids sports fields you can practice in to get the hang of it. If you're just after coins don't even dig anything under a 77 on the VDI, that will give you most coins including the dreaded zincolns, nickels and gold will be out but that's not the goal at this point anyway. Just dig the crisp and clean signals that don't bounce around more than a number or 2 on the VDI and you shoudl be good to go. Also if only coin shooting shallow stuff in parks try to hone your skills enough to pop them with a screwdriver vs cutting a plug. Once good at it you can hit it, pop it, drop it in your pouch and be on to the next in a few seconds. Mudpuppy has some good threads on coin popping posted if you search for them. Sound like all you really need is to get the hours in to listen to what it's telling and when and when not to dig. Good luck
 
Try pro zero mode nothing discriminated, that way your ears tell you what to dig. The standard mode calls trash good targets.

For a smaller coil I would say the sniper coil or Nel snake coil. Lots of people say the 5x8 coil. I have the 5x8 coil and I used someones Nel snake coil, the snake coil does better.
 
I thank you all for your generous answers. I apologize for replying so late, I am working through a kidney stone issue that had me out of pocket for several days. I am going out now for a few hours of detecting using your suggestions. Thank you again.
 
Yes the 5by8 coil is a coin hunters pal.
If you want to coin hunt just disc out everything except the type of coin/s you want.

the 5x8" DD coil will help some due to a smaller slice of the DD coil that may be just enough to get you in between some of the iron trash. Be sure to do a 90 degree cross swing to maybe allow your detecting slice get a better view of the iron and target.

Keep in mind if you get a non-ferrous and ferrous target under the coil detection slice at one time, you are likely to get a mixed reading on the VDI and also will get discriminated and missed. Mixed reading being a average of the two normal VDI readings.
 
Hey Missouri Muel, My wife has an AT Pro and does well with it. Most of the folks that we know that run an AT Pro use the 5x8 and do well with it. She went back and forth trying to decide which smaller coil to get. She got the small concentric sniper coil instead and likes it for ghost towns and mining camps with lots of iron trash. I can't tell you which one is better but a smaller coil will definitely help in iron trash.
 
I bought my AT-PRO with only the 5x8 and have had good success with finding gold . I dug a lot of pull tabs to find the gold , but, it was worth it . I haven’t hunted with the 8x11 so I have no advice with that coil . If you wanna buy the 5x8 coil , you’ll love it. Especially in trashy areas . That about sums up my opinion.
 
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