Myers Depot Metal Detectors

AT PRO custom settings & questions

papajohn

papajohn

Full Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2013
Messages
221
Location
Hahira,Ga
Wondering what other AT users have for a custom setting and when or where do you use it.I was thinking custom having max iron 40 and 40-45 notched out and everything else on for trashy sites.Then use coin for cherry picking and zero for relic hunting.

Do you ground balance at each site?When I was in Dallas talking with the tech's at Garretts home office they said it was best to leave it on 80 because that is the intended setting for the machine.

Anyone one else have the issue of extreme chatter when machine isn't moving the numbers and tones will bounce for 20-93 ,but while swinging will remain calm.I have tried holding the power button,fresh batteries,change freq,but will not stop unless sensitivity is lowered down 3 notches.This only happens in certain areas that I hunt other spots I can run wide open with zero issues.

Is the 5x8 really worth the extra money.Do you only use it for high trash areas like parks?Would you use it to field or wood hunt or use the normal one to cover large areas?

Sorry for the many questions I have had my AT for about 6 months and these are some of things I have wondered about.
 
The 5x8 is ok in trash & makes the machine lighter, but even in trash & iron I prefer the 8.5x11 over the 5x8...

Some of my settings may or may not work for you depending on your ground conditions, also many people swear by the pro-zero but I think its for the birds.. (way to noisy), theres no reason to make yourself & your ears miserable when you can use quieter settings & find the same items at the same depths ..:cool:

Pro custom..
Sens- 1 notch from max
ground balance- 81
freq- 2
iron audio- off
iron disc- 27
 
I use custom on the beach. Set the machine for the wet sand and save it in custom mode.

Yes, I have had a problem with extreme chatter. Actually had to send it in for repair and it is fine now. Garrett reloaded the software. It started out fine and over a few months got so bad that it chattered ALL the time, even when other ATP's were quiet.

Some chatter is normal, even a little more in some places. Trashy areas, and the saltwater beach. Beach being the worst of them. You can still hear a good solid target though. If you can't, like before the repairs to my machine, you have a problem.

Also, Check a few things, like connections, for cracks in the coil, reducing the sensitivity a bar or two, and making a frequency adjust.

There's a group up in the communities for ATP users. You can get more advice there.
 
Thanks.I will give that a try....I agree with the pro zero unless the site is clean.

What is your guys best items with a low vdi...mine was a toy plane came in around 46-48...in my time of running in pro zero nothing I have found under 50 has been anything worth keeping.

What are other users take on low vdi targets.What range do you find relics?There is a ton of history here town dates back to 1820 and there are a lot of homes and other sites dating back to 1885 still standing around here.
 
I'm down here in Brazoria County, where Texas Began. Spanish landed here in 1596 I believe. Believe it or not we don't find many relics. Very few old coins are found, by club members anyway. There have been some nice finds. The best relic for me. UM, probably what we believe is part of a horse drawn plow from the 1900's. Found it in a ghost town named English. Oldest coin to date is a 1928 Walking Liberty Quarter.

The ATP kills silver. I have found 4 silver coins and 5 or 6 silver rings since I got the ATP in December 2012. No gold with it yet, but found two gold wedding bands with the ACE 350.
 
papajohn said:
What is your guys best items with a low vdi...mine was a toy plane came in around 46-48...in my time of running in pro zero nothing I have found under 50 has been anything worth keeping.
Click to expand...

I found a small gold ring at 46 (solid)on a CA beach.
 
Most of my shield nickels read a bit lower in the 50's then the normal V or Buff nickles I've dug, also quit a few of the smaller civil war buttons rang in with a vdi as low as 47 or 48... Depending on the site sometimes I'll even dig iron signals if its the larger sounding iron & I'm looking for relics..
At my cilvil war sites I'll dig anything & everything...
 
Mntnclmbr said:
I found a small gold ring at 46 (solid)on a CA beach.
Click to expand...

That's what I have notice most people that find gold it always rings up higher than 45.So then I wonder why dig anything below 45....anyone find a small gold earring what do the read on the VDI??
 
I run Custom 35 discrimination. I have found quite a few pieces of gold, chains and pendents, that read 39-40. I do GB before every hunt. I prefer the stock coil. The smaller is good in really trashy sites but the depth loss compared to the stock coil keeps me using the 11.5. Also, the stock coil is amazingly sensitive to small gold at great depths.

The only chatter I hear from my AT Pro is from targets when I'm swinging. It is dead silent when I hold it still.
 
Hey there from NJ. I usually use ProCustom, disc 35 or 40. I hardly use Iron Audio ON. I ground balance anytime I think the soil composition has changed or just for the heck of it to make sure it's right. I haven't heard about setting GB at 80- I'm going to try that. I have heard of people lowering the GB by 5 or 10 from where it auto sets for better results. IMHO this all has to do with YOUR soil conditions. Sometimes I will cherry pick using Custom mode- that can be fun. I have not had extreme chattiness problems yet. I use the 5X8 DD coil most of the time but I do use the larger DD and the Sniper coil when conditions call for it. I feel more coils = more options and stratagies for hunting, increasing finds. I guess its better to have all these options and capabilities to utilize than not. I love my AT Pro and it has been a great producer of keepers. Hope some of my info helps somebody somewhere. GL and HH to everyone. Matt

papajohn said:
Wondering what other AT users have for a custom setting and when or where do you use it.I was thinking custom having max iron 40 and 40-45 notched out and everything else on for trashy sites.Then use coin for cherry picking and zero for relic hunting.

Do you ground balance at each site?When I was in Dallas talking with the tech's at Garretts home office they said it was best to leave it on 80 because that is the intended setting for the machine.

Anyone one else have the issue of extreme chatter when machine isn't moving the numbers and tones will bounce for 20-93 ,but while swinging will remain calm.I have tried holding the power button,fresh batteries,change freq,but will not stop unless sensitivity is lowered down 3 notches.This only happens in certain areas that I hunt other spots I can run wide open with zero issues.

Is the 5x8 really worth the extra money.Do you only use it for high trash areas like parks?Would you use it to field or wood hunt or use the normal one to cover large areas?

Sorry for the many questions I have had my AT for about 6 months and these are some of things I have wondered about.
Click to expand...
 
I too have experienced the chatter problem, and like you only in certain areas. I attributed it to the idea that I might be MD'n on a toxic waist dump :laughing: Recently I did a Corp of Engineers Campground and had this problem in specific areas only and also had to reduce the sensitivity to 1 or 2 bars, but then just avoided those particular areas.
I'm going to try the GB@ 80 also, thanks for that information. Been out several times since the COE campground and haven't experienced the chatter locally.

:digginahole:
 
I ground balance whenever I change sites, or when I can see a change in the soil composition. When I get chatter, I switch frequencies. I've had to change frequencies multiple times before and I have always (so far) been able to find one that does not chatter for me.

I have my custom mode setup with a 32 disc for trashy areas. If it is a super trashy spot, I will run coin mode. Otherwise, I have started to run in Pro Zero mode with limited (or no) discrimination. Where I am located, relics can be anywhere. So, I now dig most solid repeatable tones - irregardless of the VDI. The only exception is that I may elect to skip low VDI's if I keep finding trash / nails / old hardware. I use iron audio on a case-by-case basis, but usually more so in trashy areas where I want to know if the target is rusty iron, or possibly something else.

I have the large and small DD coil. I choose the large coil in 'cleaner' sites and fields. I typically use the small coil in trashy areas, or in parks where I know I want to get closer to fences or other metal fixtures.

GL&HH!
 
Well, everyone has different settings. I use the 5x8 coil exclusively on my AT Pro.

When I want to cherry pick this is my setting.

IRON DISC 40
Eliminate everything up to 75. Leaving 75+

This means I will pick up all coins except nickels. Nickels for me are a lost cause as I find very few anyway. Gold is not an option most of the time when I hunt. This is my primary setting.

For any other hunting, beach, etc. the OEM settings are pretty much set, but I rarely look for iron so iron disc is usually maxed at 40 unless relic hunting specifically and in certain areas.
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback.I quess 35 is a good setting to run on disc that would be safe not to miss anything.I will try a few sites to GB on.Most times when I have used auto GB it will run 83-84 but a few sites will go up to 93.

I wonder if the chatter might be from the move it was in the back of my jeep for 4 days as we moved from Ut - Ga.They say extreme heat can melt the glue inside the coil and cause issues?The A/C died about 4hrs into the trip.:mad:

Usally I only turn iron audio if the sound is scratchy or grunts.Then with it on you can hear the deep low grunts,but I do like to have that option with just one push of the button instead of cycling threw the other modes from pro zero.

Do you guys every get overwhelmed by all the tones and just run standered mode?Is the a good pair of head phones that are łight weight that use the Garrett plug that don't look like ear muffs?:?:
 
I always go pro zero, GB to the site and sometimes drop it 5 from the auto setting, iron audio off then check when I find something decent on the tones...to try and stop the bottle top digging.

Sensa two off top and love the 8.5x11 with the gizmo on the cuff to bring the balance back..almost feels like a 5x8 then, only really trashy areas do I ever use the 5x8, it just takes too long to cover a field in 5x8.

sometimes the chatty can be caused by pylons but also from wrapping your coils wire too close to the coil....it can settle if its not tight enough..an elastic band can stop it moving down the shaft, I never have that trouble though.

id set the ID to 35 so I don't miss gold but miss nails and common junk...and every clear signal I test swing 6" off the ground and if its still the same number then I know its something big and gnarly or a water pipe valve (found a couple) or wheel trim etc
 
Detector said:
I run Custom 35 discrimination. I have found quite a few pieces of gold, chains and pendents, that read 39-40. I do GB before every hunt. I prefer the stock coil. The smaller is good in really trashy sites but the depth loss compared to the stock coil keeps me using the 11.5. Also, the stock coil is amazingly sensitive to small gold at great depths.

The only chatter I hear from my AT Pro is from targets when I'm swinging. It is dead silent when I hold it still.
Click to expand...

You should check out the gizmo..it works wonders with the large coil..it really reduces the weight on your arm
 
TheCoilist said:
Well, everyone has different settings. I use the 5x8 coil exclusively on my AT Pro.

When I want to cherry pick this is my setting.

IRON DISC 40
Eliminate everything up to 75. Leaving 75+

This means I will pick up all coins except nickels. Nickels for me are a lost cause as I find very few anyway. Gold is not an option most of the time when I hunt. This is my primary setting.

For any other hunting, beach, etc. the OEM settings are pretty much set, but I rarely look for iron so iron disc is usually maxed at 40 unless relic hunting specifically and in certain areas.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with cherry picking..i got permission on one site hadn't been hit for 30 years...I took more then $120 from that one site and all dimes and quarters and some silver...it sure lifts your spirits if you aint been getting much for a while..like looking forward to xmas morning for about two weeks.
 
papajohn said:
Thanks.I will give that a try....I agree with the pro zero unless the site is clean.

What is your guys best items with a low vdi...mine was a toy plane came in around 46-48...in my time of running in pro zero nothing I have found under 50 has been anything worth keeping.

What are other users take on low vdi targets.What range do you find relics?There is a ton of history here town dates back to 1820 and there are a lot of homes and other sites dating back to 1885 still standing around here.
Click to expand...

I have not found anything bellow 50 to worth spending the time and effort, but then I hunt trashy areas. For these and these only I use
Pro Custom mode - I have maxed out iron disc and 2 more notches taken out and this works for beach, coins...

Any other places that have less junk I use Pro Zero - Iron disc and iron audio are off as relics may be the subject for the hunt.
 
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