AT Pro users

canwedigit

Elite Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2011
Messages
782
Location
Beaches
We have a Sand Shark, which we are happy with. We are interested in adding an AT Pro for discrimination for extra family users for primarily wet/dry saltwater sand & some knee deep saltwater. Others want to hunt at the same time. I know many would say get a Minelab, Whites, CZ etc, but we have the budget for this only. No more. So, you AT Pro users, what' s been your experience & suggestions? The Garrett site says beach/freshwater hunting. Does this vagueness mean freshwater only. Yet, I see reviews that say "great" for salltwater and others say not. What gives?
 
Think the AT Pro is single frequency, so unless there is some magic under the hood, it probably won't work too well in salty wet sand/water.

I'm guessing it will only get maybe half the depth of the SS, and may false like crazy.
 
I took mine to the beach (ocean) and was awesome on the dry sand. I didn't thane the patience for it in the wet sand. I did the GB thing as best I knew and it was still pretty noisy and falsing. If I took the time I could probably make it work OK. I didn't get into the knee deep water as I wasn't dressed properly and the weather was stormy. I have seen vies and heard people say it works much better in the water than in the wet sand.

Now I don't a lot about most MDers in general but I do plan on getting a dedicated saltwater machine down the line.

Of course I don't know your situation but my thoughts are that if you can afford a $600 machine for friends to use occasionally then you may be able to wait several, four months and buy a nice used saltwater machine. I wouldn't spend that kind of coin a detector for guests to use on the beach when it is only excellent on 1/3 of the beach. Just my opinion.
 
I have had the pro for about a month now,it has been better in the saltwater than the wet sand.just had to gb in the water then take it down a few notches manually last time I was out I was at a beach where the water is searched daily at first I thought it was not working no sounds so I passed over my scoop to make sure, It was I did find alittle gold ring that day and 77¢
 
Have had an AT Pro since the beginning of it ....Got Garrett to do work on it to make it not false with every move .....Stuck to my guns and got things changed to make it a more workable machine .....

This being said , it's a single frequency machine which would normally not work well in saltwater and wet salt sand ....However , if you can ground balance in the wet salt sand or in the saltwater , you will be able to hunt successfully, but it will NOT ground balance in every situation ....We did tests on various machines , and the AT Pro with the stock coil can hit a 7.5 gram ring at 8 inches in the wet salt sand down by Atlantic CIty NJ ....It was ground balancing at 13 when doing this ....Sensitivity was all the way up ....I use mine for the dry sand for recent drops on the beach .....It will go plenty deep if it needs to ....I've dug 10-12 inch targets re ground balancing in the dry sand ....Nice little machine for a mid priced detector .... Works well in iron , and has a good discrimination ......Light enough to move fast with ..JIm
 
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