Big Boys Hobbies

AT Pro for beginner?

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Pahvantpiper

New Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2019
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Hello all! I’m new here and to metal detecting except for a year or so with an old Whites in my teenage years back in the 80s. I want to work up to an Equinox ASAP. In the meantime there are several used AT pros for sale in my area. Is this too advanced for me to start with or could I get up to speed in several months with lots of practice? Thank you.
 
Its a great rig for a beginner! Very easy, 'turn on and go'... most of us run in Pro Zero Mode with iron audio either off or on...also about 3 clicks down on sens runs nice and stable...

A very powerful hunter that has a superb in field pedigree concerning some amazing finds...Not only that, but it holds a decent resale value since theres no doubt what it can do and is well respected and accepted in the Detectorist community...
 
Welcome from South Carolina !!!!

This video I found online might help you decide too, this is part 1 of a 4 part series they made, after part 1 you should see where you can click for part 2 and so on -



:mder:_____:mder: _____:mder:_____:mder:
 
Welcome! O was worried I might have bit off too much with the Teknetics Patriot because JUST LIKE YOU I hadn't detected since dinosaurs ruled the earth....but y'know what? I figured, "hey, Richie...get a machine that will grow with you, or you can grow into and that can do all the stuff the big boys do." So, like you I asked a ton of qquestions and two guys...mud puppy and Digger27 I really helped me pick my machine. And it has been great. I don't know the AT Pro, but I had looked at it originally. And, I think you will be fine. Just find you a good AT Pro mentor on this here site...and I think you will be golden.
 
Shure you can, but why not just buy the nox now and start learning? by the way I swing an AtPro !


Welcome to the forum from Western NY


:fmdfwelcome:
 
Hi, welcome to the forum.
As long as you are willing to study a little and ask some questions on these forums, you should not have any problems with the AT Pro. Excellent, proven detector for many detecting environments.
Around $400 would be a good price for a used one in excellent condition where I live.

Jeff
 
AT Pro is a very solid machine. I use it exclusively. If you don't need salt water wet sand or really deep coins capability, it should be a great machine for you.
 
At pro is just a great performer.And one of the easiest to learn, and find alot of cool stuff...Lots of folks moved on to somthing better than the at pro and were happy.Theres lots that bought somthing else and went back to the at pro, grass isn't always greener.
I would suggest getting it and cleaning out places to the best of your ability and then find new places to hunt vs buying a equinox and find a few coins the at pro missed? Kinda counter productive in my opinion.. If your leaning towards the equinox just buy it and clean places out to the best of your ability and find new places .
 
Last edited:
Mud-puppy said:
Its a great rig for a beginner! Very easy, 'turn on and go'... most of us run in Pro Zero Mode with iron audio either off or on...also about 3 clicks down on sens runs nice and stable...

A very powerful hunter that has a superb in field pedigree concerning some amazing finds...Not only that, but it holds a decent resale value since theres no doubt what it can do and is well respected and accepted in the Detectorist community...
Click to expand...

agree with Mud 100%. Starting with an 800 or 600 would be ok, but stick to the Park1 & 2 and field 1 & 2 modes. Forget about tone breaks for now. You don't need them until much later if ever.

of course gold hunting use gold modes and beach beach modes.

But still I went from the AT Pro to the Nox 800 and AT Pro is not exactly a beginners machine, but any beginner can learn it as easy as a Garrett Ace machine and it is a lot more capable.

My mistake on the 800 was trying to learn every small detail on the 800 at first. Not a good idea.
 
The AT-Pro has an excellent reputation and is an excellent value for the money. If you are not going to be working a salt water beach and it is not that hard to learn If I learned to use my tones only machine then you with a little effort can learn to use the AT-PRO
 
Absolutely, it was my first machine and it's great for what it is. I now use the 800, the AT Pro hasn't seen the light of day since.
 
Pahvantpiper said:
Hello all! I’m new here and to metal detecting except for a year or so with an old Whites in my teenage years back in the 80s. I want to work up to an Equinox ASAP. In the meantime there are several used AT pros for sale in my area. Is this too advanced for me to start with or could I get up to speed in several months with lots of practice? Thank you.
Click to expand...

It’s fine but I recommend the equinox if that’s where you want to go anyway. Learning a machine takes time. The Pro uses different ID numbers than the Nox. You will need to re-learn when you switch detectors. I started this year. I used an AT Pro first then switched. It would have been easier just starting with the Nox. Both are good machines.
 
The AT pro is a great machine most of my good finds have come from it. It's extremely easy to use turn it on pro zero disc out around 35 or whatever you want and your good to go. You will be finding good targets before you know it and it's actually really good in trashy and iron infested areas especially if you find a used one with the 5x8 coil included at a good price. I rarely get false signals like I do with my etrac. That being said I can't wait to get my hands on a equinox to see what it's like so it's a tough call. But if something happened to my AT pro I would pick up another one just cause I like it so much :yes:.
 
If you are really set on the Nox, I would just start with it, if cost is not an issue. You can learn any machine if you are willing to put in the time researching and practicing. I started as a noob with the Deus which is one of the more complicated to learn machines and it was quite a steep learning curve but I can tell you from experience it is achievable. I watched tons of videos, read the manual 100 times as well as a good book (Andy Sabisch (sp?)) and got out and used it as much as possible experimenting with different settings.

All that said, the ATPro seems like an excellent machine and has a huge fan base. I have always wanted one as a second machine that can go into creeks and lakes and plan to buy one someday when a second machine is justified for my situation.

Either way, all the best in your decision, welcome and happy hunting!
 
I’ve owned several ATPros and it will find stuff deeper than one would think but found the ATP to be nose heavy and uncomfortable after a few hours.
With the smaller 5x8” coil on, it helps reduce the nose heavy feeling but adds to the overall cost. Good luck!
 
A couple of posts above referenced the AT Pro as being bad for salt water beaches. Why is that? I was under the impression that it would be a good beach machine......
 
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