What About Ground Balancing?

Since you aren't brand new, I'd get one with ground balance ability. It really does make a difference and you'll only need to upgrade again at some point.

If you are anywhere near me, you need ground balance. The ground around here balances low 90s on the AT Pro and high 80s on the deus, it is highly mineralized.

Thanks very much for your thoughts.

The problem is that I'm reluctant to spend the type of money for a machine such as an AT Pro when, at this point, I'm really not sure how much time I am going to be able to give to the detector. On the other hand, if using a machine with pre-set ground balancing is just going to have me chasing false signals, that's probably not going to be a very pleasant way to spend a number of hours with the detector.

Get a used AT Pro. With the release of the AT Max, Pro prices and demand have come down. I got an AT Pro new for $440 over a year ago, seen great looking used ones for less than $350 here. The AT Pro will keep your interest much longer and better than an Ace series.

Where exactly are you? or at least how far from me?

Lots of used Garrett AT Pro detectors for sale lately around $350-$400. Found a few shallow coins without setting ground balance. Then I did a pretty good ground balance & got a loud beep that IDed as dime on every pass (#s 80-85).

It was just clad as the park is 1974, but it was 7" deep, so probably sat there for 30 years and this park is probably detected at least 100 times a year as there is almost never a big quantity of coins found, 50 cents an hour typical.

When I had a Garrett Ace 250, the deepest dime IDed was only 4". So, a 75% depth gain with the AT Pro over the Ace 250, 3 more inches. Actually, I had several Ace 250 units. Many of the best detectors today that are near the Ace 250 price (close to $300 new) have manual ground balance, auto tracking or ground grab, and they can be found used for $200 or less.

Detector preferences will vary. If you ask what's best in a price range you may get a dozen different answers. For me, the Garrett AT Pro gives me confidence. I recently bought a few used detectors to compare them for performance and relative simplicity. It's going to take me a few months U think for me to test each with various setting and optional coils.

One of the nice things about the Garrett AT Pro is it has the simple standard mode and the pro mode for better identifying of coins when iron is very nearby. Most say use 5x8 coil and PRO mode with zero discrimination. But parks and schools near me are '60s or later so STD mode with stock coil works pretty good here as long as I ground balance and I like to set it to reject trash using coins mode. Best wishes.

FWIW the Ace 400 performs excellent in bad dirt with preset gb. I have a spot with 5 bar black cinders dirt and ace 400 could still hit and ID copper coins. V3i wouldnt even function without overload. Racer 2 would only work in beach mode and no id. everything read 99 on vdi. only downside on ace 400 is horrible yellow color and short arm cuff

Thanks VERY much for all of the advice and assistance, guys! I really appreciate it.

Remmy...I'm in Berks County in southeastern PA.

Will D. said:

Thanks very much for your thoughts.

The problem is that I'm reluctant to spend the type of money for a machine such as an AT Pro when, at this point, I'm really not sure how much time I am going to be able to give to the detector. On the other hand, if using a machine with pre-set ground balancing is just going to have me chasing false signals, that's probably not going to be a very pleasant way to spend a number of hours with the detector.

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I agree with your premise! And the only worry about false signals can be met by lowering the sensitivity. Here's a tip, BTW, from using my Ace nearly 10 years: the Ace goes deeper with a faster sweep speed. So I lower my sensitivity to 3-4 bars to lessen the ground effect and sweep at a brisker pace- no need to overdo it. The default setting on the Aces is for good ground and too much for my Texas iron ore rich ground. On a side note- save up for the sniper coil with your finds! It is less susceptible to mineralization and when you open the sensitivity with this coil it will surprise you at the depth! Guess why I've kept my Ace so long!!