At Pro First Impressions and Questions

partyofone

Elite Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Messages
1,264
Location
Central PA
Hello all,

I just got an At Pro on Thursday. Took it out for about 30 minutes before the snow. I started with a Coinmaster, a one tone beeps or it doesn't machine. My first impression of the At is, man this thing is noisy!

I hunted my back yard. Using Pro Zero, disc at 35, no iron audio, it made some sort of noise on every swing in some parts of the yard. In others it was quiet. I was able to get a couple decent signals in the 70-75 range. Ended up being old screw caps.

It appears that I did a pretty good job of cleaning out the good stuff in the yard and now I'm left with the rest. My question is, how do you deal with the rest, ie. searching through the trash?

I'm hoping to find a cleaner area after the snow melts so that I can actually find some coins and get more clean signals. I'm thinking that a trashy area is not the best place to learn this new machine. It's a huge difference from the Coinmaster. Now I understand why so many beginners gave up when they bought this as their first machine.

I'm also going to switch to the 5x8 coil.

Thanks in advance for any help.

HH,
Erik
 
It can be noisy, but just take your time and listen for repeatable high tones. It took me about 2 months to get a hang on that machine and I'm still learning. I was honestly very discouraged with it at first and thought my machine might've been faulty. But once I learned it, it was a superb detector. Good luck with it! PS: in trashy areas you'll love the 5x8!!
 
5x8 coil is a must for any trash area, I use mine all the time, trash or not.....

She is noisy in trash areas, If I get tired of noise, I switch to Pro Coin audio off. All depends where i hunt and what I am after...Gotta learn the machine and then trust it, I was doubting mine but can pull qtr's from 10+"......

High tones, that repeat and numbers not all over the place, dig. Sometimes the voice in my head makes me dig iffy signals, bottle caps and junk mostly....

I am still learning mine as well, still got issues with mixed tones (say iron with High) and mid tones.....Again in trashy areas. I can do better when I slow WAY down.

Your gonna love the ATP!

Jim
 
Hello all,

I just got an At Pro on Thursday. Took it out for about 30 minutes before the snow. I started with a Coinmaster, a one tone beeps or it doesn't machine. My first impression of the At is, man this thing is noisy!

I hunted my back yard. Using Pro Zero, disc at 35, no iron audio, it made some sort of noise on every swing in some parts of the yard. In others it was quiet. I was able to get a couple decent signals in the 70-75 range. Ended up being old screw caps.

It appears that I did a pretty good job of cleaning out the good stuff in the yard and now I'm left with the rest. My question is, how do you deal with the rest, ie. searching through the trash?

I'm hoping to find a cleaner area after the snow melts so that I can actually find some coins and get more clean signals. I'm thinking that a trashy area is not the best place to learn this new machine. It's a huge difference from the Coinmaster. Now I understand why so many beginners gave up when they bought this as their first machine.

I'm also going to switch to the 5x8 coil.

Thanks in advance for any help.

HH,
Erik

Hey, I am sure this won't be of a lot of help as I do not have the ATP but the Coinmaster GT. With the tone ID on and dec out iron I would get a lot of non repeatable signals. Allowing iron tone on I got to hear the iron grunt just before or after the high tones, which after digging a bit, was normally a rusty nail. Not sure if this translates to what you are hearing or not. Also to fast a swing will give you those high beeps at the end of the swing..
Good luck!
 
To begin with, I am not the most qualified MDer to give advice of any sort. I don't have a ton of mind blowing finds either. But, this is a hobby and anyone else is welcome to come forward and add to what I say, or correct me if they disagree. So, for what it's worth, here I am. Enjoy the hobby.
My guess is that you have a lot of buried utility cables and, depending on how your back yard was used, lots of scrap metal. There is no rush to do the area, since it is YOUR back yard, so I'd take my time and use it as a training area to learn the tones of your machine in a very controllable environment. Divide the yard into sections and with a methodical search pattern in each section, experiment with each mode of the machine, i.e., beginning in the STD settings to familiarize yourself with the machine, then switch to the PRO modes to find which mode best suits you. Then, with the iron discrim at its highest and all but the most desireable targets eliminated using the NOTCH DISCRIM and ELIM Buttons began a serious search for diggable targets. Under normal circumstances I expect a good solid, with no iron audio, of 84 for a quarter, 81 for a dime and 75 for a clad penny. These numbers are pretty stable and, using the "wiggle" to eliminate bottle caps and pull tabs, somewhat predictable within on a +-1 or 2 variable. I have suggested eliminating your lower number targets because I have found that it is within this range I get the greatest amount of EMI from both buried and above ground electronics...and you're learning, not producing income. Take your time, practice pinpointing, and learn from what your machine told you the target was, where it was at and how deep it was. When you've dug the higher number targets, and the speed of your search has increased, notch out the higher numbers and lower your Iron Discrim to about 30 and dig targets between 30 and about 60. Tin foil is a predictable 42, nickels are a 52 and a pull tab will be a fairly consistent 55...but some come in at 60. By the time you've completed digging all those targets, open the machine up to PRO Zero with nothing discriminated, iron audio ON. Now sweep the same areas you've searched and dug previously. Most of what's left is pure junk and unusual targets such as gold rings, rusty washers and possibly, lots of EMI from your wireless phones, remote controls and the neighbors burglar alarm wireless sensors. Practice changing the frequencies of your machine using the PINPOINT and SENSITIVITY buttons so when you start digging with a buddy you can eliminate interference from his/her machine and minimize interference from local EMI. If this sounds like a real pain in the butt....hang up your metal detector and get a X-Box instead because when you start digging through blackberry bushes with ice freezing on your tinkie, you'll wish you had learned to distinguish between a nearby cell phone tower and a 14K ring:my2cents:. MOST IMPORTANT....HAVE FUN and good digging!

AT Pro/GPP/Fiskars Digger/Bounty Hunter Outback/HF Pin Pointer
 
The ATP is a sensitive machine and can be frustrating to learn. I had a lot of trouble getting used to it after using an ACE 350, a much quieter machine. But no match for the ATP.

I found that each site is different, some are very noise and some as quiet as a mouse. Especially with the big coil on. You may need to reduce the sensitivity. The big coil gives you depth and covers more area with each swing, and pin points well. The smaller 5x8 coil picks through the trash better, and pin points even better, and gives you pretty good depth.

Once you get used to the tones and vdi readings you will be able to ignor the trash noises and pick out the good targets. It take time and a lot of practice. Garrett recommends 100 hours, it took me much more.
 
I'm thinking most of the sounds you are hearing is metal in/on the ground.. ATP picks up on all if it, some so small it is hard to even see...

<*)))>{
 
Slow your swing speed to 1 foot per second or a little slower. This way you will get one signal instead of two or three at a time, which happens in areas with a lot of targets. Test your speed by putting a penny down and go over it. If the sound is a low or medium sound it is an indication of swinging to fast. Then put three pennies in a row about 2 to 3 inches apart and swing over them. You should be able to hear three high tones. Just keep at it, you've got one of the best machines on the market, you'll be finding coins before you know it. Good luck and don't get discouraged.
 
I learned by digging everything in the Pro Zero mode, after about 100 hours and being confident in the unit I ordered the 5x8 coil. The Pro does have a bit of learning curve but so does driving a new car.
 
I'm glad you've posted this. I now have some idea of what to expect when I get mine. Thanks for posting your initial thoughts. :cool:
 
I'm thinking most of the sounds you are hearing is metal in/on the ground.. ATP picks up on all if it, some so small it is hard to even see...

<*)))>{

agreed! :yes:
one thing which should help you as you're learning this powerful machine is to reduce your sensitivity setting. back it down to about 2 and try it like that for a little while. that will help eliminate a lot of those smaller/deeper targets and you'll get a lot less "noise". if you're running it too hot and picking up everything within range of the AT and you're in a trashy area, it'll drive you nuts.
later on when you've got a better ear for what it's telling you, then by all means run it hotter and go for the deeper goodies. :D but starting off with a high sens setting and picking up every little speak of metal in the ground can be quite overwhelming to a new At user.
 
Slow your swing speed to 1 foot per second or a little slower. This way you will get one signal instead of two or three at a time, which happens in areas with a lot of targets. Test your speed by putting a penny down and go over it. If the sound is a low or medium sound it is an indication of swinging to fast. Then put three pennies in a row about 2 to 3 inches apart and swing over them. You should be able to hear three high tones. Just keep at it, you've got one of the best machines on the market, you'll be finding coins before you know it. Good luck and don't get discouraged.

Great speed test!

Jim
 
AT Pro's are amazing machines but it takes time to get on the same page with one. It took me well over the 100 hours to get really good.

You will find good stuff right off the bat but once it clicks man o man you really start nailing the treasure. :grin:

Do a factory reset, go to Pro Zero, ground balance, manually bump the ground balance back 4 numbers and go.

Just listen to everything for the first 2 months and the good targets will make themselves clear.
 
I just got mine so other than agreeing it can be noisy I dont have any real experience with it speciffically. But just like other detectors that I do have a lot of experience with , the ace 250 being one of them , you CAN notch or discriminate out a lot of that noise so you dont hear it , you can probably essentially make the AT a lot like many other detectors and nearly as quiet.............. BUT that will also make a lot of the good targets so that you cant hear them too , you notch them out with the stuff you dont want to hear because they are masking each other and blending in. The benefit of hearing all this noise is that you wont miss the subtle sound changes and mid to high tones that sneak out as you maneuver the coil around. The detector is trying to sniff out these good targets among the bad but if you disc it all out you wont hear anything. I learned this with my other detector once i started hunting in all metal mode and got used to the noise. I can sometimes hear for example a dime "peeking" out from behind a piece of trash by a quick high tone every other swing or so or from a different angle. If I had anything notched out or any discrimination the detector would normally just remain silent.
 
Try hunting a trashy site with a lot of iron, knowing that there are goodies mixed in! I use the 5x8 in those places and have to slow down A LOT!


When that repeatable high tone comes in you know it's going to be good!
 
Pro coin mode
Disc 40
Proper GB
Reduce sens until it runs smooth

No need to release all of it's power when starting out.
Coming from a CM to an ATpro is like night and day.
Don't rush your learning experience
On any machine your just learning if it's too noisy and jittery reduce the sensitivity
and/or increase the discrimination until your comfortable.
 
Back
Top Bottom