New with the AT Pro

Start with watching the Garrett Training videos found here:
http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbby_at_pro_videos.aspx

Also if you do a quick search on this site you will find lots of helpful threads full of information on how and why they run the ATP at different settings.

When I first got my ATP I started in Standard just because that was what I was use to, but each hunt I would use the Pro mode more and more until I was at the point where I would never go back to standard as pro mode gives you so much more info on your target.

Good luck this weekend! Happy Hunting

You dont always need to go down with the ground balance , only if you are getting a lot of chatter from iron or low conductive targets. Keeping it as high as possible can actually help you hear the tiny or deep targets. But experiment with it , this will help you learn the detector better.

Was going to send the training vids also, glad Chris sent them. Be sure to watch them a couple of times before going out. It sure helps.... Good luck your going to really enjoy the ATP.

in my opinion the atpro is a good machine and very capable when I had the machine myself I started out using it in pro zero mode iron audio on did a auto ground balance don't worry about takin down any extra till you get the hang of it the only other thing I did was put the iron up to like 15, doin just those things goin slow I picked it up pretty quickley in fact so did my wife so if she can do it shhhhhhh anyone can lol good luck

Chief Q said:

So I plan on taking my AT Pro out this weekend for the first time. any advice? also.......

Should I run it in standard or go pro zero? also I have seen that if I go pro then people say auto GB and then go down 5-10 on the manual? is that for standard also?

so new and the manual is not really helpful in tips lol

Click to expand...

The Owners Manual is written in an easy understanding way. Read up on the differences between the modes...there are major differences. I personally use Pro Mode Custom when I'm hunting and use Pro Mode Zero for ground balancing purposes. A negative bias ground balance is not standard, neither is a positive bias ground balance. I use a positive bias ground balance of +7 with no ill effects. A metal detector detects metal, all kinds of metal. You tell the AT Pro what metal it is you want it to find. The more specific information you "program" into the AT Pro, the more sensitive it becomes to the metal of your choice. Remember, the AT Pro is a micro processor. You cannot 'mess' it up by the settings/adjustments as a simple factory reset will restore those settings back to the factory installed ones. The AT Pro Owners Manual explains how to do this. Also the Owners Manual explains how to properly ground balance the machine. The Owners Manual is a valuable asset and can be downloaded (with larger print) from http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite /hbby_at_pro_main.aspx. The At Pro is user friendly, start with the factory presets and have some fun. The Mode you use is at your discretion.
Good success to you. HH

Hey there. I think you should skip Standard Mode all together. New detector = new everything. You would be in Pro Mode soon anyway and never look back. Also try YouTube for videos of others using the AT-Pro (some for the first time). I agree you probably should not mess with the GB yet. Set it correctly and use it as a baseline before experimenting. As you may have heard many AT-Pro owners love the 5X8 DD coil for good reasons. Get one soon if you can. Ask your questions to us here in the Forum. GL and HH. Matt

Pro Zero mode all the way!

Take time to listen and learn what she is telling you, GREAT machine!


Jim

I have a at pro on the way as well CONGRATES im sure we will love it.

I run pro zero all the time... But I will say that is my preference...first starting out, the machine is vvvveeerrryyyy noisy!!!! You may like a lot of noise, I wanted to wrap mine around a tree for the first two months or so... But now... I run hot and listen very closely!!! If it's there... The at pro will definitely tell you!!! Best advice, practice,practice... Your finds will increase as you learn... Good luck!!!

Yeah I am running it in pro zero also now and I am finding things. But I have a question. I get a lot of feedback on iron and then it may jump to a good tone but the VDI only shows the iron. or it may be a good tone but the VDI jumps everywhere. Should I dig those? I am not in the business of digging every iron piece of farm machinery lol. I had my ace 250 and I knew only dig the steady tones and the vdi that didn't move. just trying to see if the AT Pro is the same?

Chief Q said:

Yeah I am running it in pro zero also now and I am finding things. But I have a question. I get a lot of feedback on iron and then it may jump to a good tone but the VDI only shows the iron. or it may be a good tone but the VDI jumps everywhere. Should I dig those? I am not in the business of digging every iron piece of farm machinery lol. I had my ace 250 and I knew only dig the steady tones and the vdi that didn't move. just trying to see if the AT Pro is the same?

Click to expand...

Check ground balance, turn sensitivity down a couple notches from all the way up. Check your target at 90 degrees and maybe recheck at two inches higher. Sometimes the ATP you can get shallow iron and a deeper good target. The good target maybe to deep for a VDI but the audio may pick it up.

Sometimes junk shows up as a good target due to a rust halo, or angle of target, or possibly size. Keep the iron audio off, until you hit a good sounding or questionable target. Turn iron audio on and scan it again listen for either good audio or low tones on the both sides of high tones.

Dig everything. Read the manual and you will pick this machine up quick

In pro-zero mode you will get iron audio and it will still give a DTI on iron targets. The 8.5X11 coil is really a pain to control your swing because it's so heavy. Chatter can be a great number of either diggable targets mixed with trash, or nothing but trash. I still drop the sensitivity two bars and still set the iron discrimination to 32 even when I am in Pro-Zero mode...which is now always. The 5X8 coil is light enough that you can "wiggle" the coil over a noisy area and pick out good signals from the trashy ones. The words I use to compare the 8.5X11 coil to the 5X8 coil are slop and snap. It is a real pain to do this but even a good coin spill can give you a stupifying mixture of signals until you hover over the area with iron discrim off, and SLOWLY move the coil. When you get a good/repeatable signal, remembering it may only last a blip of time, do your wiggle over the area to isolate ONLY the signal you're trying to identify. When you've finished with your audio pin pointing you can then pay more attention to the Digital Target ID numbers. Slow down and watch as the numbers roll by. A 75 is still a penny although it is mixed in a pile of tin foil (42). Slowly moving the coil over where the mid tone audio signal was most steady and loudest will allow the target ID's to now be determined and the 75 can be pin pointed and dug. Then the 81's and 52's will be easier to find. Patience and practice are key words with the ATP...Fun is its middle name.

ATP/GPP/Fiskars Diggers/BH Outback/CT hand held