AT Pro gold readings?

OleSarge said:

Then I got a solid and repeatable 62, and was sure I was into some gold.
A Pepsodent toothpaste tube, half full of slimy oily fluid is, as I quickly learned when it burst covering my gloves, a solid and repeatable 62.

Click to expand...

Just when you think you know, you end up learning instead...

The (very sad for jewelry hunters) fact is you can take any metal, copper, silver, gold, lead, brass, aluminum, tungsten, titanium, platinum, you name it, with just the right quantity and shape and get a consistent VDI of 50, 51, 64, 82, or whatever VDI you wish... If you get a big enough piece of lead, or even gold, it can ring up as a silver dollar...

The only reason we can tell certain coins before digging is that they are more or less a consistent size and material...

<*)))>{

Why would I post settings to maximize low conductive metals such as gold? Been there, done that. It works for me where I live and at the sites I hunt. will it work for you? All the settings and adjustments you need are explained in the AT Pro owners manual for the taking. If you expect to learn by what others are doing and saying, no wonder some feel the big learning curve. By the way, anyone tell me what the current firmware you are using for your AT Pro?

Firstring said:

Why would I post settings to maximize low conductive metals such as gold? Been there, done that. It works for me where I live and at the sites I hunt. will it work for you? All the settings and adjustments you need are explained in the AT Pro owners manual for the taking. If you expect to learn by what others are doing and saying, no wonder some feel the big learning curve. By the way, anyone tell me what the current firmware you are using for your AT Pro?

Click to expand...

Hi Firstring, Its been a few days since this thread was posted to so I feel relatively safe commenting on yours without accusations of being a thread.
Some call metal detecting "dirt fishing" but I think the term "ghost shaking" more aptly applies.
007tallguy's post is and exactly within the character of what FMDF is all about...and more specifically, why I follow it instead of the other metal detecting forums.
Occasionally I'll take a route on my forum posts which aren't exactly complimentary to the thousands of cumulative years experience amassed by the many FMDF members who have reached expert status (example; my coin spill thread), but it's all in fun.
And, isn't having fun what a hobby is all about?
007tallguy isn't suggesting those of us who swing AT Pros, rather than Etrac's or Minelab's, don't know that a mixture of platinum, copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, chrome and other mystery metals blended into a smashed and scattered cell phone will come up as a &(%%$#@!*&^%*&&^ reading.
He's saying "This has worked for me on my AT Pro and you can try it if you aren't having the same level of success I'm having at digging precious metals".
Being a "forum" means that its very existence depends on a continual flow of diverse and varied comments from the members to keep it interesting...and I feel it compliments the understanding of forum members when a thread on a fused coin spill gets comments and encouragement.
We already know you're in California and probably do some sand searching.
Please post your equipment and settings....I've told you that our soil is contaminated with 100 years of heavy metal from a local smelting company and our ground balance varies between 82 and the 90's on my AT Pro....So?
When I'm trying to shake that sleeping ghost of a article from the soil by stimulating its microscopic aura of emitted energy by interrupting it with a microscopic bit of energy from my own coil, I need help.....from any source to retrieve that buttery bling.
Regarding the "current" firmware I'm using on my AT Pro...I bought the machine in 2012, and seriously doubt the firmware was "current" then.
2014 is nearly ended and I've not had a firmware update yet, and one OP said his firmware was replaced with the "most current" as a part of repairs when his machine was sent in to Garrett.
Exactly how current that firmware was is a good topic for another thread on the forum.
My AT Pro cost under $600.00 and (as a hobby tool) serves me well.
I do have a cod piece I wear with my tight jeans, a wig, a fancy Rolex watch, mirror shades and $300.00 shoes I wear when I go sporting...but even these "supports" won't conceal the truth that I'm no more than a old guy trying to have some fun.
And surely doesn't guarantee I'll be a irresistible chick magnet.
A old guy swinging a $2500.00 metal detector with user updatable firmware no more guarantees I'll find that war nickel or even a treasured "Rosie", so I'll have to believe my "outdated" firmware is better than "current" firmware since being "current simply means the latest of a long string of failures


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

Sarge, I thought ALL dectectorists were chick magnets!

And to add a little bit to the discussion, I wasn't looking for tips and pointers on how to use my At or what's under the hood, lol.
This thread was more of a curiosity thing and where on the VDI scale have you all encountered the precious yellow (and white) metals. Where you're hunting and what kind of soil or sand and what your g/b numbers are secrets that aren't really critical for me to know, lol.

I made a thread regarding finding a small 14 k ring that tipped the VDI scale at a solid 41 and a couple of replies were from folks who were surprised that it showed up there, thus making them more aware of some of the "possibilities" when certain sounds/numbers show up.
I always dig the mid and high tones, but that one find enlightened me to what some of the lower ones may bring.
I could also word it this way: that ring was worth about 60 bucks melt value. I don't have ARA here, so I'd have been lucky to sell it to one of the recycling con artists and get maybe 30 bucks for a ring with a retail value of about 400.
I sold privately... as a used ring.... And I was satisfied with the 100 i got for it.... considering I almost disregarded the signal as being nothing more than tinfoil. I did dig it and I was rewarded for doing so.