Anyone using Garrett ACE 400 I have ????????

petejc

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Harrisburg, Pa.
I just got started in this hobby that I've wanted to do for years...I just bought the Garrett ACE 400 2 weeks ago and have been trying to learn on my own but I sure would like to pick someones brain that uses this one so I can cut the learning curve in half. Thanks for reading. Pete
 
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Thanks tnsharpshooter, those videos really helped but I have some other questions I wanted to ask a Garrett 400 user that came up a few days ago.
Since I'm new at this I wanted to clear these up.
First I've seen posts talking about Ground Balance...don't know what that is and my owners manual does not mention it.
Then I saw on my screen how you can select different frequency's F1, F2, F3, and F4..how and when do I use them. also what does each one of them mean.

Also in one of those videos you sent me the guys are talking about the new Garrett ACE 400 and one has a black housing and one had a yellow housing...which one is the latest one.


Still trying to learn...Pete
 
Hold on a second....I just watched video #3 and I see now that the black one is the yellow one with a black cover on it.....sorry about that......toldf ya I was new to this.
 
Thanks tnsharpshooter, those videos really helped but I have some other questions I wanted to ask a Garrett 400 user that came up a few days ago.
Since I'm new at this I wanted to clear these up.
First I've seen posts talking about Ground Balance...don't know what that is and my owners manual does not mention it.
Then I saw on my screen how you can select different frequency's F1, F2, F3, and F4..how and when do I use them. also what does each one of them mean.

Also in one of those videos you sent me the guys are talking about the new Garrett ACE 400 and one has a black housing and one had a yellow housing...which one is the latest one.


Still trying to learn...Pete

I dont think the 400 has a ground balance option. The F1-F4 are just different settings you can change to if you are getting EMI or interference from another detector. Just pick the one that sounds more stable.
 
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Putting the new Garrett ACE 400i together was just like meeting an old friend. About 10 years ago, Garrett released the New ACE 150 & ACE 250 models. The new ACE Series at that time became an overnight success. It turned out to be one of the (if not the) best metal detectors sales of all time. It received cult status. It got nicknames the "Yeller Feller" and some converted it for water hunting, calling it the Aqua Ace." Most loved the new bright colored machine, as you could never ever really lose it. But some despised the color also. They went as far as to spray paint it a new color or cover it with camo tape

Well, fast forward it to 2016, and a new Garrett ACE Series has been released. The Top of the ACE line, the "Ace 400i" has even more improvements over it's earlier production models. The new ACE 400i now has cam-locks, a request many have made to Garrett and they listened. The front of the screen now has a large digital target ID, using numbers plus target probability numbers suggesting ferrous/non ferrous conductivity. Also new is the "iron Audio" feature, available only on higher, more expensive metal detectors. This helps eliminate junk targets by designating them with a distinguishable low tone in the iron range, which might be junk, depending on what type of targets you are searching for. To help eliminate EMI (electro-magnetic-interference) Garrett has given you the option of hunting with different frequencies. This will also allow you to hunt close to your buddy by elimination his metal detector interference. And....the coils off the older ACE's work fine on the new ACE Models. So hang on to your sniper coils!

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Garrett still has maintained the notching system, which is also available in the higher end AT Pro/AT Gold Series. This allows you to selectively remove junk targets so you won't hear the audio, or set it up to just hear one particular target. This comes in handy when searching for a lost earring. You can remove all notches except the one(s) sounding off on the remaining earring, then search with ease for the other earring. And......you do NOT lose more depth removing notches for unwanted targets like on other metal detectors with knobs to add discrimination, where as you advance the knob to remove further targets, where you do in fact lose depth.

To those considering the New ACE 200, 300 or 400, it is simple to use. It's well balanced and only weighs 2.9 lbs. (1.32 kg.). The length of the rod can be adjusted, depending on a persons height. It comes pre-programmed for your choices of coin mode, relic mode, jewelry mode, a custom mode (you create it, it saves it) or a setting with no discrimination so you can hear all targets. It is so simple to operate or sequence through the different programs. It operates on 4 x "AA" Batteries and readily excepts rechargeable batteries. I managed about 27 hours on the set of batteries which came with the metal detector.
To maintain a high degree of reliability with consistent results, I used the unit for 10 hunts. Anyone can go to a site not previously hunted before with any detector and do well. I chose to put on about 50 hours on it, so as I can properly learn it, and learn it's strengths and weaknesses.

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Here are the results of my 10 hunts. This machine is a Super coin magnet! I started hunting in relics mode, hunting a lot of schools and sports fields. As I learned where my (Canadian) coins were reading with the VDI, I began to remove some notches. I pretty well ended up using the coins mode, as it also maintains notches where most (but not all) gold rings will read. I used my old concentric 9" x 12" coil from my old ACE 250 mostly. Bottles caps often read as good copper/silver coins, so using the iron audio can help to eliminated them. I discovered that deeper bottle caps read higher compared to more shallow ones. So......bottle caps and aluminum pull tabs remain the "Curse" for metal detector users. The square pull tabs often tend to give a strong double beep, whereas nickels have a softer single beep sound. It got so I could guess a nickel would pop up with a good probability. Hey....these things happen when the hours accumulate on a detector. One thing for sure....the ace BANGS hard on coins. Because the weak signals on the ACE are amplified so you can easily hear them, (unlike the modulated volume on the AT Series) hunting without headphones becomes easy in a quiet environment. Wireless headsets not required!

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I did manage to dig up 4 rings during my hunts. You can't miss them. They hit hard! The older ACE models were very good for hitting rings, including gold ones. I didn't find any gold rings, however, I did get a solid gold football charm in a sports field! That was a first!

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Here are some pieces of jewelry I dug up. If the jewelry is there, the ACE will find it no doubt.

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My last 3 hours metal detecting were done in a freshwater lake. Because only the coil is water proof, I hunted just the beginnings of the freshwater lake. I notched out nearly everything except where gold rings might show up. That left only 4, sometimes 5 notches left on the screen. I had built up my confidence with this machine that any old silver coins/rings or older copper coins would easily be hit on. I got pennies in the 40's on up, but no rings today.

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My thoughts.......A great detector for coin/jewelry hunting. It also performs well hunting relics. It has too much power! I could not hunt with full sensitivity....a first for me. All my other detectors could operate with full sensitivity in the woods, but not the new ACE! It bangs hard on targets....even very tiny ones. This machine would do well on the beaches dry sand or shallow fresh water searching for micro jewelry. When hunting in shallow water, PLEASE remember to tether the machine so it can not accidentally fall in the water if you drop it.

The depth indicator id fairly accurate with coin sized targets. I did pull out an old tag at bout 8 inches. It performs well for depth in my soil. I wish I could try it on a wet salted beach in/out of the water, but the nearest beach is 14 hours away. I hunted an afternoon without using any headsets, and I could easily hear the audio and distinguish the soft signals from the loud double beeps. I didn't like detecting with the iron audio left on, rather, I used it to help identify a target. Running the iron audio on all the time and getting a good audio on a target added confusion as to dig or not. A little trick I learned was that trying to pinpoint a large target is very difficult. Pop cans were easy to ID because of this. This allowed me to just move on to a better target saving time.

It is an excellent entry level detector, with lots of bells & whistles seen on many higher priced detector. It's simple to use, easy to learn, and depending on your goals for metal detecting, may be the only machine you might ever need, yet, you can easily move up to a more elaborate expensive model in the Garrett line. For a metal detectorist with over 20 years of experience, the ACE 400 is an excellent machine for coin and jewelry hunting! And......it will not sit in the closet collecting dust. Every metal detector I own has it's strengths in certain niches.

Some Actual Field Hunt Videos To Compiment The Garrett ACE 400i

ACE 400i Water Hunt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8npfSWLvnlI
How To Increase Your Finds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoLvboex7sM
ACE 400i Relic Hunt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNAA8PcJssA

Please go to http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbby_division_promotions_en.aspx for further information and to find a dealer nearest you to purchase Garrett equipment.
 
I don’t own an Ace 400 anymore, but I had one as my first detector when I started out metal detecting a couple years ago. I really enjoyed using the Ace 400 - it’s a very good machine for starting out in the hobby, in my opinion.

The Ace 400 definitely does not have any kind of user adjustable ground balance setting. The ground balance for the machine is set at the factory. For most soil types the machine still works quite well without manual ground balance, but it is a limitation compared to machines that allow you to adjust it. You don’t see ground balance mentioned much in the manual because the machine doesn’t have it as an adjustable feature.

The “adjustable” frequencies (F1, F2, etc) are only used in order to help limit external electro magnetic interference (EMI). The different settings change the frequency used by the machine ever so slightly in an attempt to eliminate the interference. For example, if you were on a hunt with another Ace 400 user, and you both used F1, you’d probably experience some really erratic behavior from the detector if you got close to each other. Setting the machines to different “F” settings would help eliminate the interference. Do not confuse the different “F” settings with the ability to truly change the detector’s frequency like you see on more expensive “multi-frequency” detectors - the Ace 400 is a 10kHz detector regardless of which F setting you use.
 
If you are fortunate to live in an area where the soil is sweet then the 400 should handle the basic detecting functions. If your area has soil that is not on the sweet side then you will soon see that you will have to run with very little sensitivity and loose any amount of depth. My first complaint with mine was the youth style cuff (short) and heavy (standard) coil and this makes for what is referred to as being "nose heavy". I then ran into the ground balance issue and this made it imperative that I then choose another machine with better features or suffer with the very low degree of functionality. Here is hoping that you live in a area that your new machine will work in. Good luck.
 
ATPto user, I would recommend starting with sensitivity about halfway and start in coin , pick a small area and dig everything that beeps, then go zero and dig everything that beeps,after you've been over it a couple times max out sens listen for the different tones, and listen for different sounds in the tones. A quarter and a pop-top will have the same tone but the cap will sound ''scratchy'' and the quarter will have a "cleaner'' sound.
How you use your machine depends on how you hunt, relic hunters are going to run zero disc with sens high and disc low and dig it all. If your'e just hunting recent dropped clad in the park coin mode and high disc low sens, will knock out most trash.
 
Thanks tnsharpshooter, those videos really helped but I have some other questions I wanted to ask a Garrett 400 user that came up a few days ago.
Since I'm new at this I wanted to clear these up.
First I've seen posts talking about Ground Balance...don't know what that is and my owners manual does not mention it.
Then I saw on my screen how you can select different frequency's F1, F2, F3, and F4..how and when do I use them. also what does each one of them mean.

Also in one of those videos you sent me the guys are talking about the new Garrett ACE 400 and one has a black housing and one had a yellow housing...which one is the latest one.


Still trying to learn...Pete
You are welcome.
As far as ground balance goes.
Some units like yours has a fixed ground balance.
This preset GB generally will work if one’s ground is not too mineralized.

What does ground balance do?
Basically it is a setting where your detector is compensated not to see the actual ground as an actual target.

If one was hunting out western USA or in western Va, southeast Tn, for examples where soil mineralization is much higher, having a VLF detector where a user can actually ground balance would give user more depth.

This short video here I think is good showing ground balance.
Granted the detector in this video has no digital readout like many others detectors do showing actual ground phase number.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SjXq4sHTS_Y
 
Thank all you guys for the info...you're helping me tremendously.
However John - Edmonteon, you now threw a monkey wrench into the mix..ha ha.
I just bought the ACE 400 about 3 weeks ago 3/13/19 to be exact and I thought I got the newest one....Well you show the 400i.......My machine does not have an ...i....is that newer than mine even. ? Not criticizing you just confused.
 
Thank all you guys for the info...you're helping me tremendously.
However John - Edmonteon, you now threw a monkey wrench into the mix..ha ha.
I just bought the ACE 400 about 3 weeks ago 3/13/19 to be exact and I thought I got the newest one....Well you show the 400i.......My machine does not have an ...i....is that newer than mine even. ? Not criticizing you just confused.

The ACE 400i is the international version. Same detector, it just specializes with the composition of foreign coins. :yes:

BTW... :fmdfwelcome:... from the thawing out state of Minnesota! :woot: We're glad that you have joined us. :yes: Happy hunting! :mder:
 
Thanks Wolf dog for clearing that up.........Boy really want to get out today to hunt but the wind here is 15 to 20 and gusting to 30...:(
 
My experiences with the Ace 400.

petejc said:
I just got started in this hobby that I've wanted to do for years..
Sorry to hear you're now retired and couldn't / didn't get into this great sport earlier in life. I officially retired the end of December, 2013, but I got started in March of 1965 and have been enjoying this wonderful pastime very avidly ever since. At least a couple of my kids enjoy it as well. Not to my extent, yet, but their feet are wet and by the time they retire they should be running smoothly and be well equipped with quality-built and solid performing detectors for the types of hunting we do.


petejc said:
I just bought the Garrett ACE 400 2 weeks ago and have been trying to learn on my own but I sure would like to pick someones brain that uses this one so I can cut the learning curve in half.
If you have a metal detecting club close by you could join it and get to know the members who have local experience and, possibly, one or two have experience with the Garrett Ace 400 and can help you.

Here on the Forums you'll find some help. At times by a few who use and like that model, and some, like me, who were sadly underwhelmed by it. I bought one hoping it was a true enhancement in the performance department from the lesser Ace 250, but found it to be nose heavy, and I was annoyed by the delayed response, the audio response design, and the fact that it didn't work well against any of the detectors I had in my current Detector Outfit for the more challenging sites I prefer to hunt.

One thing I don't know in order to try and help are the types of sites you'll be encountering so we know the possible mineralization challenges, and the type of hunting you'll be doing.


petejc said:
First I've seen posts talking about Ground Balance...don't know what that is and my owners manual does not mention it.
You're using a make/model that relies on a factory preset or calibrated Ground Balance for the motion-based Discriminate mode that you have no control over. That means you're not going to be able to fine-tune the GB for various sites you might encounter.

Some of the models in my own Regular-Use Detector outfit also have a factory-set GB for the Discriminate mode but an automated or manual GB adjustment for the All Metal mode which serves the Pinpointing function. Some of those are my Nokta CoRe and Relic devices and Teknetics T2+, therefore I had to learn and understand their potential limitations for some search applications.

My Tesoro Silver Sabre microMAX is internally preset, but I trimmed it up for the coil I use and sites I hunt. Other models offer manual GB or automated GB that is tied in with the Discriminate mode GB so all is well.

The Ace 400 is a preset or controlled setting you have no control over. It might work satisfactorily in favorable ground, or encounter performance problems in bad ground.


petejc said:
Then I saw on my screen how you can select different frequency's F1, F2, F3, and F4..how and when do I use them. also what does each one of them mean.
Those are just slight frequency off-sets to try and eliminate some noisy behavior from EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) that is usually from a nearby source such as another metal detector on the same or close frequency or other power sources.

Please, endeavor to learn more about the hobby and get out detecting as often as possible. Learn all you can about your current detector, and ask more specific questions here for help. Also, keep an open mind about possibly upgrading to a different make and model that might provide more in-the-field performance. They are out there and some don't cost much more than the Ace 400, either.

Monte
 
John-Edmonton do you work for Garrett? If not you you should be lol. All joking aside your post was very helpful. I just started detecting and bought an ace 400. I appreciate the depth you went into in your post. Happy hunting!
 
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