Big Boys Hobbies

At Pro or ??????

hikingthehills

hikingthehills

Full Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2017
Messages
194
Location
GA
About to upgrade from an Ace 300 to something better. I'm looking hard at the At but also looking at other options. Wanting something that I can take through the water some to beach hunt and creek hunt but it will mainly be used on land coin hunting in trashy parks and old home sites. Wanting to get something with a depth and I think that's where the at pro may fail me. Budget being around $800. What would y'all recommend?
 
I'm an ATP owner. It's my first detector and have had it a year. For the money it is so versatile. It did fine when I went to the salt beaches also. So I do recommend!


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If your hunting trashy parks, highly recommend getting a 5X8 coil!


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You have enough in your budget for a new AT Pro, pin pointer and probably enough left over for a NEL Tornado coil. I have dug dimes at 10" with the AT Pro and that coil. If you are looking for a GREAT deal on the AT Pro then you need to talk to Jeff at Quality detectors, he is a forum sponsor and has sold me both my AT Pros as well as several other units. He has the best prices hands down!
 
At pro wont do beaches well(unless its fresh water). Take a look at whites mx sport. Its water proof, salt water settings, good sorting, Better display than at-pro, more tones, detects very deep. And I haven't got one yet but I hear the small DD coil kills it in the trash.
 
Tpmetal said:
At pro wont do beaches well(unless its fresh water). Take a look at whites mx sport. Its water proof, salt water settings, good sorting, Better display than at-pro, more tones, detects very deep. And I haven't got one yet but I hear the small DD coil kills it in the trash.
Click to expand...

I have not seen any head to head comparisons with the mx and pro. Have not looked for it ,I have used the ATP on Florida beach and did quite well , got chatter at waters edge but not too bad . I'm a happy ATP user , open to view any documentation though . HH
 
Skip the salt water, get an AT Pro and a larger coil for deeper if you want it, even a smaller coil for trash sites. It has options for everything you need it to do, except salt.
 
Ricki7 said:
I have not seen any head to head comparisons with the mx and pro. Have not looked for it ,I have used the ATP on Florida beach and did quite well , got chatter at waters edge but not too bad . I'm a happy ATP user , open to view any documentation though . HH
Click to expand...

We should do one! your close enough to me. except cant do the salt water thing. I tested mine in salt water in long island. at pro is said to not be able to do wet sand well or in the salt water at all from what ive heard. mx sport does all of it, provided you set up up right.(lower sens and turn on salt trac).
 
Just posted on the beach detected side. Asked about using the AT PRO at the beach. We will see!


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Dues is waterproof also,

Love mt AT Pro with the 5x8 coil. But what I have seen on the Dues is impressive also. Either way you will get some killer machines.
 
Tpmetal said:
We should do one! your close enough to me. except cant do the salt water thing. I tested mine in salt water in long island. at pro is said to not be able to do wet sand well or in the salt water at all from what ive heard. mx sport does all of it, provided you set up up right.(lower sens and turn on salt trac).
Click to expand...

I have been wanting to get to Long Island , my nephew has a cottage . So far never got there . As far as ATP in Florida the beach is mostly dry sand , I had no problems in the sand , it got chatty by the shore . Most of my finds were the walk ways , towel line and the board walk ( Hollywood ) . I almost did not take my MD being scared of the salt . To do a fair head to head on MDs you need experienced guys like Woodbutcher who are really into MDs . IMO It would not be a contest of skill levels but run them over the same undug targets under various soil conditions . Get it close to a real hunt , not planted targets or air test . I hardly know one MDs from another and on the lower end of skill level . I ' m happy with the ATP it suits my needs , I'm a fair weather hunter who enjoys a walk in the woods , when the bugs get bad or too hot or cold , I find other things to do . Your lucky to be Down state as a lot of history your way Good Luck HH
 
For $800 you can get some very deep machines that will also work in the saltwater. I just went through this, and didn't even consider the AT Pro, simply because of what you've seen in the above posts; yes it will work in wet / no it won't.

The machines I narrowed my search down to were the Sovereign GT, Explorer SE, Safari, e-Trac, and CTX. The CTX is too pricey for me to justify, so that was out. The e-Trac was more reasonably priced, but for me, again, justification wasn't there, considering the (almost ) same technology as the Explorer and Safari. I really wanted a Sov GT, but analog machines are becoming a thing of the past, and as I'm still new, I decided an LCD would be best for down the road (won't have to learn as much again).

I ended up getting an Explorer SE with the Pro coil. Everything I read/watch gives it a very positive thumbs up in the wet sand & water, as well as very good depth.

If I was more of a land hunter, and looking for relics, I may have gone with the GT, as from what I've read, it gets crazy depth.

So, there are a ton of choices out there that will do better in the wet then the AT, it's just that you need to decide if brand new is a must have requirement for you.
 
KirkS said:
For $800 you can get some very deep machines that will also work in the saltwater. I just went through this, and didn't even consider the AT Pro, simply because of what you've seen in the above posts; yes it will work in wet / no it won't.

The machines I narrowed my search down to were the Sovereign GT, Explorer SE, Safari, e-Trac, and CTX. The CTX is too pricey for me to justify, so that was out. The e-Trac was more reasonably priced, but for me, again, justification wasn't there, considering the (almost ) same technology as the Explorer and Safari. I really wanted a Sov GT, but analog machines are becoming a thing of the past, and as I'm still new, I decided an LCD would be best for down the road (won't have to learn as much again).

I ended up getting an Explorer SE with the Pro coil. Everything I read/watch gives it a very positive thumbs up in the wet sand & water, as well as very good depth.

If I was more of a land hunter, and looking for relics, I may have gone with the GT, as from what I've read, it gets crazy depth.

So, there are a ton of choices out there that will do better in the wet then the AT, it's just that you need to decide if brand new is a must have requirement for you.
Click to expand...
Mopar or no car.
Explorer SE hands down.
 
amc rulz said:
Mopar or no car.
Explorer SE hands down.
Click to expand...

Not to derail, but when I was 13, a lady whose lawn I cut and mowed had a 1970 Javelin in showroom condition. She promised I could buy it when I got my drivers license for $1500 (about 1980), but she died a year later, and the estate sold it.
 
If you don't plan to primarily hunt in the salt water the AT will suit you just fine. It is a solid machine in every situation you mentioned (except the salt water). If you just plan to occasionally hit the ocean shores and then primarily hunt dry sand the AT is a great machine. If your primary hunting will be done in or near the ocean I would consider something else. A wise man once told me that you either need to get a detector that does great in salt water or one that does great everywhere else. It is hard to find one that will excel at both, especially in your price range.
 
The AT Pro does well on the dry sand but you have to reduce the sensitivity to get it to ground balance on the wet sand. Thereby losing depth.

I followed Three AT Pro users down a wet sand beach one day and I stayed busy digging targets that they could not find that were deep.

Great Machine for everything else.
 
Ricki7 said:
I have been wanting to get to Long Island , my nephew has a cottage . So far never got there . As far as ATP in Florida the beach is mostly dry sand , I had no problems in the sand , it got chatty by the shore . Most of my finds were the walk ways , towel line and the board walk ( Hollywood ) . I almost did not take my MD being scared of the salt . To do a fair head to head on MDs you need experienced guys like Woodbutcher who are really into MDs . IMO It would not be a contest of skill levels but run them over the same undug targets under various soil conditions . Get it close to a real hunt , not planted targets or air test . I hardly know one MDs from another and on the lower end of skill level . I ' m happy with the ATP it suits my needs , I'm a fair weather hunter who enjoys a walk in the woods , when the bugs get bad or too hot or cold , I find other things to do . Your lucky to be Down state as a lot of history your way Good Luck HH
Click to expand...


I live in western ny, jsut lucky to have a friend in long island
 
I own 9 machines. 2 Ace 250s, 3 ATPs, Etrac, xTerra705, Sovereign and a Sand Shark. The ATPs see 90% of the action. In fact I'm selling the Etrac and 705. I have the 5x8 coil on 2 of the ATPs and the stock on the third. Love the 5x8.

A friend of mine has another friend with deep pockets. He often buys 2-3 of almost every machine made. He's been hunting for 40 years and he told my friend if he could only have one detector, it would be an ATP.
 
I don't have experience with other machines but this will be my 3 weekend detecting. I've found 2 wheat Penny's bunch of clad and lots of other things! It's a awesome machine.
 
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