First day with at pro....got questions

[barrywk]

first time with atp. The area im detecting is very mineralized and very trashy. Its an old home dumpsite.One question is I was having a lot of falsing an im wondering if I went down far enough with ground balance. I went down to 50 at one point an down 3 on sensitivity. Then another question...Several times im getting high tones going up to 99 but not consistant,but dug down at least a foot and not finding anything but still getting inconsistent signals. I don't think its something large but could be.But I was thinking it was heavy minerlization. Would like some input from others on that. thank you Barrywk

 

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[DiggerinVA]

Very rusty or oxidized metal will read a 99 but not as repeatable as a Morgan dollar....and i have dug large an small rusty objects that read 99 or high 90's........A trashy area or an area with alot of targets (nails, bottle caps, cans, etc) will often show erratic numbers because your factory large DD coil is reading multiple targets....the best solution for me is a very slow, short swing from every side to "seperate these targets. Hope this helps!......Josh

 

[NJcigarman]

Barry try switching frequencies when you are having issues. When I am on the beach always have to switch to F4.

 

[barrywk]

thanks josh.....There is a lot of old oxidized iron in that area.....most likely what im reading. I have found axheads and frying pans and numerous other iron pieces there so probably some large deep stuff.I ve been hearing a lot about that 5 x 8 coil...should probably invest in it..........This is way out in a rural area...not even any overhead lines and away from any houses but will try frequency change also...thanks njcigarman..............PS...cigarman...I bet u get a lot of ur cigars from JRs..lol......I get a lot of mine from him.....I know his headquarters in Nj

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Good points! Sometimes in your situation you have to ease off on sensitivity too on the AT Pro. That should help.

 

[NJcigarman]

thanks josh.....There is a lot of old oxidized iron in that area.....most likely what im reading. I have found axheads and frying pans and numerous other iron pieces there so probably some large deep stuff.I ve been hearing a lot about that 5 x 8 coil...should probably invest in it..........This is way out in a rural area...not even any overhead lines and away from any houses but will try frequency change also...thanks njcigarman..............PS...cigarman...I bet u get a lot of ur cigars from JRs..lol......I get a lot of mine from him.....I know his headquarters in Nj

Holts in Philadelphia

 

[cti4sw]

If you don't properly ground balance, the machine will misread normal mineralization pockets in the soil as targets and you'll be digging a lot of "ghost" signals.
If you think your GB is okay, buy a Garrett Pro Pointer. They are invaluable and you will wonder how you ever managed without one.

If you think you're hitting "old oxidized iron", max out your iron disc (40). You can always turn on Iron Audio later.

Idk what mode you're running but I run in Pro Coins and Pro Zero modes. If the area is trashy, I run Pro Coins. If it's not, or if I've cleared much of the trash, I run Pro Zero.

You can always change your frequency and lower your sensitivity too. Contrary to popular belief, sensitivity has more to do with coil transmission power than depth and each bar is not a measurement of inches. I've hit targets at a foot deep on half sensitivity before; if you think the target is small, and you're getting tones but not numbers, then you can raise the sensitivity.

 

[badpenny]

I agree with everything said here. I find those readings to be old rusted iron. Do you have a pin pointer? I am sure somewhere in that dirt there is a small piece of old iron and the AT PRO found it. I would recommend doing a factory reset and see if that helps, if not try changing the frequency.

 

[RobRieman]

first time with atp. The area im detecting is very mineralized and very trashy. Its an old home dumpsite.One question is I was having a lot of falsing an im wondering if I went down far enough with ground balance. I went down to 50 at one point an down 3 on sensitivity. Then another question...Several times im getting high tones going up to 99 but not consistant,but dug down at least a foot and not finding anything but still getting inconsistent signals. I don't think its something large but could be.But I was thinking it was heavy minerlization. Would like some input from others on that. thank you Barrywk

Hi Barry, I would go to a less trashy area until you learn your AT. Learn what the real signals sound like and then you will be able to pick them out of the trash. Good luck!

 

[relicswinger]

I have found two types of falsing. One type is where you get a signal that is erratic when you are trying to pinpoint it. A good signal will be repeatable. When you rescan the signal you will get a definite signal each time you scan the same spot. If you are getting erratic signals while rescanning you may have rusty iron, masked targets (targets with another type of metal near it), differences in mineralization of the soil or something else...
Another type of falsing is where you will get false signals when the detector is laying on the ground (no movement, no digger activity near coil). When you get this type of falsing there is some type of electromagnetic interference (known as EMI). With this kind of falsing the only thing that I'm aware of to fix it is to lower the sensitivity and keep lowering it until it stops. Even if you are on the last segment of sensitivity you will still see targets that are either shallow or large.

 

[Pointman]

I will use the iron audio when there is a lot of items such as nails in the area and I turn the sensitivity down. The iron audio is a pain to listen to because of all the noise, but it definitely helps to be able to pick out the high tones. I agree like the others said about the erratic signals. Almost always on the AT Pro if you get an erratic signal then it is junk. Take the detector and and do a 90 degree swing the other way and if you get a tone both ways and it is somewhat stable then chances are it is a coin or something highly conductive such as copper or brass. I seldom will use the pin point feature because I always do an X pattern to pin point.

 

[gleaner1]

When you are at the old home dump site, keep the tecter in the car and get the shovel going for some good fun bottle diggin'.

 

[badpenny]

OK, I was on an old home site yesterday, and it was hotter (weather wise) than holy hell so this old man didn't play too long. But I was getting a good ping, too good to be exact, and with my foot I cleared some brush away and about a foot away from my coil was a piece of corrugated steel, probably used on an old shed or something. I could have dug all day and still got a signal but truth be told the signal was not coming from the hole but that piece a steel a foot away. My point is check out your environment before you start to dig, you may be surprised at what you see around you and choose to move on. My thought on false signals on an old home site.

Did you ever swing over a piece of cement and have you detector go nuts? Remember most cement has rebar in it or wire and that is what is giving the signal. I once went MD with a friend of mine and I heard all this hammering, "I asked what the hell are you doing?", he was smashing a piece of cement because there was something in it. What an idiot; there was, wire... he never went with me again. LOL!

 

[RobRieman]

That's a good one badpenny. Hope he doesn't ever walk across a highway with his detector on.

 

[ATGoldGuy]

Hi Barry, I would go to a less trashy area until you learn your AT. Learn what the real signals sound like and then you will be able to pick them out of the trash. Good luck!

That is great advice!

 

[barrywk]

thanks everyone for the replys to my post....they cleared up some things for me while im learning the at pro...just a side note....my second time using at pro I found a clad dime 10 + inches in dry heavy clay soil....I was very impressed with that....Thanks again...barry

 

[Normsel]

I love the smashing the cement. I wonder how many guys have beat up tot lot monkey bar frames when they get an 80 reading when they swing close to them.

I was in a new park today and getting really good tones showing 10" and reading 88 to 99 , I dug the 1st couple to ck them out and sure enough it was rusty iron.

I even dug a nice tone that showed 82 at 10" and a good old bottle cap. Everything else I dug was 4" - 6" and were good hits.

 

[Old Dude]

That's the problem with detecting easements that aren't very wide, bad penny!

 

[paul of Penna]

With all that iron around, make darn sure when you ground balance that you aren't balancing over some iron! That'll make your machine false like crazy. I recommend the 5x8 coil also......it really makes pinpointing and "sizing" easier than with the stock coil, and a bit easier to swing all day, and when in the woods.
Paul

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

This is one good entertaining thread... smashing cement! lol