Garrett AT Pro first impressions

[jerseyben]

Took out my brand new Garrett AT Pro today for its inaugural run and here are my first impressions:

In Standard Mode, its an ACE 250 (or 350 more likely). I dont see any reason why anyone would pay $600 and use this mode.

Pro Mode is awesome! The extra info the tones gives you is priceless. The separate Iron Disc feature is very useful. The auto Ground Balance is also very nice.
Pinpointing is deadly accurate. I was pulling clad coins out of the ground on the first shot every time!
Depth: This was the one thing I was most interested about and it certainly did not disappoint! I was pulling stuff up from 8+ inches almost every time. I think I dug a few DEEP iron targets at well over a foot down (a few I gave up on because I just couldnt dig that deep).
If I had to complain about something: I was wearing steel toe boots and it was picking up a "blip blip" every time I walked (but in all fairness that was my own fault). Sometimes when I hit something with the coil it would false briefly but not enough to bother me. I did notice some other falseing/chatter that I was not expecting but nothing to be terribly worried about. My biggest real complaint is the display. I am only 26 with great eyesight and that display is really hard to see even for me.
Otherwise this thing is great and I cannot wait to go to a nice old Colonial site and put it to the test.

 

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[batcap]

Took out my brand new Garrett AT Pro today for its inaugural run and here are my first impressions:

In Standard Mode, its an ACE 250 (or 350 more likely). I dont see any reason why anyone would pay $600 and use this mode.

Pro Mode is awesome! The extra info the tones gives you is priceless. The separate Iron Disc feature is very useful. The auto Ground Balance is also very nice.
Pinpointing is deadly accurate. I was pulling clad coins out of the ground on the first shot every time!
Depth: This was the one thing I was most interested about and it certainly did not disappoint! I was pulling stuff up from 8+ inches almost every time. I think I dug a few DEEP iron targets at well over a foot down (a few I gave up on because I just couldnt dig that deep).
If I had to complain about something: I was wearing steel toe boots and it was picking up a "blip blip" every time I walked (but in all fairness that was my own fault). Sometimes when I hit something with the coil it would false briefly but not enough to bother me. I did notice some other falseing/chatter that I was not expecting but nothing to be terribly worried about. My biggest real complaint is the display. I am only 26 with great eyesight and that display is really hard to see even for me.
Otherwise this thing is great and I cannot wait to go to a nice old Colonial site and put it to the test.

Now don't be dissing standard mode too much. It gives older folks like myself an opportunity to learn the 40 step iron discrimination, Iron Audio and ground balancing, before we also undertake all the extra Pro mode audio information.

I jumped right into Pro mode and loved it for a while but it kind of wore me out trying to adapt to all the new input. I could drop back into standard mode and let the detector think for me for a while as I processed the new info. I hate to say it, but so far just about every signal I gleaned from Pro mode by concentrating and listening would have been handed to me on a platter by Standard mode. That means I have to learn to listen better, but it also means that I have a new appreciation for the work Garrett put into the binary beep.

Standard mode was a smart move for Garrett; they have a huge user base who know nothing but binary audio. This detector makes for a smooth transition. We can bounce back and forth until we're comfortable living in Pro mode.

 

[lookindown]

Standard mode is like an Ace 250, a deep Ace 250.

 

[batcap]

Standard mode is like an Ace 250, a deep Ace 250.

Ok, I give up. Like an Ace 250 running at 15Khz with 40 points of Iron discrimination, Auto and manual ground balancing, 3 frequencies, a double D coil and one touch Iron Audio. Did I forget anything? Oh yeah! An Ace 250 you can dunk underwater!

 

[lookindown]

You covered it all. That was what I was trying to say. Standard mode is an Ace 250 on steroids. All I ever wanted was a waterproof Ace 250, but Mr. Garrett gave us much more.

 

[Jerry-Wi]

I have only had my At Pro out three times and have pretty well settled into running with pro custom mode with iron disc of 35. I use the custom mode so I do not have to reset the disc every time I use it. Anyway, today I found a 1923 merc dime under a 2 1/2 inch nail between 5 and 6 inches down. Took a lot longer than three times out to find silver with my old detector

I hope you enjoy your At Pro.

Jerry

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Nice post jersey Ben! The AT Pro is a good one!

 

[Lakemonster]

I agree on the standard mode. I never use it. Personally I wish they had dedicated that part of the board to better (if possible) the Pro mode.

Yet I see why its there. This makes it able for the first timer to get a machine they wont grow out of soon. Not only All Terrain, but All User.

 

[George (MN)]

I'm enjoying reading all these posts & as for settings, I say whatever makes it fun & doesn't stress one out too much. I must admit I'm lazy about learning. I mostly have used the standard mode so far. If I went to a really old & trashy area, maybe I would change my mind.

Why I like the standard mode: there really isn't anything to learn! Yes, I could be the world's laziest AT Pro user. In standard mode, I set it to reject everything but coins (yes, all the gold that doesn't ID as nickel or zinc on up). I completely reject iron, too. Despite it being a DD coil, no bottlecaps in first 3 outings. STD still has pretty good separation even when swept somewhat fast.

Nearly everytime the detector beeps, it is a coin or some other small round object. The detector is totally silent & stable at sens 7 of 8 in STD mode. At first I tried auto GB. Maybe did something wrong but the threshold rise kept occur-ing about 4" above ground. So I went to manual GB & deep & tilted coins started showing up, with accurate visual IDs!

At a 1970s park that's been detected hundreds of times, I got a 4" deep quarter that was very tilted. The AT Pro wasn't fooled by the tilt! Now I was getting some confidence.

Next, an ID reading 80-85 (copper penny or dime) with depth indicator showing 8". Down about 7" there was a clad dime. How very smart of the visual ID to correctly ID our smallest coin that deep! (deepest dime found that correctly IDed with Ace 250 was 4").

I found 3 coins side by side that it recognized as separate coins, with correct IDs. Then I turned on iron ID & discovered they were surrounded by several iron beeps! So, not all is lost using STD mode.

I like it too that zincs give both medium & high tones so can be ignored (or found) when it is too dark to see the meter.

I'll have to try Pro mode at some trashy old place & see if I can get a dime under a nail & still avoid bottlecaps. Best wishes, George (MN)