AT Pro Newbies... Talk to me

[Mama2Twins]

I'm heading to the park today. After spending 3 hours in the park yesterday I can tell you that the propointer can't get here quick enough. I bet I could have covered double the area if I had the propointer to help me once the lesche got the plug cut.

Grabbing the dirt and going over the at pro is an alternative. I do it a lot now

 

[silver49009]

Had a blast at the ball fields today behind the school. Large are with concession stand. I took the route from the parking lot to the path of grass to the concession stand. about every minute or so I was locating a coin. No junk dug up today!! came back with 2 quarters, 2 dimes, and 6 pennies (1 wheat).

I ran in pro zero mode and let it rip. I think my first time out I was too concerned with beeps or tones in general. You'll hit a lot of stuff in the 30's and 40's that sounds like you've hit something.

Now what I listen for is the 70-90's which is a nice high tone. I might miss a ring but where I'm searching its doubtful. Once I really get this thing down then I'll start digging some of the lower tones. You surely know it when you've hit a penny, dime, quarter. I haven't hit any silver yet or larger coins but I bet the ATpro will scream when I do.

 

[TheCoilist]

Had a blast at the ball fields today behind the school. Large are with concession stand. I took the route from the parking lot to the path of grass to the concession stand. about every minute or so I was locating a coin. No junk dug up today!! came back with 2 quarters, 2 dimes, and 6 pennies (1 wheat).

I ran in pro zero mode and let it rip. I think my first time out I was too concerned with beeps or tones in general. You'll hit a lot of stuff in the 30's and 40's that sounds like you've hit something.

Now what I listen for is the 70-90's which is a nice high tone. I might miss a ring but where I'm searching its doubtful. Once I really get this thing down then I'll start digging some of the lower tones. You surely know it when you've hit a penny, dime, quarter. I haven't hit any silver yet or larger coins but I bet the ATpro will scream when I do.

When I am in an area that I only care for coins. I go to custom mode, IRON disc to 40, eliminate everything except 70 and up. This is ONLY high tone area. I do this because I don't care about nickels in most cases. Half of them are pull tabs anyway. lol

 

[Mama2Twins]

Had a blast at the ball fields today behind the school. Large are with concession stand. I took the route from the parking lot to the path of grass to the concession stand. about every minute or so I was locating a coin. No junk dug up today!! came back with 2 quarters, 2 dimes, and 6 pennies (1 wheat).

I ran in pro zero mode and let it rip. I think my first time out I was too concerned with beeps or tones in general. You'll hit a lot of stuff in the 30's and 40's that sounds like you've hit something.

Now what I listen for is the 70-90's which is a nice high tone. I might miss a ring but where I'm searching its doubtful. Once I really get this thing down then I'll start digging some of the lower tones. You surely know it when you've hit a penny, dime, quarter. I haven't hit any silver yet or larger coins but I bet the ATpro will scream when I do.

I do the same mode as you. Works great! Is this your first wheat?

 

[silver49009]

First wheat mama. I think I'll have a lot more fun tagging just 70 and up.

Call me lazy, however all 10 plugs I cut today were coins. Not one piece of trash. And on 6 acre ball field complex that's pretty darn good in my opinion.
I could have spent the whole day there and probably came back with a jar of coins. If the weather holds out I'm going back soon. It's almost within walking distance it's right behind my kids school. They played on the playground today while I detected. Win Win. And if I take the three girls mom gets a break.

Can't beat that!

 

[Weezbad]

not to be a buzz kill BUT, if all you're gonna dig is 70 and up whats the purpose of detecting. dont you want to find the good stuff. i dug a 1917 walker half yesterday, its worth only about 20-30 dollars.. I want to find the gold rings and jewlery. knocking out nickles and zinc means you're hunting mostly coins. you can buy all the coins you want on ebay for what that AT pro cost you.Indian heads on ebay 50 for $30 those are from the 1800s you will get tired of clad...open it up find the good stuff and make this hobby last.

i get frustrated sometimes and do just this even as high up as 80. but i soon realize i aint here for clad. silver coins are not that plentiful so jewelry is really what i'm after and old silver of course.

just as a data point i found the walker with the etrac. i mostly use the AT pro in the lake...zero disc.

 

[Mama2Twins]

Right on!

First wheat mama. I think I'll have a lot more fun tagging just 70 and up.

Call me lazy, however all 10 plugs I cut today were coins. Not one piece of trash. And on 6 acre ball field complex that's pretty darn good in my opinion.
I could have spent the whole day there and probably came back with a jar of coins. If the weather holds out I'm going back soon. It's almost within walking distance it's right behind my kids school. They played on the playground today while I detected. Win Win. And if I take the three girls mom gets a break.

Can't beat that!

Wow! We got our AT pro first wheat on the same day!!! I get the break on the weekends by hunting. I stay home with my twins during the week and should take them hunting with me at the playground too. It's just too cold now. That's definitely great for you!

 

[scout23]

Finding clad is fun and finding an occasional silver is exciting but if you really want a thrill..... Dig those mid range tones. In the 3+ years I've been detecting( 2 with the 250 and 1 with the AT) I have dug around $500 in clad and about $200 in melt value in silver coins. But If measuring in dollars I have that much in just 4 dug 14k rings and 1 silver Topaz ring. Sure I've dug alot of trash to get those, but how much did I dig to get $700 in coins??? Jewelry can show up anywhere, ball fields, parks, volleyball courts, playgrounds and many more places. All my finds came from dirt(central Ohio), only about $2.00 in clad came from a beach. Don't think you can't find jewelry because your not near a beach.

 

[TheCoilist]

not to be a buzz kill BUT, if all you're gonna dig is 70 and up whats the purpose of detecting. dont you want to find the good stuff. i dug a 1917 walker half yesterday, its worth only about 20-30 dollars.. I want to find the gold rings and jewlery. knocking out nickles and zinc means you're hunting mostly coins. you can buy all the coins you want on ebay for what that AT pro cost you.Indian heads on ebay 50 for $30 those are from the 1800s you will get tired of clad...open it up find the good stuff and make this hobby last.

i get frustrated sometimes and do just this even as high up as 80. but i soon realize i aint here for clad. silver coins are not that plentiful so jewelry is really what i'm after and old silver of course.

just as a data point i found the walker with the etrac. i mostly use the AT pro in the lake...zero disc.

Sure you can buy coins online... you can also buy jewelry online and everything else you mentioned. Not everyone wants to find jewelry. Not everyone wants to find coins. Some only care about silver, some only care about wheaties, some gold, some jewelry. Doesn't mean someone shouldn't own a detector because they search for a particular item. Goes back to knowing your location and doing your research. When I hunt in 70+ only it's because I am in an area where I know that is what I want, and I know that because I've already been in the yard several times before.

Finding clad is fun and finding an occasional silver is exciting but if you really want a thrill..... Dig those mid range tones. In the 3+ years I've been detecting( 2 with the 250 and 1 with the AT) I have dug around $500 in clad and about $200 in melt value in silver coins. But If measuring in dollars I have that much in just 4 dug 14k rings and 1 silver Topaz ring. Sure I've dug alot of trash to get those, but how much did I dig to get $700 in coins??? Jewelry can show up anywhere, ball fields, parks, volleyball courts, playgrounds and many more places. All my finds came from dirt(central Ohio), only about $2.00 in clad came from a beach. Don't think you can't find jewelry because your not near a beach.

Again, everyone wants to find jewelry, but for these new AT Pro users, it's best they don't focus strictly on jewelry hunting. Coins are more readily available and is a good starting point for them.

 

[silver49009]

Looking for gold is a no brainer by digging those pulltab tones. - in time.

However, I bought this for excersise and to learn how to use it. There is no way me myself would enjoy this detector the first week of use digging every single tone I'm not comfortable with yet. However, working with the different pro modes, tweaking my sensitivity as well as discrimination I'm starting to get a feel for what's in the hole before I dig.

What's fun for me is digging quarters, dimes, and pennies right now as I spend an hour or two at the park. Coming home two days in a row with a handful of pulltabs is probably the reason so many people give up the hobby.

I'll find the rings in time. the fact is this ballpark/school is within walking distance and I can go most any day. So once I do learn those midtones and have dug all the larger coins I can have fun trying to track down some jewelry.

Plus who says every ring out there is 14k gold. I'm still able to hit silver coins, silver jewelry and more in the 70+ range.

I wanted a quality unit and for the price I think the AT Pro is excellent, especially if I want to do some water hunting.

 

[scout23]

Again, everyone wants to find jewelry, but for these new AT Pro users, it's best they don't focus strictly on jewelry hunting. Coins are more readily available and is a good starting point for them.[/QUOTE]
Agreed to learn the machine find a lot of clad,it's fun and pays for batteries . I recommend diging all mid and high tones , to learn the machine
And what trash sounds like . they may even pick up some jewelry, never said to only dig mid tones .

 

[Mama2Twins]

AT PROs First Coin

 

[Weezbad]

ahhh, feels good doesn't it. where there wheat's there is silver IMHO.

 

[Mama2Twins]

ahhh, feels good doesn't it. where there wheat's there is silver IMHO.

Not my first wheat, but my first with my AT Pro. It's building my confidence by showing I am learning my machine. I was really frusterated with the At Pro and ready to sell it! I've only had a couple of test runs in the yard. Then at the end of my run, it was dark, cold and was ready to head in. I was walking in and heard something good. I learned the iron audio part, when it's humming loud there's iron, but if it weakens it's possibly a target. I didn't know that??!

Problem is my pinpointing now is off a little. I think learning to dig with the Lesche is contributing. I nicked the tip of the wheat.

Do you really think there is silver where there are wheats? I have a dozen or so wheats from my yard.

 

[Mama2Twins]

Also VDIs going off like crazy a lot?

 

[TheCoilist]

Silver coins date back to when wheaties were in circulation so the chances are BETTER, but not for sure that there is silver in the area.

As for the jumpy signals that is what I have been posting about before in this thread. It's worth re-reading. If you're getting high tones and seeing a display on the VDI, it could be a very large object, an item sitting on the surface, or it could be trash with good items mixed in.

 

[Draddog]

Had about an hour to hit my local park this evening. This is my third hunt ever for a total of 6 hours on my AT Pro......Starting to hear differences now, and I think I got the pinpointing down.....still no silver yet. I am hunting in Pro Zero Mode, the sensitivity on 7th notch, and Iron Disc. at 28......My ground balance has been between 80 and 84 in the area I am hunting.......Got alot to learn for sure, but I am loving it

Here are my finds this evening at the park.

[/IMG]

 

[goodmore]

There is a time and place to dig mid tones. Some of the places I hunt you will wear yourself out on those pull tabs. When I get to a place like that I usually dig mid tones until I have 10 tabs then I stop for the day. Next time 10 more.

 

[Draddog]

That makes alot of sense goodmore.....Good idea

 

[Weezbad]

There is a time and place to dig mid tones. Some of the places I hunt you will wear yourself out on those pull tabs. When I get to a place like that I usually dig mid tones until I have 10 tabs then I stop for the day. Next time 10 more.

i might go a few more than ten but this is pretty much how i do it also. Unless i am hitting some good stuff. I hunt some really trashy areas. and ya have to cut it out just for your sanity.