• Forum server maintanace Friday night.(around 7PM Centeral time)
    Website will be off line for a short while.

    You may need to log out, log back in after we're back online.

Is the ATPro outperforming my Minelab?

Happa54

Forum Supporter
Joined
Feb 27, 2016
Messages
351
Location
Los Angeles, CA.
Hey all;

I recently started hunting with a guy who swings a Garrett ATPro and I swing a Minelab Safari.

We basically start out side by side but within 3-4 hours he's at the far end of the park while I'm basically still within an acre or two parcel.

As you may or may not know, the Minelabs operate on FBS (28 frequencies) and the Garrett I believe is single frequency processor.

His swing is really fast and wide and mine is slow and about shoulder width.

By the end of the day he has a chunk more clad than me and I commented to him that he "swings so fast and covers so much ground" and he's replies "yeah I hear everything under my coil at these speeds".

My point here is that his ATPro is covering far far more ground in less time and getting more coins than me. It's just my observation and makes me think a bit.

As I watch him swinging away. Theoretically, he could be taking targets away from me because I can't keep up with him.

Minelab owners place much emphasis on the need to keep it "low and slow" due multi frequency processing which takes time to identify targets on the screen.

If you have experience with both of these machines I'd like to get your feedback. What is the upside if I were in a competition hunt against the ATPro... just to keep this comparison interesting?

Thank you so much.
 
The upper end minelabs are great for deep silver coins not speed,except the 3030.
Atpro has fast recovery speed and descriptive audio so it is faster but not as deep.
 
I swing both. I would bet your friend is missing some deep stuff swinging so fast. The AT Pro is deep in my part of the country, but in order to hear the high tones mixed in with the iron you do have to slow it down a touch. Don't be dismayed by going slow. That way you can be assured you are hearing everything.
 
When your buddy, gets out in front of you,
jump over and follow his line, & see /hear what he has passed up....?
Remember, "the turtle beat the hare"
 
I don't mind going slow. I've hunted behind fast moving detectorists multiple times and almost always pull some nice deep targets they missed. Let them have the clad and higher coin count. I'll take the older deeper stuff that they pass right over.
 
Question is... Who has more old coins at the end of the day? I swing an explorer II and I don't mind going slow at all if it means finding deep, old coins
 
I'll guarantee that he isn't hearing everything under his coil if he's sweeping that fast.

I guess the question you need to ask yourself is do you want a clad harvester, or are you looking for deep old stuff? If your answer is volume based, and you really want a clad harvester, then his machine and method are better suited for the task. But, if your answer is one based on interest in history, and the deep older stuff is what you're really after, then what you have and a slower approach will be more productive.

This reminds me of the old story about the young bull and the old bull, where the young bull says to the old bull, "Let's run back to the barn and have our way with a cow." To which the old bull replies, "Let's walk back and have our way with them all."
 
I'll guarantee that he isn't hearing everything under his coil if he's sweeping that fast.

I guess the question you need to ask yourself is do you want a clad harvester, or are you looking for deep old stuff? If your answer is volume based, and you really want a clad harvester, then his machine and method are better suited for the task. But, if your answer is one based on interest in history, and the deep older stuff is what you're really after, then what you have and a slower approach will be more productive.

This reminds me of the old story about the young bull and the old bull, where the young bull says to the old bull, "Let's run back to the barn and have our way with a cow." To which the old bull replies, "Let's walk back and have our way with them all."

That sounds like one of my Dad's stories :laughing::laughing::laughing:
 
What you are describing to me sounds like he is catching most of the "easy" targets. The ones that are not masked and probably shallow like 4 inches or less. I would not worry about it if i were you, i have the safari , se pro, etrac, 3030 and my safari is as deep and sometimes deeper than the others. If it is trashy use a smaller coil and take your time. In the end you should find better targets than all the surface clad he is gathering, if there are any quality deeper targets there.
 
This is the reason I got rid of my Safari after 10 days and went back to an AT Pro. Safari just too dang slow for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
My brother only uses the AT PRO and i have one as well and at least here where we hunt, hunting to fast is not the way to go for older deeper targets. Even in a virgin spot that has been hunted by no one, especially if the targets are somewhat or partially masked by junk targets.
 
AT Pro is very good at clad hunting if that is what you are after. Speed is not recommended for any detector because you miss targets. Your buddy is probably better at recovery of the items too. Digging and pinpointing comes with practice and time. If I had a guy racing out in front of me he better hold his line or there will no more hunting together.
 
I have found myself in a similar position. I use a Minelab Safari as well and sometimes it takes me way too long to hunt a small section. I thought about getting an AT Pro so I could cover more ground. I decided to stick with the Safari for a couple of reasons.

First I know that going slow is going to find more deeper targets like old silver coins.

And second this is not a race. I want to cover all my ground thoroughly. I don't want to miss a thing. You are only as good as your swing. You can't cover 100 percent of the ground you are hunting but going slow and thorough gets you close.

And third I know the Safari well. I know what all those little high pitched bleeps mean. And it is a good solid machine that has found me a lot of good stuff.

I decided to stay with the Safari and be as thorough as I can be and find all the stuff the other guys miss. I still find old silver in fields that people have been hunting for 30 years. I think the Safari and a "slow and steady" swing wins the race.
 
AT Pro is very good at clad hunting if that is what you are after. Speed is not recommended for any detector because you miss targets. Your buddy is probably better at recovery of the items too. Digging and pinpointing comes with practice and time. If I had a guy racing out in front of me he better hold his line or there will no more hunting together.

Exactly, the AT Pro is just a clad machine. I've never seen any ATP users here post anything other than clad...:heartylaugh::heartylaugh::heartylaugh:
 
Thank you!!! Very good points presented here.

I've had some time to reflect back on this and noticed a couple of things.

He doesn't mention any finds worth mentioning during our conversations or outings other than a couple of awesome finds 3 yrs ago at a couple of newer suburban parks. He only talks about all of his clad scores.

It seems that between the two of us, I have the silvers and other unique finds to brag about and I hear no response back from him other than "oh really, where?"

One time I mentioned to him a park where I retrieved 4 mercs and early wheaties and after he went there he came back only with clad.

To date I have mercs, rosies, a war nickel, early wheaties, late 1700's steel button, early spanish relic, tokens, a few European coins and a good amount of clad. Not bad for 8 months of learning me thinks.

There have also been many silverless days, but I'm almost guaranteed something old or interesting on each hunt because this has been my experience in the short time I have been into this hobby.

There's no doubt my buddy loves his clad as he hunts a few days a week in newer parks. I guess his method is the way he cut his teeth on in MD'ing and it fits him just right. It's just as I watch him swinging away so effortlessly with his ATPro and covers 50 acres on an outing has made me wonder why my Minelab is so slow and if it is worth my time swinging.

Makes me wonder if I were to use his machine using my technique if I would retrieve equal finds of that of my Minelab.

Just sayin....
 
In dollar value, he certainly kicked your patootie six ways from Sunday...a dmaned common date merc is only worth $1, A Walker Half is worth about $6...

Oh Boy! I found a wheatie at 8"! Guess what? Worth 3 cents tops! :laughing:


So in relative terms, Dollar value wise, ROI and time in field, your clad snatching Pal easily pulls a merc dime Value every 15 minutes and a Walker Half value in an hour or so....on the daily, day after day!
\
This is the thing about this Sport!! So many subsets and skill disciplines to master! Location dependant! Are you ROI hunting, or dinking along looking for interesting crapola? Hint: There is no right answer...For sure you cant Run and Gun with a Lab though...Two different rigs and hunting strategies is all...

As an example, Take a lookie here...just one days Quick brooming clad basically can get a guy 10 Barber halfs at the coin store, and have enough left over for a six pack of beer on the way home!....:laughing::laughing:

FWIW, The BF Half was incedental bycatch that sounded like a 2Q stack...Imagine my surprise! :laughing:

Just saying...
 

Attachments

  • field of dreams-3.jpg
    field of dreams-3.jpg
    33.6 KB · Views: 460
  • field of dreams.jpg
    field of dreams.jpg
    32.4 KB · Views: 452
Last edited:
I have an AT Pro and used to have a Safari. Air tests in the house, the AT Pro maxed out at 10" on a dime, at sens 7 out of 8. The Safari at sensitivity 17 out of 20, the highest that was stable in the house, got the dime at 11.5".

I prefer the AT Pro for allowing a fast sweep, for the weight being lighter. I can walk with the AT Pro, which doesn't bother my back as much as a detector that requires me to stand still. Also, I detect many newer places as they are nearby & the AT Pro IDed a 7" deep clad dime correctly in my soil that has moderate mineralization & ground was hard & very dry at the time.




Hey all;

I recently started hunting with a guy who swings a Garrett ATPro and I swing a Minelab Safari.

We basically start out side by side but within 3-4 hours he's at the far end of the park while I'm basically still within an acre or two parcel.

As you may or may not know, the Minelabs operate on FBS (28 frequencies) and the Garrett I believe is single frequency processor.

His swing is really fast and wide and mine is slow and about shoulder width.

By the end of the day he has a chunk more clad than me and I commented to him that he "swings so fast and covers so much ground" and he's replies "yeah I hear everything under my coil at these speeds".

My point here is that his ATPro is covering far far more ground in less time and getting more coins than me. It's just my observation and makes me think a bit.

As I watch him swinging away. Theoretically, he could be taking targets away from me because I can't keep up with him.

Minelab owners place much emphasis on the need to keep it "low and slow" due multi frequency processing which takes time to identify targets on the screen.

If you have experience with both of these machines I'd like to get your feedback. What is the upside if I were in a competition hunt against the ATPro... just to keep this comparison interesting?

Thank you so much.
 
In dollar value, he certainly kicked your patootie six ways from Sunday...a dmaned common date merc is only worth $1, A Walker Half is worth about $6...

Oh Boy! I found a wheatie at 8"! Guess what? Worth 3 cents tops! :laughing:


So in relative terms, Dollar value wise, ROI and time in field, your clad snatching Pal easily pulls a merc dime Value every 15 minutes and a Walker Half value in an hour or so....on the daily, day after day!
\
This is the thing about this Sport!! So many subsets and skill disciplines to master! Location dependant! Are you ROI hunting, or dinking along looking for interesting crapola? Hint: There is no right answer...For sure you cant Run and Gun with a Lab though...Two different rigs and hunting strategies is all...

As an example, Take a lookie here...just one days Quick brooming clad basically can get a guy 10 Barber halfs at the coin store, and have enough left over for a six pack of beer on the way home!....:laughing::laughing:

FWIW, The BF Half was incedental bycatch that sounded like a 2Q stack...Imagine my surprise! :laughing:

Just saying...

đź’Ż % right again Mud,I like finding silver if possible but I can buy it at a faster rate with clad.When I first started back at it 7 or so years ago I was always looking for that deep silver,almost like a medal.Now I'd sooner just dig clad,and if I come across silver it's just a bonus.
And I usto never really dig midtones,now I pass a lot of high tones up ,mostly in parks and just dig all midtones.Not finding much gold,but trying to.It almost makes sens just to kick everything out the door,get a f2 or eurotek and just nail it all.Probably be just as rich or richer at the end of the year than the guys with all the big boy toys.
 
The main reason I don't get silver is I'm in a suburb with no park older than 1963, & I don't have transportation. The ideal sweep speed for one detector vs another will vary. We just need to sweep slow enough for our brains to process what we heard. My AT Pro gave correct ID on clad dime 7" deep. I am guessing there are still older parks with silver coins within 7" of surface.

The AT Pro will work good with fast sweep, but may find more with moderate sweep speed in high trash areas. There are people with AT Pro that have found 200 year old coins, so detectors under $1K aren't automatic fail.

A White's XLT has max depth at a sweep speed of about 10' per second. But it only got 7.5" on a dime at highest stable setting doing indoor air test.


AT Pro is very good at clad hunting if that is what you are after. Speed is not recommended for any detector because you miss targets.
 
Back
Top Bottom