AT pro for freshwater beaches?

I would think the AT Pro would be a good choice for FRESHWATER beaches and in the water - lakes and rivers. The Hoover Boys (on YouTube) use the similar AT Max for their freshwater hunts and finds all kinds of good stuff.

For SALTWATER beaches, not a good choice. Single Frequency VLF detectors, like the AT Pro, do not do very well in that environment.

The AtPro is a money maker. Especially in fresh water situations. It holds an undeniable pedigree as an in field performer and thereby retains a solid resale value.

At pro great in freshwater.
Not good in saltwater.
At max can be used in saltwater by ground balancing and turning down sensitivity, watch you tube videos.

davemercier: said:

Hi all, i've read that most any decent detector will perform well in freshwater sand or possibly in the shallow surf, 1-2 feet if it has a waterproof coil.

Click to expand...

A good single-frequency detector can work well is freshwater or saltwater applications, IF it was designed well and IF the operator knows how to adjust it to handle the environment.

As for "shallow surf" to 1 or 2 feet, if you're referring to a saltwater surf than you will start to get into more challenging conditions on the wet sandy beaches and things will become more challenging as you move into a few inches of saltwater working in the very shallow wading areas. It's best to have a detector that is designed to handle a saltwater environment and one that can also let you adjust the Ground Balance. Beaches can run a broad range of mineralized ground to deal with.

davemercier: said:

I bought the Garrett ace 400, which does not have a waterproof control box. The AT pro does, so i'm leaning toward going that route.

Click to expand...

Th Ace 400 also relies on a preset, or fixed, Ground balance and that alone can impair performance in many applications. If you plan to get the detector wet by wading out a couple of feet, you are better off with a truly submersible detector.

davemercier: said:

I realize that multi frequency machines perform better on saltwater beaches and in highly mineralized soils, but i'm brand new to this lifestyle, so i want to keep my investment within the beginner/mid level price range.

Click to expand...

No, not all multi-frequency detectors can perform well on a saltwater beach or in the surf. And my "Multi-Frequency" we'll qualify that as being a SMF or Simultaneous Multi-Frequency detector you are referring to. there are Selectable Multi-Frequency detectors as well.

And I have challenged that generalized statement that SMF's handle high mineralization better, because I have used some that don't handle things as well as some of the single-frequency models I own and use or have had for comparison purposes.

Beginner or mid-level pricing is something to consider, so let me ask this. What are your primary detecting interests? Urban Coin Hunting? Coin & Jewelry Hunting? beach Hunting? Old-site Relic Hunting? A mixture of these, and if so, what type of places will you be hunting the most?

I don't live by a saltwater beach, but from time to time, like maybe once or twice every year or two, I do work a freshwater beach. Most of my detecting time is land-based, and due to health and mobility limitations I am now making a switch back to 80-90% urban Coin & Jewelry Hunting and 10-20% Relic Hunting. like I used to do. From '83 until this year it was just the reverse of that.

This brings up another question and that is, have you hunted or do you plan to do more hunting in old-use locations that have a lot of Iron Nails or other ferrous debris? If so, then you need to take that level of detector & coil selection and performance into consideration.

davemercier: said:

Any advice from experienced AT pro owners or similar detectors would be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

If you are committed to using only Garrett products, and you want to have a submersible detector for saltwater and freshwater hunting, then my suggestion would be the AT MAX.

If you can broaden your purchasing power, maybe by selling the Ace 400 for added cash, you could get two detectors. Both can be used on land or shallow wading use, but one would be fully submersible if you want to go deeper. I own and use both of these, and they are: The Nokta / Makro Simplex + which is fully waterproof, simple, yet a very versatile and efficient detector for a killer low price. The other is the new Garrett Apex with is not only a very good land-base detector, but the waterproof coil can let you wade into the shallower areas, and it features a SMF operation for land and one for saltwater, plus you can select one of four single-frequencies.

Just my quick thoughts and suggestion.

Monte

The AT Pro is an excellent freshwater machine. I have been using mine for several years. Have you considered moving up to the AT MAX? It is a little more chatty then the AT Pro, but gets better depth. It also has the TRUE all metal mode, which is even deeper. You can still use the iron audio in true all metal mode to leave nails, screws behind. It gives you a probable ID number also on the target, so you can pull both the high conductors and low conductors in this mode.

Both machines will get the job done. Below are most of the rings from freshwater lakes this year.

John-Edmonton said:

The AT Pro is an excellent freshwater machine. I have been using mine for several years. Have you considered moving up to the AT MAX? It is a little more chatty then the AT Pro, but gets better depth. It also has the TRUE all metal mode, which is even deeper. You can still use the iron audio in true all metal mode to leave nails, screws behind. It gives you a probable ID number also on the target, so you can pull both the high conductors and low conductors in this mode.

Both machines will get the job done. Below are most of the rings from freshwater lakes this year.

Click to expand...

Can you explain why this is important when choosing the AT Max over the AT Pro?

Items tend to sink at a faster rate in water then on land. Also, items will usually stop sinking when they reach the bedrock, or the same matrix density as the item such as coins, jewelry and rings. Depth can be your friend when water hunting.

Monte said:

A good single-frequency detector can work well is freshwater or saltwater applications, IF it was designed well and IF the operator knows how to adjust it to handle the environment.

As for "shallow surf" to 1 or 2 feet, if you're referring to a saltwater surf than you will start to get into more challenging conditions on the wet sandy beaches and things will become more challenging as you move into a few inches of saltwater working in the very shallow wading areas. It's best to have a detector that is designed to handle a saltwater environment and one that can also let you adjust the Ground Balance. Beaches can run a broad range of mineralized ground to deal with.


Th Ace 400 also relies on a preset, or fixed, Ground balance and that alone can impair performance in many applications. If you plan to get the detector wet by wading out a couple of feet, you are better off with a truly submersible detector.


No, not all multi-frequency detectors can perform well on a saltwater beach or in the surf. And my "Multi-Frequency" we'll qualify that as being a SMF or Simultaneous Multi-Frequency detector you are referring to. there are Selectable Multi-Frequency detectors as well.

And I have challenged that generalized statement that SMF's handle high mineralization better, because I have used some that don't handle things as well as some of the single-frequency models I own and use or have had for comparison purposes.

Beginner or mid-level pricing is something to consider, so let me ask this. What are your primary detecting interests? Urban Coin Hunting? Coin & Jewelry Hunting? beach Hunting? Old-site Relic Hunting? A mixture of these, and if so, what type of places will you be hunting the most?

I don't live by a saltwater beach, but from time to time, like maybe once or twice every year or two, I do work a freshwater beach. Most of my detecting time is land-based, and due to health and mobility limitations I am now making a switch back to 80-90% urban Coin & Jewelry Hunting and 10-20% Relic Hunting. like I used to do. From '83 until this year it was just the reverse of that.

This brings up another question and that is, have you hunted or do you plan to do more hunting in old-use locations that have a lot of Iron Nails or other ferrous debris? If so, then you need to take that level of detector & coil selection and performance into consideration.


If you are committed to using only Garrett products, and you want to have a submersible detector for saltwater and freshwater hunting, then my suggestion would be the AT MAX.

If you can broaden your purchasing power, maybe by selling the Ace 400 for added cash, you could get two detectors. Both can be used on land or shallow wading use, but one would be fully submersible if you want to go deeper. I own and use both of these, and they are: The Nokta / Makro Simplex + which is fully waterproof, simple, yet a very versatile and efficient detector for a killer low price. The other is the new Garrett Apex with is not only a very good land-base detector, but the waterproof coil can let you wade into the shallower areas, and it features a SMF operation for land and one for saltwater, plus you can select one of four single-frequencies.

Just my quick thoughts and suggestion.

Monte

Click to expand...

Monte, your highly detailed and insightful response is very valuable to me and i very much appreciate it. I will save it for an excellent reference.

John-Edmonton said:

Items tend to sink at a faster rate in water then on land. Also, items will usually stop sinking when they reach the bedrock, or the same matrix density as the item such as coins, jewelry and rings. Depth can be your friend when water hunting.

Click to expand...

The only advantage of "true" all metal mode is greater depth?

John Edmonton's silence is deafening.

mh9162013 said:

The only advantage of "true" all metal mode is greater depth?

Click to expand...

That statement depends on the detector. On older detectors with true threshold based all metal modes there was very little filtering or processing of the return signal in all metal so they would get more raw depth than the filtered discrimination modes which had their return signal attenuated by each layer of filtering. Some more recent detectors with a hybrid form of threshold based all metal mode do not detect appreciably deeper than the discrimination modes. Some of the recent Nokta Makro detectors are a good example.

The AT Pro and AT Max are tested and proven to be excellent All Terrain detectors and can be used effectively even at some saltwater beaches in the dry and wet sand if the salt mineralization isn't too bad or if you don't mind listening to a lot of chatter. In freshwater they are outstanding.

Another possibility as mentioned by Monte is the Nokta Makro Simplex. It is a really good detector with tons of modern features including a salt water beach mode and costs less than your Ace 400. Surprisingly the Simplex would be a step up from you ACE as would be the Nokta Makro Kruzer, Multi Kruzer or Anfibio which in my opinion are better detectors than even the AT Pro/Max. They can do anything that the Garretts can do plus they have many more excellent modern features including wireless audio, saltwater beach modes and handle vibration for submerged hunting, just to name a few. Then you have the Minelab Vanquish 540, Equinox 600 and 800......... Lot's of great choices.

jmaclen said:

That statement depends on the detector. On older detectors with true threshold based all metal modes there was very little filtering or processing of the return signal in all metal so they would get more raw depth than the filtered discrimination modes which had their return signal attenuated by each layer of filtering. Some more recent detectors with a hybrid form of threshold based all metal mode do not detect appreciably deeper than the discrimination modes. Some of the recent Nokta Makro detectors are a good example.

Click to expand...

So "true" all metal mode reduces any filtering in the AT Max?

jmaclen said:

The AT Pro and AT Max are tested and proven to be excellent All Terrain detectors and can be used effectively even at some saltwater beaches in the dry and wet sand if the salt mineralization isn't too bad or if you don't mind listening to a lot of chatter. In freshwater they are outstanding.

Another possibility as mentioned by Monte is the Nokta Makro Simplex. It is a really good detector with tons of modern features including a salt water beach mode and costs less than your Ace 400. Surprisingly the Simplex would be a step up from you ACE as would be the Nokta Makro Kruzer, Multi Kruzer or Anfibio which in my opinion are better detectors than even the AT Pro/Max. They can do anything that the Garretts can do plus they have many more excellent modern features including wireless audio, saltwater beach modes and handle vibration for submerged hunting, just to name a few. Then you have the Minelab Vanquish 540, Equinox 600 and 800......... Lot's of great choices.

Click to expand...

The form factor of the Simplex is a dealbreaker for me. If I were willing to accept that horrific design, I'd get the Equinox. I'm considering my next machine to be a version of the Vanquish, AT Pro, Fisher F75 or a Tesoro.