Need a bit of advice - Garrett AT Pro in very junky ground

[OleSarge]

Read your instruction book and learn to use notch discrimination and mode selection. And, remember that there is science involved in metal detecting, but metal detecting is not a science. The AT Pro is a machine I will stand beside any other make or model made, and I think the rolling audio gives me an edge over the more expensive metal detectors. Personally, I use the “Pro mode and a 5X8 coil, and something you failed to mention, a good set of Garrett headsets. You will learn to better discriminate between “purely“ junk targets and “probably” junk targets as you get better at defining target size and probable depth by doing waves above the target from several different approaches and consistency in the height and length of your swing improves. Sure, a good solid tone means there is a target to be dug, and offers assurance someone has lost something YOU found. Remember, if it wasn’t lost, regardless of the cost and ability of your machine, you’ll never find it. Keep in mind ghost targets like machine shop shavings, rusted, and long gone steel wool, and that evasive can slaw that is always a few inches deeper or further to the left or eight. Rule Number One…….NEVER!!!…..forget it is a hobby and few times of finding anything is a remarkable improvement over the many times you‘ll find nothing.

AT Pro….Bounty Hunter Outback…..AT Pro Pointer……weak mind and weaker knees.

 

[too_pointer]

Thank you all for the helpful replies! I also thought about getting a smaller coil but I am pretty green still and wasn't sure if I was on track. Thanks for confirming that part.

I have a patch of cast iron plow share pieces (about 40 lbs.) that I have dug up over the years and they are laying on top of the ground now. Today I was swinging the detector over each piece and they were ringing from 35 up to 75 on the scale with dirty tones of both high and low if that's a good description. I also got several clean 80 to 85 tones while searching around the area but was disappointed after digging them up to find out they are still scrap iron straps and gate hinges etc. I am not sure why they would ring so high to be a low conductivity rusted metal?

Lastly I have noticed that if i accidentally bump my coil against something like a fallen limb it chatters and makes a tone. Is this normal? It almost acts if there is a short in the cable or coil. I have wiggled around the cable, connector, and coil but I can't repeat it. But if I gently bump the coil against something it rings out low usually.

Again, thanks everyone for the helpful advice. This forum certainly lives up to it's name!

That was one big reason I like my AT Pro for woods detecting, it doesn't make false noises when I going threw ferns, bushes, ect. Sorry to hear about your issue, maybe turn your sensitivity a tad, till it fixes the problems, or not. Let us know how it turns out.
too_

 

[RgnFn]

Flying V:
One question you asked that didn't seem to get answered was what about large iron signalling high. I've noticed that too on my machine, and my best hypothesis is that metal detectors VDI/tones are optimized for coin-sized objects, so when you hit a large iron object, it registers higher. Especially if it's round. I don't know if the AT has a pinpointer function, but when I hit a higher signal on my Apex, I will use the pinpointer not only to pinpoint the object, but to get a sense of how large it is. If it's ringing up in the seventies but large, it's probably iron. Also, in my trashy site, I am often thrown by tin can lids where the tin can has completely rusted away leaving just the rim, which being round sounds like I just hit a bonanza. The other day, I found a heavy iron ring around 5" in diameter (about 10" down) which threw me as well. Regardless, as others have said, it's best to dig those out, a) because they might be something interesting and b) because it reduces the trash you'll have to deal with the next time.

Unlike your site, my two old sites have modern trash too. The one thing I've discovered that doesn't seem to be widely discussed is that aluminum rings up in the upper copper / lower silver range and really throws me. The worst is aluminum screw-on liquor bottle caps - especially if it's been crushed. Those sounds just like a silver quarter! Tied for worst is can-slaw. Not only does it ring up high but will often be two to four inches away from where you think it is. I've gotten pretty good at digging where the target is even without a pinpointer, but when I hit can slaw, I'm often flummoxed to find that not only is the object not in the center of the hole, but it's two inches to the side of the hole. Which in hard clay is doubly annoying.

Anyway, the best solution for all this is simply practice. I recall a saying in the computer industry in the 1980s: "Computer knowledge is in direct proportion to computer time wasted". The same is true with metal detecting. There's no substitute for wasting time digging up junk while learning both the machine and the type of site you're digging. After about a year, you'll stop at an interesting signal and say "naaaahh" and move on because you'll know then what sounds good and what doesn't. In the meantime be prepared to dig junk.

P.S.: "Junk" here doesn't exclusively mean iron junk. I still dig iron junk once in a while, but not too much any more. But I still dig aluminum, brass, lead, and other non-ferrous junk all the time.

GL and HH!