AT Gold in Salt water

[sillllvar]

Hi AT users

I am thinking of getting the AT Gold for wading in the Ocean and river work. I've been hunting 25+ years and I would like to do some rivers in my area (UK) I ask about the ocean area's because I have some spots at the ocean where if I waded in I know there would be rings.

Thanks for your thoughts guys
Sillllvar.

 

[daveinoregon]

Hi AT users

I am thinking of getting the AT Gold for wading in the Ocean and river work. I've been hunting 25+ years and I would like to do some rivers in my area (UK) I ask about the ocean area's because I have some spots at the ocean where if I waded in I know there would be rings.

Thanks for your thoughts guys
Sillllvar.

You are going to get some varied responses on this one.

The at gold is not advertised as being able to balance in salt. The at pro is.

I live on the Oregon coast and the beaches are cold and heavily mineralized. I rarely detect the beaches because there really isn't much to find there. Not much frolicking in the sun and sand occurs as our climate is too cold and wet. Most of those activities take place inland on our freshwater lakes.

That being said I have detected our beaches and only 2 detectors have worked for me (1) a pi unit and the other a multi frequency detector. Other vlf machines I have taken to the beach in the wet sand have struggled...even the at pro.

One day I was out detecting a spot and decided to swing by the beach on my way home because a big storm had come thru and I was checking for cuts on the beach. I arrived at the beach and noticed a giant trough created by runoff from the Cliffside that cut all the way down to the bedrock and went to the sea. I had my at gold with me that day and wasn't expecting much but I was to be proven wrong.

That little at gold pulled out hundreds of coins for me that day and a few rings to boot. At first I ran it with sens lowered and preset GB but was surprised to find out that I could indeed balance it to wet sand and run nearly max sens!!

I know...this is not supposed to happen and it surprised me. I have seen many detectors fail at the beaches here in wet sand/surf. Its a capable little unit and I would indeed recommend it for your needs.

Your other alternatives being a very expensive minelab...a moded minelab in a waterproof box, a PI unit which is frustrating in iron, or a few other vlf detectors that have beach or salt settings but don't really perform that well on the salt....ive tried them.

Hope this helps..you can pm me with any questions...GL with your choice!!

 

[sillllvar]

Thank you Dave for your reply! I have an Explorer for my inland detecting and it works very well for me, no so well on Gold finds tho I have to say. I know of a couple of Victorian swimming places that are never exposed when the tide goes out. I also have some interesting rivers in my area, fords etc. I have a friend coming to visit me from the states in April and he just bought a new AT pro. I think this might be a good time to experiment down at the ocean + rivers.

Sillllvar

 

[NamVetLesTreasureSeeker]

It will FIND G-O-L-D in SALTWATER, but YOU NEED to WATCH the AT-Pro Videos at the Very TOP of this Forum, before YOU Buy!! Also if YOU just Wanted to HUNT Saltwater
Beaches, and NOT GO into the OCEAN, YOU would DO F-I-N-E with YOUR Explorer!! But, if YOU want to HUNT in the SALTWATER, get a WATERPROOF Detector!! BEST of LUCK, Les Robinson.

 

[daveinoregon]

I too like other watched the all the at videos and read the reviews posted. I have owned and used both the at pro and gold.

I know if you follow exclusively with what Garrettt tells you that you S-H-O-U-L-D not EVER use the at gold if you want to use in salt water. And that opinion is expressed by many of their followers.

It works great in salt..much better performance, night and day almost from that of the at pro. No its not just my at pro I have owned and used several.

My personal thought ...? The at gold works very well in mineralized soil and salt ...too well and it jeopardized the upcoming release of the ATX so they downplayed how good it was. After all, why buy a unit for 2k plus if a 600$ machine can compete well.

Its all marketing and recommendations really. The ultimate proof is shown by what it can or cant do in the field.

I knew by posting and replyling to you this would stir up controversy..and I apologize for that I just wanted to give you a honest opinion from someone that has used many models in different environments for a number of years.

Hope this helps!!

 

[tony (Orlando FL)]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the AT GOLD on wet salt beaches.

Can you belive I just bought a tector with the salt mode JUST so I could use it on the beach? I own a AT GOLD and might not have had to buy a dedicated beach unit, however, as you say, I didn't question the suggestion to not bother using the AT GOLD near wet salt beaches.


It hope you are VERY right !

Thanks for sharing your experiences

Tony

 

[MikeLab]

I have found in wet sand I can adjust the Ground Balance Window a bit. This helps smooth out the threshold especially where the ground is uneven. Also the threshold can be run in the negative numbers with very little loss of depth especially on the good targets. No doubt there are some places the mineralization/salt is too much to handle. I've been to mine tailings that were extreme.

 

[Power Guy]

I have the AT Pro and use it in salt water all the time. I would not think there is any difference of the salt water effect. Just remember to rinse off the collar connectors on the shaft.