JohnApthorp
New member
Following is a copy of my story posted in the Infinium post. I apologise for the doubling up but I hope some of my mistakes help somebody else.
Yesterday I returned to John's place to repeat my previous test. (Infinium Vs AT Pro Vs Minelab X-Terra 705 Vs Minelab 5000 on a 2.2 nuggett @ 6 inches in VERY highly mineralised soil.)
There were no signs of thunderstorms, rain or any other detectable interferences this time - perfect conditions for the test.
We dug out the original hole & burried the nugget. The Infinium was fired up first & it was immediately noticed that there was NO sound coming out of the headphones! We did hear the 4 battery beeps when we first turned it on. After a brief inspection - we found that during the headphone installation, I had somehow missed putting the plug/socket together properly. No undue force was used & it appeared to have gone together as it should have but NO - Murphy likes playing games too.
Once I put the detector together as it should have been in the first place, I did the noise cancel, set the thresh hold, did the ground balance & headed for the nuggett.
At 6 inches, the 2.2gram gold nuggett screamed at us. We had the 8 inch Mono coil on the detector & tried slow & fast swings. ALL attempts at finding the nuggett were successful. We then switched over to the STD 14 x 12inch DD coil. The nuggett was easily detected but no-where near as clear as the mono!!
Next cab off the rank was my Wife's AT Pro. It was initially fired up with the STD 11 x 9 inch coil. The sensitivity was 2 bars below maximum & was tested in Std mode. There were no hiding places for the nuggett. The Pro screamed at it. I then tried the Pro mode. The nuggett was detectable but it was harder to locate - definately use STD only for nuggets from my point of view. (To be fair, I have a fairly large hearing loss in the high frequencies.)
I then put the 4inch super sniper coil onto the Pro & repeated the test. In Std mode, it passed with flying colours. You had to move the coil around a bit more to locate the nuggett but when you passed over it, the was NO question what-so-ever that there was a target beneath the coil. Once again, on Pro mode - the nuggett was detected but you had to work hard to find it. (ALL test done in Zero disc mode)
The X-Terra 705. This is a hard one as I own this detector. If the AT Pro had the "Target ID settings" & a backlight for night time detecting, then my X-Terra would be gone - Feebayed.
I have been using this detector for approx 18 months & I feel that I know how to use it well. Together we have paid for it by finding coins & rings in the park & beaches. Well over $2000s worth. It owes me nothing.
Now for the nuggett test. (Test done in both coin & treasure mode and in Prospecting mode.)
Using the 9 x 5inch - 18.75khz coil, the detector did detect the nugget. However, it took a good 2 minutes of swinging @ various speeds to locate a noise that said there was MAYBE something there. I wish to point out that in ALL test done with ALL detector, the 2.2gm nuggett was burried at exactly 6 inches & the clearing around the hole location was 18 inches. The nugget hole was filled in & compressed by walking over the top of the hole. All the other detectors let us know within half a second that we had a target - the Terra took a couple of minutes & we already knew there was a target there.
Did I say that I hate the Wife's AT Pro - I knew she was going to ask how the test went.
I replaced the 9 x 5inch coil the a 15inch Coiltek coil. I know this coil is a killer on the beach as far as coins go.
Once again, the nugget was detected but if we didn't know it was there, we would have probably missed it.
The Minelab 5000 - what can I say. It's supposed to find gold & it certainly did that OK. No trouble at all.
A large tablespoon sized fishing sinker was burried @ a measured 12 inches.
Infinium - no problems at all.
AT Pro - no problems at all. (4inch sniper coil did struggle though - still detected it)
X-Terra 705 - did grudgingly detect it.
ML5000 - screamed at it.
0.3gm nuggett on the surface.
Infinium - struggled but did detect it - just.
AT Pro - screamed at it.
X-Terra - detected it OK
ML5000 - No problems.
This test was done for MY benefit to see what I could expect from the 4 detectors that I have access to. I have no loyalty or biases to or against any detectors. Just like horses for coarses, each detector specialises in it's own field. I do admit though, there is a friendly competition between my wife & myself. (AT Pro Vs Minelab X-Terra 705 Gold pack)As it stands, my wife is beating me hands down in both coins (although I lose by default - she swings, I dig) & gold. I feel that if Garrett brought out the AT Pro with a back light & better tone ID like the Terra, then I would feel guilty trying to sell the Terra on Feebay.
Once again, thanks to all the people who responded to my previous post. (Am I expecting too much)I took all your suggestions in & I can only put my Infinium problems down to bad connection contacts. (First clue was the bent pins on both the coils & headphones.)
As for the Terra - we are still friends, but I will only be walking it in the park & beaches. Gold detecting is for the infinium & the AT Pro. My initial noise cancelling problems a month ago must have been caused by the incoming thunderstorms.
A special thanks must go to the Garrett service dept for looking after us on our initial problems with the AT Pro. It is purring like a kitten but has all the get up & go, of the big cats.
Gary
Yesterday I returned to John's place to repeat my previous test. (Infinium Vs AT Pro Vs Minelab X-Terra 705 Vs Minelab 5000 on a 2.2 nuggett @ 6 inches in VERY highly mineralised soil.)
There were no signs of thunderstorms, rain or any other detectable interferences this time - perfect conditions for the test.
We dug out the original hole & burried the nugget. The Infinium was fired up first & it was immediately noticed that there was NO sound coming out of the headphones! We did hear the 4 battery beeps when we first turned it on. After a brief inspection - we found that during the headphone installation, I had somehow missed putting the plug/socket together properly. No undue force was used & it appeared to have gone together as it should have but NO - Murphy likes playing games too.
Once I put the detector together as it should have been in the first place, I did the noise cancel, set the thresh hold, did the ground balance & headed for the nuggett.
At 6 inches, the 2.2gram gold nuggett screamed at us. We had the 8 inch Mono coil on the detector & tried slow & fast swings. ALL attempts at finding the nuggett were successful. We then switched over to the STD 14 x 12inch DD coil. The nuggett was easily detected but no-where near as clear as the mono!!
Next cab off the rank was my Wife's AT Pro. It was initially fired up with the STD 11 x 9 inch coil. The sensitivity was 2 bars below maximum & was tested in Std mode. There were no hiding places for the nuggett. The Pro screamed at it. I then tried the Pro mode. The nuggett was detectable but it was harder to locate - definately use STD only for nuggets from my point of view. (To be fair, I have a fairly large hearing loss in the high frequencies.)
I then put the 4inch super sniper coil onto the Pro & repeated the test. In Std mode, it passed with flying colours. You had to move the coil around a bit more to locate the nuggett but when you passed over it, the was NO question what-so-ever that there was a target beneath the coil. Once again, on Pro mode - the nuggett was detected but you had to work hard to find it. (ALL test done in Zero disc mode)
The X-Terra 705. This is a hard one as I own this detector. If the AT Pro had the "Target ID settings" & a backlight for night time detecting, then my X-Terra would be gone - Feebayed.
I have been using this detector for approx 18 months & I feel that I know how to use it well. Together we have paid for it by finding coins & rings in the park & beaches. Well over $2000s worth. It owes me nothing.
Now for the nuggett test. (Test done in both coin & treasure mode and in Prospecting mode.)
Using the 9 x 5inch - 18.75khz coil, the detector did detect the nugget. However, it took a good 2 minutes of swinging @ various speeds to locate a noise that said there was MAYBE something there. I wish to point out that in ALL test done with ALL detector, the 2.2gm nuggett was burried at exactly 6 inches & the clearing around the hole location was 18 inches. The nugget hole was filled in & compressed by walking over the top of the hole. All the other detectors let us know within half a second that we had a target - the Terra took a couple of minutes & we already knew there was a target there.
Did I say that I hate the Wife's AT Pro - I knew she was going to ask how the test went.
I replaced the 9 x 5inch coil the a 15inch Coiltek coil. I know this coil is a killer on the beach as far as coins go.
Once again, the nugget was detected but if we didn't know it was there, we would have probably missed it.
The Minelab 5000 - what can I say. It's supposed to find gold & it certainly did that OK. No trouble at all.
A large tablespoon sized fishing sinker was burried @ a measured 12 inches.
Infinium - no problems at all.
AT Pro - no problems at all. (4inch sniper coil did struggle though - still detected it)
X-Terra 705 - did grudgingly detect it.
ML5000 - screamed at it.
0.3gm nuggett on the surface.
Infinium - struggled but did detect it - just.
AT Pro - screamed at it.
X-Terra - detected it OK
ML5000 - No problems.
This test was done for MY benefit to see what I could expect from the 4 detectors that I have access to. I have no loyalty or biases to or against any detectors. Just like horses for coarses, each detector specialises in it's own field. I do admit though, there is a friendly competition between my wife & myself. (AT Pro Vs Minelab X-Terra 705 Gold pack)As it stands, my wife is beating me hands down in both coins (although I lose by default - she swings, I dig) & gold. I feel that if Garrett brought out the AT Pro with a back light & better tone ID like the Terra, then I would feel guilty trying to sell the Terra on Feebay.
Once again, thanks to all the people who responded to my previous post. (Am I expecting too much)I took all your suggestions in & I can only put my Infinium problems down to bad connection contacts. (First clue was the bent pins on both the coils & headphones.)
As for the Terra - we are still friends, but I will only be walking it in the park & beaches. Gold detecting is for the infinium & the AT Pro. My initial noise cancelling problems a month ago must have been caused by the incoming thunderstorms.
A special thanks must go to the Garrett service dept for looking after us on our initial problems with the AT Pro. It is purring like a kitten but has all the get up & go, of the big cats.
Gary
) Looks like storms rolling in as I type. Like you, I quite like my X-terra, but using your missus AT-Pro, messed that up a bit. It's horrible to know that there is a more effective detector out there.