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I have been detecting with the AT-Pro in Pro Zero, 39-40 Discrimination, Sensitivity 1-Notch Off MAX Sens., but with Iron Audio ON, due to ALOT of Beer Caps (Crown Caps) on my Favorite Bch.!! I am seeing where ALOT of AT-Pro Users are detecting with Iron Audio OFF, and I am WONDERing What Is The BENEFIT of Detecting with Iron Audio OFF?
Many THANKS for taking the Time, Les Robinson.
I use the same settings you do except I hunt iron OFF...drawback is not finding lighters and knives, but I have plenty of those anyway. The benefit to me is I don't get chatter burnout listening to all the iron, I can see the little screen good enough to watch iron go under the coil, not watching it all the time, just to gauge an area. Iron OFF appears to be a very good way to run in an area full of iron and small scrap, good targets light up, I still can hear foil, and small copper or silver items...I like this set up. You hunt salt right? You may want to drop your sens a few bars like 3 from the top...I do that on the fresh when I get some black sand chatter sweeping over the ripples at the waters edge..I've not hunted the salt with the Pro yet....
Mud
I'm sure under particular situations there would be benefits hunting with audio off or the Garrett engineers would not have given the option. I'm sure when the time comes to see if that particular situation is in front of you you'll experiment around with it. The AT Pro is not a "one size fits all" approach machine, thank goodness.
I hunt with it about 50/50(50% of the time iron ON 50% iron OFF). I miss not having a threshold so sometimes I like to hear the grunts of iron so I know the detector is working. LOL
I guess my question would be why are you discriminating out the iron and then turning the iron audio on. Isn't the point of discriminating out the iron so you don't have to hear it. With it disced out you still see the numbers on your screen and with the audio on you are still hearing it. I am not trying to be rude I have always had trouble getting my head wrapped around the iron audio. I keep mine off and if I get a good signal that seems a little larger then a coin I turn it on to listen for the low tones to see if I am hitting on a quarter or a bottle cap. I have asked before and didn't get a deginite answer. Is there a difference between running with nothing discriminated out and running with 0-40 discriminated out and then turning the iron audio on????
Nope, no difference bro.
I frequently here guys say "I hunt with iron at 0 and Iron audio on!"
That's the same thing too! Why have iron ON if it's on already
by running your iron disc at 0!
Check out the Garret video on Iron Audio. It will help you understand the different uses for it. Like Idaho Dan, smart guy, I turn it on to check a target. Leaving it on can get too noisy for me. You can hit a bottle cap with the IA off and it will sound like a good target until you turn it on. If you are in areas filled with iron or bottle caps you will have to decide how to operate, leave it on or use it only when the target is in question.
I tried my ATP at a CT saltwater beach - wet & dry sand only. The advice you are given to re GB is very important. Also in the wet sand the sens for me was at about 3 bars, quite low but testing on coins I buried it should see into the first 3 or 4 inches of wet sand ok. Put coins in the sand and test to get an idea of signal degradation and depth capability on different spots on the beach. The dry sand is where it shines, GB again with sens way up. You probably won't see me using it on an ocean beach often unless I'm just hunting dry sand because I have better choices. I'd personally never consider using the ATP in the ocean itself. It's a fine freshwater unit and did some testing / hunting in one lake and have planned to give it workout this fall at a freshwater site I hit hard with my Excalibur last fall.
I could probably cover nearly all my detecting needs with just two units, the ATP and the Ecxalibur but I like to change up so I keep a stash of detectors for fun.
I guess my question would be why are you discriminating out the iron and then turning the iron audio on. Isn't the point of discriminating out the iron so you don't have to hear it. With it disced out you still see the numbers on your screen and with the audio on you are still hearing it. I am not trying to be rude I have always had trouble getting my head wrapped around the iron audio. I keep mine off and if I get a good signal that seems a little larger then a coin I turn it on to listen for the low tones to see if I am hitting on a quarter or a bottle cap. I have asked before and didn't get a deginite answer. Is there a difference between running with nothing discriminated out and running with 0-40 discriminated out and then turning the iron audio on????
yes there is a difference between your detector identifying a target and discriminating a target. Its true you eliminate the response when you disc out a target, but your also making it harder for your detector to respond cleanly to a target that you want when your disc is set up close to that targets ID range. As far as iron disc goes, smaller gold is most often the victim of this but it can also affect the response of higher conductive targets if their signal is weak.
Heres a couple of ways to see the difference:
Take a small gold earring, run your disc up to just knock it out, then back off the disc just enough to hear the earring again. Now put the earring on the ground with a small piece of iron close to it. Take note of how your detector responds to the earring from different directions. Now back off the disc to 0 and turn the iron audio on and try the test again. see the difference? One of the ways targets mask other targets is through discrimination. The iron audio can be a great aid in unmasking targets.
Just want to mention that I found a nice gold chain in the dry sand the other day (10K) and had my iron disc at 35. I checked later and would not have had a descent signal if iron disc was at 40 (max). Just a point.
With iron audio on, the iron disc changes the point that the tones change from low to mid. I usually only turn on the iron audio to check a target when I think it may be a bottle cap.
HH
Darren
Great response and good explanation, Neil. I hope you don't mind if I add it to my AT Pro folder. The more 'trashy' areas (where the bulk of the human activity has taken place) ...... the higher the number of good targets; yet, the higher number of bad targets; subsequently, the more masking will take place. Anytime I can get idea to better combat that, I'm good to try it. A person can use different settings (and coil configurations) for experimentation purposes and always reset back to factory settings. Pro Mode Custom and Pro Mode Zero are there to be utilized. You can use them both. Refer to pages 12 to 15 in Owner's Manual. Garrett made it simple and the AT Pro is very user friendly. Go for it. Good success and happy hunting
My two cents worth. For normal land hunting, I run 35 disc with iron audio on. In trashy areas, yes, it sometimes gets to be an earful; but I hear the whole target. I hear the edges, the subtleties, the tiny bits of potential iron grounding on the edges. Without iron audio on, one must listen for the chopped-off sounds where the target has "melded" with with soil. I find that harder than listening to the whole signal.
From what I am understanding when you get a target that sounds good you recheck it with iron audio if it give a low high low it is a non digable target.
Yes too much disc will mask out the iron and the good target..so I would use say thirty or lower and that way you miss most iron but find the diggable targets. Another idea is that iron and a good target avarage the reading. So if the iron disc again too high the the two targets = what you are disc out you won't get a tone...
