New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

Don't underestimate the AT Pro's depth, it easily detects small items to depth of the length of its coil (rule of thumb for VLF's) in the salt sand.

But personally if I was you I would get a dedicated water machine like the Excal. Your Gold is a good machine and yes to give you more option grab a larger coil, but if you go the way of the Etrac you still won't be able to detect in the salt water. By keeping the Gold and getting a water machine you have all your bases covered.

never had a problem with my goldbug at the beach...i have used it at all the beaches around christchurch and down at st kilda's with tonznz and no probs..

so does mine in dry sand.in wet sand 3 inches max.

Thanks for the input guys, the Goldbug is probably more of a sidestep than a step forward (but I do like them)an F4 would most likely keep the Mrs happy and apparently they go ok at the beach? but would leave me thinking hmm have I done the right thing.
An AT PRO would do the trick ( I couldn't easily drown it) but maybe I should be looking at something with better target recognition/separation.

lots more research to do it seems.

I thought you would have hit the beach after the carnivals Dan!

I've been comparing the AT PRO to the X-terra 705 and from what I've read it's Garrett VS Minelab users so you might as well flip a coin over it
So when you take that into account you think ok so what is the advantage of an AT PRO over an F4 Ummm it's waterproof...

Doesn't really seem to be one stand out from the crowd detector and does a heftier price tag really mean a lot better detector?

I do like the sound of changing the frequency of the X-terra 705 by changing coils.

Hi Garrymac, when was that detector released... April 1996, just goes to show how long a good machine will last not to mention it was designed for gold and is a PI machine.
I've only tried at the beach once with the AT GOLD (when I first got it) but with no discrimination as such all I found was what I call Poly pad rocks. So I went down to the playground and pulled out an easy thirty something dollars in goldies.

For me I feel I really need something with Target ID but I do sometimes wonder how much I leave behind by being lazy.

Agree, discrimination is great if you are just after $1 & 2's or just after silver but it is like wearing horse blinkers and you will miss out on good targets.

Instead with what ever machine you use, open it up as much as possible and learn the tones and how to read a target with the coil before relying on discrimination. For example with the AT in Pro mode I don't notch out anything, comparing the tone to the VDI and how the coil reacts to the target (for working out size) tells me everything I need to know. Same with the V3i which gives so much target info its mind boggling - if a piece of iron is registering but there is a blip of higher tone and colour on the screen I know that the iron could be masking a good target. If I had discriminated then that little blip would have been hidden.

The above of course only applies to multi tone detectors. Single tone (like the AT in Standard mode) won't give anywhere near this information.

Remember gold covers an enormous VDI range - from just above iron to the same as $1&2's. Who wants to discriminate out Gold??

Edited by user Friday, 1 February 2013 10:39:28 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Yup it is easy to be overwhelmed! And the main problem with asking for advise is that people will always recommend what they own and say its the greatest - even though the greatest is the V3i and AT Pro! :)

But to make a decision I would make a list to prioritise what I want the detector for then compare the specifications and reviews of the different makes. For example what is most important to you with the new detector:

Park hunting
Nugget detecting
Mineralised soils?
Dry sand salt beaches
Wet sand salt beaches
Underwater
Competitors (I recommend a different detector then others in your area)
2nd detector so the Missus can use one as well
There could be more you would want to add for your particular area.

Personally I think the first 4 items in the list are amply covered with the AT Gold and any improvements will mean getting a top end detector (CTX, Etrac, V3i, F75 etc). That of course is another option - hold off until your finds can pay for a bit more and then go for a top end one.

Once you have sorted the list into order then you will find that your choice of models has narrowed considerably. There won't be much difference in these remaining models and it will probably come down to price as to what is best.

Hi Robert - I was wondering when either you or Pb were going to chime in.
I was also curious if you have access to the Teknetics I realize a one off special order probably wouldn't be worth it for you though - probably best to PM about that though. From what I remember when I was looking at the F2, F4, F5 machines yours were within about NZ$40 (in some cases yours being far cheaper) of importing myself so with warranty in mind why would I bother buying overseas? It's a no brainer buying from you if I did go that way.

Shilo - your always the voice of reason Cheers

heyyyy i did chime in about the gold bug and beach hunting...lmao scroll back boysssss....me not slack...i got in befor you robert...hahahahahaah