Garrett AT GOLD Depth and Target IDs

[Nugget]

Hi Nugget, as an AT GOLD owner your list is great and I've used it to help with learning the machine.

I've only done coin and relics to begin with but aim to venture into the gold fields. I've seen heavymetal's post re finding gold with the AT gold and he mentions that the id ranges started off in the 40's but as he got closer into the 70's. With your air tests did you notice this too? The ID ranges between disc1 and all metal are the same aren't they?

As per heavymetals post, faint targets will generally produce a lower target ID and increase as the signal gets stronger.

The ID ranges are very similar between disc1 and all metal however the depth in which a target is detectable is greater in all metal mode. It's also worth noting that different coil types as well as different soil conditions can produce slightly varying target ID's.

I've got a couple of smaller nuggets to try out now, so I'll do some testing and post back with the results soon.

Also out of interest I had gotten down to one bar on the battery level and noticed that it seemed to take an eternity to reset in disc1 when trying to pinpoint a target. first pass you'd get an indication, second nothing. wait a few seconds then it would be okay so I think that there is a small lose of operation when the batteries get low. Garrett do say to replace when there is only bar left, but I did read somewhere that you shouldn't lose any performance. (Just something I noticed, new batteries = issue gone).

I haven't noticed any degrading of performance as the batteries get low, but at a certain point (i.e. after being on one bar for a while) I would expect the detector to start acting up somewhat. I'm using rechargeables and still get the 20-40 hours as per the manual, though I usually switch batteries after reaching 1-2 bars just so I don't get caught.

 

[user 1769]

A couple of additions to the list:

1 cent - high tone - ID 80
Threepence (.500) - high tone - ID 80
2 cent - high tone - ID 83
Florin (.925) - high tone - ID 90

 

[treasureman]

Im surprised to notice that when hitting a target such as an old coke can my target ID states 80 or above 57.
I though target ID between 30-50 was suppose to be thin metal tin. Yes i get that reading too but some itema surprise me to read higher than 60.
Makes it a bit annoying when im trying to single out the diggable to the undesirably diggable.
Anyone want to share if they experience the same kind of ID for things like tin etc?

 

[Goldpick]

Unfortunately it comes with the territory, you just have to find other ways identifying targets such as cans other than relying purely on target ID's (VDI's), as they only tell part of the story. A buried aluminium can on my explorer can register 00:28, which is the same ID for a larger silver coin or silver ring. The detector goes by the conductivity of the target, and basically cannot tell the difference the two, nor the size.

The way to get around this is to check the physical size or footprint of the target, a drink can will usually have a lot broader signal in pinpoint mode vs a coin, which will obviously have a much smaller surface area, hence a smaller signal when pinpointing.

Another thing to check is you depth meter, if you are getting a booming high conductivity target coming through, but strangely it appears to be very deep, it is most likely going to be a larger target like a can vs a coin, of which the coin will be much weaker. Coin VDI's will degrade at depth, and possibly jump around a bit, so if you are getting a rock steady 80 at the bottom of the depth meter, and the target audibly sounds like it is near the surface, then I would be thinking a can. There is nothing worst than digging a 12 inch hole, only to find a flattened can at the bottom.

You will have similar issues with aluminium screw caps, and possibly some beer bottle caps, depending what they are made of - they can both sound and register similar to coins. Aluminium screw caps in particular are a pain, and most detectors cannot discriminate them out, at least not without losingcertain coins as well.

Same case for foil and pull tab targets at the beach, discriminate them out, and you risk walking over gold jewellery. I generally run just basic iron discrimination at the beach, and dig most targets. If you are only digging coins, then you can get away with discriminating out those pesky small foil targets and pull tabs.

So as you can see, you really need to cross reference your target ID's with both your depth meter, and what your ears are telling you. With some more experience and detector time, you will become more proficient at your hobby.

If you don't already have one, purchase a pinpointer, as it will save a lot of time trying to narrow down target locations, and prevent you from digging an open pit mine looking for a coin.

 

[Guest]

Learn to listen and how wide the sweep is when
machine beeps over target.

Sharp very small tone hits is a coin, button or pulltab etc.

If you sweep and tone is long then its something wide.

 

[treasureman]

Thank you for the information. I know exactly what you are describing after todays hunt. A lot of fuxking cans. Pain in the ***. If only people would not litter. It would be much easier for us detecorists.
I dug a few cans today and yea it read deep and had larger pinpoint area.

A 5 hour hunt really only uncovered a world war 2 bullet shell. That was a thrill. Its a mattwr of luck to atumbling over a treasure?
More junk than treasure but i imagine there are some rewarding finds out there.
A coke can is what i want to.avoid.

What is a good relatively cheap pin pointer poker ?

 

[stalker]

Slow your swing speed down in trashy places .. and listen. And attack the targets from a different angle if it's next trash . A smaller coil will help separate targets plus give you a better Idea of target size and the trade off Is less depth with the smaller coil but better target separation.

 

[treasureman]

Yesterday i waa getting a jumpy reading was jmping from 23 -34 - 73

 

[Goldpick]

A lot of junk targets like foil and bits of aluminium will jump all over the place, especially at depth, both due to composition and irregular shape of the object. Coins VDI's should be more steady and repeatable, but may wander up or down by a couple of digits, depending how it sits in the ground, the depth, and whether it is located close to a junk target.

VDI's will only be accurate or effective to a certain depth, beyond that, the detector is just guessing, hence why some people like to use larger coils to increase the effective depth of the detector.

It doesn't hurt to dig some junk, as it will give you a better idea of what to look out for, or listen for next time, all a part of the learning process.

 

[Guest]

The detector does not read how thin or thick the material is. It gives a reading by the solid object being detected as you sweep your coil over it.

To give you an example I hit a solid target with my whites v3i. It was around 6" deep and the beep tone was short
and sounded like a $1 coin and it read like one. Out popped a solid washer the size of a $1 coin.

For vdi readings for the AT Gold pls visit the page below.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=237

Alternatively if you want to do your own tests hold the coil 6" away from the target to get some sort of reading.

Your going to encounter canslaw by the bucket load. This is aluminium chopped up by ride on lawn mowers.

The machine you have is a gold nugget detector set at around 19khz.

With frequency khz the lower the number the less sensitive to small bits of aluminium the machine will be. So where the
At Gold can detect small bits of aluminium and it really depends on the size the At Pro may not because it runs at a lower khz setting.

I have used 2 detectors designed for nugget detecting as coin shooters. One being the Tesoro Dingo and the other is the Teknetics G2.
Using such a machine as a coin shooter is very frustrating experience to say the least. In saying this no matter what anyone will say
or recommend there is no machine out in the market place that can detect the goodies alone no matter how much you spend.

You need to be very patient and learn your machine.

 

[treasureman]

You guys rock. Tjanks.
Yes a f load of cans and alluminium coming out. Its good for the workput though my legs are killing me thats a good sign.
So if the reading is jumping around its usually alluminoum or foil? This makes plenty of sense. Im out hubting now. Havent found anuthing exciting yet

 

[Goldpick]

There are so many variables involved with identifying some junk targets, especially in different environments. So to get some idea of what to expect, bury some coins and common junk targets at home, or in the field at various depths, and check out the response your detector gives off. Knowing what to listen for in the first place should give you more confidence when out in the field. Despite owning what is essentially a gold detector, you should still be able to pick out a coin amongst very small pieces of foil etc.

In those real junky areas, you need to slow down your swing speeds to pick out the good from the bad, go too fast and you will end up missing good targets, and most likely hear a ton of bad ones.

For example, the beach gutter I was detecting in the other night with the G2, was full of small bits of junk that had settled in there after being washed out of the upper sections of the beach. Knowing that most of them were just small bits of rubbish, you tend to just ignore them. When you come across a coin, ring or sinker, they all really stand out from the background "noise", with a much stronger and repeatable response and vdi.

A lot of people tend to rrun in all-metal at the beach to gain max depth, and also due to more sparsely spread junk targets when compared to say a well frequented park.

Getting some experience and detector time is the key here, having a capable detector is only part of the story. Dig enough cans, pull tabs, foil, bottle caps, and coins, and you will soon figure out what you should and shouldn't be digging. As mentioned, in the quest to detect coins, aluminium screw caps will nearly always end up in your finds bag, but I'd rather take that chance digging one over a missed coin.

 

[Goldtarget]

Processing speeds on the fishers/teknetics suit and from the manual are better at unmasking with a faster swing. T2 manual online goes into this which at first seems counter intuitive, but specified by the makers. X terra is probably correct just wanted to share that with you GP is unmasking ability can be seen if you do a few quick air tests if you get a chance... Pretty impressive.

 

[Goldpick]

No worries, I don't actually swing the G2 like the Explorer or the previous 305, as you are correct in saying that it should be operated with a faster swing speed. That was more in reference to the At Gold with its non-motion all-metal mode.

One of the reasons I bought the G2 in the first place was for its ultra fast recovery time, you can cover a lot of beach in a short period of time vs the explorer ( dry sand in particular). In hindsight, the F19 would probably really suite me, with a few more useful features, and love the red screen for night hunts.

 

[Barra_Mad]

Hi I got my AT gold about 3 weeks ago and am not sure if it is working at intended. I have conducted some air test in the back yard and listed results below if other at gold owners could replicate and compare.
My settings at time of test where
Ground balance 70 sensitivity max and threshold 00 with coil cover on and maximum surface area presented to the detector with standard coil
All metal mode
Gold .40g scratchy tone 100mm high tone 45mm target ID 46
Gold .23g scratchy tone 60mm high tone 30mm target ID 46
Gold .12g scratchy tone 20mm high tone 5-10mm target ID 49
$1 coin scratchy tone 290mm high tone 160mm target ID 75
20c coin scratchy tone 280mm high tone 190mm target ID 67
5c coin scratchy tone 250mm high tone 130mm target ID 47
22 bullet scratchy tone 120mm high tone 60mm target ID 48
22 shell scratchy tone 160mm high tone 100mm target ID 45

I know nugget went over this but my numbers dont add up. Target ID is numbers are odd to me. Gold lead and Brass are all reading in the same range on the target ID.
When I have been detecting and ping a target my depth reading will show 10 inches and after digging it I find the target at about 2 anyone had this problem too?

 

[Dignit]

Hi all.
I purchased a barely used 2nd hand AT Gold, still with 20 months warranty, for $800 a couple of months ago. My first detector. I love it.
I've been out 5 times. Once at the beach and once at Warrandyte Vic, just to get use to it. I've also done air and ground testing with a range of targets, from coins, iron, foil, bottle caps, pull tabs and a gold ring. After all this testing I've hit the Vic Golden Triangle on 3 occasions, with a good 4 to 5 hours detecting each time (I've got a 2.5 hr drive to get there ..... I'm keen).
I find the hot rocks and soil a bit much for the detector in All Metal mode, even after trialling all sorts of ground balance, threshold and sensitivity (and repetitively watching the Garrett User Videos). In all metal mode I find I'm digging hot rocks and hot clumps of soil. Plus the audio is very erratic.
However Disc 1 is very stable with good depth.
I tend to switch between Disc1, All Metal and Iron Audio modes when I hit a target to get a better sense of what the target is. It's only a push of a button.
I've not struck gold yet. However I have got excited a few times digging up to 30cm depths only to find foil. I'm finding .22 bullets and brass buttons. I figure it's just a matter of time before I hit gold. I have been searching well trodden ground just to get the experience.
I've also been doing quite a bit of online research. The Vic Govt energyandresources website has a wealth of information though it is particularly aligned to attract investment from professional mineral mining companies. It is very technical, and well suited to a geologist. Nonetheless I'm finding I'm picking up some jargon and places to explore. I'm yet to really understand ground surface soil types to look for. Any insight will be much appreciated.
I'll keep you posted if I find any of the elusive gold stuff. Cheers

 

[Ramjet]

A couple of videos showing different rings and the VDI numbers for the At Pro.

[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/NSTADU9UWIM[/video]

[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/oB9AF3qWOLA[/video]

 

[Goldpick]

Darned pull tabs! The second guy needs a longer piece of wood, might explain why his vdi's are so jumpy with the targets being so close together. Thanks for the clips Ramjet.

 

[Ramjet]

He was a bit of a character in the 2nd one.

 

[Jay44]

Do you think the AT Gold is a good beggining detector I am considering getting one?