Garrett AT Gold Information, Questions, Settings and Tips

[Arwon]

Hi Arwon! I got you PM in my email but I cant view it yet because I hvn't posted enough posts yet haha!

Josh, all good.

 

[Joshwasere]

So I have had my Garrett AT Gold since July and I'm a swing addict!

According to garrett and youtube users of the AT Gold it is said this machine is no good on wet sand but I beg to differ.

I have found plenty of good stuff in the semi wet and wet sand, my oldest coin being an 1875 half penny along with heaps of pre and decimal coins
and old copper nails and trash of course.

I will be posting a vid on youtube soon of how to use the AT gold in the wet and hopefully some live digs.

I have found that in the wet you need to treat the VLF like a PI so usually descrim is barely reliable.

So I was wondering- Has anyone else had any luck with the AT Gold in the wet?

 

[Nugget]

I've used the AT Gold on the beach many times and found the only way to quiten the machine down is to back the sensitivity right off and operate with a negative threshold value. Obviously this isn't an ideal configuration as you loose a lot of depth, sensitivity and the ability to correctly identify targets.

Sure if you listen closely enough you might catch a spike in ground noise indicating a possible target, but I have to agree with Garrett on this one and say that the AT Gold is most definitely not suitable for wet (beach) sand.

I look forward to your video though.

 

[Arwon]

So I have had my Garrett AT Gold since July and I'm a swing addict!

According to garrett and youtube users of the AT Gold it is said this machine is no good on wet sand but I beg to differ.

I have found plenty of good stuff in the semi wet and wet sand, my oldest coin being an 1875 half penny along with heaps of pre and decimal coins
and old copper nails and trash of course.

I will be posting a vid on youtube soon of how to use the AT gold in the wet and hopefully some live digs.

I have found that in the wet you need to treat the VLF like a PI so usually descrim is barely reliable.

So I was wondering- Has anyone else had any luck with the AT Gold in the wet?

Josh, I too have had no luck with wet salty sand with the AT, fresh water sand is not a problem. I haven't tried the NEL coil out on the beach as yet but don't think the NEL would change anything, but I should get off my butt and try it.

 

[Joshwasere]

Yeah I'm sure I have missed targets too as the machine is quite chattery but I do use full sensitivity and zero threshhold in disc1 mode with iron descrim set to 25(so the iron descrim sets those tones to silent).Like a false sensitivity setting!

The wet sand will always send a 38 or so number and tone (so you need to get used to that) and in disc1 the noise is about half of that in all metal mode.
Once you come over a target you get a disturbance from the continual 38 then I do many small swings over the target to get an average of the signal number amongst the chatter numbers. And in disc 1 you will get a high tone and that helps heaps.

Sometimes if the sand is a little dryer I can use the iron check to see if Im wasting my time but I will usually dig regardless and more times than not the machine has been confused with the target and I dig up nice finds expecting trash!

Using this technique requires alot more patience and getting over the continual noise. I have used it in a couple of local harbour beaches and have always found the goods.

Hope you find this helpful!

 

[kleinman98]

So I have had my Garrett AT Gold since July and I'm a swing addict!

According to garrett and youtube users of the AT Gold it is said this machine is no good on wet sand but I beg to differ.

I have found plenty of good stuff in the semi wet and wet sand, my oldest coin being an 1875 half penny along with heaps of pre and decimal coins
and old copper nails and trash of course.

I will be posting a vid on youtube soon of how to use the AT gold in the wet and hopefully some live digs.

I have found that in the wet you need to treat the VLF like a PI so usually descrim is barely reliable.

So I was wondering- Has anyone else had any luck with the AT Gold in the wet?

Good on ya Josh. You should post a picture of that persuader you found when we met. That was an interesting find but would not have liked to be on the receiving end.

 

[Joshwasere]

It was actually that fisherman's that was just up from us he said it was his and so i gave it to him he said he used it for killing bigger fish he caught!

 

[bird1dog]

Can anyone please provide some advice re the best coil for a Garrett AT Gold. I am thinking of a bit of gold detecting in and around some rivers in the area.

 

[Hunting the yellow]

smaller the coil the better m8 on small stuff

 

[scottmacrae]

Hi Can anyone give me a good setting for Bendigo?

 

[Goldtarget]

I'm really just going to point you to the pinned post above, having used a good vlf but not the garrett i would start there nugget has Obv used this machine extensively. The hardest part of answering three question is knowing exactly what your asking. I hope that makes sense. Alternatively you can ask direct to brad at golden square, (235 high St) exceptional guy with great knowledge by all accounts and would understand not only local conditions but good areas. Hope this helps in some small way.

 

[Hunting the yellow]

hi m8 I can help you out pm me m8 and ill show you

 

[Danmuss]

Quick question on my Garrett AT Gold battery life

How long should the battery's last?
Also Do these detectors require a certain type or quality of Battery cause I have Tried Duracells and they lasted like 6hrs and died out, Then I tried Energizer Advance Battery's and they lasted 4hrs. Is maybe my battery indicator faulty or is this normal ?

 

[Nugget]

I was getting between 20-40 hours as indicated in the manual. If you're only getting 4-6 hours there is definitely something wrong.

Have you tried resetting the head unit? Hold down the power button for 5 seconds.

Also would you mind providing a little more info such as the detectors age, coil you're using, configuration / settings, are the batteries new etc.

 

[Danmuss]

I was getting between 20-40 hours as indicated in the manual. If you're only getting 4-6 hours there is definitely something wrong.

Have you tried resetting the head unit? Hold down the power button for 5 seconds.

Also would you mind providing a little more info such as the detectors age, coil you're using, configuration / settings, are the batteries new etc.

Hi mate

20-40hrs wow I defo don't get that haha

Not tried resetting the unit but will try it tomorrow when we go out..
Not sure on its age as I got it off someone on ebay and they said only 1yr old, and by the looks of its condition yes maybe 1-2yrs max..
Always use configuration 1 with iron disc..
Yes batteries are new..
Using the standard DD 8.5' coil

 

[Nugget]

Have you tried running the batteries out? I haven't heard of an issue with the battery indicator before but I guess it's possible it could be giving a false reading.

If it were me, I'd be contacting Garrett Australia and sending it in for a check up.

Let us know how you go.

 

[Danmuss]

I have a spare set so I was going to run these ones out and see how long they last before it dies, as its on the last battery bar..

Thanks Nugget il keep you posted

 

[Joshwasere]

I get plenty of hours too on the AT Gold even from Varta cheapies from bunnings!

 

[Danmuss]

Update on the battery problem - The new battery's I had in it didn't last so I got another new set and they are lasting, got 5hrs and only used 1 bar lol so it was down to faulty new battery's

 

[Nugget]

An easy fix then . Thanks for the update Dan, I'm glad you got the issue sorted.