Tuesday, November 1, 2011

First Use of the Garrett AT Pro

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In the Fall of 2010, the company presented a new Garrett metal detector, which took quite a unique place in the line of metal detectors. Innovative new model was primarily the ability to use the detector in the water. However, it remained quite a full dirt detector. In January 2011 new product under the name of Garrett At-Pro appeared in Russia. AT - means "SUV" (AT - All Terrain), and Pro - means that there is a new special audio mode.

Today, the long-awaited parcel was delivered to me. Simply box in the classical style of Garret, convenient and compact. Open the box and nothing special except perhaps for headphones. The rest is the same Ace 250, only black and bigger.

The first thing that caught my eye - the headphone plug, it is the same as in underwater headphones. This means that the headphones can be used with this instrument, but it can be forgiven for the opportunity to work under water. I decided to compare them with friends over headphones Garrett DeLux or Master Sound. They were completely identical, even the length of stranded cable is the same, just different plug. Brining them under water is impossible, however. But you can connect special underwater headphones, such as models from Sea Hunter Mark II or Infinium LS.

The control unit has a jack for typical headphones plug and coil. These elements are used in specialized underwater metal detector, providing water resistance to a few tens of meters. Headphone jack has a special cap screwed in to keep the nest from getting foreign objects into it. It will be very convenient for those who are not going to use headphones. The nest of the coil has no cap, but it did not need it.

Trying to connect the coil, I immediately ran into a serious lack of construction. Control housing can not completely encircle the cable plug coil and plug your headphones. A twist to require some effort, so that all elements fit snugly together. You may need to use pliers. I would recommend to avoid frequent disconnection of the coil, ideally it would be better if you connect the coil once and will often not disassemble the detector. 

It should be noted that all the elements very well lubricated with silicone. Buying a metal detector to search under water is very important to remember that the rubber components require regular lubrication with silicone. Building/construction silicone here does not fit, it should NOT be used for this purpose. You should be able to acquire specialized "pure silicone", it can be found in diving shops. If you do not lubricate with silicone the rubber elements will crack from dryness and lose elasticity as a result you will get a water leak in the control unit.

Test to a depth of...

At-Pro running at 15 kHz and the expected depth should not be prohibitive. It also showed the test in air. If we compare the Pro mode and standard mode about, then depth-wins standard mode. This can be explained by the fact that in the Pro mode with increasing depth of sound gradually decays and deep targets can be heard only through headphones already. I also noticed a feature that a small target, in the Pro mode gives a crackling, no clear signal. Test the air is always somewhat arbitrary. 

Where to Find a Garrett AT Pro?   Here at Amazon.com