Garret Pro-Pointer AT Air Test

Although I was a greenhorn handling two unfamiliar machines on my first attempt at a field test, I did learn how to use both pretty quickly and under increasingly uncomfortable conditions. 

I thought that something was wrong with the Garret probe when it located a large harness buckle at only an inch or so from the tip. Initially, I thought this to be a very poor performance but then I thought about the fact that the probe has three sensitivity settings and that I probably had it set on minimum. 

I was right. It was set on minimum. And so I used a coin to check these three settings against. This coin was a 1690's William III halfpenny which is a good-sized target at 28mm diameter face-on, but with only a 1.5mm thick flan, a tricky one edge-on. The results were rather interesting ...

William III halfpenny — 28 x 1.5mm, copper

Sensitivity 1.  Face-on — 31mm. Edge-on — 0mm.

Sensitivity 2.  Face-on — 53mm. Edge-on — 17mm.

Sensitivity 3.  Face-on — 71mm. Edge-on — 25mm.

And then I checked the three settings against the large harness buckle found in the bottom of a 9-inch hole which in the ground seemed to have been located by the probe at about 25-30mm from the tip. It is quite a large object at 43x30mm and as an open ring of solid metal I thought the probe would start beeping at a considerable distance. Also, with an edge profile of 5mm, I expected good results edge-on ...

Harness buckle — 43 x 30 x 5mm, brass

Sensitivity 1.  Face-on — 45mm. Edge-on — 16mm.

Sensitivity 2.  Face-on — 82mm. Edge-on — 38mm.

Sensitivity 3.  Face-on — 102mm. Edge-on — 53mm.

All the results above were measured from the very tip of the probe only. However, the probe is also able to locate items along its side and all the way up to the on-off switch which is about 4.5 inches from the tip. The face-on distances achieved were somewhat better than those at the tip and seemed to be quite regular all along the length of the side. However, though edge-on distances were also far improved compared to those at the tip, they were not quite regular along the whole length ... 

As an example, when presented edge-on to the tip of the probe, the coin would not even register on 'Sensitivity 1' unless I tilted it slightly. Along the side of the probe, it registered at a maximum of 20mm but this was only in the centre of the side of the probe with the detection distance trailing away from the centre toward the button and the tip. 

For 'Sensitivity 3' the improvement in the detection range for the coin presented edge-on to the side of the probe was simply enormous. It was seen at a range of 64mm compared to 25mm at the tip. However, the range that the probe detected the buckle both face-on and edge-on, was most interesting. It registered at 88mm for both! 

This probe really is a metal detector in its own right, and I'm really glad that we bought it! I can foresee that I'll find a number of other uses for it besides those of arable and pasture work...

It's quite expensive. No, it's very expensive! 

And as a detecting couple with just the one between us, of course, we will have to buy another!