Garrett ATX Information and Questions

They do, with the rest of the shovels. The big 30 dollar one, looks like it could handle wet sand. Sandta told me about them, watch Frederick Barnes on youtube, he uses one exactly the same, or similar.

rocketaroo said:

They do, with the rest of the shovels. The big 30 dollar one, looks like it could handle wet sand. Sandta told me about them, watch Frederick Barnes on youtube, he uses one exactly the same, or similar.

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Cheers , will check it out today

Hi guys,

I picked up an ATX of Ebay a couple of days ago. Heading out to Durikai for the day tomorrow to test it out. It came with the double-D and big mono. I think I will just take the DD out.

Any tips on the ATX or Durikai ?

hi luckyphil, not sure how hot the conditions are there but i usually run mine around 11 sensitivity with a slight threshold in the triangle....if the ground isnt too hot you could run it higher or even in non motion mode which will give you more depth, good luck/

Well went out to Durikai yesterday and managed to pickup a piece of lead shot and a staple of all things.

A couple of times i got a signal that registered about 2-3 on the led scale. I dug out a little from the holes and the signal disappeared. not in the hole or in the dirt i pulled out. Maybe I had the sensitivity to high (max)

Coil seems to make noise when a rock is bumped, I presume this is normal.

I also seem to get noise when i make a quick direction change with the coil ( side to side or front to back) Maybe the coil needs to be tightend a little.

Anyway, better luck next time.

Must have been cold mate. Many others there? Good to test the unit on open ground away from built up areas too.
Did you watch some you tube vids-might get some more tips.
Good hunting. I hope to get out there in about 4 mths time-hopefully leg and back will be better by then.
Jaros

LuckyPhil said:

A couple of times i got a signal that registered about 2-3 on the led scale. I dug out a little from the holes and the signal disappeared. not in the hole or in the dirt i pulled out. Maybe I had the sensitivity to high (max)

Coil seems to make noise when a rock is bumped, I presume this is normal.

I also seem to get noise when i make a quick direction change with the coil ( side to side or front to back) Maybe the coil needs to be tightend a little.

Anyway, better luck next time.

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I would say the sensitivity was definitely too high @ max & you dug some ground noise.
The ATX is unfortunately renowned for being bump sensitive. It shouldn't be accepted as normal though & if it were my machine I'd be pursuing with Garrett.
Heres some discussion on it & likely causes:
http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/831-atx-falsing-fix/
The cable connection to the circuit board issue seems to be the most feasible explanation as from reports it occurs with any coil?
Hopefully you find a remedy/solution for it & start finding some elusive yellow!

At better Garrett dealers there is free exchange/replacement coils, it will only take a few minutes to change the old middle and top shafts over to a new coil.

How to see the difference: Coil/shaft mounting brackets on early ATX DD coils are 37mm tall, on the later new ones they are 50mm tall.

Noise when 'bumping' the coil is not normal for any detector.
Would drive me mad.

More than likely that was the reason on it being sold. Did you have any warranty on the sale.
Jaros

Yes it was cold, around 3 degrees.

The unit is second hand off Ebay, so don't think Garrett would do anything for me.

Thanks for the info, I will take a look and see if I can diagnose the problems.

First step contact Garrett Australia, they can't check/repair a detector they do not have in hand, if coil is old type they will replace it.

Just wondering what the thoughts were on the new Garrett ATX

Pete, ATX is ok mid-range detector. Had one for about a year before i was ready for an upgrade to ML.(GPX)
Has it found gold - yes
Is it easy to use (user friendly) - yes
Are there better or just as good detectors value for money out there - yes
Did i have any issues with it - no
Weight - does get heavy on the arm and requires support (after couple of hours)
DD coil - can produce echo sound when bounced on rock or grass this is due to weight
Hot rock - loves it at high sensitivity (i use to run it on 13 max)
Can detect 0.2g gold up to 3 inches, larger targets at greater depth
Coil does get floppy - never bothered me and i have never tried to over tighten the plastic screw as they can easily break
Always keep it clean - as it can pack with dust (being telescopic)
Don't trust the iron discriminator function, its OK to check but dig everything. Over time i got use to it so much that i only dug every 5-6th target which is bad practice and i wonder how many nuggets i left behind.
Compact unit - fitted in my backpack
That black plastic battery holder (4xAA) is cheaply made and can malfunction. (worth couple of bucks so keep a spare on stand by)
rechargeable batteries are cheap enough (8xAA)

I can compare it to my SD2000 which i had for 15 years prior to ATX having slight advantage with auto ground balancing, more sensitive on smaller targets, less noisy, waterproof and compact.

Cheers Joe,

I have not used a ATX but with the release of the gpx 4500 at $3299 I think that's the wak to go regards john

Pete, I love my ATX. Yes it is a bit heavy but after 4 weeks in the GT, it builds you up. I have made a harness that shares the load so its now a lot better. I agree totally with Joe. I did hire a 5000 a couple of years ago and spent the whole day scratching around digging rubbish, so the iron discrim is fantastic and the ability of the thing to work UNDER power lines is great too. You wont get near them with a ML. Did I tell you I love my ATX? But you must decide for yourself mate.

Thanks Joe and Daz for the feed back ,we have had our ATXs for about 2 months now and are normally out every weekend trying new spots not hard to find somewhere to go around where we live as we are in Bendigo. I do agree that after a couple of hours it becomes a bit of a strain on the shoulders but i just take a short break and am good to go again.as for the iron discrimination i don't trust it that much, use it but normally did it anyway ,might be a newby thing lol. Have not found any yellow stuff yet but plenty of bullets,12 g primer caps ,shotgun pellets, iron, and a sheet of aluminum at about 800mil deep lol that was fun to dig out but still we found it .My wife has found a nice belt buckle with a couple of cricket bats on it so we are finding stuff but not the right colour lol can become a bit disheartening some times, Still will be out there again this weekend and you never know could be the one that breaks the drought (I HOPE) lol

keep swinging
Pirate

Hi Pete, Mate I been doing this caper for about 3 yrs now and to date I've only found 2 little bits. 1@ 0.31g and 1@ just over 2g. People keep telling me that if it was an easy gig everyone would do it and they are probably right but as you say, a bit of encouragement would go a long way.

BTW, I swing an ATX too, along with an AT Pro. Love both machines, just don't get to the Goldfields often enough.

But the one thing I do recognize is that its all a matter of finding new ground to detect. When we all go to the same place we find what everyone else is finding and its getting smaller everyday. So the only answer is to crack onto new ground........there's got to be ground out there that the Oldtimers didn't find. They couldn't have found it all.

Keep swingin' mate. They reckon there's money in it!

Another thing Pete, I found the 20" coil as heavy as a brick but I put the sling loop on the shaft down on the middle shaft rather than the top one. Helps to balance the thing out a bit and takes the weight of your back. Try it! might help.

Tassie Daz said:

1@ just over 2g

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Daz are you holding out on us? I don't remember seeing a piccy of that one - would like to, love looking at gold.
Keep at it Daz - there are people with more expensive machines that haven't found a 2 gram+ piece yet so that is encouraging from the ATX.

Edit: missing word

We just completed the DEWAG Muster for 2015 at Quinns WA. We had a great week away but the gold was almost impossible for us to find. Some did quite well but many of us left a little disappointed.

My best for the week was one at 0.52g with the ATX.
Sandra is still waiting for her first on the SDC

Photos to follow when we get reception. We're high on a mullock heap at the moment.