Garrett ATX Information and Questions

[Guest]

Awesome Daz. That's brilliant. I always give my 3500 10 minutes to warm up before I start. Also swing it slowly.

The hardest to find are the first 2 or 3 nuggets then you should be set because you will get used to the machine.

 

[prospect61]

Gidday, I have some video of the ATX running with sensitivity set on 12 at Heathcote gold fields, machine was stable and quiet.
have to wait a couple of days b4 I get the video link up.
I don,t know why people say you can only run it at 9 ?

 

[WalnLiz]

Haven't heard of anybody saying you can only run sensitivity at 9. Sensitivity is determined by the amount of mineralization in the ground, and in low mineralization, maximum sensitivity can be run on pretty well all detectors. In highly mineralized areas and in particular iron rich clay, the sensitivity / gain has to be reduced on all detectors for them to be efficient.

There is areas on the Mongarlowe gold field where an ATX cannot be stabilized above 9, and there is areas in WA where a GPX cannot run a gain higher than 10 and be effective. There is no such thing as a detector which can run maximum gain in all scenarios on Australian gold field conditions.

Wal.

 

[HKGTS0]

I have now had two runs with the ATX and of course am still learning to understand the tones that are produced. I am searching in a possible gold producing area, but so far have found a lot of small pieces of wire, lead shot from both rifles and shotguns, and other metallic objects. The biggest scourge has been old aluminium drink cans which have been rotary hoed into very small pieces. Depth of targets has varied down to about 30cm or so. While I am aware this machine is no Minelab GPX, it has shown potential with very clear signals when items have been detected. False "signals" are a problem when the search coil is knocked against twigs and other material even with the coil cover in place. I have yet to use the big mono, as the area I am currently working is pretty confined, and the DD is really a bit to big as well. In June several of us are off to a known gold producing area up north of us.
Trevor

 

[whiteywa]

gday to all prospectors 'I would like to know if anyone else out there has purchased a garrett atx machine and having problems.i have purchased 2 of these machines and was having trouble setting 1 of them up and took it back to the store so they could show me how to set it up,whereapon they told me it was faulty and they would send it away to find out the problem.i waited a week and had no results and told them I was already late to start my trip and could I just have a replacement which they agreed to and gave me a new machine.

I travelled nearly 2000 kms and got on some really nice ground and started detecting where I met some people already searching these area with some great results everyday ranging from 6 gram nuggets to 20 grammers.my girl and I had a detector each and went hard looking for our first nugget and went through some really hard ground but found nothing even though everyone was getting at least 1 nugget a day in the same spot.I decided to do some tests and dug a 100 mm hole and placed a nugget about 2 grams on the top of the ground which the detector picked up then I placed the nugget in the hole and left the hole open and the garret would not pick it up,then I tried our other machine and same results.

I had no phone reception at this spot so travelled 700 kms back to Karratha so I could get some advice as to what we were doing wrong.They said to freight down the machines and I had to pay freight costs and I decided to send my girl down with them on a plane so we could find out if it was us not setting them up.when my girl got to shop she was told they were both faulty and would have to send them to queensland to sort them out.I have made numerous enquiries to the supplier with no results then rang queensland and was told he was looking at them and would get back to me which he has not done so I rang main office in garland texas to complain as I was getting very frustrated by now,i spoke with assistant manager in charge of overseas sales and told him my story and he was shocked that I had such bad service and he was going to kick some but in qld and here in perth where I purchased them.

I rang qld this morning and was told he was looking at them and I said he has had them for days now and what is going on and he told me I was holding him up from testing them so I hung up and started this forum.By now all I want is my money back so I can go buy some real detectors and get back out there but they will not refund my money so now I am stuck in Karratha paying expensive rent in a caravan park,my girl is stuck in perth paying motel bills and I am no closer to going back to my spot and living the dream that I have saved and planned for for over a year.

If anyone else has one of these machines do the test that I did and see if it is working properly if not complain to your supplier and add to this thread.

Thanks for taking time to read this and good hunting Wayne White

 

[Reeks]

Wow, what a shame mate.
What made the seller say that the machines were defective? Did he do some tests?
I'd be selling those toys and buying a Minelab.

 

[whiteywa]

thanks mate I would get a minelab if I could get my money back.my big mate goes to perth tomorrow and he is very angry so may get some results after that or I will have to go and bail him out of jail ha ha

 

[whiteywa]

I have purchased 2 garret atx and had trouble tuning it so took it back to the shop to learn and was told it was faulty and they sent it to queensland to be repaired.i had to leave perth and told them to replace the machine or refund my money and they replaced it.I have started a link in forums if you want to have a look at the hassle I have had to get a detector that will penetrate the ground and still have had no luck.Very disappointed with both machines and about to get some legal advice to get my money back.

 

[Tige]

thanks for the info whiteywa
was thinkin of buyin one of them but if that is what there service is like they can keep there grey door stops!
good luck with it all.
cheers

 

[Guest]

Show em this website:
http://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/repair-replace-refund

If you have aminor problemwith a product or service, thebusiness can choose to give you a free repair instead of a replacement or refund. When you have amajor problemwith a product, you have the right to ask for your choice of a replacement or refund.

What is a major problem?

A product or good has a major problem when:

-it has a problem that would have stopped someone from buying it if theyd known about it
-it is significantly different from the sample or description
-it doesnt do what the business said it would, or what you asked for and cant easily be fixed.

Shoulda got a Minelab

 

[whiteywa]

thanks Mbaso I will have to try that or go to perth and sit outside his shop with my big sign that states my facts so you may see me arrested on the news soon.

 

[Guest]

I would contact Garrett USA who are the actual manufacturer of your detector and explain your situation and keep them in the loop.

Anyone else has an issue with any brand I would advise the same go through and contact the manufacturer.

This way the actual manufacturer can keep a tab on their distributors.

 

[whiteywa]

thanks Wolfau that's exactly what my girl did and Garrett USA rang my girl this arvo and is sending 2 brand new atx machines to Karratha with extra coils for my inconvenience and they will be tested before they leave,so that is a load off my mind and thanks again for the advice.Now back to mosquito creek.Thanks also to Garrett USA

 

[joe]

Wow mate that is some bad experience i can say. I own an ATX but never had issues as such. what were your settings?

i have done some testing before taking it out on a trip in a very hot ground and at 100mm i could pick up 0.6g without my headphones no problems. disc 0, sensitivity 12, balanced and frequency check

 

[Guest]

thanks Wolfau that's exactly what my girl did and Garrett USA rang my girl this arvo and is sending 2 brand new atx machines to Karratha with extra coils for my inconvenience and they will be tested before they leave,so that is a load off my mind and thanks again for the advice.Now back to mosquito creek.Thanks also to Garrett USA

Your welcome.

Garrett is a great company to deal with. I am not surprised they called but I bet you were blown away.

My personal experience with Garrett has been fast, prompt and friendly. They even sent me some seals for
my sea hunter that I purchased 2nd hand at no charge.

All i can say if anyone has any issues with a detector you can always go straight to the manufacture
and they will sort it out.

How awesome is it to get some free coils.

Hope you find a few nuggets and I am happy for you that this has been sorted.

 

[Mineblowingmetal]

Coils are 300-500 a pop....x2

I can understand your frustration but at least garrett USA know about it and got straight onto a resolution for you

Unfortunately its beyond their control to an extent but im sure a few heads will roll for the slack service provided

I for one have had great service from them and live 10km from their service centre here in qld

I think the problem lies in the dealer side ......After sales service

My bad experience comes with a sales rep that treated me poorly at a minelab dealer hence why I own an ATPRO and not a ctx3030 they all have their moments imo

 

[kirkn]

Hi everyone,

My ATX just arrived and looks awsome, really well made. cant believe how compact it is. Cant wait to try it out in the Triangle. Anynbody have any tips or settings they would like to share would be appriaciated. I will read the manual but still good to get peoples opinions. Thanks

 

[loamer]

I don't use one mate but there are some videos on youtube, like this one. Using the forum search icon, there are also a few posts under 'atx'.

[video=480,360]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btrFKfZigP8[/video]

I will be interested to hear how you go in the triangle. There is some very mineralised ground here so you may need to take that into consideration with your settings. Good luck.

 

[kirkn]

Hi,

in Maryborough with my ATX first run, easy set up and ground balancing. What i really like is how quite it is, but coil is a bit sensetive when knocked.
havnt found any gold but heaps of 22 bullets. if anybody has any tips on the ATX that might help.

 

[Goldtarget]

There's a fair account of these machines among the forum posts but I'm sure someone with a a bit of experience with them will chime in, just thought I'd suggest a site search to see what turns up.