WalnLiz
Wal nLiz
G'day guys,
Fellow forum member gtxJeff and myself have just got back from Mongarlowe testing the ATX against the GPX.
The Garrett certainly looks bullet proof and is extremely compact when retracted. The controls are simple and easy to use. We only had the DD coil, as the Deep seeker package with the 2 mono coils has yet to arrive. Jeff ran the ATX across some moist (thanks to the showers) and fairly mineralized soil with the sensitivity setting set to max sens,(13), and the threshold at 7. The sens needed to be cut back to around 8 to 10 to run quiet.
First impressions after 15 minutes of detecting mullock heaps was quite favorable, with a few small targets easily picked up. We then proceeded through the typical leaf / twig / rocky areas and soon noticed how touch sensitive the coil was.
This combined with the concentric rings on the coil catching numerous twigs and sticks soon became quite annoying. In the coils favor, it wasn't provided with a skid plate and this should eliminate hooking up to scrub, but I'm not too sure about the touch sens issues.
I ran the machine for about an hour myself and the first thing i noticed was the weight difference to the 5000. Being an extra half kilo heavier, the use of a bungee for a full days detecting could be inevitable. I'm use to sliding the coil on the ground for max depth and this is very difficult with the ATX because of the touch sensitivity to surface clutter. The manual suggests keeping the coil 2 or 3 inches above the ground to avoid this, (pg 26 of the manual). This does not ride well with me on small gold targets.
One thing i found extremely annoying was the coil to shaft position. While moving over uneven ground the only way to move the coil into a horizontal plane once it tilted, was to step on the end of it to hold the front section of the coil on the ground. It does not pivot from within the coil but instead pivots from the outside edge of the coil. This may be OK in sparse desert regions like WA, but is no good in wooded Eastern regions.
Our next comparison was on a couple of nuggets, first .25gram and second 12gram. We dug both nuggets down in mildly mineralized soil to a depth that was a definite signal to the 5000. Both the small and the larger were not audible on the ATX even at sens set to max 13. We then lifted the nugs till they were audible and in our combined estimate this was some 30% less than the 5000.
I do not want to read too much into these depth tests just yet, as it was comparing the ATX with a DD coil to the 5000 with a Mono coil. As soon as the monos for the ATX arrive in Australia we will do a very detailed test of depths, as they will then be on an even playing field.
Initial summary....An extremely sturdy and capable machine.... Is it better than a 5000,???... Not from what i have experienced so far.... Is it great value for money,???.. Detector wise yes, BUT, at $750 for extra coils...???. I'll sit on the fence till the mono coils arrive before giving my opinion or comparison between the two machines. On the subject of 5000 with mono coils V ATX with DD coils, initial unbiased tests puts the 5000 30% ahead in my books.....But this % may reduce after the final mono to mono comparison.
Cheers Wal.
Fellow forum member gtxJeff and myself have just got back from Mongarlowe testing the ATX against the GPX.
The Garrett certainly looks bullet proof and is extremely compact when retracted. The controls are simple and easy to use. We only had the DD coil, as the Deep seeker package with the 2 mono coils has yet to arrive. Jeff ran the ATX across some moist (thanks to the showers) and fairly mineralized soil with the sensitivity setting set to max sens,(13), and the threshold at 7. The sens needed to be cut back to around 8 to 10 to run quiet.
First impressions after 15 minutes of detecting mullock heaps was quite favorable, with a few small targets easily picked up. We then proceeded through the typical leaf / twig / rocky areas and soon noticed how touch sensitive the coil was.
This combined with the concentric rings on the coil catching numerous twigs and sticks soon became quite annoying. In the coils favor, it wasn't provided with a skid plate and this should eliminate hooking up to scrub, but I'm not too sure about the touch sens issues.
I ran the machine for about an hour myself and the first thing i noticed was the weight difference to the 5000. Being an extra half kilo heavier, the use of a bungee for a full days detecting could be inevitable. I'm use to sliding the coil on the ground for max depth and this is very difficult with the ATX because of the touch sensitivity to surface clutter. The manual suggests keeping the coil 2 or 3 inches above the ground to avoid this, (pg 26 of the manual). This does not ride well with me on small gold targets.
One thing i found extremely annoying was the coil to shaft position. While moving over uneven ground the only way to move the coil into a horizontal plane once it tilted, was to step on the end of it to hold the front section of the coil on the ground. It does not pivot from within the coil but instead pivots from the outside edge of the coil. This may be OK in sparse desert regions like WA, but is no good in wooded Eastern regions.
Our next comparison was on a couple of nuggets, first .25gram and second 12gram. We dug both nuggets down in mildly mineralized soil to a depth that was a definite signal to the 5000. Both the small and the larger were not audible on the ATX even at sens set to max 13. We then lifted the nugs till they were audible and in our combined estimate this was some 30% less than the 5000.
I do not want to read too much into these depth tests just yet, as it was comparing the ATX with a DD coil to the 5000 with a Mono coil. As soon as the monos for the ATX arrive in Australia we will do a very detailed test of depths, as they will then be on an even playing field.
Initial summary....An extremely sturdy and capable machine.... Is it better than a 5000,???... Not from what i have experienced so far.... Is it great value for money,???.. Detector wise yes, BUT, at $750 for extra coils...???. I'll sit on the fence till the mono coils arrive before giving my opinion or comparison between the two machines. On the subject of 5000 with mono coils V ATX with DD coils, initial unbiased tests puts the 5000 30% ahead in my books.....But this % may reduce after the final mono to mono comparison.
Cheers Wal.
