Concerning the Garrett ATX

I wonder if users of the ATX might comment on how well the High/Low Low/High tone scheme ids high and low conductors, and how well the Iron Check feature works. Is it a reliable indicator of what the detector actually is signaling on?

How well do you all like this machine?

I had one..Used it some.

Very stable from an EMI standpoint,,,if you let the scan process work.

Iron check feature does work,,,depth limited though.

I would say based on my use,,first 6" good iron rejection on nails.

After that questionable,,,bigger iron than nails a little deeper.

Heavy.
Built like tank though.

As far as the high low and vice versa on targets.
It does work as far as identifying lower conductors,,,,but small bits of iron can fool.

Probably if a person uses,,if they can start to link target strength (lights illuminated) vs tone heard,,,this is where a person starts to shine moreso in selecting better targets to dig.
But a person needs to realize target strength (lights displayed) depends on sensitivity level,,target size, depth, soil minerals.

If detector would have been lighter,,I likely to have kept mine.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2016 08:17PM by tnsharpshooter.

The weight is a thing for sure. Would have liked to see that detector in an Infinium box, that style package holds no advantage to me.

The ATX likes low conductors.

If they could get the guts into a lighter unit and lighter coil,,,maintain waterproofing,,,would be more popular.

I am surprise how long Minelab has had the PI market cornered.

I would like to actually see some joint effort detectors be made by some here in the USA....

I don't know but I have heard it said that the only difference between the ATX and the Infinium is the knob you turn to iron check on the infinium and the button you push on the ATX for iron check. Oh, and you can change/run smaller coils on the infinium.
And you can hip/belt mount the control box on the Infinium to reduce the weight. I guess some like the mine-sweeper look and heft of the ATX. It might help disperse the onlookers <g>.

Wayne

Pleasant Garden, NC
AT Max, Nokta Impact, MX Sport, Nokta FORS Relic, GPX 4800, Infinium, Racer, Deus, F75SE, Nautilus DMC II (order of acquisition, last to first)

Does an archeologist argue with a plow? A bureaucrat with a bulldozer?

TNSS,

Did you find the high/low tone id reliable on the low conductors?

Slag Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TNSS,
>
> Did you find the high/low tone id reliable on the
> low conductors?


I did,,but sometimes real small nail bits can give the same tone sequence as say a nickel.

Also,,should point out,,,the sequence as you probably know is based on the target's conductivity,,,,but ground minerals if real high,,,can skew this felt conductivity the detector sees.

So some targets that would be considered borderline as far as reporting high low,,,,low high,,,it is possible for a higher conductor to report what a normal low conductor would report.

Now,,I haven't seen this happen,,,but Old Calofornia who use to post here,,,hunts in real high mineral soil.,,and I think he experienced.

You won't be digging any full nails giving tone sequence of what a nickel ( low conductor) for example would yield..

My biggest problem when Infirst started using mine,,was paying too much attention to the micro signals I'll call them. These I found were usually the nail bits (real small),,,also the ATX doesn't like high conductors (depth) like GPX does.

Here is a person who posted....
Might help you.

[www.gonehuntingforhistory.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2016 01:43AM by tnsharpshooter.

Thanks TNSS, that is most helpful.

I found that it bump falsed terribly. I used it for prospecting and it drove me nuts with the falsing every time the coil was bumped on a rock. Called Garrett about it and they acted like they had never heard that the falsing was a problem although there were many complaints about it at the time on the forums. Got rid of it. Then heard that Garrett had addressed the falsing issue. Go figure. Probably a great beach machine but too heavy for a prospecting unit. With a GPX 4500 just a few hundred more...I would go with the GPX...unless beach/water hunting.

Dean

Deleted



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2016 11:49AM by ivanll.

Yes the ATX can at times get annoying with the coil falsing on bumps and even twigs..

The ATX is very very heavy but only waterproof to 10 ft..

The ATX I found with the dual field coil can see small stuff very well for a P.I.

its built off a Infinium even has the same tone scheme..

like all pulse unit the small bits of iron will have you digging for awhile as even the iron check will not work on it..

there's no real disc to a Pulse unit it's just delays in the the pulse and labeled as disc..


As with all ground balancing Pulse units the tones and such are a guide to maybe what it is but there's so many factors as size and shape of targets that any lower conductor can read high conductor by Shear volume.....For instance iron can read anywhere


Iron check is limited depth accuracy maybe 6 inches ...and can get fooled with some conductors..read as bad when its good..Its nice to have but be careful with it ..

I actually think the Infinium is a better value and works about as well for Most applications...maybe not the smallest of nuggets but the infinium sure is hot on Buttons..and Nickels..plus its available to 200 ft...and I think the mono coils on the Infium 8 inch round especially talks to you more about a target being iron or not by just the way it sounds than the stock coil on the ATX..




Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Keith,

Thank you for chiming in. You bring up an interesting point in an interesting way. Value.

I had an Infinium for a year, and actually preferred the older Sea Hunter I replaced with it. If the tone id and iron check are not solidly reliable on the ATX there really is not much to recommend this machine for my purpose, and much less expensive options exist to handle bad ground and deep sand. If there is no advantage over the Infinium then there are much better choices in terms of ergonomics as well.

I started hunting water with a Sea Hunter pulse, and every time a newer version would come out I would get it. The Mark II was about where real improvement in pulse came to halt to my eyes then. The Infinium was not a real improvement in terms of finds or discrimination, just a whole lot more expensive. I replaced the Infinium with an Excalibur and have not had a water PI since. If the ATX is no real improvement over the Infinium, then water PI has not come very far in the last decade and the choices just got a whole lot cheaper.

The greatest advantage Slag the Ground balancing Pulse machines bring to the table over a normal Pulse is ability to place target into two groups...Low and high conductance wise..albeit size plays a part in that ...

And for a Beach hunter that would cut down on the digging of clad coins...just ignore all Low High hits for the most part and concentrate on the High Lows...

this could save a person a good amount of time in that aspect..

Plus a ground balancing pulse can have advantages on mineral 'sover a straight pulse..

and I if I was beach Guru I would use a Infinium before a ATX for sure.. for ease of use and hip mountable more coils etc..

You'll still deal with the bobby pins and such and nails and such that come in high/low but larger stuff and higher conductor stuff above zinc will come in Low/high like deep cans and aluminum and clad and such can be ignored ..and yes a good solid gold ring too by doing that like a mans size and such..

the tone beak on a Infinium is Zinc penny that's where it flops from high/low to Low/high..you all also find thats where the least depth is...and the zincs will get wonky sounding in terms of trying to roll the tones all around..

that stink's for the Relic hunter as a Minnie ball will read like a Zinc penny and they get that weird sounding tone flops. although if there not real deep you can usually tell by sound you have a minnie ball under the coil..

But MOST those rings will come in mostly as high/low..and sound smooth Vs the ratty sounding iron that comes in high/low...its usually not smooth or round sounding..

So yes a Ground balancing P.I. can help in alot of ways save time by eliminating BRACKETED targets audibly


if you tried the Infinium already and went back to the sea hunter I'm sure your well aware all of this and you probably would not see any benefit of a ATX if you didn't like the infinium

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Keith,

Thanks so much for this very informative reply. I saw several things in the ATX that looked better than the Infinium, which is why I ask. One, the frequency scan for EMI, which is a big deal. The Infinium was not always good with EMI, and I hunt in an urban environment. I did not go back to the Sea Hunter, but to the Excalibur from there. I am only now looking at going back to PI, and for specialized purpose where VLF does not hunt well. That means some land hunting as well.

My hunting style has changed over the years, and right now I hunt a lot of Micro Jewelry with the Gold Racer and the Gold Bug II. My only other VLF is a Compadre. I traded off my CTX this Spring and have not looked back. I have no intention of trying to hunt micro in water, but do like to go after smaller than before so the appearance of added sensitivity to small by the ATX was another thing of interest. I hunt only jewelry and have no interest in coins at all.

My detecting style has changed. There are now too many good hunters here with top of the line machines to make good finds the usual way, so I looked at how the prospectors hunt gold for clues of how to get what a CTX leaves. That is small and thin gold, deep things, and sites with soil that does not hunt well with VLF for some reason. Those prospectors, Steve Herschbach for example, use PI when they must, and hot VLF when they can. They have good reason for these choices, and I am copying that strategy and applying it to hunting jewelry.

Everyone here that has hunted micro jewelry as Tom has recommended using gold detectors knows the downside of this approach. A beach is not the same as a goldfield. Trash. Foil. Bobby pins everywhere. Sooo much digging, a lot more noise to listen to, and it takes a lot longer to cover ground. I find the challenge of it enjoyable though, and there are lot of places close to home to hunt this way. Not the way most would enjoy, but I am having fun.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2016 11:22PM by Slag.

Sounds like your doing your homes work!!

Kudo's!!

I may add he Infinium does have a Freq change..96 to be exact or somewhere thereabouts .. ..you have to do it though the track switch...you can step though them one at a time to find the quietest freq..

Just a thought



Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Thanks Keith.