Garrett ATX

[nolanation]

I have an option of buying a NEW Garrett ATX locally for $1700. I hunt inland, and lately been hitting the beach quite a bit. I have the CTX 3030 that I use, and last time I was out at the beach for 2 days I found many coins and 2 sterling rings, but no gold. I know the CTX is great for fresh drops, but I feel when I am out there I am missing deep rings, and gold chains. I am curious who, if anyone, would pull the trigger on the ATX and if gold finds have increased compared to a non PI machine. It appears the ATX is very sensitive to gold, and with iron check and discrimination modes, makes me want to try a PI more than ever. On top of this, I live in NC in the land of red clay. I do not get much depth here, and do most of my digging in VA where my parents live. Can I expect more depth with the ATX here in the red clay? I mostly want the ATX for hunting the wet sand/water and maybe even dry sand for more gold pieces. Is it worth it? Thanks for the help, and I am NOT comparing the 2 or asking for a comparison. Just wanting to know if I could expect more gold with a sensitive PI like the ATX. Thanks and HH!

 

[DrJoeprime]

Good price for new.

ATX is deep...but also very heavy.

The irony is that you will find lots of deep stuff...but lose a lot of time digging very deep..so quite possibly gold count will decrease.

For me..I did very, very well with a Dual Field...mostly because most recoveries were with a hand scoop and under about 13" and accomplished very quickly. Now with the ATX I'm digging lots of targets to about 16" with a foot scoop (don't even try deeper...too exhausting).

Jury is still out for me...like the depth of te ATX but also need speed for more "normal" situations. May go back to the Dual Field for my average conditions

SO...my opinion...ATX is basically for special use...deep conditions at the beach or looking for gold nuggets in the gold fields.

Joe (California)

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

Hi nolanation,

Along with what Joe said, I will give you my opinion.....

Yes, I would say you could expect at least the same amount of gold if your willing to put in the time and effort to work slow and deep in selected high traffic swimming areas of the beach. You will definitely go deeper than your CTX, but that is not always a good thing because it's a slow process, a lot of work, and eats up a lot of your detecting time, so you can't cover as much ground as with your CTX.

With that said and not knowing about your local beaches, how hard they are hit by other detectors, how crowded your beaches get, what time you get to the beach to start scanning, and how often you can go.

My suggestion would be if you have the extra cash, get that great price on the ATX (you can always sell and break even if it's not for you). As far as your red clay situation, you can ask that question on a NC detection forum (TNet) and hopefully someone in NC has used an ATX in red clay.

If your beaches get crowded and have a lot of detection pressure, I would suggest to go early (very early with a headlamp) with your CTX during and after a weekend to cover a lot of ground quickly to get recent drops before other detectors show up. Then, during the week, you could use the ATX to get what was left behind deeper. You not only will get recent drops that went deep, you will also find items that may have been there for decades. If you have some un-trashy dry sand areas that get a lot of traffic, you can find long lost items there also that other detectors can't pick up.

Anyway, that's my two cents

 

[nolanation]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! I am not worried about the weight as of right now anyway, 27 years old, with no arm pain yet lol. I understand the digging deep part, but my beaches are pretty clean. I walked the wet sand Memorial weekend Sunday for a long ways and only managed a few coins that morning. The beaches do get crowded but they do run sweepers through every morning to clean the big junk.

SoCalBeach, I recalled a statement you made in another post "You will definitely get more gold rings and jewelry hunting in the wet sand and water with a PI machine, Period! " Do you still feel this way? I read this after I posted my question, but that's the question I was curious about.

As of right now, I find more gold in the parks than I do on the beach. I always hunt early AM, and try to get back out there around 4:30ish. I figured with the price, I could get just as much in slightly used condition as I am buying it new if I just didn't like it. Although I don't think that will be the issue. Thanks again.

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

Hi Again nolanation,

Most VLF's can't venture into the saltwater wet sand and saltwater without a lot of iron chatter. The CTX does do a decent job if you run the right program, but whenever your running a preset program instead of wide open all metal mode, you lose depth.

I also hit the beach by 4:30AM and at the beach I've been going to lately, there is three guys with CTX's that I talk to regularly. They do pretty damn well with that machine in the wet sand and water. And with my sore arm, I've been stuck in the damp and dry sand with my light weight VLF.

After scooping deep for the last seven months, swinging a heavy machine, I'm not liking it. I just may talk myself into a CTX one of these days

 

[nolanation]

Hi Again nolanation,

Most VLF's can't venture into the saltwater wet sand and saltwater without a lot of iron chatter. The CTX does do a decent job if you run the right program, but whenever your running a preset program instead of wide open all metal mode, you lose depth.

I also hit the beach by 4:30AM and at the beach I've been going to lately, there is three guys with CTX's that I talk to regularly. They do pretty damn well with that machine in the wet sand and water. And with my sore arm, I've been stuck in the damp and dry sand with my light weight VLF.

After scooping deep for the last seven months, swinging a heavy machine, I'm not liking it. I just may talk myself into a CTX one of these days

Well that is some good info. So if it were you, and you owned the CTX, would you bother buying the ATX knowing what you know about saltwater hunting, gold, and the CTX's capabilities?

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

Well that is some good info. So if it were you, and you owned the CTX, would you bother buying the ATX knowing what you know about saltwater hunting, gold, and the CTX's capabilities?

With what I know now, I would not have purchased the ATX exclusively for wet sand and saltwater use.

I purchased the ATX for more then just for saltwater applications. And I have found, at least in SoCal, you can find just as much or maybe more precious metals in 10" or less of wet sand if your timing and luck is right. So with a lighter better designed machine I can score more items faster with a lot less work if I hit the hot spots first.

I have other uses for the ATX that I haven't even had time to explore yet. With my VLF, I have several areas at different beach towns that have deep silver coins in dry fairly un-trashy sand and the ATX will take me even deeper.

I also have some areas a couple hundred miles inland to hunt for relics that I have researched and need to spend some time there.

So the ATX is just another tool in the toolbox with me at this point.

And then there's women that tend to get in the way of my desires to explore

 

[bn81159]

I sold my ctx 3030 and got the ATX pro, I loved my sand shark PI and when I saw the ATX I had to have it. My backup machine is the excalibur 1000. I got the ATX because the area I hunt is heavily hunted and people say it is cleaned I say "bull" the ATX will determine that. Today I was easily hitting quarters at 10" deep and I wasn't even wide open with the depth.

 

[Barry NY]

The ATX will work well in the red clay.
They did a fine job with the machine at the last DIV event in Culpepper, VA.

The iron check only works a few inches deep...it's better for checking out the target once recovered (in the spoils) so you don't waste time looking for a small piece of a bobby pin...

 

[denny]

deep[/b]...but also very heavy.

The irony is that you will find lots of deep stuff...but lose a lot of time digging very deep..so quite possibly gold count will decrease.

For me..I did very, very well with a Dual Field...mostly because most recoveries were with a hand scoop and under about 13" and accomplished very quickly. Now with the ATX I'm digging lots of targets to about 16" with a foot scoop (don't even try deeper...too exhausting).

Jury is still out for me...like the depth of te ATX but also need speed for more "normal" situations. May go back to the Dual Field for my average conditions

SO...my opinion...ATX is basically for special use...deep conditions at the beach or looking for gold nuggets in the gold fields.

Joe (California)