I BOUGHT A NEW GARRETT ATX AND WANTED TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS FOR ANYONE WHO MAY BE CONSIDERING BUYING ONE!

[Desert Detective]

So now that I have had the chance to use my ATX... I wanted to let everyone know how I felt about it. I can actually give my opinion based on experience and not just research now LOL...

THE Garrett ATX IS A VERY POWERFUL, STABLE, AND AWESOME MACHINE! Right out of the box... The high quality heavy duty construction is impressive and most impressionable.

I love the thought that went into its design. It packs away nice for easy storage and transport. But most of all... It's kick but performance is unbelievable. For my first time out I took it to the Southern Utah/Northern Arizona Border where the ground is so hot and full of mineralization that the mixture of red dirt, black sand and rock pebbles stick to magnets. All of these instability issues that I had heard of... Not my experience! No falsing, not even the chatter that I get there even with my AT Gold... It was smooth and accurate. Using the DD Stock coil I actually dug up an old tattered piece of foil about 3" in size 20" down... Although the find wasn't anything to brag about... It's the point of had there been a find that deep to brag about, this awesome machine will find it!

I desert hunt where VLFs can struggle and I spend most of my time digging 4" to 8" down for bullets, casings, soda cans, nails and such... With my ATX the goal is to ignore near surface finds... I look for faint signals which mean deep or tiny targets... I scrape away about 4" of the surface and resweep, if the target has moved, I move on... If it gets a bit stronger, I dig another 4" and so on... One must be at peace with not fully inspecting and iding every target. I mean isn't that what we do with VLF's as we discriminate target ids anyways LOL... Now if I were in Gold County, which I am not... Obviously I would be iding everything, but where I am in the desert hunting for relics... This machine will get me deep and that is where the good stuff awaits for me to dig it up!

I love the Garrett ATX... I actually got the complete Deepseeker package and 8" Monocoil. Anyone who is looking to take there detecting deeper... The Garrett ATX is a powerful, stable and AWESOME machine!

 

[WaterWalker]

Knowing your objective, detector capabilities and expectations is the key to success. Looks like you are on the way to mastering it all.
Good luck and I'll be waiting to see some of your results.

 

[mypenneys]

Can you find coins with this machine. Tired of the iron signal mixed with good high numbers
Need to no if it can be used as a cinn detecting machine

 

[Desert Detective]

This might be a complicated answer. This detector is best for hunting on non-manicured land such as the desert, beach, pastures, fields and in the woods. I am still new with it and have much to learn in using itlSo far, I am using it to target deep in soils that are so mineralized that a VLF just can't search very deep. I am going to take it out to the desert on Monday and concentrate on the sidewalls of dry washes. Hope answer makes sence and helps!

 

[John-Edmonton]

And.....once you get even more hours on it, you will be able to learn more tricks, like sizing a target using audio duration, ID'ng bobby pins by their double bleep, weaker signal and how well the ATX locks on the target when motionless.

 

[Desert Detective]

Lol... after reading your quick comment, it was immediately obvious you had some advanced knowledge so I looked at your profile to remember who I might be able to ask if I ever had a question I couldn't find an answer to about my ATX. Holy cow... 11 years on here with more than 16000 posts??? Does anyone actually have more than you LOL??? Nice going bro! BTW, have you written any books? I recognize your name.

 

[DrJoeprime]

On the question of coins...the answer is YES.

I use the ATX on the beach and although I don't look for coins but rather gold...I still mainly find coins...and deep, deep ones too! I work the wet sand and concentrate mostly on the deep quiet signals.

Joe

 

[unearth]

On the question of coins...the answer is YES.

I use the ATX on the beach and although I don't look for coins but rather gold...I still mainly find coins...and deep, deep ones too! I work the wet sand and concentrate mostly on the deep quiet signals.

Joe

Joe, where do you keep your discrimination and sensitivity set at? Also, which ground balance technique do you use? When I'm at the beach hunting, there seems to be a lot of "chatter" from the machine. I'm trying to figure out how to keep the "chatter" down while keeping good depth. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[John-Edmonton]

I have written several articles for lost treasure and Western & Eastern Treasures. A book?.......not yet!

 

[doc holiday232]

"I ignore near surface finds".
I hunt in AZ,Rich Hill,Quartzsite,Gold Basin and the largest,1/2 to 23/4 oz. were all "near surface"finds.Several were just lying in the dust--so ignoring "near surface" targets could be a mistake. Detectors used:ML Extreme,2200,Tdi Pro.

 

[Desert Detective]

"I ignore near surface finds".
I hunt in AZ,Rich Hill,Quartzsite,Gold Basin and the largest,1/2 to 23/4 oz. were all "near surface"finds.Several were just lying in the dust--so ignoring "near surface" targets could be a mistake. Detectors used:ML Extreme,2200,Tdi Pro.

If I were hunting in the areas you state, I would dig everything too LOL... If I were hunting in any Gold Bearing area I would dig everything there too. My comments of ignoring near surface targets pertains to where I mostly hunt. There are times when even in non-Gold Bearing areas that I dig it all... But I mostly desert hunt for Relics in non-Gold Bearing areas with only a recent history of any significant population that does have around 150 years of scant history which also is a chronic flood zone and has several feet of flood washed sediment. In others words, I dig around 400-500 near surface targets that ends up being modern trash for every good find. I dig 20-40 deep targets for every good find. That's my area's reality and what I have found to be the most productive and enjoyable approach in my area. I do almost always begin hunting with one of my VLFs to get a feel of what and where most targets are in the specific areas that I will then hit deep with my ATX. So, I don't disagree with your reply... Just clarifying that my approach and or advice is only relevant to my area or areas similar.