New ATX owner has a few questions

[Atlas]

Hi All,

Just got a new to me slightly used ATX and I'm pretty excited about this machine. I live on the west coast and hunt some nasty black sand filled lakes and beaches and think the ATX will be just the ticket.

I took the machine for a test drive in the park near my house today and it mostly seemed to run flawlessly. However, after digging one target and the machine had been sitting next to the hole I saw the signal lights blinking from say 1 to 3 or 4 but the machine wasn't moving. I picked it up and listened and it sounded like EMI so I turned the sensitivity down a few notches to around 7 from 10 and this lowered the signal to maybe 1 or 2 LED's. Of course prior to this no lights were flashing or audio unless I had a target.

So I decided to do a Frequency Scan and after I completed it the spurious audio signal and LED flashing went away. Just wondering if you all have experience anything like this and was this just some type of EMI interference? Maybe I should have hit the Retune button instead. The signal almost sounded like an upward drifted response.

Other than this the machine seems to be running flawlessly. It GB's correctly and cycles through the frequency scan cycle per the description in the manual. I even found 4 coins in the park on the maiden voyage.

Any comments would be appreciated

Thanks,
HH

 

[WaterWalker]

First: did you turn on a pin-pointer? If so that may be the source of the "EMI".
I do not use one as I am in the water 99% of the time. SO ...
When this happens to me I hit the RETUNE first if that does not quit the ATX down then I do a FREQ SCAN.
I run the SENS around 8+/- 2 in salt water DESCRIM at 0 this helps also.
Sound like you did everything correctly...I do a RETUNE first because it hardly take any time compared to the FREQ SCAN.
Depth in salt water and wave can cause a change in the audio also -- falsing a quick decrease in SENS takes care of the falsing.

If the weight of the ATX gets to you on land...I found the MineLab ProSwing 45 the best for me. I went from a 45 minute hunt to a 5 hour swing on the wet sand with no arm, neck, or back aches afterwards.

Keep up the hobby and take the time to LEARN the ATX, it will reward you...
May the ring of gold be in your ears and its glitter in your scoop.

 

[Atlas]

WaterWalker, thanks for the feedback.

You are right on about the pin-pointer and that may be the problem because I was setting it close to the ATX. Come to think of it my pin-pointer was acting up a bit and maybe the ATX was interfering with it. I really needed it because the machine was picking up some small pieces of can slaw from 0-4" and I was still learning how to pinpoint the stock DD coil. In General I wouldn't use my ATX in the park but needed to get out and do a more thorough test of my new machine and the park is close.

Thanks for your salt water settings. I was reading a write up by Steve H. on the ATX and he was using Sens. 7 and Disc. 3 in Hawaii and found lots of gold/platinum rings etc.

I can't wait to get this machine in the water.

HH

 

[Dancer]

Don't be so quick to give up on parks ,some ball fields, with your Atx. If I find an area with my Pro that is productive, and not very trashy. I bring my Infinium in with a larger coil. Mainly to cover more ground, and pick coins that maybe laying a little funny. Plus the biggest advantage here is time spent using / learning your your pulse induction. Can't believe the trash I dug when I first got mine,dirt hunting. Takes time to learn the sounds and what the machine is saying. One example I have. Dig a couple thousand tabs or more along with some iron first. After which , I found there's a place for pulse induction when not at the beach.