Garrett ATX Information and Questions

[Tassie Daz]

Hey Daz, no mate the 0.31g was a tiny tiddler and the ATX did great to pick it up at 1/2". In fact I lost it again while I was trying to dig it out. Covered it up with about an inch of soil and had to spread the diggings out to find it. I may have walked away from it if it hadn't been for the guys from Gold Prospecting Aust who took us out and who "coached" me thru the dig. [You know how it is - well I thought it was there, now its gone - o well, and on to the next signal] But Mark stayed with me and talked me thru it all and I finally found the little Blita.

This was at a time when the ML 5000 was finding fly specs and the ATX hadn't found anything much. I was glad to be able to post that MY ATX had actually found a subbie. [There's a post on here somewhere with the news]

 

[Tassie Daz]

Hey Daz, did you get the game Saturday. Blimey, I cant take these close calls. I thought when they were up by 51 pts.........there's a long way to go, and I did wonder ifn they'd run out of legs. Good thing was they hung on, and 4pts is 4pts, no matter how you get 'em. And you are right. Once a Port supporter.........ALWAYS a port supporter. I didn't follow anyone in the VFL before they joined as PAFC wasn't there. And I never knew if Port would actually join, but they did and now 1 premiership on, bring on the next. Keep swingin'.

 

[4wder]

love my atx, enjoy not listing to an annoying hum all day from a minelab, much like there owners, ive only had a chance to take my atx out once so far to maryborough with 2 mates and there minelabs, none of us got anything that weekend, heading up to the GT again in a fortnight better luck hoping

 

[Tassie Daz]

Me too 4wder. We are going back over in around Oct I hope. We'll take in the Bash if its on around that time and then do a couple of weeks while we are over there. And going to the Triangle, mate I cant wait. Only get a chance to swing for gold about once a year so counting the days. Going to NT in a few days so maybe the ATX will get a swing while we are there. You never know might find a nice piece in new ground in the NT! That'd be good!

 

[yakuza61]

Taz,
Port always had the $$$ to join the AFL it was just the SANFL coz they wanted a composite side ... a piece from here a piece from there , shake em all up & look we have the crows ... PHAAAAAAAARK ,phaaaaaaaaark !!
I caught the game alright .. 8pts & a win over the Hawks is better than an 8 point loss anyday ! .... they'll b there @ the end again ( I hope ) coz I wanna c another prem.so I can have a real excuse to obliterate the credit card with PORT Premiership Purchases again ......& Taz don't 4get the " Showdown " m8 .... 24points ...!
Go Power !!!!!

Yakuza61

 

[Gravity]

Hey guys , first a big thank you for accepting me into your club forum

As mentioned in my introduction i've ordered the Garrett ATXPI deep seeker pack I've opted for this unit because we the family spend lots of time on the beach so thought it be fun to bring it along to venture out with the kids as my boys are under 10 years old.

After talking with a few friends they convinced me to change over the 20 inch coil that comes with the pack to the 8 inch mono , they claim it to be much better in the surf and in small creeks as it's very light weight and easy to handleMy question is ; Is the 20 inch coil easy to manoeuvre in the bush lets say all area's in the triangle or is it more suited for the flats of WA.

All replies welcome.
Cheers

 

[Gravity]

Hey guy's I don't know if this has been done before so wondering if this may work
First replace the existing headphone set with a Garrett adapter cable as in first pick then plug into the sound booster for external sound closer to your torsoHeadphones can then be plugged into the phones socket if required.

Any feedback welcome.
Cheers

 

[Daza]

Has anyone used the atx on mud/salt flats if so do you have any tips eg setting and what coil to use?
thanks

 

[stalker]

Use the dd ,,, and use the ground track if its noisy ,, and go slow on the swing speed ,,

 

[Daza]

Thanks stalker l will give it a go if it stops raining up here

 

[Moneybox]

Yakuza61 I have the ATX with the deep seeker pack. I actually ordered the Minelab SDC but it was not yet available so I took my next choice which was the ATX as my first detector.
I got off to a bumpy disappointing start when we couldn't find gold and another chap found a 0.3g nugget on the Nickol river flats with the GPX 5000 when the ATX barely recognized it. Since then I guess we learned more and got to know the machine.

We went on the DetectingWAGold Muster at Niagara and got a few tips from all the Minelab crew on how to read the ground. We only found one 0.8g while on the muster but we found more than most. We stayed on for a couple more weeks swinging the ATX and the White's GMT and picked up 44g in eight nuggets. The biggest 35g at 400mm down in nasty red dirt using the DD coil. All except one 3g was found with the ATX. I found a 0.2g sunbaker with the little 8" mono on very stony ground. It's the only nugget I've found with either of the mono coils but I haven't used them much either.

I eventually got the SDC for Mrs M so that she could keep busy finding all the tiny bits (as others do) while I sought out the bigger stuff with the ATX. We've not enjoyed success with the SDC mainly due to the problems keeping it quite enough in difficult conditions. I found a tiny 0.07g piece at Clermont in QLD so hopefully there are many more to come. I doubt the ATX would have found anything that small but it's certainly easier to manage with its infinitely adjustable settings.

We took the SDC to the same area where we found several nuggets with the ATX and the one with the White's hoping to pick up all the tiny bits that I thought we'd most likely missed but unfortunately found nothing however it did show how well we cleaned out the junk and the gold. We found a few more nails and other junk but nothing like our first time through.

 

[LuckyPhil]

interested in buying an atx. I was wondering what the battery life is like ?

 

[kleinman98]

Battery life I great cosidering it uses AA batteries. Get some extra battery holders from an electronics store as they are cheap so you have spares packed to go.

 

[stalker]

interested in buying an atx. I was wondering what the battery life is like ?

Ive got 12 hours till flat ,, but 7 to 8 hours is the best operting times from the batteries ,, It gets unpredictable after 9 hours due to batteries getting flat , 2600 mAh and highr is a must for longer running times , i use varta rechargables , the multi meter reads 1.43 v after charging them , after a hour of sitting 1.43 v still not bad for a 1.2v 2600 mHa ,, better than the duracell's that came with it with 2400 mHa and only lasted 9 hours till flat ,,
also how many targets under the coil during the day effects running times and that could mean a hour or two less if your getting lots of hits and iron checking everything ,,,

you'll need a pro swing 45 for all day swinging , the suplied strap is crap and you'll end up with a sore neck and shoulders , i did ..

 

[Gravity]

interested in buying an atx. I was wondering what the battery life is like ?

Hey luckyPhil whereabouts do you live you look so much like someone I used to knowMichael ?

 

[Gravity]

So my wife and 2 boys hit Frankston beach today and did manage to get some detecting done with my 9 year old excited about using the Pro Pointerafter about a dozen bottle tops I had another target my son using the pointer found his first 20 cents wow dad it works ha ha and ran off to his mum showing her in amazement , he soon returned and wanted more. It wasn't long after that we found a 10 cent and a dollar coin and he thought this thing was fantastic and asked if he could keep all the coins because he was helping, of course I said put them in your pocket there yours.

On driving home I asked him about the coins if they were old or new ? reaching in his pocket he said dad I've lost them :-( he was devastated but lesson learnt and can't wait to do it all over again

Cheers

 

[WalnLiz]

Great to see the family getting involved with the treasure hunting mate. The old saying a "family that plays together stays together" always rings true and detecting on the beach with the kids will become priceless in many ways.

The 20" coil that comes with the deep seeker package is certainly best kept for open terrain, and the smaller coil will prove to get you the most gold in the long run. I don't own an ATX but have given them a serious and lengthy workout on the NSW gold fields, and the 20" coil in this region was not user friendly in the rocky and dense vegetation common around here. The weight also has some limitations in the length of time it can be swung.

The machine itself is very capable and should uncover many nuggets for those who persevere. The smaller coil is definitely the go.

Best of luck out there.

Wal.

 

[Gravity]

Thanks Wal, yes I'm glad that I swopped the 20" for the 8" in the package because of weight and manoeuvrability
Had the 8" on today with target signals loud and clear this is a very easy machine to use.

Just looking on ebay now for a good sand scoop , On the way I stopped at bunnings to pickup a small sand shovelIt worked great in the dry but as soon as i stuck it in the wet it folded back double ha ha my wife pissed herself laughing as did many onlookers thinking your never going to find anything.

At the end of the day we all had a ball and the kids are fast asleep )

 

[rocketaroo]

Bunnings have 2 scoops, a crappy 10 dollar one, and a decent looking 30 dollar large one. Which one did you buy?

 

[Gravity]

Bunnings have 2 scoops, a crappy 10 dollar one, and a decent looking 30 dollar large one. Which one did you buy?

Didn't see any sand scoops I was in the gardening section where all the shovels are so picked up the smallest metal shovel.
Good to know they do have scoops I'll go back and have another lookThanks.