Is the Garrett ATX any good on WA gold fields ?

[christian1664]

I will be visiting WA in ten days time to detect around Kalgoorlie I was planning to bring my ATX with me as I was under the impression it was a competent detector in highly mineralised ground (it is a beast on the beaches of the UK).

however there are so many conflicting opinions/reviews on it that now I'm not so sure whether to bring it or not!

I am not trying to reopen the ATX v Minelab 5000 debate, no one expects a 3k detector to outperform a 6k machine, I just need to know if the ATX is good enough for someone coming to Australia for a two week detecting holiday, will it do the job ?

Also I'm already competent with an ATX, would I be able to master a 5000 quickly enough ?

I look forward to reading your thoughts and experiences.

 

[Ridge Runner]

I will be visiting WA in ten days time to detect around Kalgoorlie I was planning to bring my ATX with me as I was under the impression it was a competent detector in highly mineralised ground (it is a beast on the beaches of the UK).

however there are so many conflicting opinions/reviews on it that now I'm not so sure whether to bring it or not!

I am not trying to reopen the ATX v Minelab 5000 debate, no one expects a 3k detector to outperform a 6k machine, I just need to know if the ATX is good enough for someone coming to Australia for a two week detecting holiday, will it do the job ?

Also I'm already competent with an ATX, would I be able to master a 5000 quickly enough ?

I look forward to reading your thoughts and experiences.

The ATX will work fine, Some here swear by them, Personally I don't own one but it is a damn good machine non the less, So life is Good. It might be worth you hooking up with some of the guys here if they don't mind, but if you go out in the bush and you have any problems don't leave your Truck, Ok.

One thing you might want to do is either do a search here on Safety in the Bush or Start your own Topic and you will get all the info you need,,

Good luck on the Gold, and please don't take it all,

John

 

[madtuna]

Hi Christian,

I live in WA, detect full time and have used an ATX.

If you come for the experience and not the gold, you wont go home disappointed. Come for the gold and you will sadly leave very disappointed, unless you have extreme luck on your side.

Putting it bluntly, the ATX will be a struggle.

Saying that, 2 weeks trying to master a hired 5000, 4500 or 7000 in unfamiliar ground will also be a struggle.
Maybe hire a 2300?

There is a Garett retailer in the main street of Kalgoorlie who may be kind enough to assist you in the right direction.

Good luck with your adventure.

Cheers,

Steve

 

[old hand]

HI Christain
I cannot say much about the ATX as I have not used one ,you only have to look at the figures over the years what detectors are finding the gold Minelab , If you are looking for a cheap reliable detector you cannot go past the new GPX 4500 If you decided to go that way ring around for the best price there are plenty of dealers in all states regards john

 

[Chuky boy]

Owned all 4. Atx, SDC, gpx 4500 and 5000. Personally I did not like the ATX at all.

Way to heavy, not balanced very well compared to the gpx and it did not find me one piece of gold. I suggest you use your money wisely on a Minelab, they rule the roost in the goldfields if that is what you are after. SDC is definitely the best entry level gold detector and the easiest to use. It will definitely find you gold.

Personally I felt like I wasted my money on the ATX. Let's just say I've only got one detector now and that is the gpx 5000. There isn't much difference in the 4500 and the 5000. I'd recommend the sdc or 4500 for two reasons. 1 being they both find gold a lot more effectively than the ATX. Reason 2 is the cost, you'll get a Minelab at a better price than an ATX. Ultimately it's your decision and it comes down to the operator. If you don't use your machine properly you'll miss the gold.

 

[grubstake]

I will be visiting WA in ten days time to detect around Kalgoorlie I was planning to bring my ATX with me as I was under the impression it was a competent detector in highly mineralised ground (it is a beast on the beaches of the UK).
however there are so many conflicting opinions/reviews on it that now I'm not so sure whether to bring it or not!
I am not trying to reopen the ATX v Minelab 5000 debate, no one expects a 3k detector to outperform a 6k machine, I just need to know if the ATX is good enough for someone coming to Australia for a two week detecting holiday, will it do the job ?
Also I'm already competent with an ATX, would I be able to master a 5000 quickly enough ?
I look forward to reading your thoughts and experiences.

You can hire Minelab detectors in Perth from Reeds Prospecting Supplies (http://www.reedsprospecting.com.au/content/page/hire.html) and in Kalgoorlie from Finders Keepers (http://www.finderskeepersgold.com/hire/).

I hope you enjoy your stay and wish you good luck with your prospecting here.

 

[christian1664]

Thanks for all your advice, looks like a lot of the youtube videos are Garrett propaganda which is a shame so what's the story with Warren from NQ explores? I realise he has some connection with Garrett and rates the ATX up there with the 5000 and the videos seam to support this!

so is he biased towards the ATX?, mistaken? or at worst bending the facts to increase Garrett sales ?

Im not disappointed with purchasing my ATX as I bought it mainly for UK beaches where I must say its outstanding, it handles Emi brilliantly, bare in mind a lot of UK beaches are almost in town lol and you would be surprised on just how mineralised some areas are with lots of hot rocks/coke , often in the form of pottery ! weird I know but its something to-do with the firing process, handles this very well, so the ATX has its place but it doesn't look like its the WA gold fields.

I shall swing it for a couple of days just out of shear bloody mindedness as its hard to accept a machine that I do so well with over here is crap in Australia where it was allegedly tested, but the weight of evidence is pilling up on the side of the 5000

Thanks for all your input please Keep it coming, and if anyone needs any advise on detecting in the Uk feel free to contact myself.

Yours Leigh

 

[madtuna]

Can't say I've watched his videos but I will say there is no way in hell I could possibly rate an ATX up there with a 5000 or a 4500 nor a 2300 for that matter,in Australian conditions.

Even down to things like balance, ground balancing, coil choices and ease of changing coils, coil pivot point and wear, they are chalk and cheese.

Before the ATX hit the market here we were given one to put through its paces and review with videos etc. We put it through its paces alright, but there was nothing positive we could video or say so we didn't video it.... nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all etc.

I have absolutely no doubt they are an excellent machine in the right conditions, unfortunately from my experience I just didn't find them suitable for use in the WA gold fields, or NSW.....

 

[nesral]

The ATX will work just fine in WA, if you already have one and know how to use it then bring it and save the rent or purchase of another brand.

The use of a full cover coil skid plate is advisable.

 

[Pirate pete]

Hi christian1664 I have also owned an ATX and it was an expensive learning curve, I haven't been to WA yet but have used it in the GT in Victoria .In my opinion it is a waist of money and time. some people love them (cant see why) between my wife my stepson and myself all had the ATX and we were going to known gold bearing areas over a period of six months every weekend we in total found zip only buckshot and i know people say if you can find buckshot you can find gold but after all the time we put in with 3 ATX's i cant see it .If your a relic hunter i would say this would be fine and knowing detecting in the UK I know this is the main type of detecting but not for gold in WA .We have all sold our ATX.s and now have minelab 4500 with 12"nf evolution coils and all found gold in the first two weeks of owning them I am not an expert detectorist but would hate to see a fellow POME come all that way and be really disappointed because of a crap machine .Hope you have a great time over here and get on the yellow stuff, and it has been said in this thread be careful out there its not like the UK things here can go tits up really Quick .Have a great time and hire a 4500 lol.

 

[Westaus]

Saying that, 2 weeks trying to master a hired 5000, 4500 or 7000 in unfamiliar ground will also be a struggle.
Maybe hire a 2300?

Done all of the above and I agree for the best experience hire a 2300 you SHOULD find Gold with that. Plus they are super easy to work and lightweight too.

 

[christian1664]

Thanks everyone for your opinions and advice, looks like Garrett have shot themselves in the foot marketing the ATX as a "gold" machine for WA when all the evidence points to the fact its not.

Would I use it on a beach ? without doubt for 90% of the beaches I work its outstanding the other 10% are so contaminated with iron you need a detector with good discrimination.

Would I use it for relic hunting, no way, you will spend all day digging nails, horse shoes and the other 3000 years of Iron dross that has been lost over the years in the UK, my go to machine is the XP deus 3.2.

How would it work on Australian relic sites, my thoughts (and these are only thoughts), are not well due to the extensive use of wriggly tin and canned goods, let me know if I'm wrong.

One last point you may wish to look into, many times I've read the comment it finds lead shot so it should find gold!! sounds reasonable until you dig deeper lol

Gold has a electrical conductivity of 44.2 and a resistance of 2.3 so its a good conductor and poor resistor

lead has a conductivity of 4.7 (almost ten time worse than gold) and a resistance of 21.3 again ten times greater than gold, so lead is a poor conductor and good resistor.

So gold and lead are almost direct opposite's when exposed to electrical current, gold should give a stronger signal than lead !! so what is going on with the ATX ? if it can find tiny lead shot why is it struggling with gold, me thinks it may be a programing issue rather than being a duff machine, might write to garrett with my thoughts

 

[madtuna]

We found it couldn't find a large percentage of the undug lead shot the 5000 sung on.

 

[Ridge Runner]

One last point you may wish to look into, many times I've read the comment it finds lead shot so it should find gold!! sounds reasonable until you dig deeper lol

Gold has a electrical conductivity of 44.2 and a resistance of 2.3 so its a good conductor and poor resistor

lead has a conductivity of 4.7 (almost ten time worse than gold) and a resistance of 21.3 again ten times greater than gold, so lead is a poor conductor and good resistor.

So gold and lead are almost direct opposite's when exposed to electrical current, gold should give a stronger signal than lead !! so what is going on with the ATX ? if it can find tiny lead shot why is it struggling with gold, me thinks it may be a programing issue rather than being a duff machine, might write to garrett with my thoughts

I think you have those figures a bit mixed up,

Your XP will work fine in OZ for relics and coins etc, but your ATX will boil down to skill and with the ATX it needs to be run at full Gain, But that will only work if the Ground conditions Allow it, But on the whole it should be fine, As to whether you find any Gold or not is down to the Skill of the user and finding a good spot to detect, Some folks can get on well with the ATX others don't, It's a bit like XP Deus or the CTX, some folks get on with one system others prefer the other,

Your Understanding might be different to those who have posted, I tried to use my GP 3500 in fields down in Kent near the M25 and that was a bugger of a machine to use there, where the ATX might be good, most likely not but PI's were never made for hunting in mild farmland,

I have used my MXT for finding Gold in OZ and for hunting hammered coins in the UK, The MXT will work in OZ but some of that Red Dirt will upset them, "YES" they will work and they do find Gold and in junk filled sites they are a big help, But if there is very little junk in Red Dirt areas a PI is the way to go, So I would take both of your machines and if you need to Hire a GPX 4500 or buy one, They are a lot cheaper in OZ than they are in the UK because of Price Fixing ,

john

 

[grubstake]

One last point you may wish to look into, many times I've read the comment it finds lead shot so it should find gold!! sounds reasonable until you dig deeper lol
Gold has a electrical conductivity of 44.2 and a resistance of 2.3 so its a good conductor and poor resistor
lead has a conductivity of 4.7 (almost ten time worse than gold) and a resistance of 21.3 again ten times greater than gold, so lead is a poor conductor and good resistor.
So gold and lead are almost direct opposite's when exposed to electrical current, gold should give a stronger signal than lead !!

I don't think that electrical resistance is relevant to metal detectors, which work by inducing and detecting eddy currents on the surface of metals, NOT by passing a current through them. Minelab's multi-frequency VLF detectors determine both the conductivity and inductance of targets (this last is the so-called 'ferrous' component), but I'm not aware of any detector claiming to measure target resistivity.

 

[Pirate pete]

I went to a training day with my ATX and put it over the same targets as the minelabs were going over out of ten targets at depths ranging from 1" to 8" I missed about 7 of them all of different sizes from small buckshot to musket balls ,the minelabs got most of the without a problem ,that was when i decided to change my machine to a 4500 and have never regretted it . By the way the 4500 is on sale at the moment for about $3500 put a NF evolution coil on it and you will be on the money and the yalla as long as you walk over it lol .