ATX

[creade]

I was wondering if anyone has used a ATX and what they thought of it. Looking to upgrade from the pro .

 

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[John-Edmonton]

Yes....I have many hours on mine. It's a detector I use for specific areas, looking for specific targets.

It gets used for water hunting areas which have been hunted out and are now sterile of any signals. Firing up the ATX puts new life into these areas. It will get the real deep targets missed by other metal detectors. It is used on land, again, in areas where there are known deep targets, and sterile. It was designed to find gold, in some of the most highly mineralized soils in the world. It is programmed to be very sensitive to tiny to large pieces of gold. The ATX also has some discrimination features to help ID iron.

The ATX struggles in areas littered with a lot of junk. As it is so sensitive to all targets, often times several targets end up being found under the coil. And trying to separate them requires a lot of concentration and work to get them out. But, there is an 8" coil available to help in these instances, which I do not own. If you GOOGLE ATX metal detecting forum, you can get to a forum specifically dealing with this pulse induction detector.

Here's a video using the ATX earlier this year:



A link to the Garrett website: Garrett ATX Metal Detector | Manufacturer

 

[mindcrime1988]

I was wondering if anyone has used a ATX and what they thought of it. Looking to upgrade from the pro .

Curious as to why you want to upgrade from the AT Pro? Is there something you do not like about that detector? I have 3 various detectors myself and the AT Pro is the cheapest out them all but I still use it 90% of the time because it works so well. Just wondering, that's all.

 

[creade]

Looking for more depth,I could go to a minelab or deus but am partial to garrett

 

[RustyGold]

I'm partial to Minelab's CTX because of the FBS Technology. With that said the only problem with the ATX is when they first came out, the plastic around the control box was breaking off if used aggressively. But Garrett may have addressed that issue already.
Also the ATX is a PI detector (I believe) that would have me working harder than I want to.
Best of Luck out there!

 

[Fletch88]

Are you talking for beach or relic hunting? Ron Lord can tell you how deep it is on the beach.

 

[RustyGold]

Here is a review that may interest you.

By Patrick Lanclos
Though you won't find any fancy LCD screen with dubious graphic indicators on this unit, this bad boy will definitely find stuff .... and find it deep! At $2000+ I cannot recommend this unit for the Newbie detectorist. Other than an LED scale and audio, this unit has no other GUI indicators. Therefore, though it is not absolutely required, a bit of metal detecting experience goes a long way with this unit. It is my opinion that you need some experience to help you determine what the combined LED and audio indications are telling you.

Now, having said that, this unit is a relative breeze to setup. After turning on the power switch, there are only 5 steps before you are ready to go hunting (Unless you prefer to use the default settings):

1. Set the unit to the preferred search Mode (Default = Motion Mode).
2. Set the desired level of Discrimination (Default = Zero discrimination - All Metal).
3. Set the desired Sensitivity (Default = 10), Threshold (Default = 7) and Volume (Default = 10).
4. Perform a Frequency Scan.
5. Perform Ground Balance.

All numerical settings and readouts are made on a scale of 1 - 13 LEDs. If you prefer to use the factory-set defaults, you only need to do steps 4 and 5.

The Frequency Scan is accomplished by simply pressing the Frequency Scan button and waiting for the unit to finish the process. During this step, the unit must remain perfectly still, while it senses all ambient electronic signals. It then automatically selects an operating frequency that is not affected by these ambient signals.

The Ground Balance is accomplished by selecting an area on the ground that is free from any metalic items and holding the search coil approximately 6" off the ground. You then activate the Ground Balance function and quickly "bounce" the coil from 1" to 6" off the ground. You continue this bouncing until the audio signal completely disappears.

You are now ready to go hunting!

The unit housing, search coil, control handle, and stem nuts are all made of a heavy-duty ABS plastic. The telescopic stems are made of thick fiberglass .... This unit is built like a TANK! Of course, the drawback to all this "heavy-dutyness" is that it weighs twice as much as other metal detectors. This unit weighs ~5 lbs, as opposed to the ~2.5 pounds that the ATX Pro weighs.

I like the fact that the search coil cord runs inside, through the telescopic stems. There is no tacky looking "wrapping" of the coil cord around the outside of the telescopic stem. However, if you want to switch search coils, it requires that you swap out the entire stem/coil unit. You don't just swap out the search coil. The search coils are made and sold that way (with the telescopic stems attached). The standard search coil provided with all ATX units is the 10" x 12" coil. Optional coils are the 8" mono search coil and the 15" x 20" Deepseeker coil.

The entire unit is submersible up to a depth of 10 feet. This is accomplished by the use of rubber O-rings on all connectors. However, the owner's manual states that if you are going to submerge the unit, you will need to coat the battery compartment O-rings with silicone grease.

Though the ATX does not have a fancy LCD GUI interface, it does allow the user to eliminate/check for unwanted objects via the Discrimination and Iron Check functions. If you are a coin/jewelry hunter, the Discrimination function is absolutely desired. It will allow you to "dial out" items like iron, bottle caps and pull-tabs.

However, if you are a relic hunter you will not likely use these functions, as many relics are made of iron. The Iron Check function will tell you if the object you just found is ferrous. When you have found an item in the ground, simply press and hold the Iron Check button while moving the coil over the object. If it is iron, the audio signal will give a sort of gravelly growl sound. This means the object is likely iron, and it is then up to you as to whether you want to dig or not.

The audio signal in Motion Mode will also help you determine what the item may be. As a general rule, items that are poor conductors (i.e. small nuggets, most jewelry, pull-tabs, bottle caps, nickels, small bronze objects, etc) will produce a high-tone followed by a low-tone echo. Conversely, items that are good conductors (i.e. large nuggets, copper, silver coins, large bronze objects, etc) will produce a low-tone followed by a high-tone echo.

Bottonline: The Garrett ATX is a well made heavy-duty metal detecting powerhoue! It doesn't have all the fancy bells & whistles that other units have, but it does have all the necessary features needed to hunt ALL metals under ALL conditions. This is definitely a unit that will last a lifetime.

 

[creade]

Are you talking for beach or relic hunting? Ron Lord can tell you how deep it is on the beach.

Relic hunting. A few of the spots I'm at , I'm digging kg's and flat buttons at 10+ inches. I think that's max with the pro. My thinking is if a flat button is that deep, a heavier coin might be deeper.

 

[Mach1Pilot]

As a relic hunter who uses PI machines a high percentage of the time -Yes, I have some relic hunting experience with it.... it is deep but the target ID will definitely be different than what you are used to with the ATP. You will basically get two target IDs - a high conductor tone, a low conductor tone, and an iron tone. The iron ID works to only about 3-4 inches at best... beyond depth with a LOT of time on it you might learn to ID iron because of slight inconsistencies in the target sound - but it will take a long time to learn that. And that technique is something that you need to be careful doing or you WILL miss good stuff unless you are really good and really know your machine.

Couple of other points - it balances really well but feels heavier than anything I've ever used... and the iron check feature is super slow. The EMI resistance of the ATX is better than most PI detectors... and as with any PI machine you will not want one in heavy trash.

I could compare it to my experience with other brands but will not do so in the Garrett forum....

Hope that helps!