GTAx 400

willie d

Silver Member
Jul 13, 2005
4,007
394
Close enough to the beach
Detector(s) used
**Tesoro Tiger Shark** Tesoro Silver Umax** Minelab Sov Gt w/WOT coil** Whites 6000Di Pro SL**
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have been running a GTAx 400 for almost 5 years now. Strangely enough, was inspired to get into detecing by a white's commercial. I went to white's website and found the closest dealer. Checked out the dealer looking for a whites and got talked into a garrett and haven't looked back. I've replaced original coil with power dd coil. I used it primarily for beach hunting. I understand it wasn't ideal for beach hunting but it worked just fine for me. Dry sand hunting was fine and I stayed away from wet sand for the most part. I found a few coins in wet sand but most times there was alot of static. I have crossed search patterns on the beach with people with other brands and found coins. On one occasion I came across a guy with an excalibur and found a penny that he had missed or didn't want to pick up. I found a quarter in the drag mark of a long handled beach scoop right on top of the sand. I've found a handful of gold and silver rings. I'm very happy with my garrett and am very sad to see that they are no longer making the GTAx 400.
 

rockyredbaron

Hero Member
Jul 20, 2005
846
101
Texas
Detector(s) used
Garrett GTAx 1000 and Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That's how I feel about my GTAx 1000 --- wouldnt trade it for anything. not sure about beach hunting tho..someday I will get to the beach some day soon.
 

T

timberline

Guest
willie d said:
I have been running a GTAx 400 for almost 5 years now. Strangely enough, was inspired to get into detecing by a white's commercial. I went to white's website and found the closest dealer. Checked out the dealer looking for a whites and got talked into a garrett and haven't looked back. I've replaced original coil with power dd coil. I used it primarily for beach hunting. I understand it wasn't ideal for beach hunting but it worked just fine for me. Dry sand hunting was fine and I stayed away from wet sand for the most part. I found a few coins in wet sand but most times there was alot of static. I have crossed search patterns on the beach with people with other brands and found coins. On one occasion I came across a guy with an excalibur and found a penny that he had missed or didn't want to pick up. I found a quarter in the drag mark of a long handled beach scoop right on top of the sand. I've found a handful of gold and silver rings. I'm very happy with my garrett and am very sad to see that they are no longer making the GTAx 400.
 

T

timberline

Guest
Hi,
I just bought a used GTAX 400 on ebay last week. Came with case, pouch, manual and headphones. Easy to get started, found several pennies in the back yard. Went to the lake and tried the beach sand, couple of newer quarters, and the big find an aluminum can. I went to an old abandoned house and found 2 more older quarters and 1 nickle. Each time I am learning more about the sounds and screen indications. I am using the factory presets so far and I am doing OK, everything found has only been 2 inches deep, have had some beeps and dug them but found nothing. I think I need to get some more hours on the machine and it will all come together.
Very satisfied with this machine so far, I think i'm getting hooked on this hobby.
 

greenswinger

Full Member
Feb 17, 2005
214
0
ms
I bought a gtax 750 little over a yr ago . have almost paid for it in clad finds , about 3 more mo will do it ,also 23 rings , earings , necklaces , and so on . very well pleased...when it bings, I dig . Something is there , and it will tell you what !!! Working on having a gti 2500 next yr !!!!!
 

James57

Jr. Member
Jan 15, 2006
62
3
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac, Detectorpro Headhunter PI
I bought a Garrett GTAx 400 on eBay last month - my first metal detector. I did a check in my backyard and I found a quarter, a penny and an old screw all about 4"-6" underground within the first few sweeps. I also found some roofing nails, bottle caps, and a jar lid. They showed up pretty clearly as iron on the display, that is great! It is finding things all over the yard, but I don't want to dig it all up.

I repaired someone's old BFO metal detector about 15 years ago and I tried it out in that same yard. All it found was a couple of pieces of aluminum flashing buried a couple of inches underground and some more junk near the surface.

The only problem that I have is pinpointing. I sweep it in an X pattern to locate the target but it doesn't seem to beep in the same place all the time. I read somewhere that the GTAx400 needs to be moving when detecting. Is that correct? When I hold the coil over a coin, it beeps once and displays the coin type. I guess that's normal, it sure isn't like that old BFO unit.

I've been digging 6" diameter chunks of sod (in my yard that is..), flip them over and then I check the sod and the hole to see where the metal is. Maybe I just need more experience at pinpointing and digging. If it ever stops raining here, I'll check out the other signals and aerate my yard some more.
 

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