:ausflag:HOW WELL DO AT's PERFORM IN AUSSIE GOLDFIELDS

[Fortunehunter]

Just wondering if there is anyone on this forum who has used either the AT Gold or AT Pro in Australia to search for gold nuggets. I would like to know how they perform on our goldfields especially the Victorian goldfields but also in the more remote fields of the outback. I would especially like to know how they compare to the Mine lab GPX 5000 and 4500. Can the AT's find the small gold like the GPX's?

 

[Fishers Ghost]

Is this a Trick question??
Why would you try to compare the capability of an 700 dollar machine to a 6000 dollar machine.???

 

[Fortunehunter]

Well I guess thats the question. Is a machine that costs nearly tens time more really ten times better at finding small gold?

 

[ivanll]

Well I guess thats the question. Is a machine that costs nearly tens time more really ten times better at finding small gold?

A detector is a tool, it's the person that uses the tool that make it happen.

Posts on the modified for Australian condition AT-Gold have been made further down on this very forum, if you take the time to look see.

As mentioned there are Australian forums with heaps of info on the AT's and their performance on our local grounds.

 

[Fishers Ghost]

Well I guess thats the question. Is a machine that costs nearly tens time more really ten times better at finding small gold?

A good point, I didn't look at the question that way.

A better comparasen would be between the A T Gold and the X-Terra 705 and then ask "Is the X-Terra 705 as good at finding gold as the GPX 5000"?

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

A hunting buddy I've mine has used the AT on the goldfields around Hill End. It handled the ground quite well, better than hid X-Terra 705. As mentioned, the AT Gold has just been released in Australia about 3 weeks ago. The earlier version did not cope with our ground at all. Now it does.
As you figured from other posters; the AT is not a PI machine, but I think that you'll find that it will out perform a most VLF detectors. As mentioned earlier, my hunting buddy was blown away by how stable it was( in goldfield conditions)and how sensitive to small gold it is. The AT gold should in theory do better.
Mick Evans.
P.S. John from Edmonton posted a good comparision on the sensitivities between these 2 detectors which you may find helpful. They were only air tests, but will still give an impression of how3 they will fair.

 

[Fortunehunter]

Ivanll if you are going to post your knowledge to this forum then please pass on some actual knowledge. You mentioned a thread that may have been of interest about a new AT-Gold suitable Australian conditions. I did manage to find this thread but it contained no information what so ever just general talk about what might our might not be. You say there are heaps of Australian forums with info on the AT-Gold in our local grounds. How about providing the web addresses for the best forums if you know so much about them. Yes, the detector is a tool which takes time and patience to master. How about telling us which gold detector you have mastered and why you believe it is so good.

Mick in Dubbo. Thanks very much for your contribution, just the type of information that I was hoping for. Was the AT your buddy using the new Australian version?

 

[vanner]

Ive used the AT Pro( USA model) a number of times at the nundle gold fields and it was stable on every occasion, it handled the conditions with ease.

 

[tigermoth]

I wrote up a post the other day but it vanished and just as well because it was more about the negative response you got to your question,I use the pro on the vic gold Fields and like Mick said it runs like a dream ,put it over some of the hottest ground imaginable and it ran really well and finds gold,if you just want to poke around its great for that but if you want to get serious you need to cover more ground and the dedicated gold detectors are better suited with bigger coils,big price difference ,put the sniper coil on the pro and you can poke it where no detector has ever been,between trees /rocks/creeks/in and around up rooted trees is where it comes into play,hope this helps,there are a lot of detectors out there and its very confusing,threes also alot of experts who think they know every thing and you see them hound all the sites and rattle there chains but hey put a marble in a empty tin and it makes a lot of noise,,very surprised the etrac was so unresponsive to small gold ,we did a test and and it wouldn't pull you up to investigate good luck

 

[Fortunehunter]

Thanks for your contribution tigermoth. I'm still in the early days of deciding which gold detector I will be purchasing but I have to say the new AT-Gold Aussie version is high on my list at the moment. The sniper coil is what I was thinking of getting with it, for the exact reasons you mention. After having been on a detecting trip to the vic gold fields about 18 months ago I can see where there would be great advantages to have a small coil like that to get into the difficult areas which others have bypassed.

In the meantime I will keep looking and learning and hopefully come to a decision on which gold detector will suit me best.

Keep the contributions coming.

 

[ivanll]

Ivanll if you are going to post your knowledge to this forum then please pass on some actual knowledge. You mentioned a thread that may have been of interest about a new AT-Gold suitable Australian conditions. I did manage to find this thread but it contained no information what so ever just general talk about what might our might not be. You say there are heaps of Australian forums with info on the AT-Gold in our local grounds. How about providing the web addresses for the best forums if you know so much about them. Yes, the detector is a tool which takes time and patience to master. How about telling us which gold detector you have mastered and why you believe it is so good.

Mick in Dubbo. Thanks very much for your contribution, just the type of information that I was hoping for. Was the AT your buddy using the new Australian version?

There are 5 Garrett AT's.
AT Infinium LS...........AT Pro (used over there)......AT Pro International (used over here) ............AT-Gold (used over there).....AT-Gold (modified and used over here)

I like first hand experience as it eliminates listening to the chain rattlers and marble in the empty tin experts which haven't got a clue as to the differences between the AT's
The thread with AT-Gold modified for Australian condition was for just that purpose to inform an observant person of a choice.

I Did Not Say............. "There Are Heaps of Australian Forums with info on the AT-Gold in our local grounds.".................Misreading serves no purpose............
What I did say is........."There are Australian forums with heaps of info on the AT's and their performance on our local grounds"............ there is no valid reason for repetition when one can just go there and read the info.
Links to the Australian forums are not permitted here, but there are 6 and they are not hard to locate if one have the interest.

This is a Garrett forum so I'll keep to that brand and not confuse the issue with what test have been performed with other brands.
As some have lately discovered all Garrett detectors work well with wireless headphones.

As to what "Gold detectors" I have mastered,................. it'll be the one I can use without a manual,......... which is everyone in my ownership.
For the bigger picture................http://www.findmall.com/read.php?27,1628251,1630379#msg-1630379

ivanll

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

It is the US version of the AT Pro. I don't own an AT myself, but I have used both the US version a couple of times (my hunting buddies one. He posts here as John Athrop sometimes. I'm sure that he would be happy to answer any questions you might have if you sent him a PM.) I have also played around with the International version and didn't think that (from a coin hunters view) it was as good as the US version. If memory serves me correctly, the International version has a slightly more expanded iron range, which would benefit a gold hunter more, but I didn't like how the high tone goes all the way down to pull tab range, but more importantly, the tones (in Pro Mode) were deadpan when compared to the US version. I'm referring to the edges of the signals here and I'm not talking about the iron audio, but about the way the signal starts and stops. It gives good target info. To date it's one of the best audio's I've used. That may be of a greater benefit to a gold hunter, as audio is all use really use. (I've personally only been out on the goldfields a handful of times so lack the experience you need to cover that aspect of things.) The International version doesn't give that information in the edges of it's tones.
Enjoy your decision making.
Mick Evans.