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Post your updated thoughts on the ATX :poke:

WaterWalker

WaterWalker

Well-known member
Well, I have been swinging my ATX for six months
 
Wow - awesome write up! One that Garrett should read - there are many good things about the ATX - but not really suited if you only have 'one ' machine. Like you say, just too sensitive in some situations.
 
My thoughts after extended use of the ATX, is that they should of called it "Nail Finder Extreme", its the most awsome prospecting detector i have ever used due to its great sensitivity and depth. But for cluttered yards i still prefer AT Pro. After extended search in my own yard i have a five gallon pail of old rusty nails and fence staples from the ATX to prove it.

But thanks to the ATX i should never get a nail in my tires ever again!

The ATX is mega overkill in alot of situations.
 
more info:

The 100+ hours were on many beaches of differing types from just south of Boston, south along the coast around Cape Cod, west into RI and CT. All the time so far was while wearing waders in water temperature from the mid 30s to the mid 60s. Air temperature from 30 to 85 degrees F. Time was two hours before to two hours after low tide. One night in February I was in the water way after dark...the cold and dark could not hide the silver and gold for three days straight. Very light surf, no crashing waves, some snow and some rain fall had to be put up with.

About too much trash, well not really, just tired of pulling up bobby pins that are iffy signals while the Excalibur just does not give a positive sound, but rather a null. Most of the trash left in the fresh water I talked about is pretty clean...this morning at four different ponds I found one fresh drop of 5 coins in three hours of detecting. The only other target I dug was a barrette, and I knew that it was trash before digging it, I just wanted to dig something. There is no need for a deep seeing detector this time of year in the fresh water ponds. Also the larger coil covers more ground faster.

I have used the Infinium for the past 7 years (over 2000 hours shallow water detecting). Very seldom did I ever check for iron, now with the iron check...I use it several times a week, just with a push of a button. Setting the threshold akin to a VLF detector is sweet. Finding a clear frequency with one button push, likewise, sweet. And a volume control, YES! Even though I don't really need it with the Amphibian headphones
 
Now here's a thread right up my alley (kidding) sorta.

For me, the best thing about the ATX is the deep seeking power from the internal components, short learning curve, and it's turn it on and go simplicity.

I believe Garrett should have inserted the quality ATX components in a completely new shell instead of trying to save a buck by using the Recon AML 1000 design. I'm not going to go into specifics on what needs to be changed. There is months of feedback in this forum from everyone about that.

There is still two things about the ATX that I am confused about.

1) Why would Garrett supply low end non-waterproof headphones with a high end waterproof machine? Personally, I believe that is another area that Garrett is trying to save a buck. They could have at least supplied their Blue Underwater Headphones, or designed a new quality set, or worked with a current quality headphone manufacture (Gray Ghost) to supplied a private label model with the Garrett name on it.

2) If employees at Garrett actually do read the feedback on this forum, why no response or comments from Garrett about this forum? Or at least open a live question and answer forum on their web site to address comments, suggestions, and problems with the ATX. When you email Garrett, you only get a gray answer response that requires more questions.
I most likely just answered my own question. If they address or comment on future changes or modifications of the ATX, all current sales would stop cold.

With all the photos of ATX customers replacing the telescopic shaft, modified coil changes, and totally tearing the ATX apart and mounting it to a chest harness, you would think that Garrett would want to say something. All the complaints and modifications would surely be a turn off for potential new customer of the ATX.

So I guess Garrett is in a catch 22 situation, damned if they do talk, and damned if they don't :)
 
Hello good learne curve yes easy to use, 7 month i use in beach , 4 out /weeks, x5 h so 140 hours , from 40 hours i understand the differents sounds , ( i m not speaking about hi/low or low/high ) when you analys the size of the signal , you compare with the size of the echoes you can realy have a kind of identity of the target when down 10" , have to swing very slowly when you have the target and hear the form of the signal...try you will be surprise !

so I founed deep gold ring give a same size signal/echoes...a kind of coins short signal and long echoes...yhats pretty good.


Possible to know if it s bullets or coins/ring by this technic , and for a accurate pin point when its outside the hole i use the fonction "ferrous check" , it give a fast sound , more efficiency for reovering targets, than the realy pin point give (to) long sound time..

Biggest difference is in the black sands....huge puncher , for me..
 
People like to tinker and fix things. I will not be ripping my ATX apart for a solid shaft or to hang the unit off my chest. One of the things I like about the ATX is its ability to go small, the long shaft kills that. The ability to shorten the shaft to hit walls or go into holes. With the ATX I can put it in a backpack and ride my motorcycle to the mountains. The next day I can hit the beach, in the water, where the weight is irrelevant. The coil would be better suited from an engineering viewpoint if the shaft connected in the middle. What we have is an engineering compromise which allows the detector to collapse into a small compact unit. The connection point on the coil edge itself makes a better watertight connection as well. The fact that some take the machine and modify it to their own use shows that it is worth modifying. Most wont. All aspects of any machine are a compromise, strike the right balance and you have a winner.
 
Next month (Jan, 2nd) will be one year since making the ATX purchase, one of the best detector purchases in my detecting career.

Although purchasing the ATX mainly for water hunting, Have found the ATX to be a fantastic relic machine in mineralized soil. Simply terrific in harsh soil, even slightly mineralized soil will mask good conductive signals with the best VLF detector but not the ATX it cut's through the harsh soil with ease getting the tiniest finds at great depths.

The more I use the ATX, The more appreciation I have for it's capabilities.

Paul (Ca)
 
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?96,1983695,1983695#msg-1983695

Followed up not long after with http://www.findmall.com/read.php?96,1989028,1989028#msg-1989028

It is interesting to revisit those reports because I have to pat myself on the back for calling it right. The Garrett ATX remains one of the best detectors I have ever owned.

Which may strike some as odd because I have also been very vocal in pointing out some shortcomings in the design of the detector for prospecting. I promise you if I did not care I would say nothing. It is precisely because the ATX is so good that I make so much noise about getting it into a package designed for desert prospecting instead of water hunting. I love it for water hunting as it is, with some minor niggles. Desert detecting - not so much.

I am putting my money where my mouth is by completely stripping my existing ATX to the bone and rebuilding it into a dry land unit. In the process it will drop over two pounds of weight, easily accommodate Infinium DD coils, and be hip or chest mountable.

Better yet I just ordered a brand new Garrett ATX Deepseeker package, because I still want to have a waterproof ATX and I finally decided I had a use for that oversized coil.

I have been selling lots of detectors getting down to the serious core units that bring home the goods. The survivors are in my signature area below, and the ATX is the only one I could list twice. That is just how much I like mine.

I'm still going to be a nag every chance I get though!
 
Great posts Steve. Some people think because you complain about something you dont like it, or are bashing it. Nothing is perfect. I am still trying to sort out the bumpy noisy machine, have you ever had your coil too noisy from touching things?
 
Yeah, I think I was first guy to report it in my nugget hunting review. Been a consistent bitch ever since. The scuff covers help a bit. I get it the worse on a hard rubble or rocky surface where hard bangs happen. In many places with a little grass or duff to ride on no problem at all. Bottom line it just forces more coil control than might otherwise be called for and along with the weight it accentuates wear and tear on the arm and shoulder.
 
steve herschbach said:
Yeah, I think I was first guy to report it in my nugget hunting review. Been a consistent bitch ever since. The scuff covers help a bit. I get it the worse on a hard rubble or rocky surface where hard bangs happen. In many places with a little grass or duff to ride on no problem at all. Bottom line it just forces more coil control than might otherwise be called for and along with the weight it accentuates wear and tear on the arm and shoulder.
Click to expand...

Thats what I thought. Some on another thread to do with this indicate their machines do not do that. Wondering if its individual coils that make the difference between the quite ones that take a lot to get them to do the extra chirp and others that are very sensitive to being touched?
 
The ATX is a highly sensitive PI and that inherently tends to make the coils touch sensitive. I think the ATX is "on edge" in this regard and it would not be surprising if their is a small variation in produced product making one unit slightly more susceptible than another. My 8" mono was about the same as my stock coil in that regard so swapping coils made no difference. The only way to know is use multiple detectors, and since I have my second ATX on the way perhaps I will know more about the subject soon.
 
I disagree that the ATX is "on edge," as for the reason to why the detector will make a sound if the coil is bumped. I have a TDI pro which will go slightly deeper than an ATX on medium size targets and slightly less deep on smaller targets. The pro doesn't make a peep when the coil gets slapped around. I do however also have an infinium and it'll he-haw nice and loud when I bump a rock good enough, no matter what coil (i have the stock DD and both monos). Something about Garret's coil designs, I think. I bet you will find with that second ATX there is no difference. At any rate, now that's been out a whole year it's interesting to see what people think of the ATX. There was a lot of hype for this detector, I feel for the most part, the ATX has lived up to it. Been some great finds and I like stopping by to see what the pirates have plundered.
 
I have owned around eight TDIs and have not had coil falsing issues, nor with the similar number of Infiniums I have owned. I agree the new ATX will probably exhibit the same coil sensitivity to knocking as the one I currently have. You may want to do some research on coil issues related to short pulse delays. No excuse for it though. My SDC is hotter by far than the TDI or ATX and it is impervious to coil falsing.

TDI is a good machine. Google herschbach whites tdi
 
Steve, just tried the 20" today and not sensitive to knocking at all, zero falsing from it. Might have been the nut not being tight on the DD coil. 20" is a pretty nice piece of kit at the beach, covers some serious ground pretty quick. Not too heavy if you dont stick it out too far either. Found full extension on the lower two shafts and about 4" on the upper shaft was about right.

Also noticed that the 20" stayed where it was supposed to, I did not have to adjust the tension on the screw once, even if I was ground balancing. If I wanted a different angle, just moved it to the new angle, it stayed. Cannot say the same for the DD, as I tightened it numerous times the first day, and still was not stable at the end of it. They might have figured out the issue by the time they made the 20". No issues at all with it.

Didnt have too much trouble pinpointing within a few inches of where the target was, just depends on how you swing it.

Tomorrow I will try the DD just to check sensitivity and also depth on some gold targets, plus have another look at the coil tension issue.

Kent
 
Kent,

Can you please give us an idea on whether the 20" can pick up smaller gold targets on the beach as well as the DD? No so much tiny earrings but more like smaller gold bands. I'd like to get a 20" but I'm afraid I'd be missing too may targets. Thanks
 
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