Uptake of the ATX

[dmnz]

Is it me - or does it seem the ATX is still to gain popularity? I have seen a few of the machines advertised on here near new for $1550 - $1600. I know the machine is HEAVY, and the shaft is, well, a pain to maintain...aside that it has GREAT depth and seems reliable. The ATX has really helped me this year (27 gold + 1 Platinum) now since January as of yesterday) - it is a fantastic machine in my opinion!

Don't get me wrong, I am typically more happy when I seen the other guys using VLFs at the beach! Ah ha....time to recheck those holes

 

[lytle78]

I think the weight has put off a lot of land hunters. I know that my nearly new one is for sale cheap on C*****list here in Phoenix because my elbow can't take a heavy detector any more. If I water hunted regularly, it would be a different story.

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

No surprise there about people selling the ATX because of the weight. Going back to some earlier posts on this forum when non-owners of an ATX were beating me up about the weight and design. Personally, I have found the reward digging deep in the wet sand and water is not worth the effort and body aches except for on special occasions.

I tend to have more fun, less fatigue, and find more interesting targets using my VLF. Sure, my gold count has gone down some, but everything else is up and I'm having more fun.

I now tend to use the ATX for special occasions like after a major storm beach erosion event, popular part of a beach after a heat wave weekend, advertised weekend beach event, or during and after a holiday weekend.
It is always good to have a machine that will clean up behind a CTX at anytime during the year.

The key to finding the good stuff as we go into summer as stated by Charles Garrett, is not to procrastinate. Don't miss Sunday and Monday after a major beach event, holiday weekend, or heat wave, I hit the popular areas of the beach by 4:30 AM. I usually don't see another detector out there until 6:30 or 7:00.

 

[Dancer]

Early March I compared the ATX side by side with the Infinium. Not having ever hunted with either, I depended a lot on the posts, & Garrent sites. The capabilities of the ATX gets the nod. It is the machine for wading and the very serious strong armed hunter. I needed a machine for land &sea so for me I opted for the Inf. While belt mounted, its lighter than a lot of machines, which means more time hunting. (For me) I am no Pro, but if the ATX could be belt mounted , I doubt that many would be up for resale. I am not intending to tramp on someone's machine but as a hobbyist there was only one way to go. I repeat based on my needs. The ring totals for the ATX are outstanding, but if only it was belt mounted. Wow.

 

[WaterWalker]

I own both the Infinium and the ATX. Hands down, the ATX wins in the water between the two detectors.
I just measured my "success" by number of hours in the water per gold ring found. And the ATX won over the Infinium during the past 4 years (same time frame same area) that I just checked on. I know I am digging deeper, older targets.
I have an use the Whites' SM PI on the dry/wet sand, hip mounted for all day searches. The lightest PI detector set up I own.
I have tried the shoulder harness that comes with the ATX, it does work, but is UNCOMFORTABLE for me.
I have been looking at the Minelab's Pro Swing 45. Pricey and I do not do much dry/wet sand but if discretionary funds become available...one will be mine.
I have heard good things about the Pro Swing 45 from local owners I know...

Bottom line: I am loving the ATX and it will NOT be up for sale anytime soon, and thank my wife for the Christmas present!
PS: it paid for itself in less than 4 months.

 

[John-Edmonton]

PI's in general are not that common. Look at all the users at a beach. Very few PI's. They have gotten a bad rap for years.....they get nothing but iron, no disc, no TID. Yet, many users of PI's who have taken the time to learn theirs properly, and also when and where have done extremely well. Detecting water without any type of ID puts a lot of people out of their comfort zone. And for the few remaining PI users, that works in their favor. If everyone used PI's at a beach, the remaining deep good targets would be competitively few. Granted, weight can be an issue, but can also be compensated by shifting some of the weight on some of the commercially available kits, using good body mechanics and hip-mounting some of the units.

 

[dmnz]

Likewise love the ATX - I have 27 gold this year - mostly to that machine! PS45 (pro-swing) seems to work well! wish Garrett would make the coils / shafts easier on the wallet - aside the weight a brilliant machine.

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

Your right John ... I don't see many PI's at the beach in SoCal, except for the Dual Field on occasion. I mostly see CTX, Beachhunter, Bounty Hunter, and the AT series.

The ATX is a depth monster and it had a very short learning curve with me. Although, it does take me an hour or so to get back into the swing of things after using my VLF for a period of time as to getting in sink with what I'm hearing with the ATX. The weight of the ATX is not so much of a problem with me if I take it in doses and not use it exclusively. The problem that I'm finding is that the ATX is a slow lumbering machine. So now I tend to use the ATX in targeted areas slow and deep and use my VLF to cover a lot of ground quickly.

I get torn between what machine to use after a crowded busy beach weekend because most targets that I'm after now, this time of the year, are recent drops. The problem with SoCal is the ocean water is cold all year long and most people, except for kids, don't venture into the water unless the weather is hot. All surfers wear wetsuits all year long. I'm finding since I've had the ATX that most quality targets are on the slope to the low tide mark. Not many targets out in the water. So as the weather heats up, I will use my VLF early AM in dry sand to cover a lot of ground quickly and then switch to the ATX as the tide falls in wet sand.

I can cover a lot of ground quickly with my VLF and I'm not so worried about the depth of the items. The VLF works good where the dry and wet/damp sand meet and down the slope on damp sand. But when I get to the wet sand, you get steady iron chatter from the mineralization. I can pick out quality targets with the VLF in mineralized wet sand, but only in short doses, because it's hard on the head.

If the weight of the ATX was shifted to a hip mount and had a lighter shaft, I would use it more often and use it faster to find recent drops. But as with all machines, you need to go slow and steady to find the deep stuff, so the weight of the ATX is minimized when going slow and steady. Then the problem becomes scooping DEEP, which takes a whole different toll on you

 

[BootyHunter]

It's a real good machine, however, that telescoping shaft design is a complete nightmare for hunting in sand and saltwater. The weight is a bit of an issue but the user can "work up to it" in most cases. It's got many more features than the Infinium but I just could not justify keeping it, for the MAJORITY of the hunting situations I encounter, I have other options I would choose ahead of it and its just too much machine and too much $ to sit around in a closet. If I ever move to a coastal location and retire to hunt full time, I would consider another one, but for my current situation and hunting environments, I couldn't justify it. I don't get it, I couldn't sell it for $1,550 shipped on here but sold it for $1,825 plus shipping on feebay. Go figure??