New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

I tend to agree with you that you certainly get one hell of a metal detector with the Garrett ATX - Cheaper & better at finding both small pieces of gold at the same time its looking for big nuggets - I could be wrong but I think you have to set up the GPX's for one or the other .......

I am sure I will be corrected by the Minelab enthusiasts but who cares? - I kinda like everything about the ATX over the current Minelab line up

Thanks for your opinion Nuggy, however I tend to disagree with this "The suedo military look is a useless gimmick" -

The ATX design is based off their tried and tested Garrett RECON PRO which has proven itself far beyond the extremes your hobby detectorist's should ever encounter & Garrett has simply emulated that tried & tested design into their Garrett ATX Gold Detector -

http://www.garrett.com/c...ml_1000_versatility.aspx

Being easily collapsible & waterproof makes it more important to me than waving around an overpriced piece of carbon fibre

I also think the military/camo look is gimmicky, however not in this instance

Just my view anyway

For the record -

Minelab GPX5000 - 5.3lbs including 11” coil (excluding battery and accessories). Battery weight 1.7lbs

Garrett ATX - total weight 5.5lbs

Edited by user Saturday, 28 June 2014 5:45:21 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Hi Guys

I have an ATX - have used for coming up 6 months now - probably one of the first to arrive in NZ (if not the 1st). The machine has some great points and some negatives. Mainly the weight (disadvantage) and shaft arrangement (disadvantage). The coils are also very expensive as you need to buy the shaft and coil together. All that said, still a good machine that has paid for itself....

was not comparing this with the 2300. Just in general - the ATX is a heavy machine, mostly because of the shaft setup. In the end I had a carbon fibre shaft made, and have ordered the 8 inch coil - I expect this will bring the weight to equal, or less than the 2300. However, my observations are more for water hunting - not gold prospecting. For Gold prospecting the cams etc are probably fine. The issues I have / had relate more to sand in the cams etc. The ATX is a very deep machine and runs well for me. The SDC 2300 does however look very cool and it would be fantastic to try both side by side.

Interestingly - no one can answer my questions about the SDC and applications for water hunting at the beach. Seems like the focus of the machine is on tiny tiny gold. In which case, for me anyway, the ATX would win. (Can use larger coils if needed etc v fixed coil)

@ML Picker : Are you intending on searching for gold?, coins?, relics?, or some mixture of all three With the detector that you buy?

Hi all,

Just sitting here and thinking about some of the metal detector out there, Like I've been look at the Garrett AT PRO , AT GOLD , Minelabs Eureka Gold, SDC2300, gold bug
so what's better or good in the metal detector world,
I would like to hunt for gold first , & all treasure to IT'S just fun hunting & getting out, from the house. you no what I mean Lol

It hurts to say this..........

It's personal preference to a point but I find the Goldbug to be better for finding gold than the AT-Gold, it's more sensitive and doesn't chatter as much... On the other side of the coin (bad pun) I find the AT-Gold much nicer to use for coin shooting than the Goldbug and of course the AT-Gold doesn't mind going for a swim.

On a gold trip not all that long ago the results would have been like this on the same patch. AT-Gold - Nope, Goldbug - Iffy - Eureka gold - Yip
sure there is more to it than that but that's keeping it simple. I should point out that I haven't used a Eureka Gold and that was just my observation.

I'm curious to know which would be better between a Eureka gold and a goldbug 2, guess I'll research that shortly.
I'd think that these would be a bit hot for anything else but gold (Eureka gold is apparently switchable between 6.4KHz/20kHz/60kHz).

My pick would be the Goldbug ~sigh~ in the cheaper range but I'd love to get hold of an ATX.

Edited by user Monday, 28 July 2014 10:56:47 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

USA shipping only from that site - they won't ship to nz. Also - customs will charge import duty on the item and the shipping costs associated. If you can find a USA dealer that will ship (and most won't) it will still be cheaper than in NZ. The only easy way around the dealer restrictions is to ship to someone you know in the USA. Garrett, Minelab are all rightfully protective of their local dealerships. FYI, for parts repair / warranty (I have an ATX) you need to ship back to the USA - the local dealer won't assist.

Edited by user Monday, 4 August 2014 10:41:42 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Hi All I tired to buy one from metaldetector in usa, but they cancelled my account. no reason. But that will be why they stop it a.
So I Rang Garrett in Auckland to see if they would sale me a ATX and do a deal , HE SAID NO! great, so I asked if they would but some waterproof head phone in AND he said no. but I put a small bag in. Great
Do Garrett in nz want to sale there Detector or not $4800.00 for the detector All I was after was a deal....... what all nz want