Quick check of the ATX against the GPX5000

Prospecting Australia

Help Support Prospecting Australia:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

WalnLiz

Wal nLiz
Joined
Jan 20, 2013
Messages
3,931
Reaction score
4,203
Location
Australia, NSW
G'day guys,

Fellow forum member gtxJeff and myself have just got back from Mongarlowe testing the ATX against the GPX.

The Garrett certainly looks bullet proof and is extremely compact when retracted. The controls are simple and easy to use. We only had the DD coil, as the Deep seeker package with the 2 mono coils has yet to arrive. Jeff ran the ATX across some moist (thanks to the showers) and fairly mineralized soil with the sensitivity setting set to max sens,(13), and the threshold at 7. The sens needed to be cut back to around 8 to 10 to run quiet.

First impressions after 15 minutes of detecting mullock heaps was quite favorable, with a few small targets easily picked up. We then proceeded through the typical leaf / twig / rocky areas and soon noticed how touch sensitive the coil was.

This combined with the concentric rings on the coil catching numerous twigs and sticks soon became quite annoying. In the coils favor, it wasn't provided with a skid plate and this should eliminate hooking up to scrub, but I'm not too sure about the touch sens issues.

I ran the machine for about an hour myself and the first thing i noticed was the weight difference to the 5000. Being an extra half kilo heavier, the use of a bungee for a full days detecting could be inevitable. I'm use to sliding the coil on the ground for max depth and this is very difficult with the ATX because of the touch sensitivity to surface clutter. The manual suggests keeping the coil 2 or 3 inches above the ground to avoid this, (pg 26 of the manual). This does not ride well with me on small gold targets.

One thing i found extremely annoying was the coil to shaft position. While moving over uneven ground the only way to move the coil into a horizontal plane once it tilted, was to step on the end of it to hold the front section of the coil on the ground. It does not pivot from within the coil but instead pivots from the outside edge of the coil. This may be OK in sparse desert regions like WA, but is no good in wooded Eastern regions.

Our next comparison was on a couple of nuggets, first .25gram and second 12gram. We dug both nuggets down in mildly mineralized soil to a depth that was a definite signal to the 5000. Both the small and the larger were not audible on the ATX even at sens set to max 13. We then lifted the nugs till they were audible and in our combined estimate this was some 30% less than the 5000.

I do not want to read too much into these depth tests just yet, as it was comparing the ATX with a DD coil to the 5000 with a Mono coil. As soon as the monos for the ATX arrive in Australia we will do a very detailed test of depths, as they will then be on an even playing field.

Initial summary....An extremely sturdy and capable machine.... Is it better than a 5000,???... Not from what i have experienced so far.... Is it great value for money,???.. Detector wise yes, BUT, at $750 for extra coils...???. I'll sit on the fence till the mono coils arrive before giving my opinion or comparison between the two machines. On the subject of 5000 with mono coils V ATX with DD coils, initial unbiased tests puts the 5000 30% ahead in my books.....But this % may reduce after the final mono to mono comparison.

Cheers Wal.
 
Thanks Wal. I never expected the ATX to be a "gift from God" but I do expect it to do its job and hopefully pay for itself one day. If we can find some gold and still have some fun on the beaches then I think it is worth the money. I still cant wait to finally get mine and its first trip will be the local beaches while the 4x4 is getting repaired.
 
I have absolutely no doubt it will be a big player and certainly pay for itself many times over. I'm even thinking of getting one myself as a back up detector, as it is great value for money. I just hate when people do tests on things and don't even know, or show, how and what settings they use in their tests.

I have absolutely no loyalties to any manufactures ....but i do have a loyalty for gold, and will use the best "Tool" for the trade irrespective of the manufacture. If Coca Cola brings out a detector better than the GPX i will buy one tomorrow. :D

Cheers Wal.
 
Thanks wal very interesting there really is a lot to compare
But to me if it's better than half on the 5000 I'll get one based on the price
 
Wal,

Thanks for a straight forward review of what you've experienced so far!
I've been waiting for some unbiased info from Oz and yours seems like the first to me.

Can't wait to hear more from you and the owner!

Cheers,

Tye
 
Howdy,

Most interesting, did u video it?
Would luv to see it in action in the test.
In the test i did, I had to protect the coil
using a cardboard coil cover until
december when the coil covers arrives.
As it was, i used it as normal sweeping
the ground close as it was.
As such didnt notice the coil bumping issue.
Will post to utube the vid I made.
Damn kept raining too much to do good testing.
Had sensitivity reduced to 9 where I was.
Would have liked to do some decent detecting
out n about n dig some stuff up.

Cheers.
Lee.
ps.
Would like to know what depths u tested at
and what the resulting depth was.
I didnt have a sub grammer or a larger nugget
to test with..:(
 
hi
since the atx has been delivered without a skid plate, does that mean garret or the dealers will honour the warranty for the people that use it before the skid plates are available?
regards trashy
 
gtsjeff said:
Redfin said:
Toysandthings said:
Damn kept raining too much to do good testing.

I thought it was waterproof?
It is :D

The ATX is ...the GPX isn't ....and I'm certainly not. ;) WE will pick a good day for the "Real" test and the Vid, and only compare the mono coils. We will show all the settings on all the machines tested and Compare "Real" depth tests on Nuggets, in both heavily mineralized ground and also in mild ground. We will not bother with coin tests.

Cheers Wal.
 
trashmagnet said:
hi
since the atx has been delivered without a skid plate, does that mean garret or the dealers will honour the warranty for the people that use it before the skid plates are available?
regards trashy

Common sense should prevail trashy. I don't suggest scraping them on the ground in any case....they are extremely touch sensitive.

Cheers Wal.
 
When over 100 ATX machines have been sold and tested in every conceivable situation over a 6 to 12 month period here in Australia then and only then will you have the DATA that will say either yes or no it is a good detector for Australian conditions.
Trying to compare it to a 5000 is just plain ridiculous.

It was never conceived to be a competitor to the minlab 5000.

How could anybody expect a 2000 dollar machine to out perform a 6500 dollar machine.
If you are you are dreaming my friends.

Totally different market.

cheers
TheSmithy.
 
thesmithy said:
When over 100 ATX machines have been sold and tested in every conceivable situation over a 6 to 12 month period here in Australia then and only then will you have the DATA that will say either yes or no it is a good detector for Australian conditions.
Trying to compare it to a 5000 is just plain ridiculous.

It was never conceived to be a competitor to the minlab 5000.

How could anybody expect a 2000 dollar machine to out perform a 6500 dollar machine.
If you are you are dreaming my friends.

Totally different market.

cheers
TheSmithy.
I think you should look up the price before making comment you are only around $2000 dollars short on the atx price (for the deep seeker package) $3999 rrp then additional 8 inch mono at $729 . ;)
 
So sorry Gtsjeff,
I know how much they are here in Aust. Hell of a lot cheaper from the states.
You believe what you like.

As far as the comparison that was performed it was a load of crock
Certainly felt like someone is batting for the other side.
Cheers
 
Its all a bit like Toyota versus Nissan versus Jeep, I like my Toyota and would never buy a Jeep. I like my 5K and would never buy a ATX.
I didnt give a mention about Landrover because we dont even need to go there.

My thoughts, the ATX is a poor mans GPX.

Sorry.
 

Latest posts

Top