Is Garrett About To Release A New Gold Prospecting Pi?

[abenson]

28 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Use the monos unless you want to use the iron check (only works with DD) or have some other particular need where the mono is not working. I personally use the tones more than iron check - if it sounds good, I dig it, and the monos produce a smoother, more consistent tone than the DD coils, which are ATX wound DD coils (complex cross winding with hot inner donut ring). The mono handles the ground as well or better than the DD due to the advanced circuitry. The DD is actually a bit hotter on tiny stuff but you have to focus on the inner coil loop to get that extra bit, kind of like using a small coil in a big housing if you are doing that. The DD may be better with EMI, but again, the Axiom is really good there with mono. Mono coils are lighter! I particularly like the 11" mono as it swings so nice. For me it's 11" mono for bread and butter gold, 13" mono for Gerry style large gold or rings and things. Be interested to hear what Gerry thinks of DD vs mono though, as there is a case for both.

Iron check is really sweet for lower mineral ground, but I'd not trust it in high mineral ground, nor in general for that matter. That's just me though - I have never thought much of PI type ferrous rejection as once you see any of them fooled in a big way, and I have years ago at my Moore Creek Mine, well, I just never think much about using it. I am a hunt by ear guy, and the mono coils favor that in a big way.

Best news is I see zero reason why the aftermarket people won't go crazy making coils for this one. Six coils out of the starting gate, and more sure to follow. I'd like a tiny mono, 6" round or 6x8 or 4x6, whatever. Standard DD types would be another good option, as the ATX style DD is not like anything else on the market, and take some getting used to. Oh yeah, no knock issues at all with any of the coils that I ever saw, even cranked to the max, as I often am.

I hunted extremely mineralized ground in a very recent California burn area, as bad as it gets, with no issue at all really. The ground balance range on the machine is truly remarkable, easily tuning out ground and hot rocks that trouble other units. It's not magic, and large pure magnetite iron ore, or some other real extremes will still trouble it, but it is a real step up in that department. Zero issue with salt ground, or even saltwater, for the beach hunters. Be aware though that tuning out salt costs small gold, no way around the physics of that.

Great info Steve! Answers a lot of questions for me. Really looking forward to seeing the Axiom in action on some videos in the wild. Good to see an American company getting back into the game. Be happy to support Garrett on this one if the price is right.

[JCR]

I hope at some point we can have some solid reports on how well suited it will be for hot ground relic hunting with coil selection/iron check evaluation.

[phrunt]

Well, I fell asleep waiting, either way I had full confidence Garrett was going to bring something worthwhile to market, and they exceeded my expectations, what a pleasant surprise to wake to to see the tide has turned!

Thank you Garrett, what a fantastic jump into the current PI market and now I'm questioning why I have an order in for 3 6000 aftermarket coils for a detector I don't even like when I should put the money towards this puppy instead.   As my order is a special order with my dealer who is bringing them in specifically for me I'll keep my order but I really think I've blown that money as I'd rather use this Garrett.

It ticks a lot of boxes for me and the aftermarket will go nuts for it, why wouldn't they, no restrictions preventing them from doing it, Garrett if anything encourage it, and if they can bring even more performance to the table for it even better!  X-coils could make a great range of coils for it in the sizes I'd want.

People had their doubts about Garrett and ground balance after the ATX, well.... it appears it does very well there.  People assumed it might have bump sensitive coils as a decade old detector they released did...  I don't understand why people just assume a company can't improve a product, unless they're Minelab, which in some ways go backwards with their new products, not always forwards.  Garrett has done a brilliant job by the looks it of it and I can see it having a very good market share in very short order.  Maybe Minelab will re-re-release the GPX 4500 to try fight back a bit in it's price range, I know which I'd rather be swinging.

And I know you must of had a good amount of involvement at least encouraging Garrett to do this Steve and guiding them towards what people would like, so thank you also.  Now reading about Gerry's involvement, a big thank you to Gerry too! Good work!

I also think it will be a very good seller in Africa ?

A happy day for prospectors.

Now to have a coffee so my brain wakes up to absorb all this great news.

[kac]

With an iron check, it should do well as a relic hunter as the ATX does but in a much better form factor.

[Steve Herschbach]

10 minutes ago, kac said:

With an iron check, it should do well as a relic hunter as the ATX does but in a much better form factor.

It will slay the ATX as a relic machine, unless you need submersible, or just like heavy detectors! It is a nugget detector first and foremost, but I think both relic hunters, and beach hunters who don't do more than wade, are going to love this thing. Really, the only reason to keep making the ATX is that it can be submerged. I wonder if the ATX can be upgraded in the future with Axiom circuitry? I see no reason why they would not want to do that, get some more life out of the old beast.

[Steve Herschbach]

On 7/26/2022 at 10:24 AM, jasong said:

Nice work Steve and anyone else involved with getting a detector tested that checks a lot of boxes off the much needed list. I had a real concern in the back of my head that it was going to be hobby detector, but this has every hallmark of being a real prospecting machine from first looks.

You mentioned being worried about real testing. Gerry and I were both deep in this, and we pulled no punches. I'm very grateful to Gerry for agreeing to be involved, as I have the highest respect for him. He is a truly great detectorist, and knows more than anyone as a dealer what people want. Garrett was absolutely terrific about our sometimes rough and tumble commentary, as we can both be pretty blunt about stuff. It's especially hard for engineers to hear from us, but nothing but praise for Brent and his team.

[jasong]

Good to hear Steve, companies need to hear real input from real prospectors like you and Gerry. Glad to hear Garrett availed themselves of the opportunity to work with both of you.

Looking forward to trying this out whenever I can get my hands on one. It's a 600+ mile drive for me to get to the nearest dealer, so I'm just waiting now to hear when these are available for mail order.

I don't have many more questions that aren't better answered by getting my hands on one and trying it out, looking forward to it. So nice to see a real 2nd option finally. And stoked to see a US company stepping to the plate! 

[Steve Herschbach]

I will be blunt. I've been detecting for 50 years now, and swore I was done being involved on the back end, with the development type stuff. It was too tempting however when this opportunity arose to end my efforts in that regard with an American based company. I've been very disappointed to see our once unassailable lead in detecting basically frittered away by the arrogance of the U.S. manufacturers. It was my faith in Steve Novakovich that made me decide to get back on the horse again for one last ride, and I'm glad I did. The folks from Garland are just a solid group of great people, and being able to get behind and truly believe in a U.S. company again, is a breath of fresh air. I hope this is the start of more great things to come from Garrett in the future, but for now, I'm just so happy at least one U.S. company is stepping up to the plate, to give it a serious effort. For that, they are winners in my book. 

[Luis]

Now the million dollar question.  Has Garrett included a chip in the coils or in the cable so that third-party manufacturers cannot do it?  I hope is not like that