Garrett AT pro/AT gold

G'day
Got a couple of newbie questions. First, what's the difference between these two besides price? I do a lot of panning and sluicing because it gets the family out in the bush, and I can have the young kids helping/learning around a creek where I can keep an eye on them. Supervising the under 10's is not really compatible with having a proper swing, so the GPX 10000 has to wait a few years .

What I'm looking for is
1- $6-700 max budget
2- I live 30ft from the beach so might as well have a pleasant evening swing when I can't scratch the gold itch, so good on coins and stuff
3- Something I can swing over highbanker tailings during operation
4- Something that is waterproof enough to swing mainly in and around creeks to chase nuggets, though I understand there are better/more expensive machines I can accept this won't be a strong point

My research so far for new machines has come up with these two as possible contenders. Any opinions are welcome as well as suggested alternatives. This will be my first detector so I have no experience with them. I am also wondering if these could be used to track black sand runs?

Cheers

Chimpy

G'day Chimpy

Garret GMT is the one for black sand runs but even though it come with a good iron grunt discriminator,because of its high frequency, useless on beach or salty environments if your into searching for coins or rings etc.The A/T Gold is specifically designed for gold detecting first,coin detecting second.Hence the higher frequency(18khz as compared to 15khz on the Pro).True all metal and threshold capability,(instead of silent search) manual ground balance as well as auto.The A/T Pro handled hot ground well,being able to pick up half gram bits of gold at a good 3+ inches depth over hot ground,I do expect that the A/t Gold to do better.Both machines are water proof to 10 feet depth. You've got to ask yourself what will be your main purpose of detecting.By this I mean,according to your post,good on coins and stuff,parks/beach etc when you can't scratch the gold itch as well as running your detector over high banker tailings,then I'd go for the A/T Gold.Keep in mind that Garret did not make the A/T gold to replace the A/T Pro,for the later(A/T Pro)is a specialist beach/park,coin/relic detector with reasonable gold nugget detecting capabilities.The other is designed more around the handling of mineralized ground in gold districts,for the purpose of finding gold nuggets,with the capability of searching for that odd coin ring etc on parks and beaches.

Cheers kon61.

G'day
Thanks for your reply. That answers most of what I need to know. The main use will be as an extra weapon in the gold arsenal, I'm not really into the coin/relic side of things so that is just an afterthought living next to a beach (22 of them within 5km). Think I'll check out the AT gold unless someone can suggest a better macine for the price.
Thanks again

Cheers

Chimpy

was going to ask about these but seems the answer is here looks like i,ll try one of these for the price ,see how it goes down west coast of TAS cheers Mick

Just a word of warning & I've noticed that no one has touched on this yet. The AT Gold has some major issues with the sensitivity on hot ground & won't ground balance properly. This problem is in the process of being rectified with field testing almost complete. I warn those that are thinking of purchasing one from America to seriously reconsider & wait until the AT Gold is released in Australia, mid January next year. Until then the AT Pro International (the Australian version) is a great all round unit that has great stability in salt water & gold fields.
If you have any questions feel free to post or send me a message.

Aussiedetecting wrote:Just a word of warning & I've noticed that no one has touched on this yet. The AT Gold has some major issues with the sensitivity on hot ground & won't ground balance properly. This problem is in the process of being rectified with field testing almost complete. I warn those that are thinking of purchasing one from America to seriously reconsider & wait until the AT Gold is released in Australia, mid January next year. Until then the AT Pro International (the Australian version) is a great all round unit that has great stability in salt water & gold fields.
If you have any questions feel free to post or send me a message.

Glad i just caught your info on the AT GOLD..been reading about this lots and seen a fair few vids on this and was just about to start enquiring pricing purchasing etc in the next week or so and to my luck with researching this i found the right info from this post with you and have just joined up on your site registered my interest[but i dont think that worked to well as all i saw was paypal purchase info]but am gladly waiting for more info from you on the mods that have been undertaken on this detector for our harsh aussie climate and ground differences to american soils etc..Cheers for the heads up and calmly waiting....

Great news. The AT Gold has been released. My one will be arriving on Thursday and it's straight out to give it a bash. I'm happy to show any members if you out this way. If you want to order one just send me a message.
RRP $889.00

Aussiedetecting wrote:Great news. The AT Gold has been released. My one will be arriving on Thursday and it's straight out to give it a bash. I'm happy to show any members if you out this way. If you want to order one just send me a message.
RRP $889.00

big price difference over an AT PRO. I assume it will be better in finding more,deeper gold then.
of course,the hot ground/mineralisation problem has been rectified,other-wise it would not have been released here in aust. NES PAS ? WE WILL SEE WHEN THE INDEPENDANT REVIEWS START TO APPEAR.

Great news to hear,hopefully you will be able to give us some in depth info on what has been upgraded on it and what conditions etc you test in,your evaluations on this new version will be most pleasing to learn as for my consideration to purchase one from you...good luck and awaiting your results...
didnt expect it to be out for a few more weeks yet.........cheers.

Great answers to these questions. Am interested to. When out testing, I would love to see both machines out there so when targets found they can both be run over same targets before digging to see just how different they really are. Just a thought if you have the older machine handy. I think others woulkd like to see the outcome to.
Cheers travelergold

the AT-Gold have hit the ground and is available............ NOW.!
Latest upgraded Garrett AT-Gold.......................... whats it like there is nothing like first hand experiences.

Available at: N Q Miners Den. Cairns. Qld. Australia.

ivanll

j21

here comes the big '' FLOG '', Questions still not answered. mbe prospective buyers will hold of till they are ?

Well i think all we can do for the minute is sit back have a few coldies and see what info is forthcoming over the next few weeks..But in the meantime i have written a fairly hefty email to Garret in the states to try and get some better clarification on whats actually been upgraded
etc etc etc......PS..i will post their return email in this thread , as long as i receive one back from them...heres hoping.
cheers people

The Aussie specs A T Gold is now available from the GMC and other directly connected outlets.
The detector is great for coins, jewelery and relics and primarily for gold detecting.
This detector does not GB salt at the beach.
The A T pro is the machine for the beach and everywhere else inc the gold fields but the A T Gold is much better suited to the goldfields than the Pro.

Have a chat to Phil re this machine. If you have already purchased an A T Gold from other than GMC and its related outlets or directly from the States it will not be to the Aussie specs Which were developed by the GMC.

hi ADRIEN, THANX FOR SOME GOOD INFO. ON THE at,s. WHAT,S THE ADVANTAGE WITH THE int. are they modified in USA FOR aust. or factory designed to go ? hard to get the right data on the OTHER forum. cheers.

Hi fella's,all i have for anyone at present from my research is as follows.
Today i found a new Youtube video [downloaded it ] sorry lost the link for it but the title of the Garrett FLV is on the line below.
Garrett AT Gold Ground Balance Window Tips FLV=74.4Mb
its not really much but as we now "bugger all" at present its worth a look;
Basically it shows a gold pan containing australian mineralised soil etc [their comment ] being discriminated and they lift up the pan place a nugget under the pan and carry on with the demonstration..blah blah.In their testing ground.............
nothing i have found seen or heard as yet indicates to me that it actually has been modified for australian conditions,it just seems to me at this point that its just an improved "new release" of what was...As for the email i wrote Garrett about these remarks that i have heard from numerous sources, no information has yet come forward from them to myself....
cheers all........Trev

It is all old news now.If you don't buy any of it, then To find out the good guts of the entire situation , talk to Phil at the GMC.

Adrian ss wrote:It is all old news now.If you don't buy any of it, then To find out the good guts of the entire situation , talk to Phil at the GMC.

HI Adrian, i got an email from Garrett in the U.S. last night,but unfortunately they were not forthcoming with any information at all..
sorry for being a newb and not knowing the lingo used in your comment,but would i be correct in assuming that the "GMC" is actually
Gold Mining Centre in St Agnes S.A. or if that isnt correct could you enlighten me please...
cheers.....Trev...
......................
PS..since im a newb im not allowed to put that email on this site for at least seven days or something....

Yes , GMC is the Gold Mining Centre St Agnes SA.
08 83967455
mail@goldminingcentre.com.au

@ Adrian ss,
HI,Thank you for your confirmation,just walked in the door from work today and noticed i have an email from them in my inbox...will make contact with them next few days.
cheers....Trev...

goldslugger wrote: hi ADRIEN, THANX FOR SOME GOOD INFO. ON THE at,s. WHAT,S THE ADVANTAGE WITH THE int. are they modified in USA FOR aust. or factory designed to go ? hard to get the right data on the OTHER forum. cheers.

The AT Pro Int mods for Aus conditions are incorporated into the detector at factory level & then shipped over. I've been using the AT Pro Int now for 2 weeks & it has been a treat to use. Finding heaps with it. Last outing seen a heap of silvers, an 1887 toy half crown. Just too good this detector.
I took the AT Gold out in the Whipsticks last week and it ran quiet until hitting targets. Unfortunately no gold this time.

goldslugger wrote: here comes the big '' FLOG '', Questions still not answered. mbe prospective buyers will hold of till they are ?

Well said Well said,
I have sent 3 emails requesting further information to Garret in U.S. and to the australian distributor in St Agnes, and have asked
Aussie Detecting questions on his website.No Response-No Response and guess what-----------------No Response--now isn't that Funny.
Makes ya wonder about our retail sector in australia,and customer service: Hiding something???????????
Well Garrett just lost any business from me in that area .....10 days plus=too long!!!!
..........................
On the other side of things MINELAB have great customer service,a great catalogue and newsletter,and most of all they actually respond
when you contact them and within 48 hours..Guess who wins my money.......................................
cheers.............Trev....

That's interesting as I haven't seen any questions come through on my site. What did you want to know?

Hi aussiedetecting,
well have posted here if you look above,asking for more info...
copied my q's from your site below:

GREENnuggetCONVERT
10:58 AM on January 08, 2012 
Hello, Looks like its the same for me too ..whats my lucky number??have same user name...
Thanks in advance.hoping to be waving my wand soon..hehe and diggin nugs.[ the more the merrier i say.].
can i please get some more detailed info on the aussie version of AT GOLD.eg,mods for whats changed from USA version etc.testing stats and where tested and by whom etc etc,Cheers Trev..
...............................................................................................
As for why i was asking............I noticed on your site a little while ago now that you were advertising about the proposed new release
of the AT Gold (australian version or release) did also read that your site was saying that Garrett s work on this was only around 20%-50%
of expected performance..and that, that wasnt going to be good enough for the Australian market..then i checked your site again to find out it had been released and you was getting yours last week...and then i saw your release add for $889 retail...
so my questions to you are as follows;
Have the new versions come up to standard as to what mods were done for our mineralised grounds and what you expected.?
Can you tell me what the mods are that have been done(because the unit doesnt look any different than the previous model)?
And how and what testing has been done and where has it been done to make it a more suitable gold detector for our country..?
Thats about all i wanted info on but as i posted nobody has wanted to answer so far.....
I am going to be purchasing soon a Minelab 2200d or a GP Extreme or a 4000...depending on my luck finding a good one and within my price range...if i was only going to get a 2200d or GP Extreme i was also considering an AT Gold with either one of these.
But my budget wont allow that if i go with the Minelab 4000....
So as to be able to weigh up all my options properly i was seeking answers to above questions.......
cheers for responding.................Trev....

Sorry I didn't get back to you on this one. By the look of it that came through just as I went on holidays last week.
The testing was done by Phil from the Gold mining centre. The modifications that have been made have allowed the AT Gold to run more smoother & ground balance a lot better. As for stats on the testing, I do appologise but I don't have them on hand. ALL detectors that are purchased through GMC & the associated dealer network will have the modification applied.
I hope I've answered everything? If not post them up.

@aussiedetecting,
Thankyou for that:i still really need to know exactly what has been modded inside this detector and how good it actually does work in mineralised ground,as i have seen a proper GARRETT Video on this subject but it really wasnt very enlightening on any specifics at all. and also if i was to purchase one since they are modified in the U.S,Does that mean that if it was ever in need of repair does it mean that it has to go back to the U.S because they did the mods to it, and how long would that process take approx....thanks ..
cheers.....Trev....

With the question about repairs, if you buy a Garrett from a dealer in Australia all warranties & repairs are done in australia. Depending on what needed to be done & workload, it can take up to 6 weeks. Especially coming up to & after Christmas.
In regards to specifics on the upgrade. Due to our confidentiality agreement we can't give it out. Sorry but it's just company policy. If you still need reassurance on this give Phil a call at the Gold Mining Centre. If he gives you the details that's up to him, but as a dealer I'm not in that position to do so.

@aussiedetecting,
thanks for that..i do understand the business secrecy issues totally....thanks for doing your best and your comments.....
I am just going to have to either bombard Phil with another ten emails on monday(because he wont answer the two he has).......and find out some more.I really just need him to say {trev the detector cant be repaired in australia because three main electronic components have been changed on this model for australia and obviously its a garrett company secret and they are not intending on supplying those components to australian authorised repairers)...its just that simple.....or i wont be interested in purchasing.....All is good i'm not unhappy just unsure:
cheers..............Trev....

GREENnuggetCONVERT wrote:@aussiedetecting,
thanks for that..i do understand the business secrecy issues totally....thanks for doing your best and your comments.....
I am just going to have to either bombard Phil with another ten emails on monday(because he wont answer the two he has).......and find out some more.I really just need him to say {trev the detector cant be repaired in australia because three main electronic components have been changed on this model for australia and obviously its a garrett company secret and they are not intending on supplying those components to australian authorised repairers)...its just that simple.....or i wont be interested in purchasing.....All is good i'm not unhappy just unsure:
cheers..............Trev....

HI GNC. hhhhooooo haaaaaa. small ol runaround. so it comes done to trust me, all good? 6 weeks turn around? read between the lines of the post of the the answers to your questions, does,nt seem to be very.re-assuring.
we, like many potential customers, need certain FACTS to make an informed decision and a possibly, a subsequent purchase. what i have read from all the garrett dealer posts,here and on other forums, is not inspiring. check other forums too TREV, to try and get a more balanced perspective from actual owner/users. cheers

goldslugger wrote:

GREENnuggetCONVERT wrote:@aussiedetecting,
thanks for that..i do understand the business secrecy issues totally....thanks for doing your best and your comments.....
I am just going to have to either bombard Phil with another ten emails on monday(because he wont answer the two he has).......and find out some more.I really just need him to say {trev the detector cant be repaired in australia because three main electronic components have been changed on this model for australia and obviously its a garrett company secret and they are not intending on supplying those components to australian authorised repairers)...its just that simple.....or i wont be interested in purchasing.....All is good i'm not unhappy just unsure:
cheers..............Trev....

HI GNC. hhhhooooo haaaaaa. small ol runaround. so it comes done to trust me, all good? 6 weeks turn around? read between the lines of the post of the the answers to your questions, does,nt seem to be very.re-assuring.
we, like many potential customers, need certain FACTS to make an informed decision and a possibly, a subsequent purchase. what i have read from all the garrett dealer posts,here and on other forums, is not inspiring. check other forums too TREV, to try and get a more balanced perspective from actual owner/users. cheers

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Exactly !!!!!!! i have done all of what you have mentioned and more........
I'm actually just speechless about GMC St Agnes (phil);;
I will bombard him with emails on monday but PHIL has no idea on business...
cheers....goldslugger.......................Trev....
NO SALE TO ME>>>>