Garrett Metal Detectors GTAx 550 Owner'S Manual Download

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target acceptance / rejection, precise

discrimination and other key information,

you can spend more time digging treasure

and less time digging trash!

The

GTAx 550

is factory preset to begin

operation in the COINS mode. Simply

press the POWER touchpad on your new

GTAx 550

and immediately begin hunting

without the troublesome interference from

typical trash items or ground minerals. Of

course, you can easily adjust the detector

to operate in its other hunting mode.

Thank you for choosing Garrett Metal

Detectors! Again, welcome to our treasure

hunting family. In becoming a part of

this great tradition and hobby, you have

made the right start to successful treasure

hunting.

Summary of Contents for Metal Detectors GTAx 550

Page 1: ......

Page 2: ...ions of dollars So to get the most out your GTAx 550 and treasure hunting experiences be sure to carefully read through this Owner s Manual Your GTAx 550 is engineered with microprocessor based technology and is backed by 40 years of metal detection research and development by Garrett s leading team of engineers It is remarkable in its ability to locate coins jewelry and other metallic objects at ...

Page 3: ...POWER touchpad on your new GTAx 550 and immediately begin hunting without the troublesome interference from typical trash items or ground minerals Of course you can easily adjust the detector to operate in its other hunting mode Thank you for choosing Garrett Metal Detectors Again welcome to our treasure hunting family In becoming a part of this great tradition and hobby you have made the right st...

Page 4: ...end 11 Upper Scale 12 Lower Scale 12 Batt Battery 13 Hip Mount 13 Touchpads Controls 15 Power 15 Pinpoint 16 Set Depth 16 Accept Reject 18 Set Audio 18 and 20 Hunting with the GTAx 550 21 Pinpointing 22 Coin Depth Measurement 24 Proper Scanning Techniques 25 Junk Targets 28 ...

Page 5: ...crimination 32 Bench Tests 36 Test Plot Construction 38 Headphone Jack 39 Batteries 40 Searchcoils 43 Recommended Accessories 44 Maintenance 45 Specialized Hunting 46 Service Repair 49 Recommended Reading 51 RAM Books Order Form 53 Specifications 55 Mind Your Manners 57 Warning 58 ...

Page 6: ...TT GTAx 550 Searchcoil Lower Stem Upper Stem Control Housing LCD Screen Touchpad Controls Padded Arm Cuff Headphone Jack Detector Stand Handle Grip S shaped Ramrod Stem Spring Clip Threaded Bolt Washer Knob ...

Page 7: ...et of parts which include Control Housing w S Ramrod Stem Upper Stem Lower Stem with Spring Clip Two 2 Mounting Washers One 1 Wing Nut One 1 Threaded Bolt Searchcoil with Cable Instruction Video not shown below Warranty Registration Card If any part is missing contact your local dealer ...

Page 8: ...SEMBLY No tools are required to assemble the GTAx 550 Hand tighten all necessary parts 1 Press the two Mounting Washers into the Lower Stem Figure 1 2 Slide the searchcoil onto the Stem Figure 2 Figure 2 Figure 1 ...

Page 9: ...oil Hand tighten the searchcoil assembly with the remaining Wing Nut Figure 3 4 Depress the Spring Clip and insert the Control Housing into the Upper Stem 5 Depress the Spring Clip in the Lower Stem to adjust to the most comfortable operating length Figure 4 Figure 4 Figure 3 ...

Page 10: ... the Searchcoil cable snugly about the stem with the first turn of the cable over the stem Figure 5 7 Insert the Cable into the Connector of the Control Housing and hand tighten Figure 6 10 Figure 5 Figure 6 ...

Page 11: ...the probable identity of a target along a horizontal scale that reads from low conductive metals e g iron on the left to high conductive metals e g silver on the right 1 Target ID Legend A Target ID Legend is located directly above the LCD screen and indicates commonly found targets and metals When a target ...

Page 12: ...point signal Indicates the cursor s location for changing discrimination notches 3 Lower Scale The Lower horizontal scale or Notch Discrimination Scale indicates the discrimination pattern where the GTAx 550 will or will not produce an audible signal when a target is located No audible signal will be produced when a target is located where a notch regions of Lower Scale where no segments are visib...

Page 13: ...ies only three squares will generally be illuminated with fully charged batteries However when only one square is visible battery life has diminished to two hours or less 6 Hip Mount Hip mount adaptability is built into the 550 Since no extension cable cord is required you never have to worry about winding it around the detector s stem or carrying it with you When you slip off the hip mount batter...

Page 14: ...splay is visible on the control stem of the detector The removable hip mount pack and built in coiled cable permit easy reassembly for carrying and storage When reassembling make certain the coil cored slides into its tube and is not pinched in any way between the armrest and battery compartment 14 ...

Page 15: ...d to turn the detector on and off Note After turning the detector off wait 3 to 5 seconds before turning on again The POWER touchpad can also be used to reset all settings to factory preset by pressing and holding for 5 to 10 seconds or until the detectors beeps ...

Page 16: ...to a dual mode detector NOTE Pressing and releasing the touchpad makes it easy to alternate between the A and B Modes 4 SET DEPTH Sensitivity Permits using the and touchpads to regulate depth sensitivity of the detector When the Depth touchpad is pressed the display screen will appear with factory settings at approximately 75 as indicated on the Upper Scale You can use the and touchpads to adjust ...

Page 17: ... scanning electromagnetic or power line interference etc Such considerations as ground mineralization will also inhibit the detector s ability to interpret target information This Depth Sensitivity control option permits you to regulate sensitivity This will result in achieving the maximum detection depth possible in relation to any existing condition Garrett engineers designed your GTAx 550 for m...

Page 18: ...ove a sensitivity level that permits a quiet and stable audio threshold may actually cause you to miss deep targets you would have found had you not pushed the detector 5 ACCEPT REJECT Permits acceptance or rejection of specific target segments shown on the Lower Scale to establish discrimination notches 6 SET AUDIO Permits using the and touchpads to regulate the audio threshold When the audio tou...

Page 19: ...enever a target is encountered Also you will be able to hear even the faint signals that sometimes occur on tiny targets or deeply buried coins When headphones are used it will usually be necessary to decrease the threshold level since sound is more audible through headphones After you have made audio adjustments press AUDIO to re enter your previous operating mode The GTAx 550 is equipped with Ga...

Page 20: ... AND Use these touchpads to adjust levels of threshold and depth and to move the cursor in the Upper Scale when setting the discrimination 20 ...

Page 21: ... detecting in Mode B which is a factory pre set COINS mode Whenever the detector has been in use it will always return to the mode that was being used when it was turned off NOTE Only a light touch is necessary to activate a touchpad As noted the GTAx 550 begins operating with discrimination at factory set levels These settings can be changed easily but you may never want to do so It is recommende...

Page 22: ... classification Recovery Whenever your detector locates a target you ll want to recover it with the least amount of digging Locating your target precisely will enable you to recover it by digging the smallest hole possible This is accomplished by pinpointing You can then utilize another function of the GTAx 550 for measuring coin depth 1 Manual Pinpointing Pinpoint targets by first drawing an imag...

Page 23: ...and maximum sound will be heard when the target is directly over your target This increase will be further reflected in the Upper Scale of your graphic display Illumination of the Lower Scale s segments from left to right will indicate the depth of your target For the most effective electronic pinpointing place the searchcoil on the ground near your target s apparent location Press and hold the Pi...

Page 24: ...the Upper Scale and while still pressing the Pinpoint touchpad check the Lower Scale to determine coin depth in inches You will notice that coin depth always indicates the shallowest most accurate reading even though subsequent scans across the target off center show greater depth on the Lower Scale Since the final step in recovery usually entails digging you will want to develop your own method s...

Page 25: ...e sensitivity of the GTAx 550 and its PROformance searchcoil it is not necessary to operate with the searchcoil touching the ground The recommended operating method is to hold the coil at a constant height about one or two inches above the ground Detection of a metal target will be indicated by an increase in sound and indications on your display Garrett s exclusive Belltone Coin Alert will indica...

Page 26: ... skip any areas Overlap each sweep at least 25 of the searchcoil s width Wear headphones for greater sound perception and concentrate on your scanning Erratic Sounds When a metallic object is accepted the detector s speaker or headphone sound will increase from your audio threshold level Some rejected targets however may cause the audio to break up or sound erratic This is generally a response to ...

Page 27: ... to achieve the greatest accuracy and success until you have hunted with this detector for at least 100 hours or more Don t forget to take Charles Garrett s advice to press only one touchpad and search in the factory preset Coins Mode for at least 10 hours during your learning phase Perfect practice makes more perfect treasure hunting The more you use your detector in the correct manner the more t...

Page 28: ...ng signal of a coin Before you dig up some of the targets that make irregular audio blips see how they register on the Upper Scale of the graphic display Learn to recognize them Because your GTAx 550 in the factory preset Mode B is set primarily to hunt coins it will also precisely identify small junk targets Some larger objects such as aluminum cans may however present a good audio signal due to ...

Page 29: ...ection will be illuminated on the graphic display You can change to the other mode simply by pressing the Last Mode touchpad In addition to the familiar Zero and Coins discrimination detection modes preset at the factory as Modes A and B the GTAx 550 permits a user to design personal modes through use of the and touchpads It is important to remember that these special modes of detection can be cho...

Page 30: ...er that you can instantly restore the factory set levels of all its controls Simply press and hold the POWER touchpad for approximately ten seconds or until the detector beeps Operating Mode Descriptions The GTAx 550 is a slow motion detector with precise ground balance The searchcoil can be hovered over a target for only a few seconds because of automatic circuitry It should always be kept moving...

Page 31: ...e Because no discrimination is programmed in this mode your detector will give an audible signal announcing every piece of metal it scans over Remember you can always return to the alternate discrimination mode to quickly check a target by pressing the LAST MODE touchpad Mode B Coins Discrimination preset at the factory mode is designed to eliminate the detection of lower conductivity trash target...

Page 32: ...etection mode to his or her specific requirements by setting accept reject notches The Lower Scale of the Graphic Display contains segments Those that are displayed represent targets that will cause the detector s sound to increase when they are detected In Mode A for instance all segments shown indicate that every metal target will cause the GTAx 550 to respond audibly Specific notches can be cre...

Page 33: ...ear creating a reject notch If the Lower Scale segment is not displayed press the ACCEPT REJECT touchpad to illuminate it creating an accept notch and your GTAx 550 will begin detecting targets represented by that segment Second method Pass the searchcoil over an object to be accepted or rejected as a target or pass the particular target across the face of the coil about two inches from its surfac...

Page 34: ...ject specific targets For example You may be looking for only one item a certain lost piece of jewelry for example You can program the GTAx 550 to reject all other types of metal targets You may be hunting in an area where you encounter large amounts of a specific type of trash You can reject just this type of trash and continue to hunt with no other discrimination detecting all other metal You ma...

Page 35: ...ote on Settings If you are ever unsure about the settings of your detector simply press and hold the POWER touchpad for 10 seconds or until the detector beeps to restore the detector to the factory set B Coins mode ...

Page 36: ...ollowing tests should be performed with the searchcoil perpendicular to a bench floor or other non metallic surface and several feet away from any metallic object 1 Select the factory preset A mode of operation with no discrimination all Lower scale segments displayed Bring various metallic targets across the bottom of the coil at a distance of about two inches All targets will cause the sound to ...

Page 37: ... each item is scanned Notice the specific cursor s in the Upper Scale of the Graphic display that are shown when various target s are scanned across the coil 3 Begin to experiment with the and ACCEPT REJECT touchpads Notice carefully which of the 24 segments are illuminated by targets Try to imagine how these targets will affect your search for coins The possibilities are truly countless your only...

Page 38: ...n of each target Then scan and study the detection signals Remember that newly buried objects especially coins will be somewhat more difficult to detect than items that have been buried for some time This is primarily a metallurgical phenomenon Experiment with various detection modes and pay attention to both audio and graphic display signals as you scan over your test plot Note carefully the resp...

Page 39: ... Headphones are a valuable accessory for any metal detector to mask interference from outside noise They permit you to hear small and deep targets that might be missed when using only audio from the detector speaker Headphones are particularly essential when you are hunting where noise of people and or traffic is excessive ...

Page 40: ...eries be used All adjustments or settings you have entered into the detector will be replaced by the factory settings when batteries are removed for approximately four minutes or more Although standard battery packs can be used interchangeably in the detector it is recommended that both packs being used at the same time always contain the same type of battery For example don t mix carbon zinc and ...

Page 41: ...ing the POWER touchpad 2 Slide the battery case back slightly from its normal position beneath the arm rest Place both thumbs on the lower sides of the cuff with your fingers on the front of the case Firm pressure will then disengage the case from below the armrest and allow it to slide backward 3 Slide the two covers up on the battery panel and remove them completely 4 Take out the battery holder...

Page 42: ...ertain that the rivet on each battery holder is visible in the center of the battery case If the holders are replaced incorrectly it will be difficult to install the battery covers 8 Press the battery covers down firmly Remember when the battery pack is removed for more than four minutes you will lose settings you have made in audio depth and disc All settings will automatically return to those se...

Page 43: ...nto your detector to prevent their being misplaced Caution Use only high quality rechargeable carbon alkaline or heavy duty batteries SEARCHCOILS The 7 x10 PROformance searchcoil that comes with your GTAx 550 is suitable for searching for almost any target in any terrain Optional searchcoils are also available for the GTAx 550 The 10 x14 DD PROformance Elliptical Use in areas with moderate to heav...

Page 44: ... locations or in tight places where a larger searchcoil will not reach Part No 2218800 When changing searchcoils only hand tighten the knobs Never use tools of any kind RECOMMENDED ACCESSORIES Headphones 10 X14 DD elliptical searchcoil 9 x12 PROformance searchcoil 4 5 Super Sniper searchcoil Carry bag Coin hunter kit pouch probe digging tool Coil covers 44 ...

Page 45: ...the summer or winter months When storing longer than about one month remove the battery holders and batteries from the detector Keep the detector clean Wipe the housing after use and wash the coil when necessary Protect the GTAx 550 from dust and sand as much as possible Your7x10 PROformancesearchcoilissubmersible but your GTAx 550 s control housing is not Never submerge the control housing and al...

Page 46: ...ssor controlled circuitry combine with the detector s light weight and ease of handling to make is a superb instrument for finding coins and metallic jewelry Finding Coins Whether you choose to hunt for coins and jewelry in a park or at the beach the Coins Mode offers discrimination that responds ideally to conditions normally encountered From time to time you will discover specific trash targets ...

Page 47: ...y hunters however prefer to hunt with no discrimination especially on the beach Finding Relics Relics of all shapes and sizes can be found with a GTAx 550 To find them however you will want to search with all Discrimination segments turned on Zero discrimination and you must be prepared to dig metallic trash since your detector will sound off on any metal object it locates Finding Gold Gold and ot...

Page 48: ... the amount of small nuggets found but some areas contain so much iron trash that a small amount of discrimination becomes highly desirable even necessary A special notch can eliminate a particular junk metal target if needed Hard work patience and research are three of the keys to success in electronic prospecting Research is important because it is vital that gold always be found in areas where ...

Page 49: ...ce When your detector must be returned to the factory for service make certain You have checked batteries switches and connectors Weak batteries are the most common cause of detector failure You have contacted your dealer particularly if you are not familiar with the GTAx 550 You have included a letter that fully describes the problem and conditions under which they occur Make certain to include y...

Page 50: ...Ship to Garrett Metal Detectors 1881 West State Street Garland Texas 75042 Call Garrett s Customer Service Department 800 527 4011 if you have further questions Please allow approximately one week for Garrett technicians to examine and repair your detector after they receive it plus another week for return shipping All equipment will be returned UPS or parcel post unless written authorization is g...

Page 51: ... books are pertinent to its use Treasure hunters will also appreciate the revised version of Garrett s popular Modern Metal Detectors a basic text that will help you to understand all types of metal detection equipment and how to use them A special section of the revised edition is devoted to the use of One Touch computerized detectors For beginners the new edition of Treasure Hunting for Fun and ...

Page 52: ...tes thousands of sites where treasure is known to have existed This book also includes good information about One Touch detectors such as the GTAx 550 Hobbyists of all ages will want to read Gold Panning is Easy but it is especially applicable to those interested in gold prospecting 52 ...

Page 53: ...5 ___ New Modern Metal Detectors 12 95 ___ Gold Panning is Easy 9 95 ___ How to Find Lost Treasure 3 95 ___ How to Find Gold 3 95 ___ How to Search Sand and Surf 3 95 Free with the purchase of any other RAM book or Garrett product If you do not wish to purchase anything but would like a free copy of How to Find Lost Treasure mail 2 00 for postage handling to our address U S orders only For interna...

Page 54: ...ed check or money order ___ I prefer to order through ___ American Express ___ MasterCard ___ Visa ___ Discover Card Number ______________________________ Expiration Date of Card _____________________ Phone Number ____________________________ Signature _________________________________ Required on credit card purchases Name ____________________________________ Address _____________________________...

Page 55: ...ansmitter receiver filter front end 10 bit data acquisition Microcomputer with 8 Kbyte memory Crystal controlled 4 MHz operation High reliability surface mount printed circuit board construction Audio Frequency 275 to 710 Hz Batteries 8 AA Battery Life approximate Alkaline 30 hours Carbon Zinc 20 hours Rechargeable 12 15 hours Humidity To 95 non condensing Temperatures Operating 0 to 140 F Storage...

Page 56: ...56 control display and panel Convertible hip mount with self storing cord for minimum weight and optimum balance Hip Mount Cable Length 62 inches Weight 3 lbs 4 oz Shipping weight 5 lbs ...

Page 57: ...governing federal state and local public lands I will aid law enforcement officials whenever possible I will cause no willful damage to property of a n y kind including fences signs and buildings I will always fill the holes I dig I will not destroy property buildings or the remains of ghost towns and other deserted structures I will not leave litter or uncovered items lying around I will carry al...

Page 58: ...searching for treasure with your Garrett detector observe these precautions Never trespass or hunt on private property without permission Avoid areas where pipelines or electric lines may be buried National and state parks monuments etc are absolutely off limits Deepseeking detectors can detect concealed pipes wiring and other potentially dangerous material When those are located the proper author...

Page 59: ...ny pipeline particularly if it could be carrying flammable gas or liquid Use reasonable caution in digging toward any target particularly in areas you are uncertain of the ground conditions If you are unsure if you can use your metal detector in any area seek permission from the proper authorities ...

Page 60: ...1881 W State Street Garland Texas 75042 Toll Free 800 527 4011 Tel 972 494 6151 Fax 972 494 1881 Email sales garrett com 2008 Garrett Electronics Inc PN 1525300 D 0608 ...

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