Garrett Ace Series Battery Door
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The Garrett Metal Detector Company is a family-owned and family-run business. Charles and Eleanor Garrett opened for business in 1964 with the motto: "To invent and develop the best possible multi-purpose metal detectors based on the most innovative engineering science possible". I purchased my firstborn Garrett detector in 1971, a multi-coil Coin Hunter, and have owned a lot of other units without ever having to send one to the factory for repairs. In recent years I have owned in regards to ten GTA's and GTI's and found them all to be magnificent deep-seeking instruments for both coin and relic hunting. Today's review is the result of my desire to see how the GTP 1350 performs as it appears to take the best features of the GTA and GTI series. The Garrett engineers sought to create a detector with features not found on any other brands and yet making it simple to operate. One of the biggest foilings users have with all the new engineering is that the learning curve is overpowering and as a result some will give up on the hobby. While the 1350 is sophisticated, it does not take a outstanding deal of time to master it is functions and meet with success in finding treasure. The GTP 1350 looks like it is counterparts in the GTA And GTI Series, as the control housing is basically the same. Garrett has fine-tuned this housing and shaft over a amount of time of years and it is proven to be ergonomically designed for all size users. The feature that sets this detector isolated from all others is the distinctive target sizing feature. The GTI's introduced us to target imaging. Not only did the detector give target ID and depth it also gave an effigy of the target so user would know whether the item was worth digging. I found this to be great at the beach as well as on the farm or pasture when relic hunting. Items like soda cans and horse shoes will from time to time give a positive coin indication at deeper levels. However, the imaging feature would show that the item was larger than a coin, so bypass and go on to next target. The GTI 1500 and 2500 both were great to use for coin and relic hunting and stopped me from digging shoes and cans at more than a foot deep. The 1350 handles the imaging in a dissimilar manner. The Profiling mode, which may be turned on or off, gives three target sizes on the LCD screen. Coin-sized objects register as small, targets up to 4 inches in diameter register as medium, and more prominent targets will register as large. The targets are sweep-distance dependent but not effected by sweep speed. After a short time of using the 1350 in the profiling mode I was hooked on it. Unique to the GTP 1350 is that it provides target sizing or profiling with any search coil unlike the GTI series which requires particular Imaging coils to provide that information. This will save cash when purchasing further and added coils as it allows any GTA coil such as the Crossfire II or DD coils to be employed in the profiling mode. I love it because I have ten GTA's and GTI's and own each coil out there and the GTP 1350 becomes the most versatile deep-seeking detector I own. All adjustments on the GTP 1350 may be made without apparent effort through the Menu option and touchpads on the face plate of the control housing. The 1350 has five independent discrimination search modes: Coins, Jewelry, Relics, Zero and Custom. The introductory four are preset at the factory but all five are adjustable. This permits the users to fine tune or tweak the system to their specific needs without any elaborated programming. The discrimination circuitry allows users to receive or reject specific targets without any loss of sensitivity as specifically occurs on most other non-notch detectors. This likewise aids in minimizing the amount of trash recovered from a trashy site. Selecting what targets to receive or reject is exceedingly easy and is one of the most highly-rated features of the Garrett GTA & GTI Series and is now found on the GTP 1350. The GTP 1350 is powered by eight AA batteries which will provide with regards to 25 hours of use. Nicad batteries may be applied with no loss of performance. A nice feature integrated on the GTP is the removable battery pack initially introduced on the GTA line. If weight is a factor, merely slide the pack off the armrest and clip it to your belt to drop the weight of the detector to just over 2.5 pounds! The GTP performed flawlessly in my test gardens and was fun to use at the beach too. It found and accurately identified all of my six and eight inch targets in both the coin and trash gardens. I recovered a great deal of coins as deep as 10 inches at my favored park beach in Tarpon Springs, FL. The 10 X 14 DD coil that belongs with my GTI 1500 likewise handled the worst mineralized ground I know of in Tampa Bay and developed nine Wheaties, 2 Indians and a 1917 Canadian quarter. I commend this detector to severe coin and relic hunters who want high performance and features not found on other detectors in it is price range. Recently, the price has dropped to in regards to $550.00 for a new machine with the Garrett 2 year warranty. I purchased mine on ebay for $340.00 in closely new condition. I am not concerned in regards to warranty as I have never had to have a Garrett repaired in more than 35 years of using them. Here's to "diggin it"! Larry |
