I previously have not written any reports on Garrett Detectors because I believe that stories by dealers are generally taken as being biased. Also, field tests by people who are commissioned to write on a particular detector or are going to benefit financially tend to exaggerate or write what they think the dealer wants to hear. I personally will not solicit people for payment of articles, as this tends to happen.

Lately, I have received letters, photographs and a fax from people wanting to let me know of their success. I have been asked on numerous occasions to do an article, so due to this correspondence, the following is about the Ultra GTA 1000.

The Ultra G.T.A. 1000 is one of the latest computer age designed detectors. Due to its unique construction, it is found to be of exceptional balance, weighing approximately 1.63kg (3lbs 8oz) when using the standard 10"x5" elliptical searchcoil which is supplied with the unit. It is in the traditional Garrett colours of green and yellow. The letters G.T.A. stand for Graphic Target Analyser which is a visual readout that continuously reports information on all targets being displayed. As you can see by the picture of the readout, complete control of the unit is done via a pressure sensitive touch pad. There are 9 touch pads which give full control of this detector. By pressing the select touch pad, the display on the meter will change to the set-up mode which gives you six choices. By using the (+) or (-) pads, you can select any of the modes to search in. Once the mode is selected, if you continue to press the select touch pad, you will be given the opportunity to change the detection depth (sensitivity), audio threshold, audio tone, surface elimination, audio enhancements and the type of batteries being used. All of these adjustments are done by the (+) or (-) touchpads.

The unit has 24 notches for discrimination and multiple notches can be set for acceptance/rejection by using the accept/reject pad in conjunction with the (+) and (-) pad. Using the "Last Mode" pad , the unit is able to switch between two different modes that can be set up by the user. Pressing the pinpoint pad will put the unit into nonmotion and an accurate depth reading and location will be displayed on the upper segment of the readout. This depth reading is accurate on coin-size objects and it is not affected by using any of the Garrett factory coils available, unlike other machines that are calibrated for standard coils, this unit senses what coil is being used and adjusts itself for this coil. Coils available are as follows :- 4 1/2"; 8 1/2"; 12 1/2"; 3"x7" elliptical and 5"x10" elliptical.

The G.T.A. 1000 is powered by 8 AA batteries held in 2 battery holders located inside the arm rest. No wires are used to connect the batteries so this saves the problem of battery wires breaking whilst out in the field. Ordinary batteries or off the shelf rechargeable batteries can be used in this unit, as the detector can be set for which batteries are being used. Continual monitoring of battery condition is displayed on the readout. When the batteries have 20 minutes of power remaining, the segments on the battery display will begin to flash.

The Ultra 1000 is a V.L.F. slow motion detector operating at 7khz and all functions are controlled and monitored by an onboard microprocessor. This unit holds two patents on its electronic design. There are more features that I could write about this unit but I think information on how it operated in the field should be mentioned.

The first time I tried an Ultra 1000, was when I had just taken over the shop. A person I know through my wife's parents had an Ultra 1000 and wanted me to check it out. After closing the shop late on a Saturday afternoon, I had only about half an hour to spend on testing the unit. Stopping at an area that I had thought I had exhausted of targets, I turned on the Ultra, set it to the settings I wanted and then started to detect. Within less than 30 seconds I had my first good target at the edge of the area being detected. It was a penny at an approximate depth of 4 inches. I accepted the fact that I must have missed this coin on the edge but did not expect to locate much more. Within 5 minutes another good target. This time I tested the depth which registered at 6 inches. Sure enough, at 6 inches I located a 1912 halfpenny. In that half an hour I had found 4 pennies, 1 halfpenny, 2 one cent pieces, 1 two cent piece and an army badge. Not bad for a half hours detecting in an area which I thought I had worked out. The next thing was to get someone to test the unit who had never used one. I rang my Dad and asked him to meet me at a park he usually detected at. He wanted to use his Wildcat detector that was really part of him, but I insisted on him using the Ultra. I set it up for him and off he went. Shortly afterwards, he came back to me displaying 2 two dollar coins he had found in the playground, both at about 8 inches. Apparently he had previously detected there only two days before. Off he went again and just as we were calling it a day, he found another target under a tree root. On removing the target, he found it to be a 9 carat ring. He couldn't believe it as he had detected this place regularly in the past twelve years.

Since then, I have done well using the Ultra G.T.A. 1000 at the beach and inland, I know this unit as a winner and anyone using this detector will find it easy to locate targets. I would like to share the letters and fax sent to me by two people previously mentioned. They will in their own words describe their satisfaction with this particular detector. The first also came with a photo which is also shown here.

Dear Phil,

I went out for the first time last week with the Garrett G.T.A. 1000 detector. After reading the owner's manual and watching the video on the detector, I could not believe it can do what it said it could do, I was wrong. This machine is the best detector for coins I have ever used in the 3 years I have been detecting.

It's coin and pin point mode allowed more time to search for targets. The discrimination on the G.T.A. 1000 was right 95% of the time, but remember this is my first time out with this detector.

I went to a local park, I was no more out of my car for 30 seconds, that's the time it took to find my first coin, a 1948 penny - 3 inches down! Within 4 hours I had found the following coins:-

1896 half penny 1944 florin

1917 half penny 1952 shilling

1942 " " 1936 three pence

1943 " "

1954 " "

1911 penny 1 store token

1947 "

1948 " (2)

1964 "

3 x $2.00 10 x $1.00

1 x 20 cents 4 x 10 cents

6 x 5 cents 6 x 2 cents

10 x 1 cent

All the items above was found around and between two large old trees. There are lots more trees to detect yet at this park.

I will send a photo soon of my finds. Most of the $1.00 and other coins I found under a seat using the surface elimination setting because of the trash on the surface, well stone the crows it works well.

Phil,

Find enclosed the photo of my first days outing at a park in Collingwood, Melbourne, Victoria.

I also tried the detector (G.T.A. 1000) at Wedderburn, Vic. last weekend. I was in All Metal Mode and set the depth at 4 inches. I found no gold but, I did find a 1952 three pence coin at 4 inches down in very HOT ground!!

I have been showing this detector to most people I meet, they all seem very impressed!! on what it can do. I will let you know what I find next time I go out detecting.

Happy hunting

Mark Agar

Both of the above letters were sent by Mark Agar, Research Officer of the Sunbury Metal Detecting Club. The following letter was sent by Craig Mann of Loxton.

Phil,

Taken my new Ultra G.T.A. 1000 out into the field several times and have achieved brilliant success. I've concentrated on ground that I have already covered with my previous detector and have been amazed at how many coins that I left behind previously. I have found that the elliptical coil supplied with the Ultra is very sensitive to coins and with the graphic target analyzer my job of finding coins has become very simple indeed as you can tell with a fair degree of accuracy what coin you have discovered without even unearthing it. So far my tally on my re-worked ground stands at:-

7 - $2.00 11 - $1.00

5 - $0.50 11 - $0.20

20 - $0.10 43 - $0.05

85 - $0.02 86 - $0.01

Along with this I have found five pieces of jewellery including a nice Aries Zodiac ingot.

Although the notch discrimination is very easy to use its also quite outstanding although the digging of some trash still occurs, especially the screw top lids off soft drink bottles.

I've started hunting for predecimal coins again on ground covered with my previous detector, and who knows who else, and again I've had good success with twelve found so far, they are:-

1933 Half penny 1940 sixpence                                  1951 Half penny 1957 sixpence

1939 Penny 1962 sixpence                                         1916 threepence 1955 shilling

Through my brief association with the Ultra G.T.A.1000 I have found it to be very user friendly and extremely easy to pin point your target which allows for quick recovery and more time to get on locating your next target. The electronic pinpointing capability of the Ultra took a little time to get used to, but once you have, it becomes a big bonus.

Overall I'm very pleased with my choice of detector and constantly look forward to getting out in the field where the action is.

Regards Craig Mann.

As you can see by these letters, both people are exceptionally happy with the Ultra G.T.A. 1000. If anyone is looking for a very good detector that is easy to use, I couldn't recommend a better detector than this. Happy hunting to everyone.

written and prepared by

Phil and Linda Stearnes.

Gold Mining Centre.

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