I have read through this thread, one group that is very interested in this detector here in the States is Relic Hunters. Maybe some of you dont realize, but there are many many relic hunters especially on the East side of the country that utilize PI detectors for hunting in the mineralized soils. That market has been basically locked down by Minelab for the past 15 years or so. The TDI, Infinium and ATX just didnt challenge the GPX. Now, from what I am seeing with the Axiom, it has a chance to cut deep into that market. Anyone that has lugged around a GPX and worn that horrible harness with the battery on their back and the cord tethered to themselves knows what I am talking about. Sure you can set up your GPX to run the battery on the side of the control box, but that requires purchase of a special pouch, a short battery cable and then the added weight on your forearm. So about $150 bucks and more uncomfortable hours swinging the machine. Not to mention the complexity of the GPX, it has settings that are not intuitive at all, nor really explained in the owners manual as to what they really even do. I have owned the GPX 4800 for nearly a decade, and while I have MASTERED numuerous vlf and multifrequency machines, I feel my skills with the GPX are merely adequate. I KNOW there are many more like me. I am definetely interested in the Axiom as it looks like comparible performance in a much more modern, ergonomic platform. Not to mention it is weatherproof, has wireless headphones and a telescoping shaft. None of these features are in the GPX. Gold detectors are actually Gold and Relic detectors, they just arent marketed that way and I really dont know why the manufacturers havent capitilized on that. This machine checks the boxes that hundreds of relic hunters that I have conversed with over the years have been longing for in a Relic machine. I think the price while hefty, is really a bargain if it offers the performance it appears to offer.
I'm out!
