1962
The Garretts move to the Garland, Texas, area where Eleanor continues her school teaching career and Charles accepts a position as Project Engineer with the Geotechnical Corporation. He becomes heavily involved in several earth science related projects. He helps develop advanced seismograph circuitry that is planted on the moon by Neil Armstrong in 1969 to detect moon quakes and other seismic disturbances. Garrett develops several other earth science related devices.

1963
Charles Garrett rents commercial metal detectors and finds them unsatisfactory. He begins work in the garage of his Garland home to design, develop and build better ground search metal detectors.

1964
Eleanor and Charles Garrett establish their business April 1, 1964.

Garrett introduces the dual searchcoil Hunter, his first metal detector, to the market (retail price $145.00).

1967
By 1967, Garrett competes with more than 35 companies who have a standing history of manufacturing and selling metal detectors. He recognizes early that his detectors must offer better searching capabilities than those available from his competitors.

1968
Garrett continues to improve his metal detectors by traveling with his family to field test his inventions.

Garrett sets up his first hobby trade show booth at the Prospector’s Club of Southern California, which captures the attention of the best known treasure hunting talent in the country.

Garrett establishes the first distributor outlet, “Bowen’s Hideout,” a store owned by Harry and Lucille Bowen, in Spokane, Washington. Realizing the tremendous value of a distributor network, Garrett begins placing ads to set up dealerships across the country.

Garrett becomes the first manufacturer to eliminate oscillator drift. He also designs and patents his revolutionary, independently-operated searchcoils which greatly improve treasure hunting efficiency.

Garrett is also the first to overcome searchcoil drift by inventing (and patenting) a special coaxial searchcoil winding technique.

These discoveries launch Garrett to the forefront of the industry. Many of his competitors close their doors or later acquiesce that the Zero Drift Revolution, as it is now called, changed the metal detection industry forever.