Best CTX 3030 Black Sand Settings?

[seahunter34]

What would be the better CTX black sand settings in saltwater. Please comment on my thoughts here-

1-Seawater ON- since I'll be in shallow saltwater.
2-Set Coin-Ground ON and do manual GB... since it's mineralized.
3-Sensitivity on AUTO and perhaps +3... since Auto will be able to track in black sand?
4-Deep OFF... perhaps to reduce false ground signals?
5-Volume Gain @ 24 and lower... again perhaps to lower false ground signals?
6-Target Trace OFF... so the detector has less to process?
7-Set Response to SMOOTH?... perhaps hear good targets a bit better?
8-Hunt with no threshold/silent... no threshold might allow one to manually set a high sensitivity, where good targets might break through the machine chatter that's no longer heard?
9-Use 5 tone combined?
10-In black sand hunt wide open/zero DISC... or hunt with Discrimination in black sand?

I appreciate all inputs on CTX 3030 Black Sand settings- thanks! OK- I know a PI works better in black sand... Only when detecting with my 3030 and hit black sand during the hunt, one has to hunt with the machine in hand.

 

[Johnnyanglo]

Soil oxide minerals vary considerably as does salt content ... easiest way to determine 'best' setting is to take a sample target (thin ring, coin?) and bury it. Then try all the settings you can think of. Use whatever works best. It is the only sure way.

 

[Digger]

What would be the better CTX black sand settings in saltwater. Please comment on my thoughts here-

As johnnyanglo said, the best way to find out is to take a sample target and see what settings provide the best results. But with that said, here are a few thoughts I had......

JMHO......
1-Seawater ON- since I'll be in shallow saltwater.
Seawater basically ignores one of the target channels that is very sensitive to Salt water. What I've noticed is that, in Seawater mode, the sensitivity and depth of detection can be adversely affected by having too slow of sweep speed.

2-Set Coin-Ground ON and do manual GB... since it's mineralized.
Ground / Coin Separation will stabilize your TID information. And it will optimize the potential if used in conjunction with Ground Balance. To do this, set to Ground / Coin Separation, Enable Ground Balance, Start Auto Ground Balance, Lift the coil to approximately 1 foot above the ground (making sure nothing metal is under the coil), then lower it again until it almost touches the ground. Repeat this movement several times. Audio will provide feedback during the GB process. The audio should quickly get quieter and upon successful completion will be totally quiet. A second message will advise you when the GB process is complete.

3-Sensitivity on AUTO and perhaps +3... since Auto will be able to track in black sand?
Personally, I doubt I'd run with a positive offset. In some of the lesser mineralized beaches I've hunted, if I ran with Auto, I ran with no offset. But in most locations, I found running in manual Sensitivity at the beach provided for a much more stable operation. Which, I suppose, is why Minelab recommends not using Auto Sensitivity at the Beach.

4-Deep OFF... perhaps to reduce false ground signals?
I agree. The black sand could cause false return signals. No sense in encouraging them!

5-Volume Gain @ 24 and lower... again perhaps to lower false ground signals?
IF, and that is a BIG IF, all your other settings were in perfect harmony with the black sand, you would run with whatever Volume Gain you found useful to your ears. However, if you are running with Auto GB, you have locked in that GB setting. Two steps later it might not be "optimum" for that exact spot. With that in mind, I can see where amplifying all the audio responses to full bore could be annoying. So again, I agree that lowering it could be beneficial at this site.

6-Target Trace OFF... so the detector has less to process?
I always run with Target Trace ON. I can't determine that the processor speed is impacted either way.

7-Set Response to SMOOTH?... perhaps hear good targets a bit better?
I don't know that you'll hear good targets better. But Smooth will provide a continuous audio response, filtered to reduce variability of those responses. If you want the continuous audio response, LONG will also provide that, with more audio definition of individual targets. To those wanting a continuous audio response, Long provides more audio information (tonal), allowing us to "hunt by ear" with more precise target analysis.

8-Hunt with no threshold/silent... no threshold might allow one to manually set a high sensitivity, where good targets might break through the machine chatter that's no longer heard?
I always run mine with a slightly audible Threshold. If the Threshold Level is too high, faint targets will be harder to hear above the Threshold ‘hum’. If the Threshold Level is too low, the slight variation caused by a small or deep target may not be sufficient to hear.

9-Use 5 tone combined?
I really like the design of Combined Audio, regardless of what I am hunting for or where I am hunting.

10-In black sand hunt wide open/zero DISC... or hunt with Discrimination in black sand?
Personal preference. It all depends on what you want to listen for and how much you chose to ignore. I hunt with very little discrimination in Pattern ONE. Usually only the Ferrous Line 35 rejected. This allows me to hear just about anything under the coil. I also set Pattern Two with zero discrimination so I can better identify deeply buried iron, when I happen to be sweeping too quickly. If I get an audio response that squeaks as I pass in Pattern one, I can easily identify it by re-sweeping in Pattern Two.

 

[seahunter34]

Digger- Thanks for your help. The last time I used the CTX at a particular black sand beach, well... I did find 1 small piece of shallow 18K gold, but the 3030 Struggled- putting it nicely! The Auto Sensitivity was way down and I felt like I was wasting my time. So I grabbed my PI... only PIs struggle there too and one has to dig all the old junk coins and bobby pins. This beach is in the Caribbean and has produced gold using Excals in the past, but Tropical downpours have washed more black sand into the shallow water off the hillside/mountains.

Now the Excals go crazy there and the only chance is to either turn the sensitivity to minimum- which has found gold, or to maximum with no threshold hoping the gold target breaks through... and that has worked too. Either is a frustrating hunt.

On vacation we may only hit that beach once or twice. So I have to make the most of my time and was hoping CTX settings might weed out a few good pieces.

I'll test detection speed required with Seawater on- Thanks, perhaps I'm sweeping too slow?

I thought Ground-Coin might help with less blending of desired targets and tougher ground- in this case black sand? My thinking is that even with a noisy 3030 there, using GC with Man GB, one might be able to hear gold better?

Re: Auto sensitivity- I understand in low mineralization Auto will not lock onto the ground and drift. Is that why ML says not to use it in the water? Not sure if that makes sense, but is why I was wondering if Auto might follow the bad ground there? But I think you're right- perhaps the less the 3030 has to do the better in black sand? I was also thinking trying to run like we do the Excals, with high sensitivity and no threshold (to stop all the non-stop chatter) and hope a gold target breaks through. My concern is that running low sensitivity will only hit shallow targets. I know it sounds crazy, but perhaps maxing Sens out with other tweaks might work?

On Discrimination- my concern was that by hunting wide open such as pattern 2 the 3030 would have less work and handle the black stuff better? Unless in black sand one should use disc for some reason?

Once there I really will not have much time for testing. With 5 of us I'll want to start hunting right away. I'm hoping someone who hunts black sand with a 3030 might weigh in? It would be nice to hit that beach with a custom black sand mode/pattern in place and a game-plan of quick adjustments to try while hunting. I realize this might be expecting too much from a VLF- but heck, it's a CTX and 1 nice piece of 18K gold will be worth the effort.