CTX3030 Coins/Bottle Caps/Line 35/Question###

[glenn3-88]

Yesterday I got into an area around an old school house that has an immense amount of coins but so far nothing significant.
To that point yesterday I had not been bothered with bottle caps and it seems to be just in one corner of the yard. I dug some
up and I began to remember some of the things from Andy's book and was trying to put everything together to avoid digging the
caps. It seemed to be that on the good hits where I would get a clean screen with bright red in bull's eye I was getting a coin.
At other times, there would be a blue square sneaking up around the 35 line and working it's way around that area from the same
Co line as the supposed coin. I would dig it and it would be screw cap. "no indication of a burst of yellow from around the red target."
THOSE OF YOU WITH THIS KIND OF PAST EXPERIENCE WITH THE CTX, do you have to have a clean screen with just the target
showing for it not to be a screw cap and not showing any blue indication around the 35 line. The bottle caps seemed not to bother me
as they would, when I got a good strong signal, show the burst of light yellow or brown colors. I actually dug one to see and it was a
"pressed" bottle cap just to satisfy my mind. I guess what my question should be is "is there a definite indication you see on the screen
to give a tell tale sign that it is a screw cap?"
***Coin Mode-Sandy soil covered with plush grass-machine sensitivity indicated 14 recommended and I ran 12-fast off then on-deep off
then on-Ferrous Coin-changed to ground coin and that would not work well at all****
That was how I had the machine set up but was better with fast on, deep on, in Ferrous Coin. Got a cleaner hit with a better target id in my opinoin.
Any help would be great of you experiences of what usually is a give away that you are looking at a screw cap.
thanks
glenn

 

[Agseeker]

Glenn,

what I've noticed is when in pinpoint a aluminum twist off cap will usually "scream" (loud indication) at you, a coin will give a blip (quiet, more solid sounding). This doesn't work 100% of the time. I have had clad coins scream in pinpoint occasionally. Same for twist caps giving a blip in pinpoint occasionally.

 

[glenn3-88]

Did you notice any indication of iron coming into the scree from the bottom?

 

[chuckciao]

Glenn,
I learned a trick from Digger (Randy Horton) when i was using an x-terra from Minelab. If you are using a DD Coil, when you get an iffy signal, use the "wiggle back" method slowly moving back your coil until the signal disappears. At the end of the wiggle, listen if the tone drops off or changes, a coin will generally remain consistent whereas, a trash target often has a drop off or change in tone. I have not used this much with the CTX but i assume it should work as it did with the x-terra.
Hope this helps!
Chuck

 

[MINELABBOB]

I THINK
after a while audio will tell it all. most times your audio will give it away. but may take time. you and i will be fooled here and there by something!! listen 4 a
double tone or a high/low tone 4 junk. there is no foolproof way around it. changing conditions from one spot to another may work here but not there.
them nice clean 1 tone that stands out is the best way to tell junk from a good target. but just my 2cents on this!!


minelabbob

 

[glenn3-88]

Minelab, Chuck, and Agseeker, you have all given me what I needed to hear. I went back today through 249 recorded digs looking at the numbers.
As I did, I recalled that most of the time when I first pick it up swinging that I do get a double tone. I do the wiggle on every find. That's just my
method of pin-pointing and I have gotten excellent at it with the At Pro and now with both FBS machines. With all three, when I get trash there is
always and I mean always a change of tone as you are coming off the edge of the object. The numbers while staying very close to a coin hit will
fluctuate quite a bit. However, on a coin, the FE line would rarely maby 3 times out of 100 move from the 12 line to the 11 or 13 line and every
time it moved to the 13 line, a quarter was found. If it was an 11, it would be a coin so corroded the edges would be slightly eaten or the remnants
of a penny that a lawn mower blade hit. But in no case I can remember did the conductive number, i.e. 38 for a penny would seldom drop to 37 but
the closer the wiggle came to the center (looking at the depth gauge you can normally tell when you are over it) it would actually go up to 39 and
sometimes 40. The first thing I remember about the pro was that when on a nickel you got to the edge and it was reading a dead 53 and that number
either dropped or raised, it was a bottle cap. Guess it is the same with the CTX. Every nickle I find I register in my Xchg2 and all of them that I have
found with the CTX and there have been a lot, either were a 12/12 12/13 or 12/14. I had one that was one of those new nickels hit on 12/15. The
reason it is so vivid is I found it yesterday and it looks like it just came out of the mint. Thanks guys for some great help. Just goes to show the more
things change, the basics always bring you back on track. AUDIO OVER VIDEO/////////////THANKS

 

[MINELABBOB]

sometimes we get doing so many things that we forget about the tone thing. it took me some time but wen the hunting slows down and i get a chance to really listen
to the sounds and 4 the most part your audio will tell you. next i am going to play around with audio hz. because i think all of us have a pitch level that makes coins
and junk a little easier to tell apart!


good hunting!


minelabbob

 

[CT Todd]

This post is very interesting to read and I will try a couple of the things mentioned just to see if they are dependable But unless I was in a restricted location like a public park or something like that I would dig. This game of trying not to dig Junk Will cost you good targets. If I were to dig 3 12/28s in a row and they all were bad I would be thinking here's another but the fact is It could be a 3center or worse. A nice gold ring.It's a slippery slope

 

[MINELABBOB]

my 2 cents is disc now come back over later trying to dig every thing all at the same time can drive you nuts cherry pick good signals and come back over 4 a ring /pull tab day!

this works good wen you can keep comming back! but if it is a one shot deal spend all day and dig every thing, and make your self crazzzzzy!!!


good hunting CT-TODD YES INTERESTING IN DEED!! now we are thinking




MINELABBOB

 

[glenn3-88]

CT has a very good point. Here's an example. There's a fine line between dig or not dig. The way I decide is from past experience. First of
all I am slow due to my health, second, listen closely and carefully, look at what's on the machine, look at what's NOT on the machine, consider
where you are and the history of human habitation and if what you think you are hearing could possibly be there, dig it. This ExChange2 program
is going to be a great teacher to all of us if we look at what's there. I mentioned I studied the 249 finds I have recorded since I started using the x2
program. I have found 11 nickels. The first 2 were found the first hunt before I started using the x2 program. I have the other 9 recorded and the
FE CO numbers they produced. Seven were 12/12-13-14-and one 15. One was and still shows 13/6 another 14/10. Both were in the fire that burned the
school down just after 1923. Something in the fire changed the make up or either the residual dirt sticking to those 2 coins has another metal element
fused to them by the fire. But getting back to the story. CT is right. I guess the easiest way to explain it is if I were in the old Murrells Inlet section
of Myrtle Beach I would be digging a lot of 12/6's thru the mid 12/20's. Here inland, it would have to really have some special circumstances in order
for me to dig it. One depending on where it was and how many pull tabs if any I had found there. You just have to use common sense and no guts
no glory attitude sometimes. But again, in distinguishing between coins and bottle caps is a lot easier with the CTX. I was looking particularly at the
mashed flat 16oz. screw caps and the fact that in this one corner of this school lot I dug several of them before noticing the "blue diamond" effect at
the bottom right of my screen. It's a hard call but I am going this afternoon with a different approach and I will let you know how it comes out. I want
to pinpoint the "assumed" coin with the "blue diamond" halo at the bottom, then walk 360 degrees around it and see if I can keep the target sound and
vid#'s steady and loose the "blue diamond" effect. I want to see if this is an affect of having 2 targets there, one being a coin and the other being a bottle
cap or if I just have a bottle cap. Will let you guys know soon as I can. Again thanks for all your help but I think this is an area worth persuing. Nickels
are one of the most un-recoverable coins there is in modern day. There HAS to be a flaw there that the CTX can find.

 

[glenn3-88]

As a post script to this post, I would like to hear from others on how they handle a possible nickel hit.
Some may take the time to deal with it, others may just not have the time. By the way, the ring was
18K and hit at 12/09 and the necklace is unknown karat but hit at 12/37. No clasp was found. My
investigation of this necklace assumes that the major content is an unknown base material most
likely copper as it is used quite often in plating gold necklaces such as 14k.

 

[glenn3-88]

So far, the blue diamond rising from the bottom right is happening, however, in none of these did I have a full red dot in the cross hairs.
What I noticed is there will be a very tiny red dot in the middle of a larger yellow or tan looking dot that is vid 12/37etc......but always above
12/32 and higher. Another thing is in my soil pennies can register anywhere from 12/30 to 12/43. Most all of them will be a 12/34 to 12/35
though. As a forum I see a lot of answers to questions to others and the last statement will be "depending on your soil conditions". That is
so important as the acidity in the soil can make the same coin give a different vid in different parts of the country and I believe this is where
first time users of the CTX get frustrated. Setting those Tone ID's up for your preference depending on your soil is of the utmost importance.
My FE tone goes up to 19 line and is 125 hz. My first Co box goes 0-11 and has 250hz, my second box is 12-14 and has 950hz assigned to
it for nickels, my third is 15-29 with 600hz and my last Co box is 30-50 with 1200 hz.. That's what I am acustomed to and I know that gold
is all through the 12 line, but consistent hits on that line is what I look at and also the 11 line on occassions. As for the caps, there is a
distinct difference in the sound also. Coins, as opposed to bottle caps, have a PURER tone. Will keep doing tests and as I find repetitive
instances that help differentiate coins from caps I will report on these.

 

[MINELABBOB]

hi glenn
i really dont have to many issues with screw caps.here are 2 patterns i use i change them up here and there but most times this is it. i have found myself

now that i run allmetal !! but will use disc. pattern here and there. a 12-39 and 12-40 screw caps sneak in. and wen they do audio sounds off!! i think pitch

will be a little higher. 1200hz on the high side ?? i now run that down a little to 1050hz same as nickel area in one mode but thats me. i also run in many

types of soil and my vdis really stay constant 4 the most part copper pennys 1240-12-44 now zinc and as they degrade can run as low as 12-28-1238

now i know wen iron is around coins they tend to pull your no# down a little along with your icon. in FC i think you get the best colors blue on bottom right

keep up the good work glenn

 

[glenn3-88]

Thanks for the charts. I want to copy them to my CTX to see how they work here. I am going to continue to hunt these 3 parks close by. There are no great
finds there as they are too young but my purpose is to use them to do experiments as they are coin rich, with the occassional cap and pull tab to deal with.
One park is especially clean but does have some trash. The school is littered with trash at depth, and the old park that I have not hunted very much is the
oldest in town. I think that's where I will find a few old silvers and possibly some older jewelry. As I find out some things, I want to post them here pertaining
to the cap and tab issue as people who have never run the CTX have no idea of just how accurate this machine is. However, that statement has to be backed
up with positive information that can be relied on. I don't want to put anything on here that would lead a newbie astray. Right now I am closer to unlocking the
nickel/pull tab issue than I am the coin/screw cap issue. Will get back when I gather more positive information to add. Hey! Thanks again for the charts.

 

[MINELABBOB]

HI GLENN
the mode thats has most disc is my trash mode=50 tone long deep on sizeing you may call it a trash park!!

my other is a hot silver =comb RF FC and both can be used in all metal silver ids iron 90% of the time in allmetal

i will post another photo as i have removed more on the trash park!! both will hit 8in. dime in auto+3 24-16 on

the sence. most screw cap/ 12-38-12-40 and sing out. now i run vol. gain 22-23 no higher. wen you hit a coin at 8in.

it sounds like a coin at 8 in. i will run 5 modes only on the CTX and i can hunt with the best of them. i am working on a new

mode call the test pattern. wen i am done testing i will post it up!! now in a real trash area run deep and fast off or fast on

what ever sounds the best/ or ids the best!! metal bottle top are disc. out and they hit up top can remember the no#


hope this helps and feel free to ask me any thing any time


minelabbob

 

[glenn3-88]

Thanks man. Owe you one