Well I was able to get out today and take my CTX for its first run. Overall impression for the first trip -----> Satisfied :thumb up:
So here are some of my observations.
The first place I hit today was an old farm house. There was so much iron in the ground that with an open pattern it sounded like machine gun going off. The farm house is around 100 years old I know there has to be some silver in there but with the stock coil it was too much. I will have to hit it when I get the smaller 6 inch coil. I wasn't enticed to dig anything because nothing hit that sounded good. This is on the list to try again with a smaller coil... I might have to try it again with an open pattern maybe because of the iron. I think the iron slows the recovery time down some... I think by opening the pattern to iron it will be noisy to listen to but I think it will let me hear everything without having that masking sound. This was a new site for me.
The second place I hit was a baseball park. I only hit a small area maybe and area that is 100' x 100'. This is where I found most of my finds. The clad was everywhere, and most of it was less than 2 inches deep. Things I learned about the FE/CO and clad... Zinc pennies seem to be hitting around 37, 38, 39. Hit a couple of bottle caps that came up with the same numbers. Pinpointing with the stock coil on some of the near surface, surface coins was a little aggravating at times. Not sure why some of the pinpoints were off. I was using the sizing pinpointing option. I was also using the combined tones id... Not sure I like this option since dimes and quarters have the same tone. I know this is because I'm used to the DFX sounds that make quarters sing. I will have to experiment a little more with this. There are plenty more finds to come out of this place so I will go back. I don't think I ever hit this place with my DFX.
The third place I hit was an old school that has been abandoned for a while. The school has some age... I made a search of this place with my DFX about a year ago and I didn't hit anything but some modern clad. I thought I would go over the same area again with the CTX. I came up with about the same results. I'm sure there is silver here... I will just have to hit the other parts of the school yard at another date. I used the combined tones here too and I'm still not excited by it. Maybe it will take time to get used to.
So.... Overall it was a good day of digging on the first trip with the CTX. It is a very sensitive machine and hits everything in the ground. I like that... I can tell that it is a little heavier than the DFX... I'm sure I can get use to it. Navigating around in the menu and controls will take some time but that's just part of learning a new machine. I felt crippled by the FE/CO #'s because I have gotten so used to the White's VDI #'s and Icons. Still, this will take time to learn as well. The LCD screen seemed to be ok for me most of the time... There were a few times when I had to turn the screen because of the glare... I will have to find some anti-glare screen covers for the screen. I may try to find one of those screen hoods for it too. The lower shaft seemed to be a little sticky when retracting it for travel. If the lower shaft was turned just a little when collapsing it would hang up... Maybe this will get better after some wear. The arm rest was ok.. I think I will add some kind of cushion to it. I've never been one to use the velcro strap on a detector. Well... I think I made a good choice by going with the CTX. I'm looking for my first piece of silver and gold with it now. I know it's a matter of getting it under the coil. I sure hope they come soon. If you any of you have suggestions please feel free to share them... I'm open to any suggestions.
If you read through all of this then thanks... I appreciate the time.
Thanks again and HH
So here are some of my observations.
The first place I hit today was an old farm house. There was so much iron in the ground that with an open pattern it sounded like machine gun going off. The farm house is around 100 years old I know there has to be some silver in there but with the stock coil it was too much. I will have to hit it when I get the smaller 6 inch coil. I wasn't enticed to dig anything because nothing hit that sounded good. This is on the list to try again with a smaller coil... I might have to try it again with an open pattern maybe because of the iron. I think the iron slows the recovery time down some... I think by opening the pattern to iron it will be noisy to listen to but I think it will let me hear everything without having that masking sound. This was a new site for me.
The second place I hit was a baseball park. I only hit a small area maybe and area that is 100' x 100'. This is where I found most of my finds. The clad was everywhere, and most of it was less than 2 inches deep. Things I learned about the FE/CO and clad... Zinc pennies seem to be hitting around 37, 38, 39. Hit a couple of bottle caps that came up with the same numbers. Pinpointing with the stock coil on some of the near surface, surface coins was a little aggravating at times. Not sure why some of the pinpoints were off. I was using the sizing pinpointing option. I was also using the combined tones id... Not sure I like this option since dimes and quarters have the same tone. I know this is because I'm used to the DFX sounds that make quarters sing. I will have to experiment a little more with this. There are plenty more finds to come out of this place so I will go back. I don't think I ever hit this place with my DFX.
The third place I hit was an old school that has been abandoned for a while. The school has some age... I made a search of this place with my DFX about a year ago and I didn't hit anything but some modern clad. I thought I would go over the same area again with the CTX. I came up with about the same results. I'm sure there is silver here... I will just have to hit the other parts of the school yard at another date. I used the combined tones here too and I'm still not excited by it. Maybe it will take time to get used to.
So.... Overall it was a good day of digging on the first trip with the CTX. It is a very sensitive machine and hits everything in the ground. I like that... I can tell that it is a little heavier than the DFX... I'm sure I can get use to it. Navigating around in the menu and controls will take some time but that's just part of learning a new machine. I felt crippled by the FE/CO #'s because I have gotten so used to the White's VDI #'s and Icons. Still, this will take time to learn as well. The LCD screen seemed to be ok for me most of the time... There were a few times when I had to turn the screen because of the glare... I will have to find some anti-glare screen covers for the screen. I may try to find one of those screen hoods for it too. The lower shaft seemed to be a little sticky when retracting it for travel. If the lower shaft was turned just a little when collapsing it would hang up... Maybe this will get better after some wear. The arm rest was ok.. I think I will add some kind of cushion to it. I've never been one to use the velcro strap on a detector. Well... I think I made a good choice by going with the CTX. I'm looking for my first piece of silver and gold with it now. I know it's a matter of getting it under the coil. I sure hope they come soon. If you any of you have suggestions please feel free to share them... I'm open to any suggestions.
If you read through all of this then thanks... I appreciate the time.
Thanks again and HH
