Looking for a SEASONED CTX user near me (eastern panhandle WV)

[GKMan]

I think GKs comment was meant to go in the "Is the Coiltek coil worth having thread"....might've inadvertently gotten posted here,unless of course I'm wrong.

I also get the "thunk" on the Explorer more than the CTX,and it might be that I run the Explorer in Manual Sens more than the CTX. Have you experienced the "thunk" sound yourself Trpnbils? I'll show you mine if you show me yours,I'm Kevin by the way.. I hate calling people their screen name,pretty impersonal. No worries if you want to stay low...

Yeahup, sorry guys!

 

[IDXMonster]

GK-good to get your take on the Coiltek anyway. We're all looking for that advantage,no matter how slight, but somewhere along the line money is a factor for most of us. If it were a HUGE difference in some places,well,maybe. Personally I have so much to learn about what I've already got that another coil might just be a distraction.
Jeff-It very well may have to do with audio settings and as Jason said how open your disc/FE line is. The one example that clearly stands out in MY experience is when I was at a local school with history to the 1920's. I was using the Explorer2 running wide open Ferrous,Manual 18(I'm pretty sure,either Manual 18 or 20) and the stock 1050 coil(actually a favorite of mine). I got that high chirp with a quick "thunk". I was using the numbers screen and it would come up 2-28/3-29-ish every other or third sweep. This was fairly early in my Explorer usage so I was lucky to have gotten the initial hit at all. This area is an old baseball infield. I dug past my pinpointer length and at 10" was a 1940's Washington quarter. What I recall about it was....NO indication of iron,it was all by itself. That was definitely a moment of enlightenment,though I've dug very few signals like it since. I was duly impressed with the machine at that point,and never doubted the 1050 after that! What I HAVE chased are low iron grunts that I'm mistaking for that "thunk" of a coin on the fringe of detection,and not paying attention to the numbers part of it. Even at that depth,it gave me enough good number indicators that I dug it up. The other signals,with the Explorer,I don't think have given me ANY good numbers,I'm just digging and hoping. There has to be SOMETHING good about the target for me to dig any more at those depths,I'm not digging straight JUNK signals hoping for a different outcome. What I HAVE gotten with the CTX are straight up good numbers with nail(s) in the hole. I have to work on that for sure...
I'm going to do some messing around with all the different settings and hopefully learn something this winter while I'm inside.

 

[TrpnBils]

I did some messing around in my basement this evening and took some photos of the screen vs the target orientation. It was enlightening.... I'm putting together some side-by-side shots of the screen/orientation for reference. Not sure if I want to start another thread related to target trace with iron or post it here. Probably just put it here, but hopefully it'll be useful for somebody.

 

[TrpnBils]

Ok so I know this was eye-opening for me, so I'm going to stick this up here and hope somebody else can get something useful from it. I have sure as heck been chasing perfect signals and if tonight was any indication I'm leaving stuff in the dirt all over the place that I should be digging.

I took these pictures (there will be 6 total as I get them done) under the same conditions: Combined, Ferrous-Coin, long audio, fast on, deep off. I took them mainly as a reminder to myself next time I'm able to get out that good targets can have a really ugly trace pattern.

 

[TrpnBils]

All of these had really bad audio (I know, it's an air test) but some had none at all...just visual. I know I would have dug this one at least.

 

[TrpnBils]

I should mention - all the photos of the target and nails were taken from the angle that gave the best audio response (or clearest target trace in the case of the one with no audio)

 

[Jason in Enid]

Ok so I know this was eye-opening for me, so I'm going to stick this up here and hope somebody else can get something useful from it. I have sure as heck been chasing perfect signals and if tonight was any indication I'm leaving stuff in the dirt all over the place that I should be digging.

I took these pictures (there will be 6 total as I get them done) under the same conditions: Combined, Ferrous-Coin, long audio, fast on, deep off. I took them mainly as a reminder to myself next time I'm able to get out that good targets can have a really ugly trace pattern.

Theres nothing ugly about that pattern! That is a crystal clear, perfect depiction of a coin mixed with iron in the hole.

 

[TrpnBils]

Ok so I know this was eye-opening for me, so I'm going to stick this up here and hope somebody else can get something useful from it. I have sure as heck been chasing perfect signals and if tonight was any indication I'm leaving stuff in the dirt all over the place that I should be digging.

I took these pictures (there will be 6 total as I get them done) under the same conditions: Combined, Ferrous-Coin, long audio, fast on, deep off. I took them mainly as a reminder to myself next time I'm able to get out that good targets can have a really ugly trace pattern.

Theres nothing ugly about that pattern! That is a crystal clear, perfect depiction of a coin mixed with iron in the hole.

Some of them were uglier than others, especially while I was sweeping before pinpointing...lots and lots of splatter. I was surprised at how low these came in on a few of them. That Barber was coming up in the mid 30s sometimes pretty regularly.

What I would call "ugly" on these photos here comes from the fact that I keep reading a lot of people say that the coin will almost always show up as a circular target trace mark instead of a smear or oblong shape so that's what I keep looking for.

 

[TrpnBils]

Plus the fact that I was under the impression that iron falses were showing up on target trace, which I'm given to understand now that doesn't happen....

Anyway, you get the picture... the last couple of pictures aren't wanting to open for some reason but it's not a whole lot different than what I have posted here.

 

[IDXMonster]

Before I go to bed...when searching and sweeping(not in pinpoint mode) with Ferrous Coin separation selected, will there ALWAYS be TWO cursors on the screen when you hit ANY target? That was my impression, as I have noticed this almost all the time, and if the round cursor up by the coin section is filled in ALOT then it's an indication of a coin. If it is virtually just an empty cursor floating around by the coins then that might be an indication of a false? I have to read that dang manual,just haven't had time,literally.
Good work Jeff,keep it coming...and Jason please keep in this and adjust the info as necessary! You do not have any idea how valuable your input is on this, Target Trace and Target Trace Pinpoint is a real stumbling block for many of us.
Thanks guys!

 

[TrpnBils]

Before I go to bed...when searching and sweeping(not in pinpoint mode) with Ferrous Coin separation selected, will there ALWAYS be TWO cursors on the screen when you hit ANY target? That was my impression, as I have noticed this almost all the time, and if the round cursor up by the coin section is filled in ALOT then it's an indication of a coin. If it is virtually just an empty cursor floating around by the coins then that might be an indication of a false? I have to read that dang manual,just haven't had time,literally.
Good work Jeff,keep it coming...and Jason please keep in this and adjust the info as necessary! You do not have any idea how valuable your input is on this, Target Trace and Target Trace Pinpoint is a real stumbling block for many of us.
Thanks guys!

As far as the cursor goes, I have never heard that there will always be 2 and it wouldn't make sense to me that there would be. Where would the second cursor go? Also I'm positive I've seen a single cursor just in the iron area when I'm ONLY over iron and no conductive targets, so I would assume it would work the same way the other way around.

Also, tonight is my night out detecting after work (only get like an hour and a half with it getting dark so damn early) but I'm going to try to get a video of what I was showing in those pictures. The sweep target trace was disgusting but it cleaned up with pinpoint. The place I'm going has had a 1770s KG cent found recently by construction workers when they were digging out a new cellar entrance, and an 1807 half dollar fell out of the ceiling of the house when they were renovating inside. Never been hit before to the owner's knowledge other than me a few weeks ago. It is LOADED with iron though, so I want to go there to test out some of the stuff I tried last night. For reference, I found a wheat last time and that was it so it can only get better hopefully.

 

[mrsspk]

If you can't find a local mentor, you're just going to have to experiment on your own. I don't watch other people videos, as I always get bogged down with video/audio/editing details and then I can't focus on the "message".

I will say that the vast majority of coins are solid responses. The less solid the responses, the better the chance of it being iron junk. I have had about 50/50 luck on my version of "iffy" targets. If I can get it to respond more times than not on passes I'll dig if it says it's deeper than 5 - 6 inches.

But like you have experienced, it's difficult to convey these concepts through text. I encourage you to investigate every blip of an acceptable tone. Many of these get worse as I try to isolate them. Some of these get better and some are so/so. Watch the spot on the ground where the detector sounds off. If its responding over the same spot every pass, then dig. If that response spot is shifting around, I pass.

I take the exact same approach as you on the "iffy" targets and am satisfied with my results

 

[TrpnBils]

Well I got out for 2 hours tonight which is about my typical weekly hunting time this time of year to the site I mentioned above. Property with habitation going back to at least 1730 with a house on it that had an early 1800s half fall out of the ceiling last year when they were renovating it and a late 1700s copper found by eye in the yard by a contractor (in a dirt pile). I had been there once before about a month ago and found nothing of interest but there were a lot of nails. I figured it would be a good place to try to apply some of this knowledge I've collected here in the past few days and what I was able to gain last night in my basement.

Anyway, I dug about 25 nails tonight and one quarter (1941 Washington). Glad to see silver for sure, but in the big scheme of what else has been found there I gotta say I was a little let down it wasn't older. Anyway, take a look at this video I took. Most of the nails came up just like this. For you experienced users, what about this signal would convince you it was anything other than a coin? In my basement last night with a dime surrounded by iron nails, I didn't get signals this good... this one ended up being another 2" long rusted nail. I know I'm not going to stop digging nails, but I need to figure out what to do to keep from wasting my time digging as many. You can't see it in this video BTW but it was pinpointing right where the signal was coming from on the sweep - not offset at all.

Settings were combined, ferrous coin, fast on, deep off, long response, manual sensitivity (I did have auto on for awhile).

Also, and this is a big one, I keep reading here that falses don't pinpoint.... They were showing up on target trace pinpoint all night, just like in the video here. What's the deal?

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/photo/116799754192877591422/6360764725539894386?icm=false

EDIT: I've never shared from a Google+ account before. Let me know if you can't see the video.

 

[IDXMonster]

My only take on that would be that the supposed coin blob is too far to the right and it's iron wraparound. Like I said,the other day using the 6" coil I dug two 6" deep medium sized rusty nails with fairly solid 12-41 indications and the coin buildup was further to the left,exactly on the 12 line. There were also indications of iron at the bottom. But they looked very similar to what you have on the video,just a little further left. Good pick on the Washington and keep at it as long as the weather allows,hopefully you'll have that moment of realization,whatever it may be. We're a bit snowed in here or else I'd be out doing the same thing you are!

 

[sube]

Plus the fact that I was under the impression that iron falses were showing up on target trace, which I'm given to understand now that doesn't happen....

Anyway, you get the picture... the last couple of pictures aren't wanting to open for some reason but it's not a whole lot different than what I have posted here.

Trpnbils The iron falses will show up on the 12 line the reason you did not see this is because you did not bury the targets on top off the ground iron generally does not high tone except from only one direction a angled hit say 20 percent off from north and south . On top of the ground iron on a east west hit will grunt bury it and it will high tone on both ends and several different directions .

You must bury in dirt to get a accurate reading on the nail it's different on top of the ground . Now high toning usually happens at 12.40 to 12.50 smear on screen grunts low tone happen at 12.37 to 12.40 and display this smear on the screen .

Remember coin with nail or nails will read lower 12.25 to 12.38 so if you get no audio the coin is mask by the nail and being part iron and part high conductor is a blended target the ctx averages this out depending on how much iron is with the high conductor and gives you a lower reading .


IDX says
Before I go to bed...when searching and sweeping(not in pinpoint mode) with Ferrous Coin separation selected, will there ALWAYS be TWO cursors on the screen when you hit ANY target? That was my impression, as I have noticed this almost all the time, and if the round cursor up by the coin section is filled in ALOT then it's an indication of a coin. If it is virtually just an empty cursor floating around by the coins then that might be an indication of a false? I have to read that dang manual,just haven't had time,literally.
Good work Jeff,keep it coming...and Jason please keep in this and adjust the info as necessary! You do not have any idea how valuable your input is on this, Target Trace and Target Trace Pinpoint is a real stumbling block for many of us.
Thanks guys!

The reason you see a cursor in the bottom most of the time is ground minerals or rust flakes . You will have a good cursor only in the bottom over iron that is not throw en up on the 12 line as a false . Now when you hit a coin more than likely you will have 2 cursors one for ground minerals weak trace in iron bin or filled cursor meaning it's with iron .And the coin signal on the 12 line.

I watch your video Jeff watch that cursor in the bottom it never really leaves the 35 line it's peg to the bottom never coming up Iron Iron Iron you have it disc out that's why you get the diamond around the cursor a diamond is a rejected target . Now if it was not disc out it would be a cursor filled with blue telling you it's iron .

This is a high tone false look where the trace is built not where the cursor is and not what the #s read . When building targets you get many target traces all in the same spot the center is where the #s should be taking from .

Look how far that target is to the right 12.47 to 12.48 those are not coin #s now listen to that false inconsistent does not really sound like a coin listen to a coin next to a nail false there is a difference .

And Jeff gets some dirt and bury those targets you will see a big difference in what nails do on the surface compared to in the dirt . sube

 

[TrpnBils]

And Jeff gets some dirt and bury those targets you will see a big difference in what nails do on the surface compared to in the dirt . sube

Just to clarify, that video was in-situ tonight in a yard I was hunting, so that's definitely a real, buried target there.

Sube - can you elaborate on why that doesnt sound like a coin in the video? That sounds clearer to me than some coins I've dug near trash in the past for sure. It's a little scratchy, yes, but wouldnt any coin in the hole next to iron sound at least a little imperfect?

 

[sube]

My only take on that would be that the supposed coin blob is too far to the right and it's iron wraparound. Like I said,the other day using the 6" coil I dug two 6" deep medium sized rusty nails with fairly solid 12-41 indications and the coin buildup was further to the left,exactly on the 12 line. There were also indications of iron at the bottom. But they looked very similar to what you have on the video,just a little further left. Good pick on the Washington and keep at it as long as the weather allows,hopefully you'll have that moment of realization,whatever it may be. We're a bit snowed in here or else I'd be out doing the same thing you are!

What happened when you turned 90 degrees to the target . That cursor on the bottom will come off that 35 line if there's a high conductor with it and is not totally mask by the iron .

 

[sube]

And Jeff gets some dirt and bury those targets you will see a big difference in what nails do on the surface compared to in the dirt . sube

Just to clarify, that video was in-situ tonight in a yard I was hunting, so that's definitely a real, buried target there.

Sube - can you elaborate on why that doesnt sound like a coin in the video? That sounds clearer to me than some coins I've dug near trash in the past for sure. It's a little scratchy, yes, but wouldnt any coin in the hole next to iron sound at least a little imperfect?

As you can see that nail built a target trace because it was in the ground and a very good trace at that . If you did your test out of the ground you would not get that high tone and trace you received from the nail except from one direction 20 percent off center north and south .

Now as to sounding different false compared to a coin I don't no how to describe it . But if you take a nail in your basement and swing at it 20 percent off center to north and south you should get it to high tone .Have a coin there and sweep both targets and listen there not the same the nail sounds like a harmonic frequency ringing like I can't explain it but you will hear a difference . sube

 

[IDXMonster]

My only take on that would be that the supposed coin blob is too far to the right and it's iron wraparound. Like I said,the other day using the 6" coil I dug two 6" deep medium sized rusty nails with fairly solid 12-41 indications and the coin buildup was further to the left,exactly on the 12 line. There were also indications of iron at the bottom. But they looked very similar to what you have on the video,just a little further left. Good pick on the Washington and keep at it as long as the weather allows,hopefully you'll have that moment of realization,whatever it may be. We're a bit snowed in here or else I'd be out doing the same thing you are!

What happened when you turned 90 degrees to the target . That cursor on the bottom will come off that 35 line if there's a high conductor with it and is not totally mask by the iron .

Ok,that's an issue, I really haven't been paying much attention to the bottom cursor,and I didn't know what the blue triangle meant,I've just been going mostly on the sound of the target. Just recently,because I've come to the realization that TT and TTP can be very valuable in determining what we have in the ground,I've been starting to play with these features.
I don't recall the 90 degree sweep Sube,or if I even did. But you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be looking at one or both closely and what they're doing and how tight of an area the coin cursor stays.
Keep it coming,we're around 2k views on this in VERY short order,so there are a lot of people having trouble with this and maybe other similar things...

 

[IDXMonster]

Jeff I also wanted to suggest turning Fast OFF,perhaps it would help to differentiate between a false and a coin,as it should make the coin signal more robust. Man I love that word...ROBUST!!