More CTX 3030 Memorial Day Finds with Video

[timholliday]

Went out to an old fairgrounds after my morning beach hunt. Tries out the Combine feature in an iron-rich area with some success. My brother and I have hunted this ground many times with the ETRAC with limited success. Though I don't have a ton experience with two tone ferrous, I found the combine mode easier to understand than TTF. The ability to customize pitch and bin sizes was a huge plus. My total finds for the day were...16 wheats, a 1948 Washington quarter, an 1895 V-Nickel, and a 1905 Indian penny.

[attachment 234130 CTX_28_2.JPG]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G__Lvfrjc5Y&list=UUDSi7w3-isX_hCSU6eUZaoQ&index=1&feature=plcp

 

[Jason in TN]

Thanks for the video. Would like to see some live beach hunt action with how targets are reading on the screen if you can get time to do that it would be awesome. Some live digs if you will. Glad to see some one that has one is putting it to use and sharing with us. Thanks again. Still thinking hard about one of these I have the cash but it is hard to get me to let go of that much for a new detector.

 

[Neilo]

Thanks for the video excellent job. just wondering how narrow can you set the tones? You set your high tone above 34 to 50, could you set a very small area eg from say 35 to 39 high and have 39 to 50 slightly lower. The area I detect 35 to 39 is the area of the most common valuable current denomination coin $1 and $2 aust. thanks Neilo

 

[DrBobinMO]

Great video Tim, I learned a lot! Thanks for sharing.

 

[timholliday]

As I learn more about how targets sound, I plan on videoing more "live digs". Right now it would be a little too time consuming to video each potential target. Neilo, you have 4 high tone "bins" that you can set as wide or narrow as you wish. Your scenario would work fine...and would still be able to divide 1-34 by 2. You could also set a custom pitch for the 35-39 to catch your attention.

 

[bcoop]

Nice job Tim

 

[Neilo]

Thanks Tim. I am thinking about getting one I have the Etrac and Explorer and have been very successful with them. You are lucky to have your machine here in Australia we still cant get them. People here ordered them in early May and still havent got any indication of a delivery date, there are a lot of upset people here. Especially with all the hype about the release on the 28th . Plus it is an Australian company and we are only a short distance from the Minelab head office and they wont communicate and give a delivery date.

 

[Jason in TN]

You have the Etrac and the CTX. How does it compare to the Etrac as far as balance and the arm fatigue at the end of a days hunting.

 

[Digger]

Yes, you can divide the "bins" however you see fit. You could set 35 - 39 in one group. And have 40 - 50 in another. Then you simple assign different tones to each group. HH Randy

 

[unearth]

Great digs Tim! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to more videos.

 

[Digger]

Congrats on the CTX 3030 finds. That Combined Separation is awesome, isn't it? Thanks for taking the time to make the video, and for taking us through your setup. HH Randy

P.S. Your settings look very familiar!

 

[JimmyCT]

Great video! Question for you on the nail, three wheats and indian head cent all in the same hole: On the screen how many targets were displayed? I am wondering how it showed up as the three wheat cents & IH were basically all of the same size and composition. Also what was the audio response? Was there audio indication that there was non-ferrous items or did the nail mask the audio signal? Thanks for taking the time to make & post the video - Jim

 

[Don in South Jersey]

Thanks Chief, this video will help when mine arrives.Thanks for taking the time to film..

 

[timholliday]

You have the Etrac and the CTX. How does it compare to the Etrac as far as balance and the arm fatigue at the end of a days hunting.

My Etrac is VERY heavy since I use the Sun Ray X-1 and a 13" Ultimate style coil. The CTX really feels light as a feather. The one thing I needed to get used to was the handle above the shaft as opposed to in-line like the Etrac. This causes a slight torque as you swing the coil through thick or tall grass. The leading edge of the coil sometimes catches clumps of grass causing your wrist to torque over instead of pushing through like the Etrac. Just something I noticed and thought I would share.

Question for you on the nail, three wheats and indian head cent all in the same hole: On the screen how many targets were displayed? I am wondering how it showed up as the three wheat cents & IH were basically all of the same size and composition. Also what was the audio response? Was there audio indication that there was non-ferrous items or did the nail mask the audio signal?

The screen displayed two targets. One was a high tone 12-40,12-41. The other was a low tone something like 34-45. Because the pennies share the same TID, it just shows up as one target. There are iron targets all over this site so audibly I heard a constant low ferrous tone pulsing until my coil went over the pennies. At that point the high tone pitch I programmed in combine caught my attention that something good my lie below. The nail did not mask the signal at all. So far while detecting with the CTX, I am concentrating on the audible response to alert me of a potential good target. Then I use the screen to further "figure out" whether the target is worth digging. The biggest learning curve for me will be deciphering between good targets and a false...similar to TTF on the Etrac.

 

[mtwolf2270]

Great video thanks again aat the beach did u use a beach or coin program I may have missed it but I thought you said coin. Did you try the beach e=settings at all?

 

[timholliday]

Great video thanks again aat the beach did u use a beach or coin program I may have missed it but I thought you said coin. Did you try the beach e=settings at all?

I did not use the beach program. I used a modified coin pattern...commonly known as the Andy Sabisch pattern. I ran in high trash mode since there isn't much iron at this beach. If there was, I would have used the ferrous-coin mode. I believe the beach pattern is a more "open" pattern than the stock coin pattern. The Andy Sabisch pattern I run is even more "open" than the stock beach pattern. Also please note my hunt was on the beach and did not enter the water. Hope this answers your question.

 

[mtwolf2270]

Yes thank you I will most likely set up the a simialr pattern and I will be in the wet sand mostly but again thanks for the video and info happy hunting great day for you I think. Looks like lots of missed coins from what i am reading

 

[Jason in TN]

You have the Etrac and the CTX. How does it compare to the Etrac as far as balance and the arm fatigue at the end of a days hunting.

My Etrac is VERY heavy since I use the Sun Ray X-1 and a 13" Ultimate style coil. The CTX really feels light as a feather. The one thing I needed to get used to was the handle above the shaft as opposed to in-line like the Etrac. This causes a slight torque as you swing the coil through thick or tall grass. The leading edge of the coil sometimes catches clumps of grass causing your wrist to torque over instead of pushing through like the Etrac. Just something I noticed and thought I would share.

Question for you on the nail, three wheats and indian head cent all in the same hole: On the screen how many targets were displayed? I am wondering how it showed up as the three wheat cents & IH were basically all of the same size and composition. Also what was the audio response? Was there audio indication that there was non-ferrous items or did the nail mask the audio signal?

The screen displayed two targets. One was a high tone 12-40,12-41. The other was a low tone something like 34-45. Because the pennies share the same TID, it just shows up as one target. There are iron targets all over this site so audibly I heard a constant low ferrous tone pulsing until my coil went over the pennies. At that point the high tone pitch I programmed in combine caught my attention that something good my lie below. The nail did not mask the signal at all. So far while detecting with the CTX, I am concentrating on the audible response to alert me of a potential good target. Then I use the screen to further "figure out" whether the target is worth digging. The biggest learning curve for me will be deciphering between good targets and a false...similar to TTF on the Etrac.

Thanks for your honest response.

Jason

 

[earthmansurfer]

Nice video, nice screen (like how the disc'd targets are just slightly darker and not black like on the E-Trac). Congrats on you new machine and that first V - nice sign.

Nice mention of the shortcut button with previous mode. Good one Randy ;-) Tim - description made sense and maybe with a future upgrade we get more possibilities with the shortcut button. (Sort of exciting to think what that first upgrade will bring.)

Question - I like running Audio Gain lower as well (that is the setting that makes deeper targets softer? I get that mixed up with limit.) I think on the E-Trac mine was at 23 or so and that seemed noticeably softer on 8" - 9" targets. Yours is even lower at 16 or so. How do you like that as far as do you really got to listen better? To me I have to hear the deeper ones softer when it gets trashier as too many signals at the same volume makes picking out deep ones hard.

Question 2 - I have Gray Ghost headphones as well. Are they working ok for you? I imagine you have the standard and not starter pack. I was set on the starter pack but have thought of the standard pack as to not have any issues.

Thanks,
Albert

ps - I know filming can be tough with wind and such. If you didn't know, you can almost get rid of the wind sound if it is hitting you in the back (opposite the camera mic).

 

[timholliday]

Question - I like running Audio Gain lower as well (that is the setting that makes deeper targets softer? I get that mixed up with limit.) I think on the E-Trac mine was at 23 or so and that seemed noticeably softer on 8" - 9" targets. Yours is even lower at 16 or so. How do you like that as far as do you really got to listen better? To me I have to hear the deeper ones softer when it gets trashier as too many signals at the same volume makes picking out deep ones hard.

This does make deep targets softer. On the Etrac I was happy with the volume of deep targets with the setting at 16. It's still a little early to tell if it is loud enough on the CTX. I like it low enough to differentiate targets at say 4" especially in high conductive trashy areas. In high ferrous trashy areas, I may need to boost gain to not miss very deep targets. A note to everyone playing with volume gain. Make sure your threshold volume is not too high or you will miss deep targets. You may not notice an audible "bump" over a loud threshold.

Question 2 - I have Gray Ghost headphones as well. Are they working ok for you? I imagine you have the standard and not starter pack. I was set on the starter pack but have thought of the standard pack as to not have any issues.

As with others, my Gray Ghost headphones work fine with the WM10 wireless module. The wireless module works flawlessly and I highly recommend it. Plugging into the machine does not disable the machine speaker so I may need to buy an adaptor.

ps - I know filming can be tough with wind and such. If you didn't know, you can almost get rid of the wind sound if it is hitting you in the back (opposite the camera mic).

Thanks for the tip. I was battling a very bright sun so I needed to film in my own shadow. I am thinking about trying to attach some sort of wind sock...