Proper mode to use?:confused:

[pacer]

Yet, another newbie question. And before I ask, my apologizes for asking so many. As a new owner of a CTX 3030, I have received numerous bits of advise how to approach my new machine. One suggestion seems to keep repeating itself over and over. That is, use the preset modes and put 100 hours on the machine before I go modifying the modes and adding others, which seems like solid advise. However, I did modify the preset modes per Andy's Handbook for the CTX 3030. That's it, no other modifications or additional modes added.

Having stated the above, here's my question. I'm land locked where I live, being in Northern Nevada. So I have no concerns at this time dealing with salt water. However, I will be doing a lot of water hunting in the lakes. One of the preset modes on the CTX 3030 is simply referred to as "Beach". Is this particular mode set up for salt water beach hunting or fresh water, such as in a lake?

If it makes no difference as to the water being salt or fresh water, should I opt to use the Beach Mode or another mode? As I live close to Lake Tahoe, I will be spending a lot of time there The primary objects I will looking for are rings, coins and other jewelry. Should I opt to use the Beach mode or perhaps the coin or silver mode? Keeping in mind I will be utilizing the factory preset modes, modified per Andy's CTC 3030 Handbook.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this post and perhaps responding.

 

[JJ]

I like beach mode, but some modification to the pattern is a must, IMO. 90% silver halves null out in beach mode so you may want to open some discrim in the top line, towards the right corner. Who knows what else is being lost there. I don't think salt vs. fresh water is an issue. It's a good starting point to tailor to your local conditions and adjust as necessary. JJ

 

[Jason in Enid]

There are only 4 modes on the CTX. It has High Trash, Low Trash, Ferrous Coin and Ground Coin.

HT is for areas with heavy non-ferrous trash when you want to use a tight disc pattern. HT identifies the the strongest ACCEPTED target under the coil.
LT mode will respond to the strongest signal (accepted or rejected)
FC is for identifying conductive targets that are close to ferrous targets
GC is for when you have a lot of ground mineralization.

There is no "beach" mode per se, but there is a pre=programmed beach program. The saltwater setting is for dealing with conductive salts which affect the detector, but affect it different than iron minerals

 

[JJ]

 

[bklein]

Nice synopsis Jason!
I need to print it out and stick on my CTX...

 

[Jason in Enid]

Nice synopsis Jason!
I need to print it out and stick on my CTX...

Most people will use one mode for the majority of their hunts. My main program is a mostly open pattern with Fe-Coin. I use it 90% of the time. Secondary would be a very tight "silver" pattern (CO-39 and up) with HT. My ground isn't bad enough to need GC and I havent seen a need or benefit for the LT mode when compared to the FC.

So I say find the one that fits your hunting the best and make it your normal mode.

 

[KinTN]

I also use an FeC program for 90% of my swings. My other programs are a tighter pattern for when I am tired near the end of a hunt and am tired of listening to certain trash signals (where gold isn't reasonably expected), a beach program, and several variations on my main pattern with different settings so I can see how tweaking what on a certain signal changes the response. And I always leave an open program for fiddling on the fly.

 

[gabbyhayes]

According to the manual... Modes is referring to one of the 10 programs. 5 predefined, and 5 user programmable.
The high trash,low trash, FC, and GC are the target separation settings.
So I'm not sure what the original poster was referring to, but he may have been asking about one of the 5 predefined modes which are displayed as M1 to M5 on the status line.

Mode 1 (M1) - Coins •
Mode 2 (M2) - Beach •
Mode 3 (M3) - Relics •
Mode 4 (M4) - Silver •
Mode 5 (M5) - High Trash


Not sure???

 

[Jason in Enid]

According to the manual... Modes is referring to one of the 10 programs. 5 predefined, and 5 user programmable.
The high trash,low trash, FC, and GC are the target separation settings.
So I'm not sure what the original poster was referring to, but he may have been asking about one of the 5 predefined modes which are displayed as M1 to M5 on the status line.

Mode 1 (M1) - Coins •
Mode 2 (M2) - Beach •
Mode 3 (M3) - Relics •
Mode 4 (M4) - Silver •
Mode 5 (M5) - High Trash


Not sure???

OK, now I'm confused too. I'm a stickler for using the proper terms, have I been calling these the wrong name? Confusing target separation mode, user mode, programs.....

 

[pacer]

Gabbyhayes, thank you so very much for your post. Your right on, you totally got what I was saying. There are 5 predefined modes preloaded on the CTX 3030. I also mentioned the advise I was given was to put 100 hours on the detector before I started utilizing other modes or modifying the preloaded ones. Although, I did modify the preloaded modes per Andy's CTX 3030 Handbook, but that's it.

I also mentioned I was going to be doing a lot of water detecting in Lake Tahoe. So my question is pertaining to which one of the predefined, preloaded modes would I use searching Lake Tahoe. Should I use Mode 1, 2,3,4 or 5?

My apologizes if I didn't make myself clear in my original post.

 

[gabbyhayes]

Gabbyhayes, thank you so very much for your post. Your right on, you totally got what I was saying. There are 5 predefined modes preloaded on the CTX 3030. I also mentioned the advise I was given was to put 100 hours on the detector before I started utilizing other modes or modifying the preloaded ones. Although, I did modify the preloaded modes per Andy's CTX 3030 Handbook, but that's it.

I also mentioned I was going to be doing a lot of water detecting in Lake Tahoe. So my question is pertaining to which one of the predefined, preloaded modes would I use searching Lake Tahoe. Should I use Mode 1, 2,3,4 or 5?

My apologizes if I didn't make myself clear in my original post.

I was fairly certain you were talking about the predefined modes, so I tried to help clarify.
The mode you use is going to depend on the amount of trash in the area you are hunting.
If there is very little trash I hunt with an open screen. ( Less Discrimination)
I have also just finished reading Andy's book and have learned a great deal and hope to put all his advice to good use this summer.... At least a couple months of winter here!!
Also if you are looking for modern clad then the coin program should work .
If all you are interested in is older coins (silver) then the silver program will have you digging less pulltabs and bottle caps.
If you want to find almost everything, then the relic program might be a better fit.
The beach program is meant to find jewelry as well as clad.
Andy opens up the discrimination a bit which is a good idea so you don't miss anything due to masking.
Hope this helps.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Gabbyhayes, thank you so very much for your post. Your right on, you totally got what I was saying. There are 5 predefined modes preloaded on the CTX 3030. I also mentioned the advise I was given was to put 100 hours on the detector before I started utilizing other modes or modifying the preloaded ones. Although, I did modify the preloaded modes per Andy's CTX 3030 Handbook, but that's it.

I also mentioned I was going to be doing a lot of water detecting in Lake Tahoe. So my question is pertaining to which one of the predefined, preloaded modes would I use searching Lake Tahoe. Should I use Mode 1, 2,3,4 or 5?

My apologizes if I didn't make myself clear in my original post.

No, you were clear, it was my error of reading.

 

[glenn3-88]

I don't want to cloud the issue/questions he asked but one was, do I need to use the beach mode
in fresh water unless I mis-understood it. My response would be that the beach mode, program,
whatever fits your lingo, is there for the adverse salt conditions in the salt water. Therefore, if you
are in fresh water, unless it has a very high iron content and then the beach program still would not
help you, I would use any program, mode I wanted to but especially not the beach program.
Everybody's area and soil content is different. Where I hunt, I found that opening my discrimination
just a little in coin mode, setting my tones a little wider in the upper scale, and paying close attention
to sound and appearance of the "halo" around a supposed good target keeps me on my feet more
and digging less bad targets. Believe me I have put my time in on the ground to prove this to myself.

 

[JJ]

Glenn, good review of beach mode, program l, whatever it is. I on the other hand have many hours in fresh water using the factory beach setting with great results. I would definitely agree to open the discrim pattern a bit. I will be giving my land settings a run in the water this year as it's more what I have gotten use to though. No salt water within 1k miles in any direction of this guy....JJ