pulltabpirate
Greenie
- Dec 18, 2012
- 14
- 13
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
I have been using an E-trac for about two years and loved that machine. Of course, my ears perked up when I heard about the release of minelabs next phenom in the CTX 3030. My first hunt with it was a short one at two locations I had gone over several times with my E-trac. Of course, the first thing I noticed was the weight and fearing how long I'd be able to swing the thing. Turns out I was able to make it through 3 hours of hunting without having to break due to arm fatigue. More on that later. I got a solid 12-42 and dug it and got a wheat cent. It came through clear and made me wonder how I missed it before. It was deep, like 7-8 inches deep, but the signal was clear and strong. The next target rang 12-43 and again I anticipated a wheat cent and was suprised when I pulled out a silver Rosie. This was a bit disappointing in the sense that I was used to the e-trac singing on silver despite the numbers. It sounded like a wheat penny along with the numbers being in that range. I ended up digging a few more wheats and ended that hunt.
The second hunt was at a ballfield that I'd never hit before. I started off experimenting with combined audio and customized pitches which would now let the silvers sing a little more. I couldn't just go by numbers though as I again had silver coins showing lower than I used to on the e-trac. I decided while adjusting pitches to run silver and wheats across the coil and adjusted the pitches until one was pitched lower than the other even with the same numbers. I also created my own coins discrimation pattern that almost mirroes Sabisch's E-trac pattern I chose to open up to the 28 FE line. Once I got to the ballfield I immediately hit a solid 12-45 at 8 inches. After getting to ten I pulled out an old rusty square nail. Now I'll admit I didn't turn 90 degrees and resweep but I had visions of Barber dimes dancing in my head. This disappointed me as my e-trac might occasionally hit on this target and then I'd open up quickmask, get a 30-46 and move on. What I didn't understand, but do now, is the point of the target trace. With a little help from forum friends I think I got the idea now as evidenced by hunt three. I did dig quite a few nails that day but also got 5 mercs, 26 wheats, a war nickel, buffalo and a .925 ring. I was able to hunt all day without arm fatigue as well, a credit to the CTX balance. I also got the silvers squeaking like I enjoyed with my E-trac.
After coming home and venting about the nails I had some helpful members here help explain what was happening. The next time out (my own yard which I've been over 100 times at least) I paid more attention to what the target trace was telling me. I dug 4 wheat, two skeleton keys and an Indian head that rang up 11-36 at 8 inches and was clear as a bell. I found that target trace will display the FE bounce that is the bane of a detectorist's existence and causes falsing. It is actually mapped out on the screen to see. When I dug those nails (except the one a solid 12-45) they all exhibited this and I still dug despite the hit and miss nature of the signal. The 4 wheats I dug on the 3rd hunt all displayed repeatability and "painted" a section the upper right area while I also heard "mixed in" grunts (with pattern two wide open) showing another painted area in the lower right corner. This simply amazed me as I have become quite the sniper with my E-trac but somehow still mised those coins. When I opened up the plug on all 4 wheats I found the iron first and in one case the iron was a railroad spike.
When I ordered the machine I was expecting to get a beefed up, underwater, E-trac. What I got is a machine all on it's own with some e-trac characteristics. As with starting out with any new machine, it will take time to master this one, but I'm excited about the prospect of learning. I do wish the numbers were higher on silvers but the tone pitch can be set to offset the low numbers. I don't like that my e-trac, aftermarket coils are incompatible as are my Gray Ghost NDTs (i'm selling them all at reasonable prices.) Lastly, I find that good targets, even at depth, ring up numbers that are steady and more "diggable" taking even more guesswork out of what to and not to dig. Anybody else with any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Merry Christmas everyone!
The second hunt was at a ballfield that I'd never hit before. I started off experimenting with combined audio and customized pitches which would now let the silvers sing a little more. I couldn't just go by numbers though as I again had silver coins showing lower than I used to on the e-trac. I decided while adjusting pitches to run silver and wheats across the coil and adjusted the pitches until one was pitched lower than the other even with the same numbers. I also created my own coins discrimation pattern that almost mirroes Sabisch's E-trac pattern I chose to open up to the 28 FE line. Once I got to the ballfield I immediately hit a solid 12-45 at 8 inches. After getting to ten I pulled out an old rusty square nail. Now I'll admit I didn't turn 90 degrees and resweep but I had visions of Barber dimes dancing in my head. This disappointed me as my e-trac might occasionally hit on this target and then I'd open up quickmask, get a 30-46 and move on. What I didn't understand, but do now, is the point of the target trace. With a little help from forum friends I think I got the idea now as evidenced by hunt three. I did dig quite a few nails that day but also got 5 mercs, 26 wheats, a war nickel, buffalo and a .925 ring. I was able to hunt all day without arm fatigue as well, a credit to the CTX balance. I also got the silvers squeaking like I enjoyed with my E-trac.
After coming home and venting about the nails I had some helpful members here help explain what was happening. The next time out (my own yard which I've been over 100 times at least) I paid more attention to what the target trace was telling me. I dug 4 wheat, two skeleton keys and an Indian head that rang up 11-36 at 8 inches and was clear as a bell. I found that target trace will display the FE bounce that is the bane of a detectorist's existence and causes falsing. It is actually mapped out on the screen to see. When I dug those nails (except the one a solid 12-45) they all exhibited this and I still dug despite the hit and miss nature of the signal. The 4 wheats I dug on the 3rd hunt all displayed repeatability and "painted" a section the upper right area while I also heard "mixed in" grunts (with pattern two wide open) showing another painted area in the lower right corner. This simply amazed me as I have become quite the sniper with my E-trac but somehow still mised those coins. When I opened up the plug on all 4 wheats I found the iron first and in one case the iron was a railroad spike.
When I ordered the machine I was expecting to get a beefed up, underwater, E-trac. What I got is a machine all on it's own with some e-trac characteristics. As with starting out with any new machine, it will take time to master this one, but I'm excited about the prospect of learning. I do wish the numbers were higher on silvers but the tone pitch can be set to offset the low numbers. I don't like that my e-trac, aftermarket coils are incompatible as are my Gray Ghost NDTs (i'm selling them all at reasonable prices.) Lastly, I find that good targets, even at depth, ring up numbers that are steady and more "diggable" taking even more guesswork out of what to and not to dig. Anybody else with any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Merry Christmas everyone!
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