Using your CTX3030 in a trashey park

jbc465

Full Member
Sep 7, 2013
236
86
Ok I have had my ctx for a month reading and watching you tubes videos. Well I found out that quarters or dimes are at 12.42 to 12.44. And so are aluminum twist off caps, and other aluminum cans and part of them. And all kinds of other crap. Am I missing something or is there an easier way to discriminate the trash out. I mean there is so many different beeps of different tones. I know you have to put in the time to learn the machine. Any words of encouragement would be appreciated? Thanks John
 

parkgt

Full Member
Feb 19, 2013
183
63
Western AR
Detector(s) used
NOX 800, XP Deus, previous CTX and 705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
There are some things that you mention you will not be able to discriminate out; only digging will prove what they are.

Look for a nice round circle in the target trace. Even better if it fills evenly with red.

Use pinpoint sizing to size the target. A coin will have a nice small sharp pinpoint. Bury some coins about 4" to 5" and practice if you don't know what this should sound like.

In trashy parks you don't need too much depth or sensitivity to start with.

Lift the coil to determine if it is a can or most of it. A buried coin won't sound off with the coil 6" off the ground like a can will.

Get the 6" coil for better separation of targets.

Even with all that said I still dig plenty of junk that I hope to be coins by tone and trace. It is just part of it. If you don't dig some of the iffy ones you will miss some good ones.
 

sask hunter

Sr. Member
Aug 26, 2013
413
111
yorkton saskatchewan
Detector(s) used
bounty hunter tro/bfo
ace 250
teknetics 4000
atp pro
minelab ctx 3030
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Good info for me as well thankyou

D.A.D.D.-Dads against daughters dating
 

sask hunter

Sr. Member
Aug 26, 2013
413
111
yorkton saskatchewan
Detector(s) used
bounty hunter tro/bfo
ace 250
teknetics 4000
atp pro
minelab ctx 3030
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Will I have a hard time with the stock 11" coil in a trashy area?

D.A.D.D.-Dads against daughters dating
 

parkgt

Full Member
Feb 19, 2013
183
63
Western AR
Detector(s) used
NOX 800, XP Deus, previous CTX and 705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
It would be easier with the 6" coil but plenty can be found with the 11". Much depends on how many targets are under the coil at once. You need to learn all three methods of pinpointing the target.

X from two directions 90 degrees apart swinging the coil.

Wiggle back until the target quits sounding again 90 degrees apart.

And then using the pinpoint function again better if done twice from 90 degree apart.

If you have multiple targets sounding off under the coil try narrowing your swing down to the point that you are only getting one.

This may be an arc of only a couple of inches; when you think you have the center-line then move (wiggle) back until the signal drops off. Target should be at the tip of the coil. You may have to try from a different angle to get to the point that you only have one target under the coil.

Once you think you have it then you can confirm by using the pinpoint; if it is more than a very narrow sharp tone it is most likely not a coin. Again you can repeat at 90 degrees, since some objects will be long and narrow and seem like a coin from one direction but have a wide tone when pinpointed again from 90 degrees.

Sometimes there is just too much under the coil to make sense of any one target. That is why small coils are so popular for coin shooting in trashy areas. Less under the coil at one time to make sense off.

Time in the field and practice.
 

sask hunter

Sr. Member
Aug 26, 2013
413
111
yorkton saskatchewan
Detector(s) used
bounty hunter tro/bfo
ace 250
teknetics 4000
atp pro
minelab ctx 3030
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Thanx for all the advice . I guess all I can do now is wait for snow to go, first place iam heading is to our old beach that always gives up something good

D.A.D.D.-Dads against daughters dating
 

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jbc465

jbc465

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Sep 7, 2013
236
86
I want to Thank You for taking your time to explain to us about the going ons of the CTX. I have been wanting to put out a garden for practicing and now I have another reason. To try the different techniques.
Thanks John
 

parkgt

Full Member
Feb 19, 2013
183
63
Western AR
Detector(s) used
NOX 800, XP Deus, previous CTX and 705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You don't need to make your garden too tough to begin with. Bury some coins and other objects 4" to 6" deep and then maybe a dime and quarter at 8" to 9" deep; you will seldom be digging them deeper than that in the field.

Some objects to consider: (You don't need to do them all at once)

Zinc penny, copper penny (pre 1982) nickel, dime, quarter, pull tab, metal bottle top, large rusty nail, crushed soda or beer can, chunk of iron. A dime or quarter with a nail 1" away; interesting to hit from 90 degrees. Tougher a nail on both sides or on top of the coin.

Start easy and learn the sounds, numbers and pinpointing techniques. Then try different settings and tones.
 

Jackalope

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Jun 27, 2009
243
167
Oahu, HI
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White's, Garrett, Minelab
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
parkgt is correct. But just a note about identifying targets. The CTX has perhaps the best targeting display in the business. Unfortunately there are so many garbage targets that mimic valuable ones that you really at best you can only eliminate the most horrendous iron signatures. The rest you'll have to dig to be sure. With experience you can get a sense of the target type by the quality of the signature - jumpy, dull or round tone, etc., which can help with the decision to dig. But you'd never be completely sure what you are passing by ... amount of time needed and effort expended determines percentage recovered. Too bad the manufactures don't fess up on the true limitations of their machines.

Jackalope
 

Texas Looter

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Jan 1, 2013
132
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Another thing to keep in mind is if you are using one of the tone profiles that have adjustable bins for tone is to leave yourself plenty of room. The conductive numbers more so than ferrous are drawn down to lower numbers making it hard to identify. An example would be if you were in combined and your last bin was set up to high tone at the 40 up co line and a target was close to a nail the co could be drawn down to 37 or 38 which would give you a mid tone. With some coil work you can make it high tone and get the number up some of the time but if you are in a trashy place and only looking for high tones you will likely miss the good target while searching because you only heard a mid tone.

Also by setting the fe line at 23 or higher you will get the cleanest signal from conductive targets.

Some like to set the last co line to (40 +) for cherry picking but they are missing targets that can be cherry picked by setting the co line to 36 and fe line to 23+then investigating all none false high tones.

Also the advice parkgt give on pinpointing is spot on. On anything other than the 6"coil i have trouble pinpointing correctly a lot of the time. Using the pinpoint function and then x the target with the stock coil works the best for me. Really the stock coil works better than it should in trashy sites but it still cannot compare with the 6" coil for locating and then seperating the target from the trash once located.
BTYa
TL
 

parkgt

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Feb 19, 2013
183
63
Western AR
Detector(s) used
NOX 800, XP Deus, previous CTX and 705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
TL

When you mention setting FE line at 23 or higher do you mean higher on the FE/CO graph which would be a lower actual FE number; or do you mean lower on the graph which would be a higher FE number.

It always confuses me when higher or lower FE is mentioned; since lower numbers are higher on the axis of the Tone profile and higher number lower on the axis.

Most of the time I run about 16 to 18 on the Ferrous line in Combined.
 

Texas Looter

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Jan 1, 2013
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Yea it confuses me to. I debated which to use higher or lower.
Anyway in this case higher means a higher number or lower position on the fe scale.

TL
 

parkgt

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Feb 19, 2013
183
63
Western AR
Detector(s) used
NOX 800, XP Deus, previous CTX and 705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks TL

I will give a higher number a try to see if I can discern a difference in signal clarity.
 

Texas Looter

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Jan 1, 2013
132
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Primary Interest:
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Thanks TL

I will give a higher number a try to see if I can discern a difference in signal clarity.


Would like to know what your results are. By the way I use responce-long and the 6" coil.
Let us know.
Thanks
TL
 

parkgt

Full Member
Feb 19, 2013
183
63
Western AR
Detector(s) used
NOX 800, XP Deus, previous CTX and 705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Would like to know what your results are. By the way I use responce-long and the 6" coil.
Let us know.
Thanks
TL

TL

With rain in the forecast it may be early next week before I get a chance to try it out in the coin garden. If I get time I will try all three coils; response long and regular.
 

smittyman

Full Member
Jun 6, 2012
215
323
Charlotte NC
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030
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JB, all this are valid points and good tips. That being said you answered your own question in your original post when you said that you knew you would have to put in time learning your machine. All our equipment makes our hunting easier (hopefully) but nothing is going to beat experience with that equipment and time spent in the hobby. We all have to pay our dues by diggin' junk. Swing on!
 

parkgt

Full Member
Feb 19, 2013
183
63
Western AR
Detector(s) used
NOX 800, XP Deus, previous CTX and 705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
TL,

Did a little testing with a silver quarter at a little over 7" and clad quarter and dime at about 5" in moist soil reading about 14 to 17. This is in my wooded back yard with no iron or trash present. I used a pair of SunRay Pro Gold Headphones with both the 6" and 11" coils; gain at 24, volume limit at 16, response normal. The only difference was the ferrous line at 16 or 24.

I could detect very little if any difference in signal clarity. My hearing has been abused by years of shooting, industrial noise and motor sports so it could be that I am just not able to discern the advantage of the higher numbered ferrous line. I will leave it there just in case.

The other interesting observation, which surprised me was how hard a time I had picking up any tone on the 7" + silver quarter. Using ferrous coin with any discrimination I had to sweep very quickly like cutting grass to get any tone. Only a completely open screen would give a tone at a slow pace; it did not matter whether I used auto plus 3 or manual 30 the quarter would show on screen but not give a tone. Even just rejecting the bottom ferrous line resulted in a lost tone at normal or slow swing speeds.

So the advice to swing quickly for deep silver has validity as far a tone hunting. Others go slow with a constant eye on the screen.

Many different ways to approach hunting a site with the CTX. I believe that it takes combination of approaches and settings used from different directions possibly with different coils to truly uncover most of what a complex site has hidden.
 

Texas Looter

Full Member
Jan 1, 2013
132
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Primary Interest:
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parkgt thanks for the update. I think the key to my results was the coin being close to the nail. Once the coin is located and isolated from the nail there is less of a difference. I guess what i am trying to say is that when searching for a good signal it stands out clearer but once located and the coil worked over the target there is little to no difference. I have grown to like response long so that also affect my results.Not sure what amount of disc. you are using but if you disc out much physically high than 22 or so seems to start degrading the signal.

Not getting a tone with a 7"quarter would bother me. I have mild soil here and with the stock coil can get a good clean tone at 12" and a dime at 10"with a slow sweep. I can get undigable blips at times with the 6" coil on both but as you said i have to swing fast for those blips.
As good as i am finding the CTX to be i think that to much disc and to tight on tone breaks lose a lot of good targets.

Best to ya andgood hunting.
 

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jbc465

jbc465

Full Member
Sep 7, 2013
236
86
Hey parkgt I have read over the information you have posted several times. And I also noticed while swing the coil and not hearing anything and looking over and seeing a silver reading on the screen and woundering. Where did that come from? I thought you need to go some what slow so the machine could process the information. Well this will be interesting test. As I planted money in the back yard. Oh and yes aluminum can, pull tab, twist top and even a beaver tail.
Thanks JB
 

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