CTX Beach Question

redcobra8u

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Jan 24, 2014
1,221
1,336
Los Angeles
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Detector(s) used
Minelab Excal II, Garrett AT Pro, CTX3030
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I'm about 10 hours in on the new machine. I've read both books and the manual and have been hunting in the standard beach mode. In the dry sand, I get good repeatable signals and have cleaned up on the clad.

Today I hit low tide and worked the wet sands. I was having difficulty getting repeatable signals. I would get a solid "ding" and it would give me a target ID as a quarter. Switch to pinpoint and get an indication there was a target. 8-12 inches later, about half the time, I'd find a quester and get a relatable signal once it's on the surface. The other times nothing. I'd even come back later and recheck the hole and half the time get a brief signal then nothing.

I copied the beach program and started making adjustments. Turned on saltwater and recovery fast. Didn't seem to make and difference. Moved up in the dry sand, got repeatable signals right away on clad. I'm running auto sensitivity and it read 20-16 most of the time in both programs.

Appreciate everyone's expert advice on what I'm doing wrong.

Sal
 

slider66

Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Nov 14, 2013
1,483
1,988
Treasure Coast Of Florida
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3
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 800
Minelab CTX 3030
Garrett AT Pro
Minelab Excalibur 1000 with SEF 10x12 coil
3 Minelab Excalibur II 10 inch
Deus II
EQuinox 900
Manticore
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Signal id will jump around the deeper you go on the target. Try Gary Drayton beach settings you'll find it on YouTube.


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redcobra8u

redcobra8u

Bronze Member
Jan 24, 2014
1,221
1,336
Los Angeles
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Detector(s) used
Minelab Excal II, Garrett AT Pro, CTX3030
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Signal id will jump around the deeper you go on the target. Try Gary Drayton beach settings you'll find it on YouTube.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Most times I'm not getting any target ID?
 

Bigdob

Full Member
Aug 1, 2016
145
185
IL
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030
Minelab Safari
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Only use the "saltwater" setting when the coil is in the salt water.
When on sand and out of the water turn it off.
I found that out in Bootcamp after I was on the beach for a week with the wrong settings . I still picked some stuff up but next time I'll only use it when in the water and see what shakes out.
BT
 

ChampFerguson/TN

Bronze Member
Nov 22, 2013
1,181
1,620
TN
Detector(s) used
Minelab Safari .......... Minelab Excalibur II ....... ........Minelab CTX 3030
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Remember too that digging in the sand often causes objects to shift position, giving you a smaller profile to detect. Keep scooping and see if it comes back.

I'd force manual when you get a odd signal, if not all the time.
 

cudamark

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Mar 16, 2011
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San Diego
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XP Deus 2, Equinox 800/900, Fisher Impulse AQ, E-Trac, 3 Excal 1000's, White's TM808, VibraProbe, 15" NEL Attack, Mi6, Steath 920ix and 720i scoops, TRX, etc....
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Like Champ said, flip it over to manual sensitivity and crank it up as high as you can stand. Sometimes you'll get disappearing signals after you've taken the overburden off. Dig deeper and see if you can get it out of the hole.
 

TORRERO

30+ YEARS, XP DEUS I & II ARE MY GO TO MACHINES
Nov 17, 2004
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XP DEUS I & II
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Appreciate everyone's expert advice on what I'm doing wrong.

----------

maybe your doing nothing wrong ..
Although I have never used a CTX 3030, other machines I have used in wet sand will do the following....

get a repeatable signal... (I use a shovel on the beach)
I dig and signal is still in the whole..
after a few shovel fills of sand ... nothing in the hole, nothing in the sand ...
Like poof ... vanishing act..
But I learned that the target simply fell down in the hole and is now deeper that your machine
can detect... so then I just do a really deep shovel scoop in the center... and usually the target comes out..
Something else you might try... since most machines are based on the same premace of hunting ...
switch your machine into "All Metal Mode" this lets it see everything possible as many times deep targets are seen as iron, and you moving it suddenly makes the machine see it differently...

Then sometimes you just have to leave that massive hole for someone else .... hahaha
 

ThaiWai

Tenderfoot
Jun 4, 2016
8
2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Page 35 from Andy Sabisch's book.
Factory Beach Preset: Recovery Fast OFF
"..intended to pick good targets from amongst trash and heavily littered sites."
Recovery fast clips the length of your audio signal to ready the matching for another nearby target. No reason it should be on at the beach.
According to Gary Drayton, saltwater should only be ticked on when the machine is chattery not as a default when in a salty environment. Likely why, again, the factory preset for Beach is also OFF for saltwater.
 

MexGT

Full Member
Sep 23, 2013
180
83
México
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX-3030 & Stealth 920i
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
get used to the sounds, only use the ID as a 2nd reference.
 

califteacher

Full Member
Sep 30, 2012
162
232
Vista, San Diego County, CA
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX3030 and Excalibur II
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
While I appreciate Sal's original posting and all the replies, I especially appreciate what Bigdob added about the "saltwater" setting. I thought that it was supposed to be a default setting used on the beach in general, and not just when in the water, and have been doing so since I downloaded the update a couple of years ago. I will keep in mind the quote of Gary Drayton (below) that suggested the saltwater setting be used when the unit is chattery.
 

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