CTX 3030 trouble with wedding bands?

[MBbeachrat]

I went back and looked at all of Gary's gold finds with the CTX and was surprised of the small amount of wedding bands. His ratio of bands to gold targets is extremely low. All the hunters where I hunt find more bands then any other gold targets. My ratio is a about 4 to 1. I am wondering if this is because the CTX has trouble with bands or have the Excaliburs and CZs picked up the bands and the CTX is getting the old deeper gold that they missed? I am still trying to decide on the CTX purchase but I don't want to give up bands. I think it must be finding the older gold missed by the Excalibur and the CZs. Any CTX users test the seawater program on bands? What is the band ratio for other CTX beach hunters?

 

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[Terry Soloman]

The CTX 3030 is a ring KILLER MB, not to worry. I have a few buddies that swing them and they are doing just fine. I doubt very seriously that Mr. Drayton shows us ALL of his finds.

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

MBbeachrat: I do not know how Gary uses the CTX 3030, but it is probable that his higher ratio of small gold objects to the larger gold objects (wedding bands) has more to do with his excellent coil control.

He is a disciplined hunter who when hunting with an excalibur/sovereign sweeps the coil slowly (3 sec in a sweep) in overlapping grid pattern(s), where he knows targets have been found

Your hypothesis that the CTX is getting the old deeper gold is true if the excalibur is using the standard 8" or 10" search coil as the CTX comes with a larger 11" inch search coil.

It is most likely false if the person detecting with the excalibur or sovereign is using a 15 inch WOT DD coil or 15 X12inch /18 X 15 inch SEF Coils as theese coils are larger.
It simply is a matter of physics, up to a 15" search coil, that the larger the size of the size of the search coil the more search area that it will cover in a single sweep and the deeper it will detect. When you go larger than 15" in diameter noise and sensitivity become problematic.

 

[bigscoop]

I think Gary will chime in on this and tell you that at lot of it has to with where he hunts as I'm sure the locations he selects aren't just, "the beach". Gary is a seasoned hunter "of the old" and with that comes a great deal of experience in knowing where to hunt and when to hunt it. With everything else being equal most of us are general beach hunters, from what I can tell, Gary isn't just a typical beach hunter. When Gary says, "modern jewelry" it would still be considered older jewelry to most of us. I think this explains the absence of "modern" bands more then anything else. Most of Gary's posted finds come from era when gold and jewels provided an uncommon social status, which should also tell you that he's not just hunting your everyday public beaches. I doubt it has anything to do with the machine and more to do with the person using that machine and where he's using it at.

 

[MBbeachrat]

I remember seeing a Utube by Max showing how if he eliminates pennies it would eliminate 10k school rings. Just thought Gary may be eliminating nickels or something and it might be missing bands. I know all the land users are loving the CTX. If I hunted land I would sure be ordering today. Been reading about big improvements with the seawater program.

 

[bigscoop]

I remember seeing a Utube by Max showing how if he eliminates pennies it would eliminate 10k school rings. Just thought Gary may be eliminating nickels or something and it might be missing bands. I know all the land users are loving the CTX. If I hunted land I would sure be ordering today. Been reading about big improvements with the seawater program.

Yea, once you start eliminating certain signals you start running risk, especially in the salt environment. I know with both the Excal and the CZ the tones can vary quite a bit simply due to the amount of mineralization built up on, or around a target, as well as the target's position and depth. On both machines I have pennies signaling mid tones quite often, also have nickles signaling high tones, or even offering low tones and broken tones. Not sure I would want to flat out eliminate these signals, would much rather hear them and then have the option to dig or not. I can tell you this much, there are a few guys using the 3030 on the beaches I hunt and it appears they're leaving behind more then pennies. Can't say if that's by choice or not.

 

[Gary Drayton]

I very rarely edit or eliminate certain signals, only in extreme competitive situations where there are multiple people metal detecting in the same area. The lack of recent bands is just situational, I am pounding three areas that have class rings and old style ladies rings but not many bands. I am sure I will start finding bands again when I start changing search areas, yesterdays 12 gold finds were all small gold finds. When you can find small gold you can certainly find big gold if it is in the area.
Cheers Gary

 

[MBbeachrat]

12 more good going! Gary are you running the seawater program? I never used a machine with a screen. Do you get different numbers with small gold and large gold?

 

[Gary Drayton]

12 more good going! Gary are you running the seawater program? I never used a machine with a screen. Do you get different numbers with small gold and large gold?

Thanks I just posted the 12 gold finds from yesterday, yes I am running the new Seawater option which really made a big improvement for searching in really rough surf or lower on the beach with surf rushing over the search coil. I check the numbers but I do not hunt by numbers, the size and shape a piece of gold jewelry will have an effect on the FE/CO numbers.
But not the gold tone, when modified the sound of gold on the CTX 3030 is a beautiful thing!

 

[bigscoop]

I very rarely edit or eliminate certain signals, only in extreme competitive situations where there are multiple people metal detecting in the same area. The lack of recent bands is just situational, I am pounding three areas that have class rings and old style ladies rings but not many bands. I am sure I will start finding bands again when I start changing search areas, yesterdays 12 gold finds were all small gold finds. When you can find small gold you can certainly find big gold if it is in the area.
Cheers Gary

"Location. Location. Location." Sort of like finding those prime pieces of beach real estate.

 

[GreenMeanie]

I took my CTX out today to the beach and was hitting small SNAPS for bathing suits at about 1" depths.
I never hit those with the EXCAL so this machine is Sensitive for sure compared to other minelabs.
You can see one of the small snaps at the bottom of the pic.
And I was only running at a MANUAL 20.

Not my video but shows the FIX working.

 

[MBbeachrat]

GreenMeanie that is a very impressive video. Thanks for the post. Looks like some of the guys may have sold a little to quickly. That machine really goes deep and keeps a nice clear tone.

 

[bigscoop]

Not to take anything away from the video, but a dime? My CZ-21 and Excal with WOT will rival that depth and stability in shallow, flat saltwater. The real test is white gold, and fine gold, and turbulent shallow water or deep saltwater water, say waist to chest deep. Also, the Foster style test isn't the same thing as a target that's under the sand when you factor in the saltwater/sand mixture. I'd like to see that same test with say, a three or four gram white gold band and/or a nickel.

 

[MBbeachrat]

Not to take anything away from the video, but a dime? My CZ-21 and Excal with WOT will rival that depth and stability in shallow, flat saltwater. The real test is white gold, and fine gold, and turbulent shallow water or deep saltwater water, say waist to chest deep. Also, the Foster style test isn't the same thing as a target that's under the sand when you factor in the saltwater/sand mixture. I'd like to see that same test with say, a three or four gram white gold band and/or a nickel.

Would you want to use a machine with a screen in deeper water? Seems to me it would hard to swing. If it is hitting a dime wouldn't it hit a nickel or gold band? Usually on my CZ or Excalibur a dime is harder to pick up then a band or nickel.

 

[dewcon4414]

Those lower conductors like gold and nickel are closer to the salt setting than a dime. The more salt, black sand, and wave action the more difficult the weak signals may be processed out by the factory salt setting. To me the screen drag isnt as much a factor as wanting to use it. As a dirt digger i would take some extra time to use the screen to try and id a deep target.... hated to cut up sod for no reason and you arent trying to cover a lot of area..... but water hunting you just dig most of it. If you are trying to find a way NOT to dig you are going to miss something and it slows you down so the screen becomes a crutch. Out that deep you have to rely on tones. Not knowing Garys area i have know way of knowing why there wasnt more bands found. I know i got a lot more of the smaller ones this month.... which tells me they were moved or just walker over by people hunting faster. Id love to get a look at his entire months finds...... 40 golds for the month.... got to have some impressive silver pieces as well.

Dew

 

[NYwaterhunter]

Hi Guys.
Can someone put it plane and simple .....
Is the 3030 frequencies the same as Excal?
Is there any difference in the frequencies that the two machines use?
(Thanks for getting me up to speed w/ 3030)
Gary G.

 

[bigscoop]

Hi Guys.
Can someone put it plane and simple .....
Is the 3030 frequencies the same as Excal?
Is there any difference in the frequencies that the two machines use?
(Thanks for getting me up to speed w/ 3030)
Gary G.

Shoot Gary D. an email. He has a great deal of experience with both and can probably answer the question/questions you're curious about better then anyone.

Dew is correct in what he said about the white gold and nickels, especially the finer gold. This is also why small gold chains are so hard to find, the links are so small it becomes nearly impossible for the machine to separate them from the saltwater/sand mixture. White gold and nickels become harder to separate in the same fashion the deeper they are buried because of the continued increase in similar conductivity of the surrounding sand/saltwater mixture that the machine is filtering out. This is why I always do my test on the actual beach with buried white gold and/or nickels.

 

[lookindown]

Gary found a band today...what a coincidence.

 

[Gary Drayton]

Gary found a band today...what a coincidence.

That is because Gary was working in a different city and went to a different beach, no coincidence.

 

[OBN]

I'm with BIGscoop, I do like the new program for the saltwater, but Not impressed with the foster/ruler test. Now this video of joe demarco impresses me. Anyone that hunts iron infested areas like Jersey and the place has history, I really think there is an advantage over other detectors. But let me say, the Minelab Se will do the same if setup in Almetal Ferrious but she's not waterproof.