Silver finally!

[Oldhand]

first silver I ever found. Had to work for it too. 8 inches down and right beside pesky iron. sweep sweep, sweep sweep again and again. Is it just me or is a ctx-3030 a pesky machine to learn? (I mean really learn). I know it is a great detector but there are certainly cases where there is the "right tool" for a job. After using this for a while now I am much more comfortable and have made some pretty amazing (to me) finds but I feel there is indeed a decent learning curve. It finds deep hard to distinguish targets for sure. It just takes a bit more listening for the faintest of signal changes and digging those iffy targets.
Here is the first silver I ever found with the CTX. Makes me wonder how much silver I have walked past due to not knowing how to use this beast, lol.
Thanks for looking and happy hunting!!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[Stretch Da Truth]

Congrats on your first silver. She looks pretty good!
These high tec machines can be a bit tricky to learn but once you know the sounds you will be finding good stuff all over the place.
Keep at it and don't give up on your new machine.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[Oldhand]

Congrats on your first silver. She looks pretty good!
These high tec machines can be a bit tricky to learn but once you know the sounds you will be finding good stuff all over the place.
Keep at it and don't give up on your new machine.

Thanks Stretch. Certainly not giving up on it at all. Love the machine. It's just a different beast to learn. They all have their learning curves. My wife recently purchased an AT Gold. I am amazed at how easy and mostly accurate it is with very little fuss. Each of these two detectors are very good at their specific type of "jobs", there is just a huge difference in the learning :-)

 

[Stretch Da Truth]

Thanks Stretch. Certainly not giving up on it at all. Love the machine. It's just a different beast to learn. They all have their learning curves. My wife recently purchased an AT Gold. I am amazed at how easy and mostly accurate it is with very little fuss. Each of these two detectors are very good at their specific type of "jobs", there is just a huge difference in the learning :-)

Thats great that you and wife get out and detect together! You must have some good times and easily can make a day or a weekend out of a hunt.
I have a Deus and it took a bit to get use to that as well but to me, that is part of the fun. The AT Gold and CTX are totally different animals. Not sure if you have done a ton of reading, checked out videos and go in the Minelab section and ask questions.... good guys and gals here ready to share info and help.
Once you spend the time to get to know that CTX you will love it and be having a ton of fun digging up all sorts of goodies.

 

[Beige]

In high iron concentration areas try using 2 tone ferrous mode with an open screen. You'll hear only 2 different tones obviously, a low ferrous tone and a higher nonferrous tone. Having the CTX in this mode will greatly help with target seperation. You will hear ALOT of ferrous targets (if you can't stand all the noise turn the volume down to where you can stand it) but work the area SLOW. It may seem overwhelming when you first start using this method but trust me, you will adapt and it will be completely worth it. Remember to BE PATIENT(that is one of my worst qualities while detecting but once I relax the coins start showing up in those difficult areas). Use this method for a while and you'll master it. Soon enough you'll be finding all the coins that the cherry pickers leave behind!

 

[bubbaslight]

Very impressive first silver. The date is also pretty cool.

 

[Truth]

Congrats on the silver! I love the Merc. Now that you found that it's really on. You got the feva!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratulations on your 1st silver, may your coil sweep many more!

 

[neodetectorist]

Congrats on the first silver. What is your coil size? Maybe worth putting on a smaller DD or a coin shooter coil. I course you sacrifice depth but it maybe worth it in trashy areas.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Congrats on your first silver with that detector. Trapperart said it best, and I agree. About 10 years ago, I decided to buy a Minelab ( A brand that I had never owned ) and it took me a complete year (didnt keep track of hours but I used it at least once a week) to learn that detector. Glad I put in the time and didnt give up. You will learn your machine over time.

 

[Oldhand]

In high iron concentration areas try using 2 tone ferrous mode with an open screen. You'll hear only 2 different tones obviously, a low ferrous tone and a higher nonferrous tone. Having the CTX in this mode will greatly help with target seperation. You will hear ALOT of ferrous targets (if you can't stand all the noise turn the volume down to where you can stand it) but work the area SLOW. It may seem overwhelming when you first start using this method but trust me, you will adapt and it will be completely worth it. Remember to BE PATIENT(that is one of my worst qualities while detecting but once I relax the coins start showing up in those difficult areas). Use this method for a while and you'll master it. Soon enough you'll be finding all the coins that the cherry pickers leave behind!

Beige,
Thanks for the reply. That is the exact mode I run it in. It is indeed a bit to get used to in the beginning but as you stated it is well worth it. I used the stock programs for about the first 80 hours of use of the ctx. I then started applying patterns of what I had seen for my environment and made my own modes. The mode I currently use is derived from DrTones and modified for my needs. Been using this adjusted pattern for about 60 hours now. Seems to be working very well and has not cut down on the standard RW and CW finds.
Thanks again,
Oldhand

 

[Oldhand]

Congrats on the first silver. What is your coil size? Maybe worth putting on a smaller DD or a coin shooter coil. I course you sacrifice depth but it maybe worth it in trashy areas.

Neohdetectorist,
Thanks for the reply. Right now i am using the stock 11 inch coil. Will indeed be buying a smaller coil to have in the arsenal.

 

[Anarchist]

Congratulations! An excellent find!

 

[deershed]

Comgrats on your first silver!!

 

[against the wind]

Love those Mercs,
Congrats on your first silver.
When it comes to the CTX,, patience is key.
Sometimes it is completely audio that you have to go by.

 

[Revrob]

Love mercs, awesome find! My first find was two mercs in the same hole, after that I had a run finding 12 more in the next few weeks. Felt so good after struggling with the at pro. You realize after awhile that you have to have a connection to your detector. You gotta use it all the time, learn its language and let it speak to you, sounds crazy, but we all know what i mean, it takes a while.

 

[deepdiggingnc]

Congrats on the first silver! I got mine about a month ago...26 merc

 

[Doc Arey]

I remember my first about 44 years ago! congrats

 

[7up2000]

My first silver was a merc, too, so we're in the same club. It took me about 3 1/2 months of MDing. Congratulations and may you find many more. 7up