Best Beach settings for CTX 3030,,,anyone??

[RVRoamer74]

I could go around in circles on this dilemma...Bought new CTX and have had a couple suggestions on settings for Beach hunting. Kind of complicated (to me)

machine,,,to say the least.

Can anyone suggest a easy way to hunt the beach,,,easiest set up,,,and any other suggestions on this machine.

I am use to the excal2,,no problem with it,,,does very good,,but noticed the CTX lately getting a lot of accolades... had to have one...you know

how all that goes...grass is always greener thing...


Long to short,,,any one have a EASY way to hunt the Beach with the CTX?? Have tried a bit,,,but not enough and I think I am all wrong on my settings.

Any help at all would be appreciated....


Thank you!!


Going to try today at low...and will see if grass IS greener or NOT....

and YES,,,I do realize practice makes perfect,,,but hey,,,I'm antsy,,,,it's in my nature

 

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[MrMikeJackie]

Yes, stock beach program.

 

[RVRoamer74]

Figured that, just thought some adjustments would get you deeper then the Stock Program. Thank you!!

 

[slider66]

RV,

I use the standard beach mode currently. I hunt in the beach mode with saltwater checked and in pattern 2 all metal mode. I change to discriminate mode pattern one when I hit over a target. You are going to find that practice makes perfect on the controls. Watch all the minelab videos and others on youtube. I purchased Gary Drayton's two books on the CTX they were valuable reading.

The CTX is a great machine and I found my first ring yesterday in Vero Beach. it gets heavy after a few hours of swinging and I am going to order the Minelab 45 pro harness today. I will also use it on my two excal machines. I have posted and talked to people using the harness and it makes life better. I was concerned about saltwater hurting the harness but others have posted that it holds up well and they have used it for years. I do wet sand and in the water and want something that I can come out of the water with and keep going. I have about 15 hours now with the CTX and can see that it has opened up some opportunities for me but I will also continue to use my two Excal's.

I am here on the treasurecoast. When I am out on a beach that is near one of the wrecks I hunt with the relic mode with saltwater checked. You can play with the different tone patterns and see which one you like the best. I am using the combined mode for now. Hope this helps you. HH and GL

 

[jeepGold]

pretty sure I already covered this in another thread!
Stock programming will be chatty to say the least. . Took me a yr of 20 hrs a week of hunting and I still feel like a noob most of the time. The excal is simple. Swing, listen, dig.. There's beauty in that simplicity. On the other hand, once you figure out your CTX you'll love it. Only you can figure it out.. No easy shortcuts homie...

 

[RVRoamer74]

chatty it is homie!!! out this morning and found this out.....did find a trinket or two though....

 

[slider66]

Take it off auto mode and go to manual 24 or 26 and see if that clears it up. Also hit the noise cancel button once an hour to quiet it down.


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[G.I.B.]

Threshold 30
Volume Gain 25
Sensitivity Auto +3
Ground Balance Enable Off
Low Trash
Fast
Deep
Sizing

 

[RVRoamer74]

Thanks G.I.B. Will try these next time out.....tomorrow,,low tide

cool signature by the way....

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I wouldn't use auto+3, manual is much, much deeper..

 

[G.I.B.]

I wouldn't use auto+3, manual is much, much deeper..

Cool, my next hunt will be with manual.

 

[MrMikeJackie]

I actually use a modified relic program. 2 tone ferrous, completely open screen(even the little bar on the bottom is open), auto +3, low trash, salt water on, deep on, fast off. Chattines? Don't know about that, as sometimes I need to run my scoop over the coil to make sure it's still on. 1 tone for iron, 1 tone for everything else.
Auto +3 already has me digging deeper than I care to sometimes. But honestly, the stock beach program is perfect just the way it is, as long as the screen is wide open. Good luck, the CTX is a really simple machine to set up and use. The open screen and tones is what gets people frustrated at first. However if detecting the wet sand, dig it all.

 

[RVRoamer74]

Thanks for replies.....so now I wondering,,,,auto or manual?? Some say WAYYYYY deeper on manual.. if you are getting the depth out of Auto +3 sounds good too. I suppose it is in

the hands of the user...their preference so to speak.

I did use my excal2 this morning,,,hit plenty of targets to dig,,,noticed a guy passing with the CTX and caught back up with him on way back before leaving,,,picked his brain on the machine

and learned a few things...we both hunted same length of time,,,or maybe him longer than me,,,,but we compared our loot for the day and seems ,,,,,this

time,,,the excal2 won,,,, luck I suppose,,,,

 

[MrMikeJackie]

It's summer time. I'm looking for fresh drops. Nothing really deep. I want my machine running quiet and smooth. Don't need nor want to figit with trying to find a manual setting that will keep me moving along without having to double check all the false signals. Search and destroy, hit it hard and fast. Cover as much sand as possible. Winter, different story. Manual sensitivity as high as I can go, slowwww, and tight grids. Remember however, I'm in the northeast. I don't have 365 days of bright sunshine and packed beaches.

 

[NC Digger]

Pick up some books from Gary Drayton and Clive Clynick both are members here. For a harness I use the Swingy Thingy which can be found on flea bay. He also makes a full harness and with the extra money you saved go to kellyco and buy an extra lower rod from anderson. HH!

 

[G.I.B.]

I've run it on manual on the beach a few times now.

Nope, way deeper than I care to dig.

Unless I am in an area that may produce some very deep goodies, I'm sticking with Auto+3 and only digging 12" down.

I'm impressed with how deep the manual is getting me, but crap, I was wearing my arms out digging that deep.

 

[jeepGold]

A person can't say "run it this way" or "that way." It depends on your location and conditions. Typically I run it in Auto +3. I used used to run it in Low Trash but have recently figured out that it runs better (for me) in ferrous-coin. The low trash can mask weaker targets and hone in on the stronger ones, even when the stronger isn't what you'd prefer to dig.
I also have been experimenting with the Auto +3 vs manual settings. The thing to do is to look at your screen. Look at where the Auto setting is set at. It may be 16 it may be 20 (the machine then adjusts the +3 as needed)... If it's at 16 why not put it at 23-24 and see if it's stable enough to tolerate. If it starts getting all chatty sally on you then turn it down. If it's all over then stick w/the auto +3. The next beach or 100 yd away might be different completely.
Also when your in very wet sand or in the water turn on the salt water setting. When your in the dry, turn it off. That even means if you're griding from high sand to low wet. You turn it off and on. on and off....
Swing slow and low. i like using my 17" and I cover just as much as I would with a smaller coil. It allows me to swing slower. I think it's literally hilarious to see guys at the beach swinging in an upward arc on the outside of every stroke. I've seen guys get 2 ft off the ground with there coil at hard left/right of the swing. Totally stupid technique. Just enough to be off the ground is what you want. People pay several hundred dollars more for a machine that might go a few inches deeper and then swing 2 ft above the ground.

 

[RVRoamer74]

Thanks for all suggestions on this CTX 3030. I will have to put in my time and studying on this machine to really getting to know it.....looking forward to that day...

HH

Dennis