Book Excerpt: "CTX 3030 "Gold Box" Searching"

[cjc]

12/ “Gold Box” Searching
With any closed screen search mode, you run the risk of missing targets. When I first began using the CTX this way, later pulse searches revealed some big rings I had missed. Later I began to recognise the limitations of this kind of searching and the importance of

• -accurate Sensitivity settings.
• -coil control that was in keeping with the conditions.

It became clear that properly used, under the right conditions-- these “notch” type programs were valuable tools.
The key is to understand the conditions you are hunting and know when to make graduated changes to your settings.
Conditions to avoid using closed screen “Gold Box” methods:

• -intermittent black sand
• -steep hills or other interference sources.
• -mixed composition where the machine is already struggling to compensate for changes in the sand.
• -extreme low recommended Sensitivity shown on screen.
• -fast salt water or surge.
• -black sand (see below).
• -when running the big coil. (The exception would be as a checker).

I recently heard an English reviewer describe the CTX in closed screen as “sluggish.” This is well said. One needs only bench test the Desanto Beach program to see this effect. While not all “gold box” programs have this performance characteristic--the potential is there. The key is awareness of the conditions, tuning and coil control.
Conditions where “Gold Box” methods work well:

• -multiple targets where many are similar to gold but don't stay on the “12 line” (bottle caps, weak foil signals, tin, rusted foreign coins...). These would be responses that continually distract you by making noise but don't stay in.

It's important to recognise that these are basically coil control based methods. As a beginner, I lacked a “feel” for the CTX--that is, I didn't know when I was moving the coil too fast for what the conditions allowed. This caused me to overrun targets. I also had trouble hearing the difference between marginal responses that were not going to stay in and the fuller, more solid tones of good responses. Over time, by using the CTX in a variety of conditions and with various settings it's possible to develop enough skill so as not to miss targets using closed screen methods. The key however is to understand the conditions you are hunting in. Let's look at some of the CTX’s operating characteristics that affect what happens when you want to run this type of “gold box” program:
From: The Minelab CTX Gold Hunter's Guide"
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