An awkward moment,,,,

[GA1dad]

So I was out hunting with a new fella yesterday. He arrives and pulls out a CTX 3030. Since the T2 is fairly new to me and I knew his 3030 machine was highly regarded, I asked that he let me scan some of his deeper targets if he felt they were silver. I was experimenting with 60,50,bp with the stock coil. At one point I swept over a "solid" high 70's, low 80's signal that appeared to have a little depth to it. As the guy was pretty close by, I asked him to scan the target and give me his opinion. Nothing he said?? So he changed programs and swung agin,,, nothing. I began to since the frustration in his voice. After two more unsuccessful program changes I finally dug the target. It turned out to be a junk target at 7 inches, a piece of chain link fence I think. When it came out of the hole, the guy took his Minelab back to the car right then and grabbed an AT Pro to hunt with the rest of the day.

I certainly won't say that the T2 is a better machine than the 3030,, and I'm sure it would have seen that target with the proper adjustment,,, but it sure did make for an awkward moment.

 

[Elton]

You don't say if his machine nulled out over that particular target...... My guess is his machine was set up to "NOT" hit on that piece of metal. Or the T2 up averaged the target due to it's size, and showed it as a higher number. It will do that on some old pull tabs too.

Your correct in saying that doesn't indicate the T2 is better. In fact some would wonder why the T2 hit that item.. unless you were using 0 discrimination. Or very little discrimination. Or as I said above..it up averaged, and didn't disc out the piece of fence metal.
I am certainly not knocking the T2. In fact I have always liked their operation. I'm just agreeing with you. T2 and Minelab CTX 3030 are completely different technologies..

Did the T2 hit the target once it was out of the ground ??

Enjoy your T2..and show us your great finds.

 

[GA1dad]

You ask an interesting question Elton. I didn't check it with the T2 after it was dug. The guy did check it with the 3030, and it picked it up after it was out of the hole. I still have the piece in my pouch,, I'll see what it does out of the hole with the T2.

Your "averaged up" point explains why I dig so many old pull tabs too,, thanks.

As to your other point on discrimination,, I was running 50 on discrim,,, 60% sensitivity. It was a good repeatable 78-82 target for me. All that said, it may not have been chain link at all,, I just don't know. It was gray in color and did look like a small "V" piece of galvanized fence wire,, but it could have been something else like a bent over piece of welding rod or similar,,, no rust or copper color visible,,,,, maybe an old piece of aluminum wire.

You are correct,, neither am I saying that one machine is better than the other at detecting a target,, just noting the awkwardness of the situation. I did make the assumption ( maybe wrongfully ) that one of the 4 programs he switched to included "all metal",, but maybe not. He did mention to me early on that he was not a coinshooter, but liked digging relics like buttons and such. I also just remembered that he was not using a stock coil on the 3030. I don't remember the brand, but it look like a 6X9 of some sort,,, maybe the coil was limiting his depth??

It did however boost my confidence in the T2.

 

[MI-AuAg]

Hey GA1dad,

It's human nature to be somewhat competitive, I guess no one wants to feel outdone.

Too many unknowns to make any conclusions on this one. IMO

First of all, in terms of depth of detection, I feel the T2 will compare with any good quality detector. From my personal experience, most quality detectors will detect to comparable depths. Some may excel at certain parameters, based on frequency, specific design, and of course coil type.

My personal guess, is that it may come down to experience, or lack thereof, with the CTX operator. (no disrespect intended)

Was the CTX user operating in stock programs, or custom? What programs did he change from/to? Was the Target Trace feature applied? Amount of discrimination used? Those questions, and many more, may apply to the lack of his results.

With the CTX, even if discrimination is applied to a specific parameter, a visual "rejected" target icon will appear on the detection screen in that particular ferrous/conductive area, with NO audio indication. I'm thinking the "junk target" should/could/may have been indicated in that situation. If the machine as you said, was in "proper adjustment", or the operator may have missed the indicator. Given the somewhat competitive situation, the CTX operator may not have noticed the visual indication, since no audio indicator would be given on a rejected (discriminated) target. I have seen this happen often. Guess we'll never know!

 

[GA1dad]

Good synopsis MI-Au-Ag,,

With the CTX, even if discrimination is applied to a specific parameter, a visual "rejected" target icon will appear on the detection screen in that particular ferrous/conductive area, with NO audio indication.

I did not know that,,, next time I'll know to ask him that if faced with this situation again.

While reading another thread I remembered another detail. This was some fairly mineralized soil At one point I looked down and the Fe3O4 was hitting 5 bars. What caught my eye was that it was taller than my battery life bars.

 

[Elton]

You ask an interesting question Elton. I didn't check it with the T2 after it was dug. The guy did check it with the 3030, and it picked it up after it was out of the hole. I still have the piece in my pouch,, I'll see what it does out of the hole with the T2.

Your "averaged up" point explains why I dig so many old pull tabs too,, thanks.

As to your other point on discrimination,, I was running 50 on discrim,,, 60% sensitivity. It was a good repeatable 78-82 target for me. All that said, it may not have been chain link at all,, I just don't know. It was gray in color and did look like a small "V" piece of galvanized fence wire,, but it could have been something else like a bent over piece of welding rod or similar,,, no rust or copper color visible,,,,, maybe an old piece of aluminum wire.

You are correct,, neither am I saying that one machine is better than the other at detecting a target,, just noting the awkwardness of the situation. I did make the assumption ( maybe wrongfully ) that one of the 4 programs he switched to included "all metal",, but maybe not. He did mention to me early on that he was not a coinshooter, but liked digging relics like buttons and such. I also just remembered that he was not using a stock coil on the 3030. I don't remember the brand, but it look like a 6X9 of some sort,,, maybe the coil was limiting his depth??

It did however boost my confidence in the T2.

The T2 is an awesome detector..and found me plenty of deep deep coins............ It would boost my confidence too LOL