Displayed Sensitivity Way Off?

[Neil in West Jersey]

I was using the Auto setting +3 on the CTX. today. The display showed it was at 27. I thought it seemed high, since the recommended setting was 14, but it was running stable and smooth so I left it there.

I got a broken up Indian Head signal at around 7 inches, but when I dug the plug, it fell deeper into the hole. I couldn't hear it at all. It was about 10 inches down. No nulling or anything. I realized I wasn't getting the depth I should be.

I decided to try Manual sensitivity, and set it at 27, but it was much too unstable, so I lowered it down to around 24. It was definitely cranked up more with a Manual setting of 24 than the Auto setting, which read 27.

What gives???

 

[Larry (IL)]

I hope Digger jumps in here Neil, he probably knows more about sensitivity than most of us combined but I know that what is displayed on the screen is not always what you get. The manual sensitivity is setting all three of the channels to one setting while Auto is continuously monitoring the ground and adjusting all three channels independent of each other from what I understand. My guess is only the highest channel is displayed on the screen and not the other two which could very well be much lower. To further complicate things, we don't know what channel is being used as the dominate frequency to ID that particular target. The actual sensitivity on what channel at any particular time is really unknown the best I can tell.

I really don't see this as a problem either, I put the CTX in Auto and trust the detector that it is doing the best that it can with what it is working with and that frees up my mental involvement to the point that I enjoy hunting more with the CTX than other machines.

 

[squirrel1]

Normal ops. In auto plus "0" the number displayed is the sensivity of the highest of the 3 channels in your case "24". Add 3 (auto plus 3) and arrive at 27. Now the number 14 you saw was the average of all 3 channels(a supposed recommended setting for manual). When you go to manual you are infact setting all 3 channels to the same level i.e. 25. And yes depending on ground conditions it can be noisy. I personally use the recommended settings level as a guide for my ground. I also use the auto sensitivity the ctx sets up to maybe judge my ground as well. And yes the ole audio is a good guide as well. Happy hunting and enjoy your detector.

 

[Des D]

Neil,

Des here from

Just a quick question...

At what stage of the detecting session did you observe the 27

Good Hunting

Des D

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

Neil,

Des here from

Just a quick question...

At what stage of the detecting session did you observe the 27

Good Hunting

Des D

It seems like when I first do a Noise Cancel, it will read the Auto setting, but quickly jumps up to higher numbers...generally around 24-27. This is approx 300 yards away from any highways or homes.

 

[squirrel1]

Neil, my CTX always seems to start out at 19 and once my I start sweeping with the detector it will most of the time advance to a higher auto sensivity. Rather than sweeping you can even pump the coil some over the ground and it will start increasing sensivity. This will usually happen as long as you are not over bad to somewhat bad ground. On up in the season when the ground gets drier don't be surprised to see your detector advance to as high as 30/31 in places, And when hunting heavy trash don't be afraid to try some of the auto -(minus) settings. This cuts down on the coil footprint and may keep the detector from grabbing onto big iron and instead lock onto a good target.