Looking for a SEASONED CTX user near me (eastern panhandle WV)

[IDXMonster]

you have greatly expand your acceptable target range.

Meaning what exactly?

Lots of people only dig the solid, repeats-from-every-direction, tight cursor blob, types or targets. Unless you get lucky, you aren't going to find these in the hard hunted public spots. You start digging the ones where you are saying, "thats probably junk". The key there is PROBABLY. You are looking for the last crumbs left behind, you have to be content with digging more trash to find them.

Ain't THAT the truth! And even I get caught up in thinking I could dig these targets with my other machines when in reality the CTX is WAY better at it. Coin counts don't lie!

 

[TrpnBils]

you have greatly expand your acceptable target range.

Meaning what exactly?

Lots of people only dig the solid, repeats-from-every-direction, tight cursor blob, types or targets. Unless you get lucky, you aren't going to find these in the hard hunted public spots. You start digging the ones where you are saying, "thats probably junk". The key there is PROBABLY. You are looking for the last crumbs left behind, you have to be content with digging more trash to find them.

Ain't THAT the truth! And even I get caught up in thinking I could dig these targets with my other machines when in reality the CTX is WAY better at it. Coin counts don't lie!

See that's what kills me about this. My coin counts this year with the CTX are half of what they were last year with the Etrac. Now to be fair, I know my detecting time was cut down this year from the last year and this is my first year with the CTX as compared to my third year on the Etrac the year before. I can say though that my counts in my first nine months with the CTX are pretty much on par with my first year (7 months) with the Etrac.....BUT I still only dug 13 silvers this year.....

 

[IDXMonster]

I suppose you can look at it this way too....as the "low to mid hanging fruit" gets picked there's just less signals to choose from. That "higher up fruit" is hard to see for the detector,and some of it might be rotten iron! The CTX does have good eyeballs,but it's scanning that top row for anything good and sometimes it's just wrong or misinformed because of all the leaves(junk) in the way.
As far as numbers....my first 4 years I dug 22 silver coins with my IDXPro and was learning about the hobby. Last year I used the Explorer2 and dug 40 silver coins,just about doubling what I'd found the previous 4 years combined,hunting mostly the same places. This year I've used the CTX all season and I'm at 80 silver coins from mostly the same places still. So it has more work to do with less resources,I guess it depends on how depleted the sites are really getting and we can never truly know.
I wouldn't feel too bad about 13 silvers but I'm still in the same situation of not knowing if I'm doing things right or I'm just getting lucky. I won't bother saying how many nails I've dug but you could probably build a barn or two with them...

 

[TrpnBils]

I suppose you can look at it this way too....as the "low to mid hanging fruit" gets picked there's just less signals to choose from. That "higher up fruit" is hard to see for the detector,and some of it might be rotten iron! The CTX does have good eyeballs,but it's scanning that top row for anything good and sometimes it's just wrong or misinformed because of all the leaves(junk) in the way.
As far as numbers....my first 4 years I dug 22 silver coins with my IDXPro and was learning about the hobby. Last year I used the Explorer2 and dug 40 silver coins,just about doubling what I'd found the previous 4 years combined,hunting mostly the same places. This year I've used the CTX all season and I'm at 80 silver coins from mostly the same places still. So it has more work to do with less resources,I guess it depends on how depleted the sites are really getting and we can never truly know.
I wouldn't feel too bad about 13 silvers but I'm still in the same situation of not knowing if I'm doing things right or I'm just getting lucky. I won't bother saying how many nails I've dug but you could probably build a barn or two with them...

That makes sense.

As an aside - you're saying you dug 80 silvers from parks just this year that you've been hunting with your previous detectors and had already pulled 60+ out of? That's damn impressive both for you as the operator and for the machine's capabilities.

 

[pghmole]

Hey im from Pittsburgh and I definitely have a lot of experience with the machine,I got mine on day one and have pulled over 1000 silvers and a ton came from hunted out parks where that type of iffy is the norm,pm me if you want to go for a hunt sometime,I'd be glad to help because that's what was done for me and don't mind paying it forward.Mole

 

[TrpnBils]

Thanks - I will. I'm from Kittanning originally and we get up that way to visit family on a somewhat regular basis.

 

[pghmole]

Sounds good,I know that area well,I have hunted deer in Deanville down by the Mahoning from the time I was 12,there is some good stuff up that way as well!

 

[Jason in Enid]

I know this will depend on the situation, but what is your "acceptable" range of targets? Let's say on something like an IHP. They should come in at 12-36 or so, but I know I've found them as low as 12-31 which was an eye-opener. How far do you typically see stuff swing in iron or junky situations?

It depends on how junky, and how old the site is. If I'm weeding through a ton of iron I will ignore everything that isn't CO-40 or better. A "normal" to somewhat trashy spot that is old enough for IHs and barbers or better I will dig everything from about CO-30 and up, and included the CO 11 - 15 nickel range if it's tight and deep.

I am a more of a depth discriminator at old sites. I have my settings so I don't have quiet signals, they all sound the same. I watch the depth indicator. I will ignore everything bu quarter of better if it's shallow. The deeper it goes, the more range I dig, ESPECIALLY CO readings of (or very near) 10, 21, 31, 37. Those are gold coin numbers.

 

[IDXMonster]

I suppose you can look at it this way too....as the "low to mid hanging fruit" gets picked there's just less signals to choose from. That "higher up fruit" is hard to see for the detector,and some of it might be rotten iron! The CTX does have good eyeballs,but it's scanning that top row for anything good and sometimes it's just wrong or misinformed because of all the leaves(junk) in the way.
As far as numbers....my first 4 years I dug 22 silver coins with my IDXPro and was learning about the hobby. Last year I used the Explorer2 and dug 40 silver coins,just about doubling what I'd found the previous 4 years combined,hunting mostly the same places. This year I've used the CTX all season and I'm at 80 silver coins from mostly the same places still. So it has more work to do with less resources,I guess it depends on how depleted the sites are really getting and we can never truly know.
I wouldn't feel too bad about 13 silvers but I'm still in the same situation of not knowing if I'm doing things right or I'm just getting lucky. I won't bother saying how many nails I've dug but you could probably build a barn or two with them...

That makes sense.

As an aside - you're saying you dug 80 silvers from parks just this year that you've been hunting with your previous detectors and had already pulled 60+ out of? That's damn impressive both for you as the operator and for the machine's capabilities.

Yes,you have it right. 140+ altogether....I appreciate the compliment but quite honestly if I get a solid or semi-solid hit with any of the machines it's coming out to have a look. I'd sure have liked to put a bunch of them back but we can't do that I'm told....
If Mole is willing and able I'd sure like a detailed report of your findings,as someone who is uber sympathetic to your frustration. I would've liked to wrap my Explorer around a tree or two but after awhile I understood that I was TRYING TOO HARD. I had to trust the machine to tell me if it was junk or not and decide to dig or not....and then REMEMBER what happened with that target. After digging up stuff I'd never even heard of before, it clicked to let the machine do the work,give it a prudent sweep speed and sensitivity to work with and just drive it around. IMHO,and this is not to steer anyone off a cliff or away from the CTX,but I believe a lower manual sensitivity such as 18-22 is better for depth than Auto+3, in many areas I hunt. I don't have a super scientific way of measuring the mineralization aside from what the machine is saying, but air testing is substantially better for depth. Now,if that is due to it needing a ground signal to work with is the problem with air testing I'm not sure but it's a difference of a few inches between the 2 at those levels so I'd encourage anyone to try out a lower manual sensitivity and see if you can pick out some deeper stuff through the occasional chirpyness. That can't be a word...but it didn't get Auto-corrected!

 

[sube]

IDX this very true about manual sensitivity running at 18 -22 now all three channels are running at the same sensitivity . You are correct that manual is deeper than auto but there is a trade off more falsing ragged signals that would be clearer at lower sensitivity .

Now air testing will get you better depth than in ground because the machine does not have to work as hard as when eliminating ground noise . That ground noise will distort and cover up good signals if your over driving the detector .

Did you ever notice what sweep speed does to signals go to slow and it chops up a good signal go to fast you will miss coins close to iron . Try this find a 6 inch coin signal sweep at different speeds slow medium and fast you will notice fast gives the best and clearest signal I don't know if it's because the machine does not have enough time to analyze the ground or what but I have cleaned up a lot of crappy signals doing this .

It's not good to sweep fast in trashy spots but once you locate a signal in the trash try to clean it up with a faster sweep works don't know why . sube

 

[IDXMonster]

IDX this very true about manual sensitivity running at 18 -22 now all three channels are running at the same sensitivity . You are correct that manual is deeper than auto but there is a trade off more falsing ragged signals that would be clearer at lower sensitivity .

Now air testing will get you better depth than in ground because the machine does not have to work as hard as when eliminating ground noise . That ground noise will distort and cover up good signals if your over driving the detector .

Did you ever notice what sweep speed does to signals go to slow and it chops up a good signal go to fast you will miss coins close to iron . Try this find a 6 inch coin signal sweep at different speeds slow medium and fast you will notice fast gives the best and clearest signal I don't know if it's because the machine does not have enough time to analyze the ground or what but I have cleaned up a lot of crappy signals doing this .

It's not good to sweep fast in trashy spots but once you locate a signal in the trash try to clean it up with a faster sweep works don't know why . sube

Sube,I have DEFINITELY noticed that there is an optimum sweep speed to "develop" the signal in different situations,and I'm glad you brought that up. It seems there is a fair amount of interest in this thread and the OP was smart to start it so we can all try to benefit from others experiences. About 2 weeks ago a buddy and I were hunting a pretty trashy old academy buildings front yard and he was finding signals but couldn't reliably get them to repeat. He was using the Explorer2 so he handed me the machine and I showed him how to accelerate the sweep speed to get JUST the good target and nothing else around it. He was really amazed that it could do that,because there were all kinds of junky type targets around it. Maybe it has to do with matching the Recovery rate just right so it doesn't have time to latch onto something else but is still having enough motion to outrun the auto tune? I'm not sure but the CTX does the same,absolutely. My older IDX will NOT "develop" a signal,and as I stated elsewhere it must have to do with the way the ML processor works or how processors work in general. The length,speed and clock rate of the sweep can really clear up a signal,depending on how it's used. Hopefully someone who doesn't know that already will take away another "detecting tool" from this.
I was watching one of your videos that you did with targets at different heights today at lunch. It clearly showed problems can be had in all dimensions, and we really need a completely different kind of way to literally SEE underground to have a hope of getting it ALL. You know,just a really really good handheld GPR with super high resolution down to 2 feet! And price it under 500.00 please....

 

[TrpnBils]

It seems there is a fair amount of interest in this thread and the OP was smart to start it so we can all try to benefit from others experiences.

Heck I would have started this 6 months ago if I would have known there were a bunch of other people in the same boat. Seemed like I was the only one though reading through the forum's posts so I figured I was just stupid lol

 

[IDXMonster]

Sometimes it's difficult to convey EXACTLY what we're having trouble with,and the subject of the "iffy" signal has to be in the top three of those "difficult to convey" things. It is a very blurry and subjective topic,what may be iffy to one is obvious to another,and there's a whole sea of grey area in between. For the great part we are striving to make things black or white,good or not,trying to "tune" our senses and machines to swing to one side or the other. If there are improvements to our experiences or machine settings that make for a better outcome we want to know about it. And there are a lot of "we's" out there in our boat,thankfully it's a large sturdy boat!
If anyone has NOT gone to YouTube and watched videos that involve CaptSE (Dan) out in California,you should. Although he is using an Explorer,the point can be seen about the signals he digs and the depths he digs them at. Look at what he is using,how he is sweeping,the quality of the signal,etc. and equate that to the CTX. He is digging old city parks so there must be trash and things we all have to contend with. He's just really good at it,as many people here are. But even at 8-10" the silver dimes he's pulling are not what I'd even consider "iffy",those are "dig me immediately" signals. It can be reasonably assumed that if the CTX,which is supposed to be quicker from target to target,better at handling EMI and more accurate with ID at depth,is getting an "OK" reading at 5" and only repeats in one direction with a jumpy ID that it's a junk target. I have found that to be the case the VAST majority of the time,yet I'll still chase stuff like that. And THAT is what I need to work on,and what I think others struggle with as well.

 

[Bell-Two]

I was part of the discussion on Facebook on your post that has now disappeared, as Larry said it takes time to learn what it is saying. I came from an E-Trac so my learning curve was less than someone coming from an entirely different machine. I am a field hunter primarily so I deal with a lot of iron. My program is pretty simple combined with iron line at 25 fast off deep on. Use Ferrous coin and no descrimination. Target trace and target trace pinpoint. This works for me but I would never tell anyone it is the best for them. I have learned it is the tone that determines what to dig a screechy type of high tone even if it repeats is most likely iron....now I will sometimes still dig them because it might be an axe head or sad iron etc. tone can tell you a lot, a harmonic tone meaning one that gives a different tone as the coil comes off the target, "normally" means something not round .....now it may be a desirable target but most likely not a coin. The real test is when you get a high tone right in the middle of iron tones surrounding it. What I do is turn and see if it repeats. I will then slow and narrow my swing to isolate the high tone glance at target ID and then dig it....now can it may iron sure...but many times I pull out some nails or other bits of iron and I say to myself "No.that didn't give me that tone" and I will then find the high conductor that was giving the tone. Now it may still be a bit of brass ....or it can be a seated dime!

Interesting - I didn't know that conversation had disappeared. That's weird...I was just looking at it this morning actually. I came from the Etrac too, which I think is why I have been so surprised at how much of a learning curve it was. The interpretation on the screen, I think because of the target trace feature, is so much more involved than I expected. That's not a bad thing, just something I need to work on. Your setup is basically what mine is most of the time, although I've been branching out and trying new stuff lately hoping to find something that might make more sense. i have noticed that I get a lot of chaos and noise at 12-39 in Ferrous-Coin, which I was told is some kind of known issue. I know that when I change off of Ferrous-Coin that noise goes away (it's a visual noise on target trace, not an actual audible noise) so I have been trying to stay off of that for awhile for that reason.

You mentioned harmonic tones....this is going to sound stupid here so stick with me....I'm assuming you're talking about tones that have a BEE-BOO (HIGH-LOW) sound as you sweep over them, right?

In your (or anyone's) experience, is it common for an iron false to show up as you circle the target at different angles, or is it pretty much just one or two ways? It seems from Sube's videos that falsing on something like a straight nail is only common if you're going lengthwise.

Yes as you describe it the bee-boo tone is what I was referring to. The FB post now appears again on my feed too, FB can act weird sometimes! Iron falsing is a strange thing, if it is a large item it will sound both ways quite often, smaller items will often disappear when the angle of your sweep changes. In heavy iron I am listening for that small short high tone I then try to isolate it.

 

[TrpnBils]

How does that BEE-BOO sound indicating a non-round, non-coin object differ from the "thunk" sound of a deep coin? I noticed on another thread you said you look for that sound.

 

[Jason in Enid]

The following is with the combined audio profile. Never tried it in other settings.

The "thunk" is a rare event with the CTX. I used to get it on the E-Trac a lot more, but the CTX seems to keep giving you that solid tone until the VERY EDGE of detection. You can play with air tests and hear it. Take a silver coin and wave it back and forth over the coil and move it very slowly farther above (or below). Right before you stop getting any response at all you get that high-tone / "thunk". I imagine the more open your pattern is, and how low you have your iron-tone line set may play a role in this also.

 

[GKMan]

If I thought there was real benefit to that coil, I would have it. But unfortunately, the people I choose to follow that used it didn't make it sound anything near worth it. A while back ( quite a while actually) Coiltek made it sound like they had some other coils in the works, but so far nothing more has been released from them for the CTX.

 

[TrpnBils]

If I thought there was real benefit to that coil, I would have it. But unfortunately, the people I choose to follow that used it didn't make it sound anything near worth it. A while back ( quite a while actually) Coiltek made it sound like they had some other coils in the works, but so far nothing more has been released from them for the CTX.

I'm lost...what coil?

 

[IDXMonster]

I think GKs comment was meant to go in the "Is the Coiltek coil worth having thread"....might've inadvertently gotten posted here,unless of course I'm wrong.

I also get the "thunk" on the Explorer more than the CTX,and it might be that I run the Explorer in Manual Sens more than the CTX. Have you experienced the "thunk" sound yourself Trpnbils? I'll show you mine if you show me yours,I'm Kevin by the way.. I hate calling people their screen name,pretty impersonal. No worries if you want to stay low...

 

[TrpnBils]

Jeff here - and yeah I thought it might have belonged in that other thread but wasn't sure hot it would have fallen here.

Anyway no I don't think I've had it happen on the CTX but I did hear it a handful of times on my Etrac. That was mostly in 50 conductive though, ,which I don't use on my 3030. I mostly stick to combined.