Minelab Bootcamp - Feedback

[dl273]

Originally posted in Etrac forum:

I recently signed up for the March 12th boot camp at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I'm hoping to get some incite into making better decisions in the field with adapting the CTX to different conditions I come across. I realize that there is no substitute for time on the machine and experience in the field. I'm just looking to shorten the learning curve without always wondering if there is anything more I could have done to maximize the machine's potential during a hunt. I've had the CTX for about a year and hunt approximately 6 hours a week.I consider myself a novice because, although I've done well, I'm still looking to get everything out of the machine as well as myself. I know I'm just scratching the surface of this machine's capabilities. Can anyone who has attended in the past tell me if they noticed a difference in their ability after the camp as compared to before? Did you see improvement in any specific area and was there any "aha moment" for you and what was it? I've already read Andy's CTX book cover to cover several times as well as the manual. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[Champ Ferguson]

The book contains whats in the Bootcamp. BUT, having it delivered in the manner of an interactive seminar is worth way more than the price of admission. You will come out of the camp with a better understanding of how your CTX works and how to tweek your settings for different conditions.

Suggestions:

- save your current programs to your computer and only keep 1 or 2 of your fav programs in your machine. in our camp, Andy would d/l some of his best programs into your CTX if you wanted to. I never really used them beyond the camp, but they are good references and I imagine would be of even more value to someone fairly new.

- prepare a list of questions on things that puzzle or bug you about the CTX, or for that matter, any metal detecting question. Even beyond Andy, there will be a lot of experience in the room. there were plenty of experienced CTX users in my camp that had ideas or ideas that lead to more ideas. But if you don't have a list of personal questions/things you want to learn, you WILL forget something. I had several pages of questions but found that only 2 or 3 of them weren't answered in the course of the seminar. This also served to organize my mind about the nagging questions/ideas I had and what I hoped/expected to get out of the camp.

- take a blank thumb drive to camp and ask them to put the back issues of the CTX newsletter on it. they may tell you that they will email it to you, but for some reason it wont happen. I've spoken with Andy/Charlene in person and via PM after camp (8/2015) a couple of times and have never received anything over the net. ive heard about 1/3 of the attendees in my class have the same problem, tho I cant say for sure.

- Consider also attending the Deus camp the day before. I've never hunted a Deus but wish I had taken that camp. I think it would have made me a better hunter.


As to a-ha moments, I guess its the nomenclature re ferrous/conductivity. Intellectually I knew you might as well call them Beavis and Butthead axes, but for some reason, the camp explanation left me content to use the terms in a way contrary to what I had been taught all my life (electrical terms). Maybe not an a-ha moment, but it allowed me to let go of something that always aggravated me.

 

[tiftaaft]

The book contains whats in the Bootcamp. BUT, having it delivered in the manner of an interactive seminar is worth way more than the price of admission. You will come out of the camp with a better understanding of how your CTX works and how to tweek your settings for different conditions.

Suggestions:

- save your current programs to your computer and only keep 1 or 2 of your fav programs in your machine. in our camp, Andy would d/l some of his best programs into your CTX if you wanted to. I never really used them beyond the camp, but they are good references and I imagine would be of even more value to someone fairly new.

- prepare a list of questions on things that puzzle or bug you about the CTX, or for that matter, any metal detecting question. Even beyond Andy, there will be a lot of experience in the room. there were plenty of experienced CTX users in my camp that had ideas or ideas that lead to more ideas. But if you don't have a list of personal questions/things you want to learn, you WILL forget something. I had several pages of questions but found that only 2 or 3 of them weren't answered in the course of the seminar. This also served to organize my mind about the nagging questions/ideas I had and what I hoped/expected to get out of the camp.

- take a blank thumb drive to camp and ask them to put the back issues of the CTX newsletter on it. they may tell you that they will email it to you, but for some reason it wont happen. I've spoken with Andy/Charlene in person and via PM after camp (8/2015) a couple of times and have never received anything over the net. ive heard about 1/3 of the attendees in my class have the same problem, tho I cant say for sure.

- Consider also attending the Deus camp the day before. I've never hunted a Deus but wish I had taken that camp. I think it would have made me a better hunter.


As to a-ha moments, I guess its the nomenclature re ferrous/conductivity. Intellectually I knew you might as well call them Beavis and Butthead axes, but for some reason, the camp explanation left me content to use the terms in a way contrary to what I had been taught all my life (electrical terms). Maybe not an a-ha moment, but it allowed me to let go of something that always aggravated me.

Thanks for the insider overview Champ. So I see they have two sessions scheduled so far for 2017... my question is... is it worth attending the camp in another part of the country, or is there a lot of local ground knowledge imparted on the attendees. I would imagine the value of listening to Andy and the rest of the team on the machine itself is more than worth the effort to attend, just wondered what your thoughts were on location. I wouldn't expect a Northwest class anytime soon...

Good comment on taking the Deus class in the same trip, I hadn't considered that until you mentioned it... even though, like you, I haven't had the opportunity to hunt with a Deus...yet.

Tim.

 

[Champ Ferguson]

The book contains whats in the Bootcamp. BUT, having it delivered in the manner of an interactive seminar is worth way more than the price of admission. You will come out of the camp with a better understanding of how your CTX works and how to tweek your settings for different conditions.

Suggestions:

- save your current programs to your computer and only keep 1 or 2 of your fav programs in your machine. in our camp, Andy would d/l some of his best programs into your CTX if you wanted to. I never really used them beyond the camp, but they are good references and I imagine would be of even more value to someone fairly new.

- prepare a list of questions on things that puzzle or bug you about the CTX, or for that matter, any metal detecting question. Even beyond Andy, there will be a lot of experience in the room. there were plenty of experienced CTX users in my camp that had ideas or ideas that lead to more ideas. But if you don't have a list of personal questions/things you want to learn, you WILL forget something. I had several pages of questions but found that only 2 or 3 of them weren't answered in the course of the seminar. This also served to organize my mind about the nagging questions/ideas I had and what I hoped/expected to get out of the camp.

- take a blank thumb drive to camp and ask them to put the back issues of the CTX newsletter on it. they may tell you that they will email it to you, but for some reason it wont happen. I've spoken with Andy/Charlene in person and via PM after camp (8/2015) a couple of times and have never received anything over the net. ive heard about 1/3 of the attendees in my class have the same problem, tho I cant say for sure.

- Consider also attending the Deus camp the day before. I've never hunted a Deus but wish I had taken that camp. I think it would have made me a better hunter.


As to a-ha moments, I guess its the nomenclature re ferrous/conductivity. Intellectually I knew you might as well call them Beavis and Butthead axes, but for some reason, the camp explanation left me content to use the terms in a way contrary to what I had been taught all my life (electrical terms). Maybe not an a-ha moment, but it allowed me to let go of something that always aggravated me.

Thanks for the insider overview Champ. So I see they have two sessions scheduled so far for 2017... my question is... is it worth attending the camp in another part of the country, or is there a lot of local ground knowledge imparted on the attendees. I would imagine the value of listening to Andy and the rest of the team on the machine itself is more than worth the effort to attend, just wondered what your thoughts were on location. I wouldn't expect a Northwest class anytime soon...

Good comment on taking the Deus class in the same trip, I hadn't considered that until you mentioned it... even though, like you, I haven't had the opportunity to hunt with a Deus...yet.

Tim.

Hi Tim,
For knowledge of the CTX alone, its worth going to the Bootcamp if it makes time and economic sense for you. We had folks from hundreds of miles away in my group. But to make a special trip from the PacNW, I dunno. I wouldn't personally do that unless I was in the area on other business or vacation or something. But everyone is different in that respect. I've read of many folks that would like some BC's out your way but logistically, its probably a problem. My gut says Someday, but probably not soon. (I have no inside info and am going solely what I have read posted on the forums).

As to local knowledge learned at BC, I wouldn't think of that as a consideration. I'd wager a fair amount of money that Andy has hunted soil like yours and can help with any questions along those lines. For that matter, theres lot of folks here that can do that too.

 

[dl273]

Thanks for all the great replies. I'm looking forward to the training and anything I can take from the course that will improve my performance. I'll be sure to write down a lot of questions. Thanks again!

 

[casabisch]

Sorry to hear that some of you are still not receiving the newsletter. We are trying to figure out why some people receive them without an issue and others do not receive them. We are going to try to find a different email service to be sending out newsletters from.

Again sorry

Charlene Sabisch

 

[Champ Ferguson]

Charlene, I know you have tried multiple times with me alone and I do appreciate it. Wish I could figure out the Why of it.
If you ever need more info from me, just PM me here.

 

[Andy Sabisch]

Electronic communications are great . . . when they work. For some reason, AT&T must have the reputation for sending spam as many providers block messages that come from ATT. NET with more than one recipient in the To, CC or BCC sections. This was somewhat of a surprise to me but after asking, that is what we have found out.

As a result, we have created a new E-mail account which will be used to send out the newsletters to Bootcamp attendees since it appears that when we send them out, a certain number never arrive thanks to filtering that takes place at the ISP level.

If you have attended one of the Bootcamps for either Minelab or XP, drop us an E-mail at the following address so we can ensure you receive newsletters when they are sent out.

[size=x-large]DetectingBootcamps@mail.com[/size]

Charlene and I apologize if attendees have not received newsletters that were sent out . . . . wish we knew about this sooner so we could have tracked down the issue. We will make sure that you also receive any back issues that you might not have received.

Andy & Charlene Sabisch

 

[DnD]

The number of CTX owners is rapidly growing here in Florida. Have you considered any boot camps in FL? Orlando would be a great central location as we have have the Tampa/Clearwater folks, Miami folks, and rapidly growing number of owners in NE Florida.

-David

Electronic communications are great . . . when they work. For some reason, AT&T must have the reputation for sending spam as many providers block messages that come from ATT. NET with more than one recipient in the To, CC or BCC sections. This was somewhat of a surprise to me but after asking, that is what we have found out.

As a result, we have created a new E-mail account which will be used to send out the newsletters to Bootcamp attendees since it appears that when we send them out, a certain number never arrive thanks to filtering that takes place at the ISP level.

If you have attended one of the Bootcamps for either Minelab or XP, drop us an E-mail at the following address so we can ensure you receive newsletters when they are sent out.

[size=x-large]DetectingBootcamps@mail.com[/size]

Charlene and I apologize if attendees have not received newsletters that were sent out . . . . wish we knew about this sooner so we could have tracked down the issue. We will make sure that you also receive any back issues that you might not have received.

Andy & Charlene Sabisch

 

[casabisch]

We have tried to have one in Florida before but it did not receive enough interest.

We were approached by a dealer asking us to try again and we are working on figuring out the logistics of being able to do one with where we have move to.

Will keep you updated with news of more bootcamps for 2017

Charlene

 

[myrtlebeach]

Lynchburg VA would be a great place to have one!

 

[casabisch]

Let us know if you received the newsletter that went out a few days ago. If you didn't and attended one of the bootcamps or bought one of Andy's 3030 books then send me a PM.

Thank you

 

[Paulie]

I am a big proponent of Andy's CTX Bootcamp. Prior to the camp, myself and 2 others were struggling with the learning curve of the CTX workings. We seen online, that the closest bootcamp to us was Indiana. It took us 6.5 hours from Ontario Canada, to get to Portage Indiana!! Anyhow, Andy delivered a great "hands on" bootcamp. We left feeling VERY confident in using our CTX in any condition. We also learned how to "fine tune" the CTX, given the ground mineralization of the area hunted, which makes a world of difference. I strongly recommend Andy's bootcamp! You will leave with a much better understanding of the CTX and a greater confidence in it ability to find those treasures!! He and his wife Charlene, are amazing people, who are down to earth, and love what they do!