Too Much Sensitivity?

[Bryan V]

I was hunting an older sports field today and the CTX was running around 21 in Auto+3.
I came across an iffy choppy signal at 7". I new I was going to dig it but wanted to see what it sounded like
if I pumped the sensitivity to manual 26. The signal went completely to crap. I would have walked right by it if I had been
running at that level.
Switched back to Auto+3 and the signal immediately cleaned up to an iffy but definitely diggable signal.
It wasn't like the machine was running erratically at the higher level.
I did this with 2 different targets with the same results.
Both signals end up being wheat pennies mixed with small rusted iron close to them.

Has anyone else run in to this? Makes me nervous to pump the sensitivity!

Bryan

 

[JackalopeZL1]

So what was the target?

 

[Bryan V]

So what was the target?

In the second to last line in my post I wrote.-
"Both signals end up being wheat pennies mixed with small rusted iron close to them."

 

[JackalopeZL1]

Ahh, Must be tired.

Sounds right. Auto will be more accurate, but can suffer in depth. Everything is a trade off. Sounds like you hunted the right way for those targets!!

 

[bklein]

What made you stop at 26?
Did you try messing with the noise cancel? Try manually setting it to 11 and compare. I think 11 is wide open and it closes down in freq response as you go lower.

 

[Bryan V]

What made you stop at 26?
Did you try messing with the noise cancel? Try manually setting it to 11 and compare. I think 11 is wide open and it closes down in freq response as you go lower.

I just flipped over to manual sensitivity which I had already set at 26. I didn't think to do another noise cancel after switching.
I'll try that next time as well as try some other sensitivity settings.
I'm pretty new with the CTX so I have a lot to learn.

If someone can point me to some good instruction on Target Trace I would appreciate it.
I'm still struggling to understand what I'm seeing on the screen.

 

[Jason in Enid]

What made you stop at 26?
Did you try messing with the noise cancel? Try manually setting it to 11 and compare. I think 11 is wide open and it closes down in freq response as you go lower.

Thats not how the noise cancel feature functions.


Many of us old-timers have tried to explain this for years to the newcomers. Too much sensitivity is NOT ALWAYS better, it's the car headlight in the fog analogy. But here's the trick, we all know there are a few good coins just beyond our depth that are not mixed with iron. Over-hyped sensitivity may help make those into a diggable signal. When you have a good site, you need to hunt it multiple times. Hunt it from different directions and with different programs or settings. Hunt it with different coils.

 

[sube]

Yes a lot of good information all true but the only way you well find out in your ground is to try manual and auto in the same place and you will know the results .
And always noise cancel when you switch between manual and auto . sube

 

[IDXMonster]

What made you stop at 26?
Did you try messing with the noise cancel? Try manually setting it to 11 and compare. I think 11 is wide open and it closes down in freq response as you go lower.

Thats not how the noise cancel feature functions.


Many of us old-timers have tried to explain this for years to the newcomers. Too much sensitivity is NOT ALWAYS better, it's the car headlight in the fog analogy. But here's the trick, we all know there are a few good coins just beyond our depth that are not mixed with iron. Over-hyped sensitivity may help make those into a diggable signal. When you have a good site, you need to hunt it multiple times. Hunt it from different directions and with different programs or settings. Hunt it with different coils.

This applies to ANY machine,as we know,or should know. Angle of attack seems more critical with DD coils than concentrics in MY experience,to varying degrees depending on the target and how it's sitting. I can't say how many times cross gridding has produced more GOOD finds...

 

[Digger]

If someone can point me to some good instruction on Target Trace I would appreciate it.
I'm still struggling to understand what I'm seeing on the screen.

Here is the link to a blog post I wrote in May 2012. It is located in the Treasure Talk section of Minelab's website:

http://www.minelab.com/usa/go-minelabbing/treasure-talk/ctx-3030-target-trace-pinpoint-trace-smartfind-2-visually-identifying-multiple-targets


If you do a search for Target Trace, you'll find many posts regarding Target Trace and Target Trace Pinpoint. Here are a few I made early on.....
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?86,1800453,1802499#msg-1802499
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?86,1699869,1703338#msg-1703338
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?86,1699869,1700431#msg-1700431
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?86,1713736,1717131#msg-1717131
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?86,1710032,1711418#msg-1711418

Note that the pictures in the Treasure Talk blog are the same pics used in a couple of my forum posts. It has been brought to my attention that they also made a "cameo appearance" in Andy's book.

 

[Bryan V]

Thanks Digger! The info. You posted as well as some that sube sent me privately really helped on the
Target Trace.
Now I just need the weather to cooperate so I can go out put this new understanding to work.
Bryan