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1st Session With The CTX


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Went to the coast this weekend did try my luck on  once a popular spot, i was using my CTX for the first time and i max out everything machine was stable but i found jacks£$t!!!

 

I could feel that the machine is going deep but the spade i brought with me had a shaft which i didn't trust that much so i left a lot of target found 1 rivet 1 screw tap and 1 rusty piece of something.....the machine indicated target at 12" but i could reach them without breaking my spade and i had no spare.......well next time i will bring either a sand scoop or a better designed spade..

 

 

RR

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Well that sucks! Better luck on round two!

I pretty much skipped the whole Explorer and E-TRAC thing except for playing around with them a little bit. The CTX was really my first in the series, and I am glad of that. I think it kept me from having to "unlearn" things long time Explorer owners were used to. I get along quite well with my CTX

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I personally would never run any higher end machine at max settings my first session out. I'd make sure I was familiar with more tame settings first. But that's just me.

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Guest Tnsharpshooter

Don't get dissapointed,

As far as jewelry,,if lower conductor,,,running higher manual sensivity,,a big plus.

Running auto sensitivity will let some of it slip by.

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I have normally run my 3030 at +3 in auto for the last couple of years.  But ...

That turns out to be unnecessary I have found out.  What you say?

Everyone has spoken of the conservative 7000 settings and how they don't 'light up' the ground about your target.  I've started trying that and I have now changed what I hear.  Sometimes I can hear a target better at depth with a -1 or at least the A or +1 depending on the beach.  It does not seem to affect the depth it hears with my 17" coil.

The sound seems less muddied so to say.

I've gotten over some targets and looked at the screen and it reads the same no matter the sensitivity I'm testing.  What I do get is a quality difference in the audio.

I was using the more conservative settings at a beach last week where I had found the 'Sounded Like A Penny' ring.  These are two cheap rings and one more 14k gold ring with a silver band.  The ocean has a marvelous way of sorting things into patches.  We just have to find them.

MitchelDSC09667.thumb.JPG.21e8557e478ec101bde223398edcaf52.JPG

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Wow, I'm impressed that the CTX3030 can ID those rings with a drill bit running through their centers.  :laugh:

15 hours ago, mn90403 said:

These are two cheap rings and one more 14k gold ring with a silver band.

I'm guessing the middle one is the 14kt.  What is the composition of the one on the left?  And how did you figure it out?

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GB-Amateur

You are right about the gold and silver being in the center.  It is on the label on the ring and it didn't really 'sound' like gold either.  I'll have to take it back to the beach with me now that it is cleaned and see if the sterling silver overrides the gold.

The composition of the one on the left is not known to me yet.  It has no label.  It didn't need any cleaning.  Neither did the Gucci.

 

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13 hours ago, mn90403 said:

The composition of the one on the left is not known to me yet.

Did you (or do you have a way to) measure its density (~specific gravity)?  I do this all the time with finds to try and figure out what they are.  I just read an article by Kevin Hoagland describing the process, and Chris Ralph has also described it (probably in ICMJ).  It's just an application of the Archimedes principle.  Basically you weigh the piece first.  Then hang it from a sling, attached to a scale, and suspend under water, not letting it touch the walls of the container holding the water.  Divide the first (dry) weight by the second (immersed) weight and you've got the specific gravity.  (There are some adjustments that need to be made, for example to account for the weight and volume of the sling.  But if you don't do that and the sling is properly chosen -- very fine wire or thread -- you still get a decent answer.)

Fortunately, the valuable metals in their pure = elemental form can in most cases be distinguished from the common metals.  (Alloys are a tougher road, though.)  Here are some examples of specific gravities by my named category groupings with Troy ounce prices (some outdated) in parentheses.  If no prices then not valuable or better said "not known to be valuable by me."

Super Heavies:  gold($1210), platinum($960), osmium($400), iridium($745), tungsten, rhenium($86) -- all > 19.

Heavies:  lead, silver ($17.40), ruthenium ($40), rhodium($920), palladium($773), molydenum -- all between 10 and 13.

Moderates:  copper, zinc, nickel, iron, chromium, bismuth, manganese -- between 7 and 10.

Lights:  tin, antimony, titanium, vanadium -- between 3 and 7.

Ultralights:  aluminum, magnesium, beryllium -- < 3.

The reason I bring all this up here is because there is a thriving(?) branch of the jewelry business which makes and sells wedding bands in 'exotic' metals.  I found a titanium wedding ring (not valuable), for example.  It was stamped 'ti' inside.  I don't know how many of the valuable metals are or have been used in jewelry other than the obvious gold, platinum, and silver, but I wouldn't be surprised if some, such as palladium, are.  If the density is above 10 and it's not lead, tungsten, or molybdenum you likely have something at least moderately valuable, and if not silver, ruthenium, or rhodium could be very valuable.

 

 

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On 7 March 2017 at 2:55 AM, Steve Herschbach said:

Well that sucks! Better luck on round two!

I pretty much skipped the whole Explorer and E-TRAC thing except for playing around with them a little bit. The CTX was really my first in the series, and I am glad of that. I think it kept me from having to "unlearn" things long time Explorer owners were used to. I get along quite well with my CTX

Thanks Steve i am sure i ll do better soon ,wish Fihser was making the f75 for the beach.........

 

 

RR

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